Bondra Commits to Michigan State

According to the Chilliwack Chiefs website, David Bondra has commited to Michigan State University for the 2012 - 2013  season.

Bondra finished the 2011 - 2012 campaign with the Chiefs (BCHL) with 63 points (3rd on the team). He led the team with 41 assists. His 22 goals on the year put him 3rd on the taem. He tallied 37 penalty minutes. A 1992 birthday, he is listed at 5-11, 185 lbs and originally is from Annapollis, Maryland.

David Bondra will make his debut in Green & White this upcoming fall.

Chilliwack has been a bit of a pipeline for MSU sending Shawn Horcoff, Brad Hodgins, Brian Maloney, Jeremy Jackson, Kevin Estrada, Derek Grant, and Harvey Smyl to East Lansing.

For those hockey fans, the last name Bondra should sound familiar, as David is the son of former NHL'er Peter Bondra. He spent 17 seasons in the NHL, including 14 with the Washington Capitals where current MSU assistant Kelly Miller was his teammate up through the 1999 season. Peter finished his NHL career with 503 goals in 1,081 games.

Krug Earns First NHL Point

Earlier tonight, we posted about how this week has been a week of firsts. Torey Krug continued a week of firsts as he earned his first NHL point tonight in Boston's 3-1 win at Ottawa.



Krug (#47), at the bottom of the video, is patient in moving the puck out of the zone - as he makes the initial outlet pass. Milan Lucic finishes the play off. Krug is credited with the second assist. Congrats to Torey on his first NHL point.


National Championship

Boston College handled Minnesota tonight 6-1, so they will move on to play Ferris State on Saturday Night (ESPN 2, 7:00 pm)

A Week Of Firsts

This week has been a week of firsts. Torey Krug made his NHL debut on Tuesday against Pittsburgh logging in just over 18 minutes of ice time, getting two shots on goal, blocking one, and posting an even rating (he was on the ice for four goals total - two even strength goals for both teams).

That's not bad, and Torey looked comfortable out there. 

"I thought he handled himself well," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "I like the way he moved the puck. I think everybody who knows the game realized that he's a good puck-mover, his mobility was obvious, and the only thing I would tell you is that you could see him in the defensive zone really thinking about trying to play within our system, and sometimes he was maybe just a fraction of a second delayed, which is totally normal. But once he knew what he had to do, he went. So there was no hesitation once his mind was made up, and that will only get better as it becomes second nature, and that's totally, as I said, totally natural for a guy playing in his first game."

Even though it is expected he'll start next season in Providence, he certainly seems to be setting himself up well for a long and successful career in the NHL. He said he was most disappointed that they didn't win. Would you expect a former captain to say anything less?

Krug is playing tonight in Ottawa.  As of this post, he has 7:10 in ice time, one shot on goal, one blocked shot, and an even rating.

Frozen Four

Congrats are in order to Ferris State. The Bulldogs defeated Union earlier today 3-1 to reach their first national title game in program history. Ferris State is coached by former Spartan Bob Daniels. They'll take on the winner of Boston College-Minnesota (BC currently leads 1-0) on Saturday night. That game can be seen on ESPN2.

The winner of that BC-Minnesota game is going to be a heavy favorite, but do not sleep on the Bulldogs who play a system extremely well. If Ferris State gets a lead, they are very tough to beat.

ECHL Playoffs

Dustin Gazley had a goal and two assists in the first two games of the ECHL play-offs, but it wasn't enough as Elmira dropped both games in Reading by scores of 4-1 and 4-2. Elmira must now win the final three games of the series, all at home, to advance in the ECHL playoffs. Elmira finished the Eastern Conference with the best regular season record. Game three is Friday night.

Krug to Play Tonight

Torey Krug will make his NHL debut tonight as they face-off with Pittsburgh tonight at 7:35 pm. The game can be seen on NBCSN (Versus).

Thank You Torey

Torey Krug made it official this afternoon announcing that he'd forgo his senior season at Michigan State to sign with the Boston Bruins.


Video of the press conference (click here)

Krug had a great career at Michigan State. He wasn't drafted coming into Michigan State back in 2009, so this contract certainly completes a big step in the dream of playing in the NHL. Torey will report to Boston on Monday. From the press conference, he understands that he'll have to earn a spot.

In three seasons at Michigan State, Torey has played in 114 games, tallied 26 goals, 57 assists, a +7 rating, and 175 penalty minutes. He won the CCHA player of the year award for the 2011-2012 season.

Torey was much more than a defenseman for Michigan State. He came to MSU the year after Abdelkader, Kennedy, and Crowder left. He was named a captain as a sophomore on a team that was in a rebuilding mode. He proved to be a great leader helping Michigan State climb back up the CCHA standings this season, earning their first NCAA tournament bid since 2008. He was a big part of putting the program back on the right track.

He has also vowed to comeback and complete his degree.

Thank you for your hard work, effort, leadership, and dedication to the program Torey. Spartan nation is behind you as you move on to the professional ranks.

Some Highlights From This Season:

Krug's Skills Competition Shoot-Out Goal

Krug Leads MSU past Michigan 3-2

And if you haven't had a chance to do it yet - check out the promotional page MSU set up for Torey. Including the two videos on the page.