Go Figure

...as soon as I'm home in North Carolina on vacation, all havoc breaks loose in the college hockey world.

--Minnesota's offensive woes are likely continue now that sophomore Kyle Okposo has decided to join the New York Islanders after World Junior Championships, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and first reported by Minneapolis radio station KFAN.

--Follow World Juniors via podcasts and videos here. Also, the medal round of World Juniors will be broadcast by NHL Network, which is available on Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and other major distribution channels. The schedule is here:

IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
NHL Network U.S. Coverage

Date	Event		Time (EST)
Jan. 2	Quarterfinal #1		10:00 a.m.
	Quarterfinal #2		2:00 p.m.
Jan. 3	Quarterfinal #1 re-air		3:00 a.m.
	Quarterfinal #2 re-air		12:00 p.m.
Jan. 4	Semifinal #1		10:00 a.m.
	Semifinal #2		2:00 p.m.
	Semifinal #1 re-air		5:30 p.m.
	Semifinal #2 re-air		10:00 p.m.
Jan. 5	Bronze Medal Game		10:00 a.m.
	Gold Medal Game		2:00 p.m.
Jan. 6	Gold Medal Game re-air		3:00 a.m.
	Bronze Medal Game re-air		5:00 p.m.
	Gold Medal Game re-air		7:00 p.m.

Recruiting news:

--Colorado College picked up a recruit for 2009 in defenseman John Moore of Winnetka, Ill. Moore, who attends New Trier High School and plays for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. Moore will be brought in to replace Jake Gannon, another Illinois native, and join Ryan Lowery and Brett Wysopal, also Illinois natives, on the defensive corps. Moore was also recruited by Dartmouth. More on Moore when I return from vacation. Updated recruit stats are here.

--Colorado Springs native Corson Cramer, a former Pikes Peak Miners goaltender, committed to Michigan Tech of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Cramer's dad, Scott, was a World Professional Figure Skating champion from The Broadmoor Skating Club and attended Colorado College. Cramer plays for the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (USHL) with CC recruit Tim Hall.

Colorado College roundup:
The Tigers head into break ranked fourth nationally, behind rival No. 3 Denver and tied with the Pioneers for first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. On Tuesday, defenseman Jack Hillen was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, the third time this season a Tiger has won the award (goaltender Richard Bachman won twice).

CC's individual honors stack up like this:
WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Chad Rau (11/20, 11/27)
WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Bachman (10/23, 11/27), Hillen (12/18)
WCHA Rookie of the Week: Bachman (11/13)
Commissioner's Choice Rookie of the Month: Bachman (November)

Tiger Tracks:
--Aaron Slattengren was a named an ECHL All-Star and a starter for the American Conference team.
--The Grand Rapids Press' Griffins beat writer implores fans to fill out AHL All-Star ballots and suggests they include Mark Cullen, who is second on the team with 23 points.
--This is pretty cool. Former CC defenseman Lee Sweatt has been hard to track since I can't read Finnish. But his girlfriend, a CC alumna, has been keeping a blog on what I assume is the local newspaper's Web site. Check it out.