Catching Up

Stuff you've no doubt read elsewhere, but I'll mention/comment on just in case:

-Aaron Palushaj is gone. No shocker there, he signed with the Blues Thursday night. From the sound of it, the Blues didn't put a lot of pressure on him and let him pretty much make up his own mind. He wanted to leave, so he did. It's frustrating to see another star player bail, but it's not like this should have surprised anyone. I think we pretty much knew from the middle of his freshman year that he wasn't going to be a four-year guy. It would've been nice to get three out of him, but I wish him well at the next level and I have no doubts that he'll be another addition to the list of Wolverines in the NHL before too long.

-Speaking of additions to the list of Wolverines in the NHL, Al Montoya's NHL career has gotten off a pretty good start. He shut out the Avalanche in his first outing and then allowed just one goal in game #2, both wins for the Coyotes. He finally got properly inducted to the NHL in game #3 when the Kings scored 6 on 32 shots. Still, Montoya is giving the Coyotes something to think about for next season. It's nice to see him finally get his shot, and it was even nicer to hear the compliments paid to him after his second start.

-Chris Summers was officially named the captain of the 09-10 Wolverines. Cappy won team MVP and Summers was named Best Defenseman. Billy Sauer was named the Best Team Player, which was well-deserved. He handled this season like a champ.

-The Wolverine now has an official blog run by Ace from The Ace of Sports, which is no more. One of the first articles was an interview with Mike Spath about the 08-09 hockey season.

-Timmy Miller signed with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL. Travis Turnbull ended up with the Portland Pirates of the AHL, on a two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

-The Oakville Blades won Game 7 against the Wellington Dukes to advance to the OJHL Finals. Lindsay Sparks had an assist in the game to extend his scoring streak to 10 playoff games. They are taking on the Kingston Voyageurs and trail the series 2-0 after a 5-4 overtime loss and a 4-3 defeat. Sparks has been held off the scoresheet in both Finals games.

-Lee Moffie and the Waterloo Blackhawks will take on the USHL Regular Season Champion Green Bay Gamblers in the first round of the playoffs. The best of five series will begin in Green Bay on Thursday.

-The USA Under 18 Team is in Fargo for the World U18 Championships. Jack Campbell and Jon Merrill are on the roster as well. The Americans downed Germany 9-0 in their opening exhibition game. AJ Treais had a goal and Chris Brown had a goal and an assist.

USA won their other exhibition tilt 4-3 over Sweden. It was a pretty darn good night for future Wolverines. Chris Brown assisted on the first goal. AJ Treais assisted on the second goal. Kevin Lynch scored the third goal. Jon Merrill scored the fourth goal. Jack Campbell made 33 saves in the victory.