Goebel finally gone from MSU

There has been rumors, speculation, and innuedo all summer surrounding Michigan State forward Tom Goebel leaving MSU, and finally through my vast dork network (Michigan hockey Rivals board via mgoblog), it looks as though those rumors have been confirmed.

http://michigan.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=41&mid=52593110&sid=&tid=52586187&style=1

Basically if you read the post, it says that Goebel was upset with coach Rick Comley about being moved off of Jim Slater's line. There's a shocker. Goebel had an excellent freshmen season when paired with Jim Slater, and then his numbers declined greatly as a sophomore when he was relegated to the second line. That's really no surprise. Jim Slater was one of the best players in college hockey. I have no clue why Goebel felt he deserved to be on that line. It's not as if his replacements didn't do anything. Drew Miller and Colton Fretter had career years alongside Slater.

I don't really understand Goebel's thinking here. He's a pretty average college hockey player. I barely noticed him on the ice at the Super Six this year. Perhaps his freshmen season gave him a false sense of where he belonged, but most college hockey players would put up pretty decent numbers if they were on a line with a great player like Slater. If a player needs to be matched up with someone better than them to put up points, then they probably aren't that great to begin with.

It looks as though Goebel will transfer to Ohio State. He's an Ohio native and reportedly, his girlfriend is a Buckeye. He would have to sit out next season, but would start playing in 2006 when Ohio State looks primed to be one of the top teams in college hockey.

For Michigan State, I don't think it's a huge loss. It hurts Rick Comley's reputation even moreso, because this is the first of 5 Comley Casualties that was actually brought into the program by Comley, but if this was enough to chase Goebel away, maybe they were better off without him.