It didn’t take Kyle Turris long to turn pro. A few hours after losing an overtime game to UND in the Midwest Regional championship, Turris signed with the Phoenix Coyotes.

He is the second one-and-done player for the Wisconsin, joining defenseman Ryan Suter.

Also, Mankato forward Jon Kalinski signed with Philadelphia, giving up his final year of college eligibility. Kalinski was a key player for the Mavs the last three seasons and a force on the penalty kill.

Duluth News Tribune writer Kevin Pates has been reporting that defenseman Jason Garrison is going to turn pro. Garrison is being courted by several teams, most notably the Florida Panthers.

It’s time to start the early departures list. Every year there are a handful of guys like Turris who you know are going to turn pro. But there are also those fringe guys who could go either way. It seems that there are a lot of those fringe guys this year.

Personally, I hope they see what a few Sioux players did last summer and decide that’s a good idea. It would be fun to see some of these high-end players for a few more years. Maybe it will help scoring go back up. On to the list….

Early departures in the WCHA

Wisconsin (1)
Kyle Turris, freshman

Mankato (1)
Jon Kalinski, junior

Michigan Tech (1)
Michael-Lee Teslak, junior

Once again, the Frozen Four field was left waiting. UND and a WCHA rival played an overtime game in the last regional championship.

Last year it was Minnesota. This year it was Wisconsin. Not-so-pretty goals won both for UND.

Here are your recap articles from the Herald:

Game story: Four-ward March

Sidebar: Taped messages on furniture hit home for Sioux

Notebook: Hodge-podge of items from the Midwest Regional

Photo gallery

Next up is Boston College (imagine that). That will be the 5 p.m. game a week from Thursday. Notre Dame and Michigan will play at 8 p.m.

Before we start breaking down that matchup for the next two weeks, we’ll take a look back on the last day of the NCAA regionals. Here are your highlights and lowlights.

Highlight: UND’s Hobey boys – again. For the second straight game, they came up huge. Phil Lamoureux (finalist) surely solidified himself as a Hobey Hat Trick guy (which will be announced Wednesday) with his performance this weekend. Not only does he lead the country in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts — he came up huge for his team when it needed him most. Ryan Duncan (winner) scored the game-tying goal, his fourth of the weekend, with a big-time shot. And T.J. Oshie (finalist) had two more assists for a four-point weekend.

Lowlight: Attendance in Madison. More than a third of the building was empty. There were 9,816 of a 15,237 building. How in the world does this happen with a Frozen Four berth on the line in the hometown?

Highlight: Andrew Kozek’s game-winning goal. Another SportsCenter play of the day. This one is No. 5, though.

Lowlight: UND’s start. The Sioux looked a little lethargic for the first five periods of the weekend.

Highlight: Michael Davies. He didn’t tally a point on Sunday but was very good. He had six shots on goal and became the first person that I remember to skate around Chay Genoway this season.

Highlight: Thief River Falls’ Aaron Bendickson was 7-1 on draws.

Lowlight: ESPNU. Great game. Too bad that many in North Dakota couldn’t watch.

Highlight: Blog readers. Thanks for updating the score in the comments section. I’m sure there were many who appreciated it.

Highlight: I don’t have to drive back home.

Lowlight: I have to leave for the airport in an hour and a half.

UND’s school-record 18-game winning streak started on Jan. 5. On that day, the Sioux coaches moved Matt Watkins, Chris VandeVelde and Rylan Kaip together on a hard-to-play-against second line.

Those three stayed together the rest of the season, with the exception of a game in Mankato in which Kaip served a one-game suspension for fighting.

But Dave Hakstol, Cary Eades and Dane Jackson decided to split up the trio after two periods against the Wisconsin Badgers and the change paid off big time.

The staff changed up the top three lines.

They moved Andrew Kozek back up to the top line, where he played for a while during the winning streak. Kozek played left with, T.J. Oshie center and Ryan Duncan moved to right wing. That combo ended up scoring both the game-tying and game-winning goals. Brad Miller had started on that line.

Hakstol also altered the second line, moving Matt Frattin to the unit with Kaip and Watkins. Those three hadn’t played together since a Dec. 8 loss to Minnesota. But they produced the first goal of the game to turn the tide.

VandeVelde centered the third line, which saw considerable ice time.

I’m not sure when they stopped playing the fourth line, but the staff definitely went to just three lines in the third period.

They were some interesting moves — especially switching up that second line that had been such a staple. But the staff pushed the right buttons, even though Hakstol didn’t want to admit it after the game. Instead, he credited the players for getting the job done.

There’s no doubt that the coaching moves deserve credit, too.

Since the game was on ESPNU, I know some of you probably didn’t get a chance to see it. So here are the highlights you missed. Thanks to spedman471, whose YouTube work I’m stealing.

Rylan Kaip’s goal:

Ryan Duncan’s goal:

Andrew Kozek’s game-winning goal:

Postgame quotes from tonight’s UND-Wisconsin game.

Dave Hakstol’s opening statement: "Wisconsin has been out for two weeks here, and the obviously did a tremendous job of preparing and being ready to play for this regional tournament, so congratulations to them.

"Collectively as a group of 25 players, what a tremendous performance to overcome all types of adversity through the first couple periods tonight, as they’ve done all year. They stuck together, believed in one another and found a way to get the job done tonight. That comes from the leadership, from our captains and all 25 guys."

Hakstol on pinpointing the defining moment on the road to the Frozen Four: "There’s not one defining moment. I’ve heard a lot of questions with our hockey team about our first half, some inconsistencies, some ups and downs through the first half. When you start with good players, a whole bunch of good people in the locker room and the attitude and work ethic that this group of 25 guys has, you have a chance of success. We saw the work ethic right from when the guys showed up this fall from summer, so there isn’t one defining moment. This team has been developing and building throughout the year."

Hakstol on playing Boston College: "We’ll turn our focus to them as soon as we get back to Grand Forks tomorrow and the next day. It’s going to be a heck of a game. It’s one we’re going to prepare really hard for. They got us last year, and obviously that’s something that sticks with you. We’re going to prepare hard and we’re going to go in there and play hard. The best team is going to win on that particular night."

Ryan Duncan on UND scoring two goals in 47 seconds: "Wisconsin outplayed us in the first two periods. We kind of got a little momentum off our power play at the start of the third and then our captain, our leader, Rylan Kaip, has been outstanding all year, but he doesn’t get all the accolades and stuff some of the guys do on our team. He made an outstanding play. They had been doing a great job blocking shots all night and I just tried to get my shot through the net."

Andrew Kozek on his overtime goal: "I saw the puck laying there at the hash mark and I took a whack at it. I heard someone say that it skipped off the ice. I wasn’t trying to put it anywhere. It was just fortunate that it went in for us."

Phil Lamoureux on the team’s attitude after the second period: "As a whole, you just have to regroup. I think certainly Wisconsin got a lucky break on that second goal at the end of the second period. It could have been demoralizing for the team to give up a goal and a two-goal lead going into the third period on top of that. But we regrouped collectively. It’s a position we’ve been in before this year and our big-time leaders stepped up and made big plays for us. We have a quiet confidence in our dressing room. We’re comfortable in these situations and the bottom line is that you have to go out and execute plays."

Lamoureux on his save on Michael Davies’ breakaway: "I feel comfortable poke-checking. Being a smaller guy, I try to be aggressive when I can. I saw as he was coming down the slot, he put his head down for a minute and he, being a right-handed shot, I was able to cut off his ice and try to force him to make a good shot. If he could put it upstairs from where he was, or go bar-down, you have to tip your hat to the guy. Coming in on a breakaway with speed, it’s a difficult play. I was confident in my decision making and fortunate that I made the save.

Chris VandeVelde’s overview: "Coming out today, we didn’t start off too hot. It was just an amazing team win. We struggled but we played through it and got a win. That’s what counts."

VandeVelde on the team’s attitude after two periods: "The second intermission, we just came together. A bunch of guys were saying ‘we gotta believe, we gotta believe. We just got to outwork them and play our game.’ And that’s what we did."

VandeVelde on his reaction upon seeing the goal go in: "It was unbelievable. People were just yelling. There’s nothing better than that feeling. It’s just a huge rush and an unbelievable feeling."

VandeVelde on how much the comeback win over Denver helped in this game: "It showed what we have to do to comeback. You never want to be in that situation. It happens. There are times you don’t play good. Maybe for one period you can play good and get a win, so it definitely did help."

VandeVelde on the matchup with BC: "I heard they came back just like we did. It’s good for them and congratulate them. It’ll be a battle just like it is every year."

Oshie on returning to the Frozen Four: "This time, it’s all business. We haven’t taken advantage of our chances before. We have to bear down and realize what we have in front of us."

Oshie on the atmosphere: "Their crowd was phenomenal. It wasn’t a sellout, but they were really giving it to us. The other team was feeding off of that. But we battled back and it feels good to do it again."

Oshie on the matchup with BC: We’ve been working hard, we’ve been kind of waiting for this all year — a chance to kind of redeem what we did last year and the year before that. I’m excited for the challenge, I’m excited for the opportunity. And I’m going to do everything I can in the next two weeks to take full advantage of it."

*****

Mike Eaves’ opening statement: "It’s kind if ironic, paradoxical tonight. Last night we were very excited and I think it stings a little bit more tonight because we were so close. We got off to the start that we wanted, had a 2-0 lead and hit about four posts. We couldn’t get that next goal that maybe would have given us a little bit more of a spread that would have been harder to come back from. Being a veteran team, North Dakota stayed on it, stayed on it and got themselves back in the game. We couldn’t quite find the answer physically with energy at the end. Maybe they wore us down, I’m not sure. But their veteran guys played well at the end and got the job done."

Eaves on Shane Connelly’s performance: "We talked about three keys going into this weekend in order to win the playoffs. Your goaltending has to be good, and your special teams and your beginning, as I said in the opening comment. I thought all three were there. I thought that Shane did a nice job for us, the power play was basically two for three tonight and the penalty killed off all of (UND’s) power plays. In the end, they got to some loose pucks and they put the puck in the net. As far as our goaltending, I thought Shane was very solid for us."

Eaves on expectations and emotions: "I think there are both sides here. I think as Bo Ryan talked about, when you lose and you’re so close, it stings. It stings deeply. And one of the things we talked about after the game is that you’ve got to use that for next year. The guys that are returning here, when they get tired this summer, they’ve got to take what they heard at the end of this game and use that to motivate themselves to get more conditioned, stronger, so that they build that will. When you get to moments like this it’s our will versus theirs. And in the end, their veteran guys showed their will. They weren’t going to settle for anything. And they didn’t. They got the job done. Unfortunately, we didn’t."

Wisconsin captain Davis Drewiske on giving up two goals in less than a minute: "It’s tough. They’re obviously a very good team and you expect some kind of push from them like that. We still had confidence in what we were doing and we settled in there a little bit after they got those two quick goals, so it felt like we were going to pull through."

Drewiske on the team’s performance: "I thought we were just riding that wave of emotion just from having that second life of getting a chance to be in the tournament and wanting to prove some people wrong. We wanted to prove that we deserved to be here. We were riding pretty high there, especially after the second period tonight. I thought we were completely controlling the game there for a while in the second.

Jamie McBain on his goal: "It was a play we’ve drawn up in practice Kyle (Turris) made a great look, good pass and they really had no chance. All I had to do was tap it into the empty net. It kind of gave us another boost. We kept going there through the second period.

Turris on UND’s effect on Wisconsin: "They might have worn us down a little bit. I thought we came out with a lot of energy in the game. As the game went on, they might have worn us down a little bit. But I think emotionally, we still had energy. The crowd helped us and we just wanted to keep going and try to do everything it takes."

Turris on UND’s overtime goal: "I lost the faceoff and I should have won that. It went back to the point. I tried to follow my guy through the slot and I saw the D-man wind up so I just stayed there and tried to block it. I tried blocking it with my arm. I thought I hit it, blocked it. It came back out in the slot. I don’t know where it went, but I think their guy kind of one-timed it."

Once again, feel free to update the score in the comments section for those who don’t have access to ESPNU. I’m limited to three updates per period and one during the intermission.

All-tournament team:

F — Ryan Duncan, UND
F — T.J. Oshie, UND
F — Michael Davies, UW
D — Chay Genoway, UND
D — Jamie McBain, UW
G — Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, UND
MVP — Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, UND

First period

No scoring.

Note: Wisconsin controls most of the first, outshooting UND 17-10.

Second period

Wisconsin 1, UND 0 — Jamie McBain (Kyle Turris, Davis Drewiske) 5:38. Just as a power play expires, Turris connects with McBain for a goal. Turris had the puck at the left point and saw Turris cutting toward the net on the backside. Turris hit McBain in stride for an easy tap-in goal.

Wisconsin 2, UND 0 — Cody Goloubef (Patrick Johnson) 19:21 (pp). Goloubef’s attempt from the point takes a long bounce off the end boards, hits the back of Lamoureux’s leg and goes in.

Third period

Wisconsin 2, UND 1 — Rylan Kaip (Matt Frattin, Matt Watkins) 3:33. Kaip collected a bouncing puck in the slot and quickly turned around and fired a shot that got between Connelly’s pads.

Wisconsin 2, UND 2 — Ryan Duncan (T.J. Oshie) 4:20. Oshie carried the puck all the way up the ice, dodging a Badger player at neutral ice. He then left a drop feed for Duncan on the left wing. Duncan rang it off the right post and in to tie the game.

Overtime

UND 3, Wisconsin 2 — Andrew Kozek (Robbie Bina, T.J. Oshie) 1:47. Bina’s shot from the point hits traffic in front and Kozek finds it and puts it in to send UND to the Frozen Four for the fourth straight year. 

UND’s lines

16 Ryan Duncan–7 T.J. Oshie–14 Brad Miller
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
10 Andrew Kozek–8 Ryan Martens–22 Brad Malone
26 Kyle Radke–11 Darcy Zajac–21 Matt Frattin

4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones–25 Jake Marto

1 Phil Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski

Wisconsin’s lines

5 Blake Geoffrion–19 Kyle Turris–9 Michael Davies
24 John Mitchell–16 Sean Dolan–14 Ben Grotting
10 Patrick Johnson–22 Ben Street–18 Matthew Ford
7 Brendan Smith–13 Aaron Bendickson–11 Andy Bohmbach

4 Davis Drewiske–20 Kyle Klubertanz
17 Ryan McDonagh–2 Jamie McBain
6 Josh Engel–27 Cody Goloubef

35 Shane Connelly
1 Scott Gudmandson

First off, thanks for the help with the live blog today. Besides, I know you all get a kick out of annoying the NCAA.

So much for the WCHA trying to repeat 2005 and get four teams into the Frozen Four. There will be one in Denver — either UND or Wisconsin.

And so much for Colorado possibly putting three teams into the Frozen Four since it’s being held in Denver. All three Colorado schools — CC, Denver and Air Force — lost in the first round.

Michigan and Notre Dame punched their tickets to Denver, while the Miami-Boston College and UND-Wisconsin games will determine the final two spots. Here are some highlights and lowlights from today’s NCAA action:

Highlight: Kevin Porter. He finished the regional with 5 goals, 1 assist. I’ll admit he’s the Hobey frontrunner now. He’s earned it.

Lowlight: Attendance in Madison. Not even 10,000 for an NCAA tournament game? Yikes. I know I’ve praised Badger fans in the past so I should make this clear: They are the wildest fans, not the best fans. UND draws 11,000 for a late Sunday afternoon exhibition against Manitoba.

Highlight: Notre Dame. The Irish failed to make the Frozen Four as a No. 1 seed last year. So they did it as a No. 4 seed this year. Props to the Irish for becoming the first No. 4 seed to do it. As we’ve discussed in the past, No. 4 seeds aren’t what they used to be.

Lowlight: Minnesota’s defense. After being so brilliant down the stretch, the Gophers allow five goals — the most since November.

Highlight: UND’s Hobey boys. Ryan Duncan (winner) scores three goals and is plus-three. T.J. Oshie (finalist) has two assists and is plus-three. Phil Lamoureux (finalist) stops 38 of 39 shots.

Here are the Herald stories from Saturday’s game:

Gamer — Hats off to Duncan, Sioux

Column — Will UND’s pact boys wind up in Denver?

Sidebar — Lamoureux comes up big

Notebook — Hobey cases made

Preview — UND-Wisconsin set for showdown

Note: The NCAA allows only three blog entires per period and one per intermission. So the blog won’t be updated as frequent. But you guys can help me out. Feel free to post score and time updates in the comments section of the blog. The NCAA doesn’t have a credential to pull from you guys. (Thanks for the updates)

First period

UND 1, Princeton 0 — Andrew Kozek (Jake Marto, Chay Genoway) 13:39 (pp). UND keeps the puck in the zone with the second unit for almost the entire power play. Marto, at the left point, feeds Kozek in the right circle. Kozek’s wrist shot beat Kalemba on the far side.

Second period

UND 2, Princeton 0 — Ryan Duncan (T.J. Oshie, Matt Watkins) 16:18. Right as a power play expires, Oshie gets the puck at the bottom of the left circle. Oshie feeds it across the slot to Duncan at the bottom of the right circle. Kalemba goes down right away and Duncan hits his spot.

Note: Princeton is outshooting UND 25-12 after two.

Third period

UND 3, Princeton 0 — Ryan Duncan (Ryan Martens, Chay Genoway) 8:13 (pp). The setup was similar to the second goal. Martens, at the bottom of the left circle, finds Duncan in the right circle. This time, Duncan goes far side and his shot hits Kalemba’s blocker and goes in. That gives the reigning Hobey Baker winner two goals against Hobey’s alma mater.

UND 4, Princeton 0 — Ryan Duncan (T.J. Oshie) 14:48 (en). Duncan gets his first hat trick as a Sioux. Oshie creates a turnovers and gives it to Duncan, who skates into the zone and buries it.

UND 5, Princeton 0 — Chay Genoway 16:28 (sh) (en). Genoway wins a battle in the zone and since the Sioux are shorthanded, he launches it at the empty net.

UND 5, Princeton 1 — Cam McIntyre (Lee Jubinville) 19:27. In the final seconds, Jubinville centers a pass to McIntyre, who buries it from the slot.

UND’s lines

16 Ryan Duncan–7 T.J. Oshie–14 Brad Miller
20 Matt Watkins–29 Chris VandeVelde–17 Rylan Kaip
10 Andrew Kozek–8 Ryan Martens–22 Brad Malone
26 Kyle Radke–11 Darcy Zajac–21 Matt Frattin

4 Taylor Chorney–28 Robbie Bina
2 Joe Finley–5 Chay Genoway
6 Zach Jones–25 Jake Marto

1 Phil Lamoureux
30 Aaron Walski

Princeton’s lines

25 Kyle Hagel–17 Kevin Kaiser–19 Brandon Kushniruk
16 Brett Wilson–6 Lee Jubinville–22 Mike Kramer
26 Matt Arhontas–14 Mark Magnowski–27 Cam MacIntyre
12 Kevin Lohry–10 Landis Stankievech–11 Erik Pridham

21 Mike Moore–4 Taylor Fedun
3 Jody Pederson–28 Kevin Crane
2 Brad Schroeder–15 Matt Godlewski

32 Zane Kalemba
30 Thomas Sychterz
34 Alan Reynolds

If you’re looking for something to read during the final two hours before faceoff, here are some stories about the regional:

Herald: Bina remembers what it’s like to miss the Frozen Four.

Herald: Sioux expect hostile crowd.

Herald: West Regional by the numbers.

Herald: Gameday breakdown.

Herald: Jubinville is making Hobey proud.

Herald: VandeVelde comes alive.

USCHO.com: Kaip, Bina back from brink.

Daily Gazette: Gadowsky turns Tigers into scoring machine.

The Times: Tigers in comfort zone.

College Hockey News: Gadowsky turns around Tigers.

College Hockey News: Midwest Regional capsules.

USCHO.com: Midwest Regional preview.

Inside College Hockey: Midwest Regional preview.

Upon picking up credentials yesterday, the NCAA required all media members to sign a three-page document on blogging restrictions. Ridiculous, yes.

I’m allowed to update the blog three times per period and once at the end of the period.

At first, the NCAA wanted to limit blogging because they felt it was a live representation of the game — one that TV networks already paid for. (Do you really think anyone with access to the game on television is going to turn it off and sit on the computer and repeatedly click refresh on a blog?)

Yesterday, I’m told that blogging limits include every NCAA tournament. That is correct — no blogging the Division II wrestling tournament. They feel that bloggers are getting away with a live representation of the game without paying for it.

While the only people that would follow a Division II wrestling blog would probably be family of a competing wrestler, the NCAA would rather the family not be able to follow live coverage of their son since they are not going to make money off of it. So don’t believe any garbage about the NCAA caring more about student-athletes than money.

I have no idea where this is going, but in my opinion, newspapers should stop printing TV listings (among other things) for NCAA tournament events. After all, it’s free advertising and the NCAA isn’t paying us for it.

It should work as a give and take relationship as it has for years. But as you well know, that’s not the way it is with the (insert your favorite adjective here) NCAA.