Two players expected to sign with the Gophers next week are playing with the U.S. junior select team in the 2008 World Junior A Challenge in Camrose, Alberta, which is a small town of 15,000 or so southeast of Edmonton.

Josh Birkholz of the Fargo Force, a USHL expansion team, had a goal and an assist as the U.S. team routed Russia 8-2 on Thursday. A nice win, considering the U.S. lost 5-2 to Germany on Tuesday.

Birkholz, a 6-1, 185-pound forward, made the score 4-0 with a power play goal. Teammate Seth Helgeson, a 6-3, 220-pound defensemen who plays for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, did not score but made the boxscore with a holding penalty in the third period.

The U.S. outshot the Russians 44-37. Goalie Mike Lee of Roseau made 35 stops. The U.S. team will play Canada East at 5 p.m. Saturday in the tournament semifinals.

Birkholz would have been a senior at Blake this season, but he opted to play for Fargo, presumably to improve his chances of joining the Gophers next season.

Helgeson, who played for Faribault H.S. as a sophomore when he committed to the U, is in his second season with Sioux City.

Birkholz, who turns 18 in March, has two goals and two assists in nine games for Fargo. Helgeson had two goals and three assists in eight games for Sioux City.

One of Birkholz’s teammates at Fargo is forward Nate Condon, a 6-0, 185-pound forward from Wausau West. He, too, could sign next week with the U. He is 6-0, 185. In eight USHL games, Condon, 18,  has four goals and one assist.

* Blake coach John Hamre said Birkholz is a skilled player who can play either center or wing. “He can play at a high speed,” Hamre said. “He can push the pace of the game.”

LATEST ON BUDISH

Edina forward Zach Budish said he expects to sign with the Gophers on Friday, but probably for will not join the team until the 2010-11 season.

He is having knee surgery Tuesday for a torn ACL. Gophers team doctor, Dr. Rob LaPrade, wrote in the latest edition of Let’s Play Hockey that players should not return to action for 4-1/2 to 5 months after such surgery.

If that is the case with Budish, he will miss his entire senior season with the Hornets, the Class 2A state runners-up last March.

The last time Gophers coach Don Lucia and Budish talked, which was a few weeks ago, Lucia suggested he play a season of junior hockey, Budish said.

“I’ll see how the rehab goes,” Budish said, “but that is fine. I know the Green Bay coach, Cooper. I’ve played the last two summers in tournaments with him. And I went there [to Green Bay] this summer for tryouts.”

WHERE TO SEE FOUR RECRUITS 

More than 12 future Division I hockey players, including four committed to Minnesota, will compete in the seventh annual NIKE/Bauer national invitational tournament starting today at New Hope Ice Arena.

Two Minnesota teams, made up of players from the Upper Midwest High School Elite League this fall, are entered as well as a team from Malmo, Sweden, two all-star teams from California, one from Michigan and Wisconsin, and Shattuck-St. Mary’s from Faribault, Minn.

Gophers recruits playing on one of the Minnesota teams are senior defenseman Nick Leddy of Eden Prairie, sophomore forward Nick Bjugstad of Blaine, junior forward Christian Isackson of St. Thomas Academy and junior defenseman Nate Schmidt of St. Cloud Cathedral.

Friday’s quarterfinal schedule:
5:15 p.m. Minnesota Red vs. LA Selects (North Rink)
5:45 p.m. Minnesota White vs. Team Wisconsin (South Rink)
7:45 p.m. Malmo Redhawks vs. San Jose Jr. Sharks (North Rink)
8:15 p.m. Shattuck-St. Mary’s vs. Team Michigan (South Rink)

Semifinals will be at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 9
Championship at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9.

(Teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play a consolation bracket on Saturday and Sunday.)

SWEDES GOING TO U GAME

The Swedish team in the tournament, the Malmo Redhawks,  wanted to see a Gophers hockey game, so organizers of the NIKE/Bauer did some scrambling and came up with about 45 tickets for the team, coaches, parents, etc. for Saturday’s game with New Hampshire.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.