Showing posts with label Shore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shore. Show all posts
Denver Post: DU & UND Locked In NHL Arms Race
 |
| (above) DU Alum Drew Shore had two assists last night for the NHL Florida Panthers |
by Mike Chambers
The recent spike in former University of
Denver hockey players making it to the NHL has put another competitive
spin on the Pioneers' rivalry with North Dakota.
Combined, DU and
North Dakota have 18 alumni collecting NHL paychecks this season, a
massive number when you consider both schools are mid-majors, with an
undergraduate enrollment less than 12,000.
"It's a big reason
guys go to one of these two programs," said DU freshman Nolan Zajac,
brother of former North Dakota forward Travis Zajac of the New Jersey
Devils. "Everyone wants to go to the next level, and guys from Denver
and North Dakota do that often" [read entire article].
Drew Shore Scores First Career NHL Goal
University of Denver alum Drew Shore scored his first NHL goal last night after the puck bounced off the Washington Capitols goaltender three times, then off Shore's stick, then off another Washington player and into the net.
The goal put Florida up 5-3 in the third period, but Washington would
score two goals late to tie the game and would then win it in overtime.
Shore & Zucker Help AHL West All-Stars To Win
(above) DU alums Jason Zucker scored the first goal and Drew Shore scored the fourth goal for the AHL West All-Stars last night
DU alums Drew Shore & Jason Zucker each scored a goal and an assist to help the AHL West All-Stars to a 7-6 victory on Monday night in Providence, RI. DU alum Matt Donovan played for the East and recorded two shots on goal.
.
Ryan Hamilton's
goal with 11.2 seconds left in regulation capped a hat trick and gave
the Western Conference All-Stars the victory over the East.
Houston Aeros forward Justin Zucker opened the scoring for the West at 7:39 of the first for a 1-0 lead.
The West finished off the opening period with a 4-1 lead on Drew Shore's goal at 15:11.
News & Notes From Around PioNation
 |
| (above) Drew Shore #50 made his NHL debut last night in the Montreal Forum |
DU's mens basketball team will play tonight at New Mexico State on ESPN-U at 9 PM. It should be fun to see the team on national TV.
----------
DU alum Drew Shore made his NHL debut for the Florida Panthers last night in a 4-1 loss against Montreal. His parents David & Sarah, who are also DU alums, flew up to Montreal to watch the game. Drew was called up after Florida had a rash of injuries.
---------
The USNDP Under-18 team upset Michigan State 3-1 on Tuesday night in an exhibition game. DU recruits Will Butcher scored a goal and Gage Ausmus had an assist. Great to see DU recruits playing well against college level competition. Bodes well for next season.
---------
DU alum Tyler Bozak was incredible for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. He went 22-26 on faceoffs and played alongside Gopher alum Phil Kessell on Toronto's top line. Despite some late heroics the Maple Leafs lost 2-1.
----------
DU alum Patrick Wiercioch is off to a fast start for the Ottawa Senators in his first season in the NHL. He has two assists in his first two games this season. He played 8 games for the Senators last season.
----------
The University of Denver’s new library will be named for alumnus Ed Anderson following a major donation from the Boston-area venture capitalist and his wife, Linda Cabot. The library will be named Anderson Academic
Commons and slated to open March 25. The building has been rising on the site of the former Penrose Library.
4 DU Alums Selected For 2013 AHL All-Star Game
Beginning Friday and until Jan. 24, fans will have the opportunity to vote for the starting lineups for the 2013 AHL All-Star Game by visiting facebook.com/theahl and completing the official CCM AHL All-Star Fan Ballot.
DU 5 - Cornell 1 FINAL
 |
| (above) Quentin Shore scored two goals against Cornell |
DU jumped out to an early lead, scored three power play goals and once again received another stellar effort from the Juho Olkinuora in the nets.
DU received goals from Ty Loney, Shawn Ostrow, Nick Shore and Quentin Shore scored twice. David Makowski & Chris Knowlton had two assists each.
Scott Mayfield recieved a game misconduct for roughing & grabbing the facemask and was ejected with 5 seconds remaining in the game. Since he did not receive a game disqualification, he will be back in the lineup tomorrow night.
Quentin Shore Rumor Via Twitter Raises Red Flags
 |
| (above) Click to enlarge |
 |
| Quentin Shore |
If any DU player was interested in transferring to a major junior team, it would come as a mild surprise. But the Shore family is anchored to the University of Denver as can be. Quentin's older brother Drew attended DU and is the second leading scorer [5g,10a] for the AHL San Antonio Rampage this winter. Second eldest brother Nick is the leading scorer [6g,12a] for the Pioneers this season. Youngest brother Baker plays youth hockey and is on DU's recruiting radar. Finally both parents graduated from DU's Law School.
The University of Denver is on its annual academic Christmas Break [Thanksgiving to New Years] the timing is certainly right for a player looking to make the jump to Major Juniors. In the past DU defenesemen William Wrenn and T.J. Fast left DU after the academic Fall Quarter. However in both instances it was after DU had completed the first half of the season.
Could Quentin Shore have struggled academically in the Fall Quarter and decided that college wasn't for him? "Unlikely" said an unnamed source with knowledge of the Shore brothers and their family.
Possible Quentin Shore ties to the WHL Portland Winterhawks include star defenseman Seth Jones. Jones is the likely #1 or #2 overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. Shore & Jones were close friends on the USNDT for two years in Ann Arbor.
.
.
Quentin Shore is the 9th leading scorer [3g,4a] for the Pioneers this season and centers DU's third line. Although he is logging plenty of minutes this season, perhaps he is unhappy with DU's power player situation or minutes? DU has been rolling three D-men on the first unit all season, and after a torrid start, the first power play unit has been silent lately in addition to giving up three shorthanded goals in recent weeks.
Quentin Shore was not drafted by an NHL team last summer. Perhaps he feels he needs to crank up the stats and showcase his skills in the wide open Western Hockey League to raise his stock next summer in the 2013 NHL Draft.
Which brings us to Kennedy's Twitter Post last night. Its possible that Portland encouraged Seth Jones to reach out to Quentin to see if he was interested. Or its possible that the Shore family reached out to the Winterhawks to evaluate their options going forward. Either way, expect DU to quickly try and quell this rumor with the North Dakota series upcoming this weekend.
The longer questions remain unanswered, the higher the possibility that the rumor is true.
Shore Brothers Profiled In Several Articles
 |
| (above) Nick, Drew & Quentin Shore |
Two articles feature University of Denver hockey alum Drew Shore. AHL.com talks about Drew's transition to AHL Hockey this season with the San Antonio Rampage.
The other article on USA Hockey's Website is about the three Shore brothers and their journey from Denver to the USA National Development Program and then landing at the University of Denver.
College Hockey News Profiles David Makowski
 |
| (above) David Makowski has a new role on the Pioneers first power play unit this season |
From: College Hockey News
by Avash Kalra
Pioneers junior defenseman David Makowski has certainly, on more than
one occasion, been described as imposing as well, and thus far in the
2012-13 campaign – one which began with question marks after the early
departures of Drew Shore and Jason Zucker – Makowski and his fellow
defensemen have formed a front range at the Denver blueline that has
proven increasingly difficult for opponents to pass [read entire article].
Frozen Four To Be Played In Ty Loney's Backyard
 |
| (above) Ty Loney hopes to play in his hometown of Pittsburgh in April |
by Joe Sager
Heading into his sophomore year at the University of Denver, Ty Loney opted to stay in Colorado over the summer to work on his game.
If all goes as planned for the Pioneers, Loney will get to make up for some lost time at home in April.
That’s because the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four will take place at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. And, Denver, with 75 percent of its roster returning from last year’s NCAA Tournament qualifier, hopes for bigger and better things this season.
“I couldn’t really imagine anything like that; that’d be crazy,” Loney said. “Just making it to the tournament is a huge success. To play in the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh would be pretty unreal.”
The Pioneers, ranked No. 3 in the USA Today/U.S. Hockey Magazine poll, are hoping to pick up where they left off last year. Denver finished 25-14-4 and advanced to the WCHA championship game, where it dropped a 4-0 decision to North Dakota. The Pioneers advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals, but fell to eventual NCAA runner-up Ferris State, 2-1.
“It gives us a lot of confidence to be ranked that high and a lot of incentive to back it up and prove to everyone else what we can do,” Loney said. “We lost some pretty good players. I think we have a really strong team, especially with our sophomore class.
“Defensively, I think we’ll be very good. Most of the people are returning. Up front, we have some skilled guys coming in, and I think we’ll surprise some teams this year.”
Loney, a son of former Pittsburgh Penguins winger Troy Loney, hopes to continue his progression. He had 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) and had a plus-8 rating in 36 games for Denver last season.
“Starting off as a freshman, it was tough to fit in and find out what your role is. It’s pretty tough to battle your way into the lineup. I think that makes you better,” Ty Loney said.
“When (Jason) Zucker went away to play in the World Junior Championship, it gave me the opportunity to step up and play on a line with Drew (Shore) and (Luke) Salazar. We did pretty well together. I proved myself to my coaches.”
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right winger certainly made an impression. He began this season skating on the Pioneers’ top line.
“We have a really good group of forwards this year, and that’s just the way the coaches put them together,” Loney said. “We’ll see how everything works out. But I think we have a pretty good lineup up front no matter who is where.”
Loney focused on improving his game over the summer, which is why he stuck around in Denver to work out with many of his teammates.
“Staying in Denver really helped. I did a lot of strength training with a lot of the players at Denver. Everyone was pretty focused and had the right mindset. I wanted to become a better overall hockey player,” Loney said.
“I want to be a guy that can help out defensively, too. I’ll do anything I can to benefit the team. I really worked on all aspects of my game, especially speed. You can never have too much speed and that’s one area I need to improve.”
Loney wants to use his big frame to his advantage, too.
“I am more of a power forward. I see the ice pretty well and have some soft hands around the net,” he said. “When I was in the USHL, coaches saw me as more of a scorer. But I think I can be that guy in front of the net who can cause havoc and put the puck in the net whenever possible.
“This year, I want to make sure I leave everything out there on the ice every game and every shift, I want to be a 20- to 25-goal scorer and do whatever I can to help the team go as long as we can in the playoffs.”
Loney, who won a Penguins Cup Class AAA championship with Pine-Richland, played two seasons with the Youngstown Phantoms before attending Denver.
“I never really figured out how I picked Denver. It was one of the last schools I talked to,” he said. “When I came out here on my visit, the campus was unbelievable, and the weather is fantastic. Also, the tradition of a winning hockey team and having people go pro really topped it off.”
Loney, however, wouldn’t mind coming back to Pittsburgh, especially in April.
Drew Shore Aims To Make NHL Roster
From: Sun-Sentinal
by Harvey Flalkov
Drew Shore knew he wasn't in Denver anymore as he watched in awe as fellow Panthers prospect 6-foot-6 left wing Justin Vaive pile-drive volleyballs against their peers in an intense game on Fort Lauderdale beach on July 4th.
Despite his marine-like surname, Shore is far more comfortable on ice than sand. It showed at the University of Denver where the co-captain led the Pioneers in scoring in the past two seasons, compiling 45 goals and 99 points.
After his junior season the Denver native, a second-round pick by Florida in the 2009 draft, was rewarded with an entry-level contract at $1.1 million per year, which kicks in when he makes the parent club.
"I never played beach volleyball in my life. It was awesome. Justin just slammed it right over the net in everyone's faces,'' laughed the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Shore.
Sign up for sports text alerts.
Shore knows that the offensively-challenged Panthers will have 2-3 openings on the big club in September and although the front-runners are Jonathan Huberdeau and Quinton Howden, this former lacrosse standout isn't conceding anything.
"I think I'm ready for the next step, mentally and physically. I've got to get stronger and I'm putting an emphasis on that this summer,'' he said. "I'll come into camp, get my strength up and have a good shot to give my best effort."
Shore, 21, joined the San Antonio Rampage, Florida's AHL affiliate, in June for a sampling of professional hockey. In eight regular-season games, Shore had three points and was a plus-1. He added two goals in nine games in the playoffs.
"It's a lot different environment,'' Shore said. "I'm not playing against 21 year olds anymore, but playing with men. Scoring a couple of goals gave me confidence going into camp.''
Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon is a huge proponent of strong, physicals centers like Shore.
"He's a solid, two-way centerman who you could put out there in the last minute of periods,'' Tallon said Friday. "You could put him out there if you need a goal. He can kill penalties; he's a really smart player with good speed.
"He didn't look out of place in the AHL, so you never know. He'll come to camp and we'll go from there.''
After years of shoveling driveways and scraping windshields, Shore can get used to the South Florida lifestyle.
"We had a barbecue on the golf course,'' Shore said of a recent organizational bonding outing. "If I'm in San Antonio I'll give my best effort. That's not a bad place, but is definitely not the place you want to be.''
Drew Shore Signs Contract With Florida Panthers
"The Florida Panthers signed 21-year-old prospect Drew Shore to an entry-level contract Monday, three days after Shore's University of Denver team was eliminated in the NCAA hockey tournament. Heralded as one of the top prospects in the Panthers' organization, the American tallied 22 goals and 31 assists in 42 games for Denver in 2011-12. Shore, a second-round pick in 2009, bypassed his senior season and a chance at free agency to sign with the Panthers."According to Western College Hockey & various other outlets, Drew Shore signed a professional contract today with the Florida Panthers of the NHL.
From: Sun Sentinal
Shore scored 50 goals and had 68 assists in three seasons with the Pioneers. He led the team in scoring in both his Sophomore and Junior seasons and anchored a power play unit that improved markedly this season. He scored 12 game winning goals during his career at DU.
Shore's biggest contribution may have been blazing a trail for his brothers at DU. Nick has been a solid contributor in his first two seasons and Quentin will join the team this summer. Youngest brother Baker is waiting in the wings, but hasn't committed to a school yet.
Video: DU NCAA Playoff Press Conference
(above) Coach Gwozdecky, Dustin Jackson & Drew Shore field questions from the media
DU Presents Challenge For Michigan Tech
 |
| (above) Brett Olson leads Michigan Tech with 30 points |
by Stephan Anderson
Michigan Tech and No. 9 Denver, who face off Thursday, are both happy to be at the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five this week, but for different reasons.
"Once athletes and coaches experience it, they want to come back," Denver coach George Gwozdecky said in a teleconference Tuesday afternoon.
Tech wouldn't know.
None of the Huskies' coaching staff or players has ever participated in the Final Five, which will be held at the Xcel Energy Center Thursday through Saturday. Tech last reached the tournament in 2007, and lost 4-0 to Wisconsin in its first game.
"Obviously we haven't been here in a while, but we're happy to be here," Tech coach Mel Pearson said in the teleconference. "I don't think anybody predicted us to make it to St. Paul."
But the Huskies put all the pieces together at just the right time in sweeping Colorado College in the first round of the playoffs.
The team never returned to Houghton, instead opting to fly straight to the Twin Cities and re-acclimate to the NHL-sized ice, and get a feel for the 18,064-seat Xcel Energy Center.
Pearson knows a thing or two about the arena having coached the University of Michigan to a runner-up finish in last year's Frozen Four. Tech watched the Minnesota vs. Dallas NHL game Tuesday night and will conduct a short walk-through-style practice this afternoon at the arena.
"As much as you want to say it's just another game, it's obviously big, but we played well at Joe Louis Arena in the same type of atmosphere and venue in our holiday tournament," Pearson said Tuesday night. "We brought the team to the game tonight ... so the team won't be wowed when they come into the building for practice and Thursday's game."
As with most playoff teams, Tech's success will depend more on executing the game plan that got them to the tournament than adjusting to an opponent - especially since winning the Broadmoor Trophy would require beating three different teams in three days.
The first of those teams, Denver, represents a rematch of one of Tech's most memorable regular season weekends. The Huskies beat the Pioneers 7-2 on Oct. 28, 2011, the most goals Denver has allowed in a game all year. Granted, three of those goals were on an empty net, but Tech followed that up the following night with a 2-2 tie with the then-No. 2 Pioneers.
Of course Pearson knows Denver learned from that experience and the Pioneers have been a different team in the second half of the season.
Denver, which won its first-round series 2-1 over Wisconsin, compiled an 11-4-1 record in the 2012 portion of the regular season.
"They've really come on defensively ... and they've made their game a lot simpler," Pearson said. "It's a little different style than earlier in the season where they played a more up-tempo style."
DU goaltender Sam Brittain also returned from injury in the second half of the year and has earned a 7-3 record and .925 save percentage. The Pioneers have three goaltenders who have played in at least 10 games and have a save percentage greater than .900.
Offensively, Denver has relied heavily on Drew Shore (50 points), Jason Zucker (44 points) and Nick Shore (39 points). The Pioneers have two other players with 28 points or more. Tech only has two players with at least 28 points: Brett Olson and David Johnstone with 30.
"We have no superstars, but we're ... really the consummate team where everybody is working well and contributing," Pearson said in the teleconference. "We're starting to play our best hockey. ... Unfortunately (home ice) didn't turn out like we wanted, but playing CC really helped our team prepare for this weekend.
"(Thursday) we'll go with the same lineup from both games at CC. It was a winning combination and everybody played pretty well," he added.
Thursday's faceoff is slated for 1:07 p.m. MT, and if Tech wins, it would face Minnesota-Duluth at 3:07 p.m. Friday. If Tech beat UMD, it would play in the championship game at 8:07 p.m. Saturday.
DU 3 - Wisconsin 1 FINAL
The University of Denver scored three third period goals to defeat Wisconsin on Saturday night. DU had been shut out for five consecutive periods by the Badgers before exploding in the Third.
Early in the game, Drew Shore was given a game misconduct penalty and the Pioneers facing a do-or-die game without their leading scorer and Co-Captain for the final 50 minutes.
Nate Dewhurst gave DU a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes to play in the final stanza. It was a greasy goal with a scrum in front of the Wisconsin goalie.
Justin Schultz answered for the Badgers with a goal two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1.
The Goal Czar was set up with a beautiful pass from Jason Zucker to score the game-winning-goal with six minutes to play. Zucker's play was all the more remarkable since he had left the ice minutes before, limping noticeably after colliding awkwardly into the boards. After a visit to the locker room he reappeared and set up the game winner.
Nick Shore scored an empty netter with a minute left.
Nick Shore scored an empty netter with a minute left.
DU is now tied at #12 in the Pairwise Rankings. DU will play the deciding game on Sunday night at Magness Arena.
The Land Shark Named To WCHA All-Rookie Team
From: wcha.comFinns Up. University of Denver Goaltender Juho Olkinuora [Fr. 5-4-3, 2.32, .915] from Finland was named to the WCHA All-Rookie team on Thursday. Olkinuora had a sensational season and went from being a last minute emergency recruit to a force between the pipes in less than a year.
Defenseman Joey LaLeggia was named WCHA Rookie of the Year, WCHA First Team and named to the Rookie Team.
Drew Shore & Jason Zucker were named WCHA named to the Second Team.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)