Junior forward Chris VandeVelde, of Moorhead, recently said he is going to stay at North Dakota next season and not sign a pro contract. VandeVelde was the most likely Sioux player to bolt early, so the team apparently will not lose anybody early for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

VandeVelde is expected to be North Dakota’s top center.

Guess who the Sioux play first next season? The U. Gophers coach Don Lucia dropped a hint about that at the end of the season. He didn’t say whether the series was going to be in Grand Forks or Minneapolis. Last season, the Gophers played North Dakota only once, away, and got thumped twice in mid-January.

So, if I had to guess, the opening series will be at Mariucci. Not much more has to be said to build it up.

Lucia has repeatedly said he does not expect to lose anybody early either except, of course, Ryan Stoa, who signed with Colorado after his junior year (in athletic terms). He was a senior academically because he missed one season after early knee surgery and was granted a medical red-shirt.

ODDITIES

The Denver Pioneers appeared in the school’s ice show this weekend. They were on the ice with the school’s figure skaters. So if you see one of DU’s forwards do a piroutte before scoring, you will know where he learned the move.

Can you see Mike Hoeffel, Dave Fischer or one of the Gophers’ other big guys skating with figure skaters in an ice show? Might be amusing, I’d pay (a little) to see that.

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