Emptying the Notebook.....

• Inside College Hockey has a preseason Men's Hockey poll for the 2009-10 season, and the Gophers are #4. Is it too early to think of next season as a Gopher fan? Absolutely not!
• Roman has a good breakdown of the Gophers' schedule to start next season. It'll be tough, but hopefully will get the young team battle-tested early-on. Plus, it helps the PairWise!
• In the same piece, he has a bit about the Siouxies having new uniforms next season. We'll see new new ones for the 2010-11 campaign as well. Can "Flickertails" fit diagonally across the front of the jersey, similar to the "New York Rangers" style teams copy so often?
• One final shout-out to Roman here, but if Mike Hastings takes the Nebraska-Omaha job, does this mean Grant Potulny will be a full-time assistant next year? Hastings would be great for the UNO job, and having another Lucia assistant heading another WCHA program would be great (Bob Motzko at SCSU is the other; current Gopher assistant John Hill coached Alaska-Anchorage a few seasons ago). I'm fired up about UNO potentially joining the WCHA along with Bemidji State.
• This is awesome! I grew up listening to Ray Christensen, and I do a completely horrible impression. You could always sense the joy or pain in Ray's voice depending on how the game was going at a particular time. His call when Chip Lohmiller hit is field goal against second-ranked Michigan at the Big House in 1986 will always be with me. I was playing football at a friend's house that day, and my friend's dad came out with a radio as Lohmiller lined up for the field goal. It was a big moment for the program, and Ray made it infamous. His call when Dan Nystrom hit his field goal to beat second-ranked Penn State in 1999 was just as good. Listening to him break down while interviewing Glen Mason after upsetting Ohio State in 2000 made him seem human. I'm sorry that I won't be able to listen to it live - because I'll be at the game.
• New floor for the Barn next year. Pictures here.
• Congrats to Gopher Baseball Coach John Anderson on his 1,000th victory. All victories have come with the Gophers. It's amazing the success this program has had over the years, despite playing in a dump of a stadium.
• ESPN.com profile on Pierre McGuire, who is a finalist for the Wild GM spot. This hiring would be a disaster. He hasn't been part of a team for twelve years and his record before that was spotty - his tenure as Head Coach in Hartford resulted in a 23-37-7 record. Memo to owner Craig Leipold....make the safe pick and hire either Pittsburgh Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher or Anaheim Assistant GM David McNab.
• NHL Playoffs continue Thursday night with Carolina at Pittsburgh. For some reason, I like the Canes tonight.
• Amazing comeback by Orlando on Wednesday night to beat Cleveland in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals. The loss was Cleveland's first in the 2009 playoffs. Dwight Howard (30 points, 13 rebounds) and LeBron James (49 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists) have solid futures in the NBA, don't you think? It's nice to see them duking it out in the East while the West features Kobe and 'Melo. It's a lot easier to root for Howard and LBJ than those other two.