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Good luck to Nick. I hope he can find that UND edge in front of the net.


http://www.grandforksherald.com/article ... ion=Sports

Congrats to Nick!

yep great kid and great family.
He will do well up there.
UND has landed some nice recruits

The Sioux are taking some of the most talented kids in our area! Come on DON get on these guys

Mattson is a bender

Not

Mattson should fit in well up at the Ralph

I would have thought he'd hold out for a school with better looking women....

Congrats... I guess....

Neutron 14 wrote:I would have thought he'd hold out for a school with better looking women....

Congrats... I guess....

shhhhhh, you will offend the cattle.

Interesting, I would have thought Mattson's style of play would be a better fit at the U of M, CC or St. Cloud. They would use him more in the offense vs. UND.

Congrats to Nick

With Bickel, Fairchild, Loftquist, Ness, Eddy, Martell. Helgeson, and Wehrs all stacked up for the Gophers maybe it just came down to how much icetime he would be getting early in his WCHA career. Especially on the PP.

North Dakota has a better program right now in the WCHA than anyone. I guess city slickers like the rodents don't really mind getting beat by "cattle"?!?

Jbone wrote:North Dakota has a better program right now in the WCHA than anyone. I guess city slickers like the rodents don't really mind getting beat by "cattle"?!?

I think he was talking about the women but maybe you knew that so how ever you folks up there get your jollies is none of my business

THEDOMINATOR39 wrote:

Jbone wrote:North Dakota has a better program right now in the WCHA than anyone. I guess city slickers like the rodents don't really mind getting beat by "cattle"?!?

I think he was talking about the women but maybe you knew that so how ever you folks up there get your jollies is none of my business

Question: Why does anyone want to play hockey in North Dakota? My brother went to school in Grand Forks. BORING! I can see why kids want to play for Michigan, BU, Minnesota and BC. (Spare me on the new arena angle)
Does this mean that Lucia has no interest? By no means am I ripping on Mattson. I watched Nick play last year for Chaska. Solid player, cool under pressure. Fun to watch.

Its also interesting that some people aren't offended for Nick leaving Minnesota (Chaska program) to play in Ann Arbor.

tomASS, I'm curious to see what your thoughts are? If I'm not mistaken. You're one of the people that think kids should play in their association and High school. This situation is close to home. What are your thoughts I'm also curious to see if Nick learned his skills from his local association. Or did he play AAA hockey?

I think it's great that Nick left the Chaska program to pursue bigger and better opportunities. There's no doubt that the experience he'll receive playing in Ann Arbor would not compare to Minnesota high school hockey.
Not to mention the D1 coaches prefer that he plays at a higher level.

Good luck to Nick. Go Gophers!

BoogeyMan wrote:Question: Why does anyone want to play hockey in North Dakota? My brother went to school in Grand Forks. BORING! I can see why kids want to play for Michigan, BU, Minnesota and BC. (Spare me on the new arena angle)
Does this mean that Lucia has no interest? By no means am I ripping on Mattson. I watched Nick play last year for Chaska. Solid player, cool under pressure. Fun to watch.

Its also interesting that some people aren't offended for Nick leaving Minnesota (Chaska program) to play in Ann Arbor.

tomASS, I'm curious to see what your thoughts are? If I'm not mistaken. You're one of the people that think kids should play in their association and High school. This situation is close to home. What are your thoughts I'm also curious to see if Nick learned his skills from his local association. Or did he play AAA hockey?

I think it's great that Nick left the Chaska program to pursue bigger and better opportunities. There's no doubt that the experience he'll receive playing in Ann Arbor would not compare to Minnesota high school hockey.
Not to mention the D1 coaches prefer that he plays at a higher level.

Good luck to Nick. Go Gophers!

Mattson got all his skill over at Minnesota Made (Vintage) in Bloomington Ice Gardens at 5:00am before school every day.

tomASS- Care to respond? I know you're all about kids staying in their local associations.
I feel this is the perfect chance for Nick to take his game to the next level. Playing in 25 high school games a year just won't cut it.

Are you ok with his decision? I personally think it's a no brainer.

Like I said. I wish Nick luck with any team he plays with. Unless they're playing the Gophers.


Anyone know what other teams he's played for in the past? Did he play AAA hockey?

flatontheice wrote:
Mattson got all his skill over at Minnesota Made (Vintage) in Bloomington Ice Gardens at 5:00am before school every day.

don't forget the many fun pick-up pond hockey games he played with his friends and the countless hours he put in himself at home honing his skills.

Nick loved the sport and couldn't get enough of it.

tomASS wrote:

flatontheice wrote:
Mattson got all his skill over at Minnesota Made (Vintage) in Bloomington Ice Gardens at 5:00am before school every day.

don't forget the many fun pick-up pond hockey games he played with his friends and the countless hours he put in himself at home honing his skills.

Nick loved the sport and couldn't get enough of it.

That was a joke. TnCheek with the Boogyman.

flatontheice wrote:

tomASS wrote:

flatontheice wrote:
Mattson got all his skill over at Minnesota Made (Vintage) in Bloomington Ice Gardens at 5:00am before school every day.

don't forget the many fun pick-up pond hockey games he played with his friends and the countless hours he put in himself at home honing his skills.

Nick loved the sport and couldn't get enough of it.

That was a joke. TnCheek with the Boogyman.

I knew that but you gave me an opening I couldn't resist
TnCheek with who????

It was nice to see another top recruit come to UND. UND is a great program and will be solid for years to come. Lucia seems to be losing a little of his recruiting touch.

Honestly! Did Nick play on any AAA teams?

gorilla1 wrote:It was nice to see another top recruit come to UND. UND is a great program and will be solid for years to come. Lucia seems to be losing a little of his recruiting touch.

To SEC Scotty's point, the D situation at the U may have detracted Mattson from the U.

Keep in mind, Lucia has a US18 player in Fairchild, US18 player in Loftquist, US18 player in Ness and Leddy played on the US under 17 team in the 5 nations tournament this past summer. That appears to be good recruiting.

breakout wrote:Keep in mind, Lucia has a US18 player in Fairchild, US18 player in Loftquist, US18 player in Ness and Leddy played on the US under 17 team in the 5 nations tournament this past summer. That appears to be good recruiting.

Add in Helgeson in 2009 as he is flying under the radar a bit... if he keeps improving at the rate he has (with his size and cannon of a shot), he should be a pretty high NHL pick. I hear he is getting good reviews already and he'll have another USHL season after this to build on.

Mattson would have been a nice addition at the U but he definitely would have been facing an uphill battle for the prime playing spots (i.e. power play QB, etc) as a freshman at the U in 2010. Especially considering Lucia will likely want to balance out those veteran puck handling defensemen with a few physical guys in the lineup like Bickel.

BoogeyMan wrote:Honestly! Did Nick play on any AAA teams?

Boogey - I think you already knew this!!!

Minnesota Blades
Player Profile

Player: Mattson, Nick
Date of Birth:
Sweater #: 19
Height: Weight:
Position: Defense

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:Keep in mind, Lucia has a US18 player in Fairchild, US18 player in Loftquist, US18 player in Ness and Leddy played on the US under 17 team in the 5 nations tournament this past summer. That appears to be good recruiting.

Add in Helgeson in 2009 as he is flying under the radar a bit... if he keeps improving at the rate he has (with his size and cannon of a shot), he should be a pretty high NHL pick. I hear he is getting good reviews already and he'll have another USHL season after this to build on.

Mattson would have been a nice addition at the U but he definitely would have been facing an uphill battle for the prime playing spots (i.e. power play QB, etc) as a freshman at the U in 2010. Especially considering Lucia will likely want to balance out those veteran puck handling defensemen with a few physical guys in the lineup like Bickel.

The only thing I would add, is the way the U turns over players to the next level there might have been plenty of playing time available. He has also always been able to prove himself at the next level.

I think he had always wanted to play for the Sioux, it had been a favorite college team of his for sometime. I think it fulfills a dream.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer kid.