C.J. Severyn article

In an earlier post, I discussed how the fallout from the OHL draft would start giving us a clearer picture of who some of the big names in the class of 2007 would be. We're starting to see that now. This article was brought to my attention on the Michigan Rivals board, and I thought I'd post it because it contains some good information on a future college hockey player.

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14489863&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478614&rfi=6

C.J. Severyn would have been a high pick in the recent OHL draft, except for the fact that he was clear with most teams that he would be a wasted pick because he wanted to play college hockey. Severyn will play in Ann Arbor for the NTDP for two years before picking a college. Ohio State and Michigan State have showed interest and I wouldn't be surprised if many other schools follow. I'd expect him to go to the CCHA. While WCHA teams will be interested, he's from outside of their prime recruiting area, and they'll have enough talented players in the USHL that they won't need to spend time and resources on someone that they'd be a longshot to get.

This article also shows the influx of talented players out of Pennsylvania. When people talk about the effects of the NHL Lockout, they never mention one of the huge long-term effects of the development of young players. It generally takes about 10 years to see, but look at the number of talented players that have come out of Los Angeles that were growing up around the time Wayne Gretzky was there(Robbie Earl, Brett Sterling, etc.) or in Pennsylvania during the Lemiuex/Jagr days (Bill Thomas, Grant Lewis, Ryan Malone).

Regardless of personal feelings towards the NHL(and mine are pretty ambivalent), it's undeniable that having a major sports franchise helped grow the game of hockey, and by extension, has helped increase the quality of college hockey. I think college hockey would be benefitted if the NHL came back as soon as possible.