Islanders Bits: Brock Nelson Advances in WCHA, Draws Praise

North Dakota advanced to the WCHA semifinals with a 4-1 win over Saint Cloud State last night, and New York Islanders prospect Brock Nelson (two goals, watch his go-ahead goal here) played a big part in what has become habit this season.

Said his coach, Dave Hakstol:

"He's very much a complete hockey player," Hakstol said. "That's probably the thing I like the most about him. He plays hard for his teammates every night." [...] "He's deceiving, that's the best way to put it," Hakstol said. "He gets the puck off his tape quickly. He can do it in traffic. He's found a lot of different ways to score goals and to help our team win."

Said the opposing coach:

"I think that’s the player in our league that you’re going to watch play in the NHL for a long time."

So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

Nelson is part of that big line with Corban Knight and Danny Kristo, but Nelson is a huge piece of the trio's success.

[video: Nelson and Sioux post-game interviews]

Alright, one more Nelson link: Nelson gets back to doing what he does best for North Dakota :: USCHO.com

Scott Mayfield's Denver University also advanced with a 3-2 win over Michigan Tech. Denver plays Minnesota-Duluth tonight, while North Dakota matches up with longtime rival Minnesota. The Final Five is being held in Minnesota. However that works out, all four will likely get NCAA action after this weekend.

Meanwhile, Ryan Strome's Niagara clinched the OHL East title last night. Strome only had one goal in the 8-1 win though. Tsk.

Not to keep stealing from Mark's Sunday prospect report material, but Brenden Kichton picked up a couple of goals.

Coverage of last night's 3-2 loss to the Flyers: LHH recap | Newsday | The Skinny (pretty sure Matt Martin will break the NHL hit record) | Broad Street Hockey | Philly.com | 7th Woman | The Checking Line | IPB

And our take and write-up of Bruce Ratner's appearance with Howie Rose during the first intermission. Tickets for that Brooklyn preseason game go on sale March 29. For those of you interested in a group outing and/or get together, we'll get on that.

Non-Prospect, Non-Last-Night Links

Oh hey, vote for Garth Snow vs. Mike Milbury.

Butch Goring audio on XM Home Ice

Mike Bossy on NHL Live [video]

A look at top 10 draft prospects through an Isles-ish lens.

On the Rangers downplaying 87's return.

Funny if you're into fun with geo-social-demographics, or sex offender data: Sharks Gameday: Staccuracy - Battle of California