Kristo to return to Fighting Sioux for senior season

North Dakota forward Danny Kristo, a junior winger from Eden Prairie, has told UND he will return for his senior year.

Kristo, a second-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2008 NHL draft, had 19 goals and 45 points for the Fighting Sioux last season. Both those stats were career highs.

He finished ninth in WCHA scoring and had 15 multiple-point games. Kristo has 109 points in his college career in 117 games. He was the WCHA's rookie of the year in 2009-10.

MSU WOMEN'S COACH SUSPENDED

Minnesota State women's hockey coach Eric Means, a former Gophers player, has been suspended for five games for violating the WCHA's Code of Conduct.

The decision was reached by the WCHA women's executive committee after a review of his actions during the Feb. 17 game versus the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Means voluntarily sat out one WCHA playoff game on Feb. 24. He will also miss the Mavericks' first four conference games of the 2012-13 season.

Here is what Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press wrote about the Feb. 17 game, a 4-1 loss at Minnesota Duluth: "At the end of the game in question, MSU's Lauren Smith was called for two major penalties, getting a game misconduct and a game disqualification as well. Afterwards, there was an apparent verbal confrontation between Means and Duluth coach Shannon Miller."