While at home in Des Moines Ryan Walters has his sights set on St. Paul

DES MOINES – Four years removed from a starring role with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League, Rosemount, Minn. native Ryan Walters has returned to Des Moines to play for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League as a member of the Minnesota Wild organization.

The former University of Nebraska-Omaha star, and Hobey Baker Award candidate joins the Wild this season after playing 11 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL last year where he tallied three points (one goal, two assists) and a minus-7 rating.

“Well it’s always nice to play for your hometown,” Walters said. “All your friends go to the games and watch and they hear the news and they’re all excited for you and so it was a good feeling, and also since all summer I really didn’t know where I was going to end up, I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than to stay home and stay close and get things rolling.”

The 23-year-old forward said that having previously lived in Des Moines has made both the transition to the Wild and coming back to Des Moines easier.

“It only took me about 10 minutes to drive around and then all the streets started coming back to me and knowing my whereabouts and different landmarks and things like that,” Walters said. “And plus with my billet family down here it’s nice to see them and go out to dinner with them every once in a while, it just makes it a pretty good time I guess.

“It’s close to home which is really nice,” Walters said. “My parents, I know, enjoy coming to games so it should make for an easy trip for them, and just knowing the city and being here previously, it’s made the transition easier.”

The Wild played their first NHL game in 2000, but even before that Walters and his father got to go to the Xcel Energy Center during its construction where they met Gordie Howe and stood next to the Stanley Cup. Walters said he has been to “a handful of games” in St. Paul ever since.

Walters recalled a game when a friend and high school classmate, who was a family friend of former Minnesota Wild goaltender Dwayne Roloson, got tickets for them to go into the locker room after a game, meet some of the players and were shown around.

During the 2009-10 season, his third and final year with the Buccaneers, he finished second on the team in four stat categories: goals (21), assists (40), points (61) and penalty minutes (102).

At UNO, Walters showed strong progression between his freshman and junior years tallying 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) his freshman year and 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) his sophomore year before breaking out for 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) as a junior. Walters’ senior season, however, saw a decline in his production as he tallied just 34 points including just seven goals, the lowest season output of any of his four years as a Maverick.

“Ryan had a little bit of a tough year last year compared to being the returning leading scorer his senior year,” said Dean Blais, Walters’ coach at UNO. “So he was expecting All-American, Hobey Baker-type stats because he’s always been a goal scorer. Josh Archibald was our player last year that scored the big goals and signed with Pittsburgh, whereas Ryan got a little bit of a wakeup call for whatever reason.

“Obviously, he’s been a good hockey player and he’s had to prove it a little bit this year to get that contract with the Wild.”

Walters scored his first goal in an Iowa Wild sweater in a preseason game against the Chicago Wolves on Oct. 1 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, a game the Wild won 7-4.

Iowa Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst said Walters has had a “knack for scoring” so far this preseason.

“He’s got a nice touch with the puck, he’s a very intelligent player,” Kleinendorst said. “The one thing that we’ll have to find out, that we will find out as we move forward is the pace of the game and is he able to play the game with pace. Can he survive in a game that is fast and for the most part furious because he does a lot of things well.”

Kleinendorst said that the things Walters will have to work on are his strength and his skating, foot speed and quickness.

Despite his down year with UNO as a senior, Blais thinks Walters could get back to scoring big-time goals for the Iowa Wild and eventually find himself in a Minnesota Wild jersey.

“In juniors he led Des Moines (USHL) in scoring, he led us in scoring, so it doesn’t surprise me that he might make the Wild,” Blais said. “He might go to Iowa starting out but I think, as the year goes, he’s going to score big goals. He might be Iowa’s leading scorer and eventually end up in the [Minnesota] Wild jersey.”

Walters said it’s exciting to have the potential for his next step be to play for his hometown team, the team he went to watch play when he was a kid.

“Playing in front of your hometown fans, it’s something you always think about growing up as a kid,” Walters said. “It’s one of your goals and now that it’s actually here and could happen, it’s really nice.”

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Minnesotans Walters, Warner invited  by Wild to participate in Sept. 12-16 prospects tournament.

The Minnesota Wild announced today it will once again participate in the 2014 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., Sept. 12-16. Wild prospects, including Rosemount’s Ryan Walters (Nebraska-Omaha-NCHC) and Eden Prairie’s Hunter Warner (Waterloo/Fargo-USHL) will compete in the tournament’s Gordie Howe Division with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. The Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers will play in the Ted Lindsay Division.

Minnesota’s roster features a total of 12 Wild draft picks: G Alexandre Belanger (2013, 7th round), LW Raphael Bussieres (2012, 2nd round), C Reid Duke (2014, 6th round), D Matt Dumba (2012, 1st round), D Tanner Faith (2014, 5th round), RW Kurtis Gabriel (2013, 3rd round), C Tyler Graovac (2011, 7th round), G Johan Gustafsson (2010, 6th round), RW Pavel Jenys (2014, 7th round), D Dylan Labbe (2013, 4th round), C Chase Lang (2014, 6th round) and D Gustav Olofsson (2013, 2nd round) along with four free agents signed during the 2013-14 season: C Brady Brassart, D Christian Folin, D Guillaume Gelinas and RW Zack Mitchell. Iowa Wild Head Coach Kurt Kleinendorst and Assistant Coach Steve Poapst will lead the Wild prospects.

Click on image for expanded view of Wild’s Traverse City roster.

2014 MINNESOTA WILD PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE*

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

2:30 p.m. Minnesota vs. Columbus
3:00 p.m. Buffalo vs. Carolina
6:00 p.m. New York Rangers vs. Dallas
6:30 p.m. Detroit vs. St. Louis

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

2:30 p.m. Carolina vs. Dallas
3:00 p.m. Minnesota vs. St. Louis
6:00 p.m. Buffalo vs. New York Rangers
6:30 p.m. Detroit vs. Columbus

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

2:00 p.m. Dallas vs. Buffalo
2:30 p.m. Columbus vs. St. Louis
5:30 p.m. New York Rangers vs. Carolina
6:00 p.m. Minnesota vs. Detroit

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

2:00 p.m. Seventh Place Game (4th Howe vs. 4th Lindsay)
2:30 p.m. Fifth Place Game (3rd Howe vs. 3rd Lindsay)
5:30 p.m. Third Place Game (2nd Howe vs. 2nd Lindsay)
6:00 p.m. Championship Game (1st Howe vs. 1st Lindsay)

* All times listed are Central

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Bemidji State’s Jordan George reached the 50 career goal milestone against Colorado College (Photo: Bemidji State University Athletics)

Jordan George’s goal last Friday night was not only the first of the season for the senior, it also stood as the 50th of his career … He is the 25th player in Beaver hockey history to net 50 goals and the fourth in BSU’s Division 1-era (since 1999-2000) … George is the only current NCAA Division I men’s hockey player to have scored 50 collegiate goals … The Beavers now return home to Sanford Center for the first time since Oct. 20 to host Michigan Tech Nov. 16-17 … The Beavers own a 5-2-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Huskies, which includes a perfect 4-0-0 mark when playing MTU in Bemidji.

Minnesota

The Gophers’ power-play is the third most successful in the country at .286 (12-for-42) – a stat that also a leads the WCHA … The Gophers have now tallied nine power-play goals in the last four games on 22 opportunities for a whopping 41 percent success rate but the Gophers have scored just three even-strength goals during that span … 12 of Minnesota’s 31 overall goals–or 39 percent–have come on the power play. Only Minnesota Duluth’s 53 percent (10 of 19) ranks higher … The Gophers rank second in the WCHA and eighth in the nation in scoring defense with just 18 goals against in nine games (2.00) – Denver leads the league at 1.88 goals against per game … Goaltender Adam Wilcox’s 1.58 goals-against average leads the WCHA and ranks fifth overall in the nation … the rookie’s .786 winning percentage (5-1-1 record) also is the best in the WCHA and the eighth highest percentage in the NCAA this season … Minnesota continues the season this weekend, hosting Wisconsin for a two-game WCHA series at Mariucci Arena … the Gophers are 155-86-20 all-time against the Badgers and 90-27-7 at home.

Minnesota-Duluth

The Bulldogs, who are mired in a five-game winless funk at the moment (0-4-1), will be seeking to notch their first WCHA win of the young 2012-13 season in Grand Forks … Senior right winger Mike Seidel, who has picked up at least one point in seven of UMD’s eight games to date (the exception was a 2-0 shutout loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 26), leads the Bulldogs in scoring with five goals and four assists … Four of his five goals this season have come on the power-play and those four scores are unsurpassed by any NCAA skater at the moment … Rookie center Tony Cameranesi figured in on all four UMD goals in Omaha, scoring once and adding three assists to improve his 2012-13 offensive harvest to seven points … That puts the Plymouth, Minn., product and Toronto Maple Leaf (NHL) draftee third among all WCHA newcomers in scoring … The Bulldogs are the nation’s most penalized team at the moment, averaging 19 minutes of infraction time per outing.

Minnesota State

Sophomore forward Jean-Paul Lafontaine, who has not missed a game in his two-year MSU career, upped his season totals to 3-5=8 with his two-goal, two-assist output in MSU’s two games vs. third-rated Denver last weekend … A member of the 2011-12 WCHA All-Rookie Team, Lafontaine has moved into second place on MSU’s scoring charts, he owns 16-20=36 in 48 career games and is currently riding a four-game point scoring streak (3-4=7) … Sophomore forward Matt Leitner (1-9=10), who led the Mavericks in scoring last year, stands atop MSU scoring charts this year and also leads the Mavericks in assists … In the last three consecutive weeks, Minnesota State has faced three ranked opponents in #15 St. Cloud State, #2 Minnesota and #3 Denver … The Mavericks are outshooting opponents 346-272 in 2012-13.

St. Cloud State

SCSU’s Joe Rehkamp had three assists on Saturday (Photo: St. Cloud State University Athletics)

Junior Nic Dowd and senior Drew LeBlanc ranked second among Division 1 players this season with 14 points apiece … Dowd leads the Huskies with six goals this season and he also has eight helpers in 2012-13 … LeBlanc charted two goals and one assist in the SCSU win over UND to up his season totals to five goals and nine assists … LeBlanc now has 111 career points at SCSU ranking him 17th all-time at SCSU along with former Husky standouts Fred Knipscheer and Tony Gruba … Sophomore forward Joe Rehkamp broke into the SCSU scoring column on Nov. 10 with a career game-high three assists … The Huskies are outscoring their opponents 36-25 in 2012-13, and they are also out­shooting their opponents 304-277 after the first 10 games of the year …  SCSU freshman Jonny Brodzinski got back on the scoresheet with his second goal of the 2012-13 season on Nov. 10 against UND … Brodzinski now has two goals and two assists for the Huskies in his first year at SCSU.

Beyond the Border Scorers

Ryan Walters – Nebraska Omaha (junior, forward, Rosemount, Minn.) – Walters led the Mavericks with five points (2 goals, assists) in UNO’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth and his 11 points (3-8–11) overall now leads all Nebraska Omaha scorers this season. In addition, Walters had a +3 plus/minus rating for the series.

Archie Skalbeck – Colorado College (junior, forward, Hopkins, Minn.) – Skalbeck had two assists in each game of a CC’s sweep of Bemidji State last weekend including the primary assist both game winners. With his goal against Wisconsin on Nov. 3, Skalbeck now has had a hand in three consecutive game-winning goals for the Tigers.

Connecticut’s Sean Ambrosie (Photo: University of Connecticut Athletics)

Sean Ambrosie – Connecticut (senior, foward, Moorhead, Minn.) – Ambrosie scored the game-winning goal at the start of the third period and assisted on the game-tying goal on the power play to lead the Huskies to a 3-1 win at Merrimack on Saturday.

Josh Archibald – Nebraska Omaha (sophomore, forward, Brainerd, MInn.) – Archibald’s primary assist on Saturday’s game-winning goal was one of his three points (1-2–3) in the series for UNO. His nine points (6-3–9) overall have him tied for third on the team in scoring.

Niagara’s Isaac Kohls (Photo: Niagara University Athletics)

Isaac Kohls – Niagara (sophomore, forward, Forest Lake, Minn.) – Kohls led the offense for the Niagara men’s hockey team with a four-point weekend in a sweep of the Army Black Knights to remain undefeated in AHA play.  Kohls helped the Purple Eagles extend their unbeaten streak to seven games with a goal and three assists in two contests.

Heading to the polls …

Minnesota and St. Cloud State are the only Minnesota teams ranked this week in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll as the Gophers drop one spot to N0. 3 in swapping positions with Denver who is second only to Boston College which received all 50 first-place votes this week. St. Cloud State maintains its hold on No. 15 while  North Dakota (6), Colorado College (14) and Nebraska Omaha (18) are tho other ranked WCHA teams. Last week’s No. 20, Minnesota-Duluth, dropped out of this week’s poll.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – November 12, 2012

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Erik Haula’s goal salvaged a tie and a three-point weekend for Minnesota at Anchorage on Saturday night. (Photo: Sam Wasson/UAA Athletics)

No. 3 Denver (7-1-0, 5-1-0 WCHA) at Minnesota State (3-5-2, 1-5-0 WCHA)

Friday: DU 4  MSU 3
Saturday: DU 3  MSU 2

The Pioneers chased MSU starting goaltender Phil Cook in building a 3-0 lead in the first 23:28 on Friday night in Mankato. But goals by Jean-Paul Lafontaine and Eriah Hayes late in the second period closed the gap to one heading into the third. The Mavericks could not bury the equalizer, however, and Daniel Doremus score the eventual game winner for Denver with 6:17 remaining in the third. Lafontaine’s second goal of the game at 18:09 with the MSU net empty restored the one-goal margin, but that is as close as the Mavericks would come

Denver’s Chris Knowlton scored twice on Saturday, including the game winner with 3:12 to play and the Pioneers left Mankato four points richer with a series sweep. For the second straight night, Minnesota State dug itself a hole and trailed 2-0 midway through the first on goals by Knowlton and Doremus. But Hayes trimmed the deficit to one at 15:07 of the opening period and Josh Nelson tied it 2:42 into the third.

No. 6 North Dakota (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) at No. 15 St. Cloud State (6-4-0, 4-2-0 WCHA)

Friday: UND 3  SCSU 0
Saturday: SCSU 5  UND 2

North Dakota goaltender Clarke Saunders made 32 saves to shut out St. Cloud State 3-0 on Friday night in St. Cloud. UND’s Brendan O’Donnell scored the only goal his team would need just 48 seconds into the contest while Carter Rowney and Mark MacMillan added goals in the second and third periods, respectively.

Drew LeBlanc scored twice to lead the Huskies over North Dakota on Saturday to split the series. (Photo: WCHA.com)

After falling behind North Dakota in the opening period for the second straight night, the Huskies bounced back this time for a resounding 5-2 win on Saturday night. Drew LeBlanc scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist while SCSU goalie Ryan Faragher made 22 saves for the win. UND’s Drake Caggiula got UND on the board first at 11:18 of the first but Jonny Brodzinski answered with his second goal of the season just 1:01 later. LeBlanc scored twice in the first 12:23 of the second period, the first courtesy of one of Joe Rehkamp‘s three assists on the night, to give the Huskies the lead for good.

Bemidji State (2-3-1, 1-2-1 WCHA) at No. 19 Colorado College (7-3-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) at 

Friday: CC 3  BSU 2
Sunday: CC 6  BSU 3

Rylan Schwartz‘s goal at 16:19 of the second period, one of his two on the night, proved to be the difference in Colorado College’s one-goal win over Bemidji State on Friday night in Colorado Springs. The teams traded goals in a 2-2 first period as the Beavers erased two CC leads on goals by Jordan George and Danny Mattson, the first goals of the season for each. Archie Skalbeck assisted on both of Schwartz’s goals.

Behind two goals and two assists by William Rapuzzi, the Tigers completed a series sweep of BSU on Saturday. Both of Rapuzzi’s goals–including the game winner at 5:17–came in a third period which began with CC clinging to a 3-2 lead. Markus Gerbrandt scored to pull the Beavers within two at 18:32, but that’s as close as BSU would get. Cory Ward and Aaron McLeod also scored for Bemidji State while CC’s Skalbeck (two assists) and Schwartz (three assists) capped off big weekends on Saturday.

No. 2 Minnesota (6-2-1, 3-2-1 WCHA) at Alaska-Anchorage (2-3-3, 0-2-2 WCHA)

Friday: UM 4  UAA 0
Saturday: UM 2  UAA 2

Kyle Rau scored twice while Nick Bjugstad and Ben Marshall each scored a goal for Minnesota on Friday night in Anchorage. Minnesota continued its trend of reliance on the power play for its offense as the Gophers scored four times with the man advantage and Adam Wilcox stopped 14 Seawolves’ shots to post the shutout.

Erik Haula scored Minnesota’s only even-strength goal of the series at 13:31 of the third period on Saturday allowing the Gophers to escape Anchorage with a tie and three of four points on the weekend. The Gophers and Seawolves traded first-period goals and they remained knotted at 1-1 at the second intermission. But Alex Gellert gave UAA its only lead of the series at 5:38 of the third setting the stage for Haula’s big goal.

Minnesota-Duluth (2-5-1, 0-3-1 WCHA) at Nebraska Omaha (6-3-1, 4-1-1 WCHA)

Saturday: UNO 3  UMD 2
Sunday: UNO 6  UMD 3

Mike Seidel and Tony Cameranisi each scored late in the first period to pull the Bulldogs even with UNO at 2-2 after an early two-goal deficit. But the scoring dried up from there until Michael Young‘s goal at 12:12 of the third period lifted the Mavericks over UMD on Saturday night in Omaha. Josh Archibald and Ryan Walters also scored for UNO while Wade Bergman had two assists for the Bulldogs.

Dominic Zombo scored twice and Walters added a goal and an assist as the Mavericks completed a sweep of Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday afternoon. UNO goaltender John Faulkner made 31 saves in raising his record to 6-0-1 overall. Seidel and Joe Basaraba scored first period goals for the Bulldogs as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie after one period as they had the night before. But the Mavericks scored twice in the final 1:14 of the second period, including Zombo’s second of the game with 9.1 seconds left which would hold up as the game winner.

The post WCHA men’s weekend recap appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Dylan Margonari’s goal lifted Minnesota State over No. 2 Minnesota on Saturday (Photo: Minnesota State University Athletics)

No. 2 Minnesota (5-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) vs./at Minnesota State (3-3-2, 1-3-0 WCHA)

Friday: UM 3  MSU 2
Saturday: MSU 5  UM 3

Minnesota State led in each of the first two periods on Friday on goals by Zach Palmquist and Teddy Blueger but the No. 2 Gophers battled back to tie each time on power-play goals by Travis Boyd and Nate Schmidt. Zach Budish added a third PP goal at 5:40 of the final period and a great effort by Mavericks goaltender Phil Cook (29 saves) went for naught in a 3-2 Minnesota win. Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox earned his fourth win of the season with 23 saves.

The teams traveled to Mankato for Saturday’s rematch and Dylan Margonari provided the evening’s heroics. The MSU freshman forward’s goal at 16:19 of the final period gave the Mavericks a 4-3 lead on their way to a 5-3 win. Minnesota State’s goal scoring was spread among five players with 10 registering MSU’s 11 total points. Cook was strong again with 25 saves to pick up his third win of the year while Wilcox made 30 saves in his first loss. Erik Haula had a goal and two assist while Nate Condon added a goal and an assist for Minnesota.

No. 18 St. Cloud State (5-3-0, 3-1-0 WCHA) at No. 5 Denver (5-1-0, 3-1-0 WCHA)

Friday: SCSU 3  DU 0
Saturday: DU 6  SCSU 1

St. Cloud State forwards Nic Dowd and Kalle Kossila continued their hot starts and Ryan Faragher made 28 saves to shut out the nation’s highest scoring offense on Friday night in Denver. Dowd scored his fifth and sixth goals of the year and Kosilla his fourth as No. 18 SCSU handed No. 3 Denver its first loss of the season.

The Pioneers bounced back on Saturday, however, behind senior forward Chris Knowlton‘s hat trick and assist to snap the Huskies’ winning streak at five games. Cory Thorson scored  St. Cloud State’s lone goal against DU goalie Juho Olkinuora (20 saves) while Faragher (11 saves on 14 shots) was replaced by freshman Rasmus Reijola (16-19) just 1:03 into the second period after David Makowski‘s goal gave Denver a 3-1 lead.

Colorado College (5-3-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) at Wisconsin (1-4-1, 1-2-1 WCHA)

Friday: CC 5  UW 4 (OT)
Sunday: CC 3  UW 0

On a night in which Wisconsin honored legendary CC and UW coach, Bob Johnson, with a pregame ceremony dedicating the Kohl Center ice to “Badger Bob’s” memory, the Tigers spoiled the party with a 5-4 victory on an Alexander Krushelnyski goal just 25 second into overtime. Friday night’s winner was set up, ironically, by Edina’s Charlie Taft whose father, John Taft, played for Johnson and the Badgers in the 1970’s. CC’s Eamonn McDermott contributed 3 assists to the cause.

Plymouth’s Joe Howe shut out Wisconsin on Saturday to complete a sweep of the Badgers in Madison. (Photo: WCHA.com)

Former Hopkins forward Archie Skalbeck‘s fourth goal of the season at 1:58 of the second period held up as the game winner on Saturday night when Plymouth’s Joe Howe shut out the Badgers on 33 saves to raise his record to 2-0-0 on the season. Krushelnyski scored for the second straight night and McDermott added his fourth assist of the series. To make matters worse for the Badgers, star forward Mark Zengerle was lost in the second period to what UW coach Mike Eaves confirmed was a broken finger.

Nebraska Omaha (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (2-6-0, 1-5-0 WCHA)

Friday: UNO 2  MTU 1
Saturday: UNO 5  MTU 3

Nebraska Omaha’s Zahn Raubenheimer scored twice, including the dramatic winning goal at 18:50 of the third period, to lead the Mavericks over the Huskies in Houghton, Mich. on Friday night. After Raubenheimer put UNO on the board at 5:38 of the second, MTU’s Tanner Kero tied just under 10 minutes later setting up Raubenheimer’s late-game heroics.

Raubenheimer haunted Michigan Tech again on Saturday scoring two more goals, including  his second consecutive game winner, as the Mavericks completed the road sweep of MTU. Brainerd’s Josh Archibald also scored twice and Rosemount’s Ryan Walters had a goal and a pair of assists for Nebraska Omaha. UNO goaltender John Faulkner followed up Friday night’s 21-save performance with 24 more to raise his record to 4-0-1.

No. 12 Boston University (4-2-0, 3-1-0 HE) at No. 5 North Dakota (3-2-1, 1-0-1 WCHA)

Friday: UND 4  BU 2
Saturday: BU 4  UND 2

Edina’s Connor Gaarder scored a hat trick and Rocco Grimaldi added a goal and an assist to lead North Dakota to a non-conference win over Boston University in Grand Forks on Friday night. Clarke Saunders made 20 saves in the victory for UND.

The Terriers returned the favor on Saturday by an identical 4-2 score to earn a split on the road. BU’s scoring came from four different players including Danny O’Regan who added an assist. Eden Prairie’s Danny Kristo and Stephane Pattyn scored UND’s goals and goalie Zane Gothberg of Thief River Falls made 29 saves in the loss.

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