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9 Thoughts: Halfway To Hockey

Hope everyone’s “summer” is going well. (Sorry, it’s foggy, windy, and in the 50s as I start this blog, and none of us are surprised, so I’m cynical.) As you read this, we’re close to the geographic midpoint of the UMD offseason. The actual halfway mark is either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how you […]

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Hope everyone’s “summer” is going well.

(Sorry, it’s foggy, windy, and in the 50s as I start this blog, and none of us are surprised, so I’m cynical.)

As you read this, we’re close to the geographic midpoint of the UMD offseason. The actual halfway mark is either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how you count the days. Our 100-days-to-go countdown starts on BlueSky Wednesday. It’ll be the only place to catch all 100 days of UMD men’s hockey history, so drop me a follow today.

The offseason — at least from UMD’s perspective — quieted awfully quick after some early transfer portal madness.

But let’s catch everyone up on what’s all been happening. Or not happening.

1. When the season wrapped up and we finally got around to putting a bow on it, we had a lot of questions and few answers when it came to the 2025-26 roster.

UMD had lost seven players to transfers. Forwards Kyle Bettens (ended up at Northern Michigan), Anthony Menghini (North Dakota), Matthew Perkins (Northeastern), and Jack Smith (Minnesota State) ended up moving on, as did defenseman Aiden Dubinsky (Wisconsin) and goalies Klayton Knapp (Michigan Tech) and Zach Sandy (North Dakota).

While the coaching staff had a lot of options, it felt like a situation where UMD had little choice but to dip into the portal. The business of “just bring this guy or that guy in from juniors a year early” is a dangerous one. It can work out well for some players, not so well for others. Player development, after all, is not at all linear.

Head coach Scott Sandelin wrapped up the season with me on my radio show April 3. He made clear at that point that they intended to use the portal to fill some holes.

“I said we’re going to use the portal. as we need to use it. So we’re going through that right now. We’ve got three forwards right now that we signed and we’ve got two defensemen. So we’re on the prowl to fill a couple of spots right now.”

2. And hit the portal the Bulldogs did. UMD added five players from the transfer portal, bringing in three forwards, one defenseman, and a goalie.

All three forwards — Kyle Gaffney from Alaska, Kyler Kovich from Cornell, and Scout Truman from UMass-Lowell — will be seniors this season. Defenseman Brady Cleveland (Colorado College) joins UMD for his junior season. Goalie Ethan Dahlmeir will be a sophomore after one year at Miami.

I haven’t talked to Sandelin since the five made their moves to UMD official, but I have talked to both Gaffney and Cleveland. The team was together the last couple weeks, and I jumped on the chance to meet up with a few of them during some downtime at Amsoil Arena. More on that in a moment.

Without coming across as any kind of sour grapes, allow me to take the same tact that I’ve taken with past transfers. I wish them all well, I do not begrudge any of them for deciding to move on. Enjoyed my interactions with them.

But let’s lay out the numbers surrounding these changes.

UMD lost five skaters. Those five skaters combined for 22 goals and 53 points last season. UMD added four skaters from the portal. Those four skaters combined for 22 goals and 55 points.

3. Arguably, Knapp may be UMD’s biggest loss. But he didn’t play again after giving up six goals in less than two full periods of the game Feb. 22 at North Dakota. He was injured during practice the next week, missed the home finale against Miami, and was dressed but did not play in the regular season finale at St. Cloud State or the playoff series at Arizona State.

When Adam Gajan went down during the Thanksgiving bye, Knapp seized the net for a few weeks and was mostly good. He had a tough start in the Friday game at Colorado College, but he rebounded the next night and basically gave his team a chance to win every time he played.

Dahlmeir’s numbers at Miami last season were not great (1-10-1, 4.04 goals against, .870 save percentage in 14 appearances). But was that him, or was that the product of a team that struggled all year in the defensive zone? Miami’s team save percentage last season was .865, worst in Division I.

It stands to reason Gajan will get the first chance to seize the net. Dahlmeir and freshman Cole Sheffield, however, are not coming in to be purely backups. They’ll be expected to compete for playing time, and Sandelin has never been afraid to use multiple goalies if he wants to accentuate that competition (the 2016-17 season, which ended in the national championship game, saw three goalies start games in October before Hunter Miska took over the rest of the way).

4. Cleveland is a large human. And he embraces the defensive part of being a defenseman.

When I asked him about his identity as a player, he said “it’s being hard to play against. I like to be hard on the opponent, and I like to kill penalties, block shots, do all the hard things.

“I’ve been working a lot on my stick and just using my size throughout my whole career. I really pride myself on being heavy and physical.”

The Wausau native started his college career at Wisconsin after spending time with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan. After seeing action in just 16 games as a freshman, he moved on to Colorado College. The Tigers dressed Cleveland in all 37 games last season, but he told Matt Wellens something happened there that he felt would affect his opportunity moving forward, so he decided to enter the portal.

(Cleveland declined to get into detail, which is his right, but he made clear to both Matt and me that he was not planning to go in the portal a second time.)

5. Gaffney had 20 points last season with the Nanooks, and while he said it was hard to leave Fairbanks, he called his decision to head to UMD “easy.”

“I visited here about a month ago,” Gaffney said. “Staff was great. They were great talking to me in the portal. The facility (Amsoil Arena) is great. The campus is awesome.”

Gaffney, Kovich, and Truman join a group of seniors that was decimated by portal losses. Only defensemen Joey Pierce and Riley Bodnarchuk are back for their senior seasons.

“They told me I’d be an older guy coming in here,” Gaffney said. “Back in Fairbanks, we had a lot of young guys, so I’m used to that.”

We haven’t seen an announcement on UMD’s leadership group for this coming season, but it seems reasonable to suggest that there could be a newcomer who earns a letter (Joe Molenaar almost did last season, so it’s not completely unprecedented to consider such an idea). The last two weeks — which saw the group come together to work out, bond, and get some ice time — is part of that process.

6. UMD added one player from the major junior ranks, as those 1,000 Canadian Hockey League players are now eligible for NCAA hockey. Defenseman Grayden Siepmann joins after around 300 games in the Western Hockey League, most recently with the Saskatoon Blades.

Siepmann said the program’s history stood out to him when he found out he’d have a chance to play for an American college team.

“It was a long process,” Siepmann said of his recruitment, “but I was familiar with UMD.”

He said he’d been to Minneapolis for a tournament growing up, but never to Duluth. He committed sight unseen.

“Cool little spot for sure,” he said.

Siepmann should slot into UMD’s second or third defensive pairing, depending on how he transitions to college hockey. He has a chance to compete with guys like Ty Hanson and Aaron Pionk for power play minutes, given that Owen Gallatin graduated and Dubinsky went into the portal.

7. Other schools, however, are jumping into the CHL pool with both feet. Sandelin said at his end-of-year media conference that he wanted to wait and see how things went with this transition. Given his cautionary words, it is more than reasonable that UMD stopped at one major junior player in this recruiting class.

We’re starting to see top players from the CHL make the trek south. North Dakota has a few younger prospects committed, some set to join this season with new head coach Dane Jackson. But there is concern among some coaches about taking too many, as they can rejoin their CHL teams at the season’s midpoint if they aren’t happy with their college experience.

The great Mike McMahon noted this weekend that those players can’t be replaced on college rosters, meaning those teams will be a player short the rest of the way. That’s plenty of reason to be cautious moving forward.

(Siepmann, by the way, has exhausted his junior eligibility.)

Along with ramifications from the House settlement, which was approved a few weeks ago, it will be very interesting to watch how the CHL/NCAA relationship evolves. Everyone thought NIL money would ruin the sport, but Western Michigan won a national title with its athletes getting none, per head coach Pat Ferschweiler. Don’t just assume the game will fundamentally turn on its ear and the NCHC will stop dominating.

8. I asked the BlueSky audience for questions.

From Ryan: “What newcomer has the best chance to make an impact next year? What returning player will be most improved?”

The transfer forwards, all being seniors, are almost too easy to pick here. Among them, I’m guessing Gaffney and Truman are in the best position to make an impact. Among the incoming freshmen, I think Daniel Shlaine has a chance to center a middle-six line, and could be in line for some big minutes.

As for returning players, I’m going with Gajan. This is in line with an upcoming question, but he’s going to have a bounceback season. I can feel it.

From Clusiau204: “Is Adam Gajan ready to be the #1 goalie for the Dogs this season???”

I think he will be. Last season was not an easy transition for Gajan. He was learning how to be a college student, learning a new level of hockey, and trying to deal with the pressure that comes from doing all of that at the same time.

On the ice, he had to miss the season opener because the NCAA is dumb, his first start in Lowell was outstanding, and then UMD hung him out to dry with regularity against the Gophers and North Dakota. It was up and down for Gajan from there, both before and after he was out long term with an injury.

With a stable summer, I think he’ll be fine.

From Dan: “Things to do in Fairbanks in October?”

Wouldn’t know, because I won’t be there. The plan is to work those games off the video feed from our Duluth studio. More to come on that, because it might not be a traditional game call. Still working on that.

9. The rest of the summer? Hopefully some summer weather, more fishing, and some downtime throughout July.

As I mentioned, the countdown starts Wednesday. August goes fast, and we’ll be in the thick of season prep come September. NCHC Media Day won’t be happening this year, at least not in its old in-person format, but I expect that I’ll have all nine NCHC coaches, some student athletes, and all the other Minnesota men’s coaches on my radio show to get ready for puck drop.

Otherwise, we hope everything stays nice and quiet. 🤞



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College Sports

President Trump issues college sports executive order addressing NIL, pay-for-play

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on July 24 that attempts to create a national standard for NCAA name, image and likeness programs. The order is Trump’s latest entry into a debate that has embroiled the NCAA since NIL rules went into effect in 2021, ushering in a wild-west era of college sports that […]

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President Donald Trump issued an executive order on July 24 that attempts to create a national standard for NCAA name, image and likeness programs.

The order is Trump’s latest entry into a debate that has embroiled the NCAA since NIL rules went into effect in 2021, ushering in a wild-west era of college sports that has come under increasing scrutiny by local and national legislators.

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Broadly focused on efforts to “save college athletics,” the order also seeks to preserve and support “expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports.” Most of the NIL money is given to athletes in football and men’s and women’s basketball.

The settlement in the long-running House v. NCAA case went into effect July 1 and allowed schools to directly pay college athletes through a revenue-sharing model.

In May, Trump appeared poised to create a commission co-chaired by former Alabama coach Nick Saban and influential Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell with a directive to explore and address major issues facing college sports. But there have been no announcements regarding that directive.

This week, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at restructuring rules around the administration of college athletics passed two committees and is expected to move to the House floor when the summer recess is over in September.

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Speaking at a National Press Club event in Washington earlier in the day, before the order was signed, NCAA President Charlie Baker was asked about possible executive order on college sports. He said he was open to ideas, but “our focus needs to be on the legislative process.”

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who along with many in college sports has been advocating for federal intervention, told USA TODAY Sports last week, “The President is going to do what he wants to do.”

“I’ve read things on social media, but I also read that there would be a presidential commission,” Sankey added. “So the question with an executive order is if (Trump) does, and then what it is, and then we’ll go from there.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump issues college sports executive order for NIL



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Howe Tabbed for U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team Staff

Story Links COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Yale men’s hockey assistant coach Joe Howe has been selected to serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team. The team will hold training camp from July 28-August 3 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Following camp, 23 players will […]

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Yale men’s hockey assistant coach Joe Howe has been selected to serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s Select Team.

The team will hold training camp from July 28-August 3 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Following camp, 23 players will be chosen to compete in the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, held August 11–16 in Brno, Czechia and Trencín, Slovakia.

This marks Howe’s second consecutive summer with USA Hockey. In 2024, he served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-17 team at the Five Nations Tournament in Pieštany, Slovakia.

Howe joined the Yale staff in July 2021 after three seasons at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He previously spent three years at the University of Denver as a volunteer assistant coach and director of hockey operations. During his tenure, the Pioneers captured the 2017 NCAA Division I National Championship and an NCHC regular-season title, while making two Frozen Four appearances and qualifying for three NCAA Tournaments.

A native of Plymouth, Mass., Howe was a four-year standout at Colorado College, where he appeared in 119 games and posted a 54-50-10 record, a 2.97 goals-against average, and a .905 save percentage. He ranked third all-time in career saves. After college, Howe played professionally in the ECHL, CHL, and AHL.

Read the full announcement from USA Hockey here.



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N.J. boys ice hockey final rankings, All-State & top honors, 1990-2000: HS historical project

Hudson Catholic’s Benett Shelly (#57) goes down after being hit by Bayonne’s Dave Bodson (#13 left) in the NJSIAA/New Jersey Devils Tournament of Champions final hockey game at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford.SL NJ Advance Media’s HS sports department is using some of its time over the summer to republish semi-recent postseason honors […]

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Bayonne's Dave Bodson, 2000
Hudson Catholic’s Benett Shelly (#57) goes down after being hit by Bayonne’s Dave Bodson (#13 left) in the NJSIAA/New Jersey Devils Tournament of Champions final hockey game at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford.SL

NJ Advance Media’s HS sports department is using some of its time over the summer to republish semi-recent postseason honors that, for a variety of reasons, had become largely inaccessible, even to us.

Please enjoy a look back at all the Star-Ledger’s boys ice hockey postseason honors as well as final rankings from 1990-2000.

Brian Bobal may be reached at bbobal@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @BrianBobal.

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Italy’s Lorenzo Bonicelli reportedly in medically-induced coma after fall on rings at World University Games

Photo courtesy of the Italian Gymnastics Federation. Italy’s Lorenzo Bonicelli was seriously injured after a fall on his rings dismount while competing at the 2025 FISU World University Games on Wednesday. As of publishing, he is reportedly in a medically-induced coma and the rest of the Italian team withdrew from the competition. The Italian Gymnastics […]

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Lorenzo Bonicelli on rings via the Italian Gymnastics Federation.Lorenzo Bonicelli on rings via the Italian Gymnastics Federation.

Photo courtesy of the Italian Gymnastics Federation.

Italy’s Lorenzo Bonicelli was seriously injured after a fall on his rings dismount while competing at the 2025 FISU World University Games on Wednesday. As of publishing, he is reportedly in a medically-induced coma and the rest of the Italian team withdrew from the competition.

The Italian Gymnastics Federation published a statement Wednesday. The translated version reads, “During the men’s artistic gymnastics team competition at the 32nd Summer Universiadiade in Essen, the blue Lorenzo Bonicelli came out badly from his exercise at the rings, in the third rotation, incurring an injury on the extent of which investigations are still underway. Immediately rescued by the medical team of the German organization and by the health managers of FISU and CUSI, the twenty-three-year-old from Lecco of the Ghislanzoni GAL was transported to the nearby university polyclinic. The technical staff following the GAM mission in Germany, given the understandable emotional involvement of the rest of the team, preferred to withdraw the team from the competition. While waiting for the official medical bulletins, the FGI is all tight to Lorenzo, wishing him a speedy recovery. Come on Bonni!”

Steve Butcher, a member of the International Gymnastics Federation’s Men’s Technical Committee, shared an additional update on Facebook on Thursday, stating, “Please keep Italian gymnast Lorenzo Bonicelli (age 23) in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers from a significant neck injury suffered on his Rings dismount at the World University Games. Several of you have asked me about his condition after seeing me judging as the Apparatus Supervisor on the Rings. Sorry I could not respond sooner without confirmation. Lorenzo is in a medically induced coma after surgery last night. It will take 10 or more days to know his condition. The entire gymnastics family is pulling for Lorenzo’s full recovery!” (via Kensley Behel/Neutral Deductions)

Bonicelli reportedly fell on his neck when attempting his triple back dismount off rings. He was carried off the field of play on a stretcher and transported to a nearby hospital.

Please join us in sending Lorenzo, his family, and the Italian Gymnastics Federation our thoughts and prayers during this time. We will update this story with any further details as they are released.



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Judge finds five former players not guilty of sexual assault in Hockey Canada trial

By Frank Pingue (Reuters) -Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior ice hockey team have been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room that year, a judge said on Thursday. The charges against Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart and Cal Foote stemmed from an encounter in […]

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By Frank Pingue

(Reuters) -Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior ice hockey team have been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room that year, a judge said on Thursday.

The charges against Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart and Cal Foote stemmed from an encounter in a hotel room in the Canadian city of London after a Hockey Canada gala to celebrate their world junior championship victory.

All five former National Hockey League players faced one count of sexual assault while McLeod faced an additional count of being a party to an offence. They all pleaded not guilty.

McLeod was also found not guilty of the additional charge.

According to CBC News, Justice Maria Carroccia told the courtroom that she did not find the complainant’s evidence to be “credible or reliable” and that the Crown failed to prove she did not consent to the sexual activity.

“Justice Carroccia’s carefully reasoned decision represents a resounding vindication for Mr. McLeod and for his co-defendants,” said McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey.

“Justice Carroccia found that the complainant’s testimony was uncredible and was unreliable.”

Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham told reporters they would “carefully review” Carroccia’s decision but did not have further comments as the case is still within the appeal period.

Hockey Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.

When the charges were announced in January 2024, McLeod and Foote were with the New Jersey Devils, Dube was with the Calgary Flames, Hart was with the Philadelphia Flyers while Formenton was playing in Switzerland.

The trial, which began in April and garnered national attention, faced many disruptions including a mistrial and two dismissed juries before Carroccia and the lawyers decided to proceed with a judge-alone trial.

A police investigation into the alleged incident was closed without charges in February 2019, but investigators reopened it in July 2022 in response to public outrage over reports that Hockey Canada used players’ registration fees to pay an undisclosed settlement to the woman who made the accusations.

The scandal prompted the Canadian federal government to freeze Hockey Canada’s funding for 10 months while a number of major companies either paused or canceled their sponsorships with the national governing body.

Amid the scandal, Hockey Canada said it would no longer use the fund financed by player registration fees to settle sexual assault claims, and the organization’s CEO and board of directors stepped down.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Nia Williams and Caroline Stauffer)



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WBRE/WYOU names ‘Here’s to You Kid’ winners

The 2025 Here’s to You Kid winners have been announced, meaning that two young people in our region will be receiving monetary support in recognition of their commitment to their community. In the past year, both students have been featured in a “Here’s to You Kid” segment on WBRE/WYOU, a media partner of the […]

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The 2025 Here’s to You Kid winners have been announced, meaning that two young people in our region will be receiving monetary support in recognition of their commitment to their community. In the past year, both students have been featured in a “Here’s to You Kid” segment on WBRE/WYOU, a media partner of the Times Leader.

This year’s winners are:

• Aaron Girvan, an 18-year-old student at Wyoming Valley West High School, will receive a scholarship of $1,000 to a higher education or trade school.

• Nolan Wurster, a 13-year-old student at C.E. McCall Middle School in Montoursville, will receive a $500 gift card for the purchase of books.

Mapping the ‘Old Yard’

In 2021, Aaron Girvan set out to become an Eagle Scout by properly mapping out the oldest section of Forty Fort Cemetery, aptly called the “Old Yard.” In old mapping records of the cemetery, the 1,096 gravesites that make up the Old Yard were indistinguishable from one another, making it a particularly difficult section to navigate.

Three years after beginning his project, Girvan’s work was completed. From the oldest graves — some dating back to the late 18th century — Girvan was able to salvage a clearer picture of Forty Forty Cemetery’s abundant history.

“I think it’s better that the cemetery get this type of attention,” Girvan said of the Here’s to You Kid recognition. “It’s a very interesting, very historic place in the area, and it really deserves community support and the respect that it should have as a historic site and an interesting place all around.”

Girvan can look back now on his role in mapping the Old Yard and see its future utility.

“My part was acting as a preserver of history, making sure that as much information about that cemetery is recorded in the now and can be used later on,” he said.

Aiding the firefighters

Nolan Wurster has been interested in firefighting since he was three years old. His parents initially thought the interest was a passing phase, but Nolan stayed intrigued by the intricacies of being a firefighter. As he got older, he began hanging out at the Montoursville Fire Department station and learning more.

In 2020, Nolan decided he wanted to donate his allowance and birthday money to the fire department. That began a tradition that continues to this day, in which Nolan and his family do a yearly fundraiser to help out those at the station.

“He doesn’t do this for [the attention],” Erica Wurster, Nolan’s mother, said of her son. “He had an idea and ran with it, and it stuck. It’s something that he loves to do.”

Over the years, Nolan has raised thousands of dollars for the Montoursville Fire Department through dinners, raffles and even an Easter egg hunt.

“He’s a very humble kid. He does good genuinely,” said Erica. “That is what he’s passionate about in life. He wants to be a firefighter.”



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