Friday reading: Gross, Fejes, Duluth, UND, WMU, Tech

Pine Creek HS graduate Taylor Gross, far left, models the new Penn State hockey home uniform. The captain of the women’s hockey team is joined by former CC standout Guy Gadowsky, the men’s head coach, third from left.

Incoming Tigers freshman Hunter Fejes is one of the rookies to watch this season according to this North Dakota blogger.

Senior forward Mike Seidel will need to have a good year producing those hard-work points to help Minnesota-Duluth remain a league contender after losing Hobey Baker winner Jack Connolly to graduation.

Here is the 2012-13 schedule for the CHL expansion franchise Denver Cutthroats, which includes a couple former Denver Pioneers. While checking out the home games, keep in mind that former Tiger Brian McMillin plays for the Allen Americans.

Western Michigan added a goalie for this season.

North Dakota’s beat writer explains the team’s TV broadcast deals for this season and next.

Freshman forward Blake Tatchell will need to step in and step up to replace the offense lost to graduation for Alaska-Anchorage.

The Mining Gazette offers a detailed first look at the Michigan Tech Huskies, who have high hopes after reaching the WCHA Final Five last season at the expense of the Tigers. Junior defenseman Daniel Sova will be a big reason (excuse the pun) why Tech fans have such high expectations.

Monday reading: Tigers in the playoffs, Zaba video, J. Schwartz honor

Former Tigers Trevor Frischmon (No. 28) and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders' top affiliate, saw their season end on Sunday night with a 4-3 OT loss to Connecticut. The Whale swept the best of five AHL playoff series, 3-0.

Colin Stuart, captain of the Rochester Americans, will try to stave off elimination when his team hosts the Toronto Marlies on Monday night in the league’s only game.

Nate Prosser returned from an unspecified injury and the Houston Aeros defense held together for a 1-0 win Sunday at Oklahoma City to keep the best-of-five series going. The West top seed Barons still lead 2-1 in games.

Brian Connelly recorded an assist in Abbotsford’s 4-2 win Sunday night at Milwaukee. The Heat lead the series 2-0 and head back to B.C. for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Foxes celebrate their championships in Italy's top pro hockey league.

Here are highlights of the Bolzano Foxes’ perfect (12 wins in 12 games) run to the franchise’s record 19th Italia Serie A championship as shown in this highlights video that features goalie Matt Zaba (No. 1, black headgear). The Foxes wear red and white.

Top hockey prospect website HockeysFuture.com selected Jaden Schwartz, drafted 14th overall in 2010, as an honorable mention after  his sophomore performance with Colorado College and as captain of the bronze medalist Canadian world juniors team.

The USA U18 team brought home yet another gold medal.

In the ECHL playoffs, Alaska will host Las Vegas, probably on Friday, to open the Western Conference finals. Brian Swanson and Tim Hall play for the top seed Aces. No former Tigers play for the Wranglers.

UPDATED: Civitarese in AHL Hershey Bears’ fold

David Civitarese called me on Saturday, so here are some quotes and more details on his signing with the AHL Hershey, the 2009 and 2010 Calder Cup champions.

Here’s my original blog post with the changes included.

The Hershey Bears announced Friday morning that the club signed former Tigers forward David Civitarese to an amateur tryout agreement. Additionally, Civitarese has signed an American Hockey League contract effective for the 2012-13 season.

It was a relief for Civitarese, who had excelled at an amateur camp last summer held by the Washington Capitals, the Bears’ NHL affiliate and was wrapping up his schoolwork over spring break until Wednesday afternoon.

“(His advisor/agent) had heard from a couple ECHL teams but I was hoping to hear from the Capitals,” he said after Saturday’s pregame morning skate in Hershey. “Once we heard from them on Wednesday it all happened pretty quickly and I was flying out at 6 a.m. Thursday.”

He signed the AHL-only contract officially on Thursday and practiced with the team for the first time on Friday.

“It’s a great situation,” he said. “I’m happy to get the opportunity to play at a higher level.Being put into a leadership role as a senior for the first time helped contribute to my growth. It was a huge boost of confidence for me. They saw me play a couple times and evidently, they liked what they saw.”

Civitarese, 22, 6-foot-2, 204 pounds, recorded 30 points (14g, 16a) in 121 games in a four-year career at Colorado College.  He had 10 points (8g, 2a) his senior season.

The Bears host the Charlotte Checkers at 5 p.m. Mountain Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, when Civitarese may make his debut. He said he will be a healthy scratch Saturday night and will use the chance to learn more about the Bears’ systems.

“I’m going to learn as much as I can,” the physics major said. “Everything I can do to get better will be crucial.”

The defensive forward is not too concerned about making his pro debut quickly, knowing that being ready is important and the Bears are gearing up for the playoffs. He also has the relative security of being under contract next season.

“It’s definitely a plus for me,” he said. “(The Bears) have a history of success here. For sure, the coaches, everything, is top notch.”

The idea of making it to the NHL would be the fulfillment of a dream, but the all-WCHA academic honoree is not to getting too far ahead of himself. He knows he needs to become a good AHL player first.

“I know I need to prove myself at each level in order to move up,” he said.  “I’ll be learning and watching how the older players do things.”

Civitarese is the fourth of the six Tiger seniors to move into the pro ranks. Defenseman Gabe Guentzel signed a similar deal with AHL Syracuse while wing Tim Hall signed an ATO with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. Defenseman Arthur Bidwill will sign with the CHL’s Allen Americans this weekend.

Bidwill joins McMillin on CHL’s Allen Americans

Former Tiger defenseman Arthur Bidwill, pictured at right, is headed to Allen, Texas this weekend to join the Central Hockey League’s Allen Americans franchise, where former teammate and center Brian McMillin is tied for sixth on the team with 40 points (26 assists) in 61 games.

“There were one of the teams that approached me after the season,” Bidwill said Thursday afternoon.”‘It was a pretty easy decision. It was kind of a bonus to see McMillin on the roster and know someone already on the team.”

The Americans’ regular season concludes this weekend so Bidwill will head there now, sign a contract for the rest of the season and get in a couple practices before potentially making his debut during the CHL playoffs. Berry Conference No. 2 seed Allen (36-18-9) hosts the third-place Texas Brahmas (33-23-8) next weekend.

The CHL teams have a 19-man playoff roster paired with a rotating list of players available to fill in as needed. Bidwill expects to be in that grouping.

He is confident and hopeful he can do well and garner an invitation to next season’s training camp and perhaps a contract for the following season. There is some upward mobility possible with the Americans’ affiliation agreements with the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars, where Stephen Schultz is on the Austin team’s roster, and the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.

“Hopefully I can get in for a couple games and start building my pro (experience),” he said. “College definitely helped prepare me for the pace of the game.”

Bidwill said he will get his mathematical economics degree. He is finishing his thesis over the next couple weeks. All his classwork is completed.

In the meantime, he hopes to keep playing the game he loves for as long as he is able, acknowledging that no one plays in the CHL to get rich.

“Definitely,” he said with a chuckle. “Right now I am just looking to build on my college experience in a new career in the pro ranks.”

In the pros: Guentzel debut set for Wednesday

Former Tiger Gabe Guentzel texted me earlier today to let me know all the paperwork is signed.

The Syracuse Crunch coaches told him he will make his AHL and pro debut on Wednesday at the Rochester (N.Y.) Americans at 5:50 p.m. Mountain. Former Tiger Colin Stuart is on the Americans’ roster.

There are live video and audio options at this link.