Monday, October 31, 2005

What Might Have Been...

I decided to take a brief break from my college hockey addiction, and switch over to major junior hockey for a couple minutes today, particularly to check out how players with colle hockey ties were doing.

Probably the least surprising news is that former Minnesota commit Peter Mueller and Angelo Esposito, who was highly recruited by just about every school at Shattuck-St. Mary's are each leading their respective leagues in rookie scoring. Mueller has 7 goals and 12 assists in his first 14 games in the WHL, while Esposito has 17 goals and 18 assists in just 16 games in the more wide open QMJHL.

On a much more surprising note, Jeff Kryzakos, who left Western Michigan last season in his first year at the school, is currently 11th in the OHL in scoring with 12 goals and 14 assists in 14 games.

A change in scenery also seems to helped former Wisconsin Badger Matt Auffrey. Auffrey left the Badgers a few weeks ago, and has put up 3 goals and an assist in his first four games.

Jared Boll, who left Minnesota-Duluth to play in the OHL, is also having a nice rookie campaign. He's scored 5 goals and 4 assists in 14 games, which is good for 16th among rookies this year.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Preliminary Western College Hockey Poll

Ok, I've reached a dilemma. So far I think the poll has been pretty straight-forward and easy. But we've reached a point in the season where things become a little more difficult, especially with so many splits happening. For example, do I reward Michigan for winning a tough road game, or punish them for losing to a lower ranked opponent? Same with Minnesota. How much do the Buckeyes get knocked down for one bad weekend?

So I'm giving the readers here a chance to convince me. I'm laying out a preliminary poll and giving readers the opportunity to tell me how dumb I am. Make a case for your team and I'll move them up in the poll later in the week.

1. Colorado College
2. Michigan State
3. Michigan
4. Alaska-Fairbanks
5. Minnesota
6. Wisconsin
7. Denver
8. North Dakota
9. Ohio State
10. Northern Michigan

Friday, October 28, 2005

Denver Lands a Big One

Jesse Martin, one of the top 17 year olds in Alberta, and the 20th ranked uncommitted forward for 2007, has committed to Denver for the 2007 season. Martin got off to a great start for Spruce Grove this season before being sidelined with a concussion after a dangerous hit from defenseman Ian Barteaux. Martin scored 13 points, including 8 goals in 8 games before the injury.

Let's Play Hockey

Games to Watch:
#2 Michigan at #6 Alaska-Fairbanks
Who knew that this game would be so big, so early in the season. It's looking like this will be a match-up between two of the best teams in the league. Michigan's freshmen will get their first road test in a tough environment. Fairbanks finally gets to play in front of their home fans after starting the season on the road. I think this series has split written all over it.

#7 Denver at #8 North Dakota
It's a rematch of last year's national title game. It will also be Geoff Paukovich's first trip to the REA after almost killing Robbie Bina last season. North Dakota has the home fans on their side, revenge in mind, and a great goalie in Jordan Parise behind them. I like their chances this weekend.

#5 Minnesota at St. Cloud State
Former Gopher assistant Bob Motzko meets his old team for the first time. It's still going to be a struggle for the Huskies to score goals, but I think Alaska-Fairbanks showed the recipe for beating Minnesota. Outwork the Gophers and rely on stellar goaltending and they'll have a shot at winning.

#3 Michigan State at Cornell
Both teams are very good, but I think people are still a little skeptical of how good they really are. Michigan State has looked good so far this season, and they've never had trouble playing in big games, but I think it's going to be difficult for them to take more than one game at one of the toughest environments in college hockey.

Lake Superior vs. #9 Northern Michigan
For the second straight week, Northern plays a home and home series against a UP rival. On paper, it looks like an easy two wins for the Wildcats, but they've always had trouble dispatching the Lakers. Bill Zaniboni will get to feed his stats for the third straight week against a weak offense, but Laker goalie Jeff Jakaitis will match at least one of his performances and the Lakers will steal at least a point this weekend.

Players to Watch:
Ryan McLeod, Alaska-Fairbanks
McLeod has been excellent on face-offs so far this season, and he'll need to win a lot of big wins this weekend to help Fairbanks against Michigan

Geoff Paukovich, Denver
Just stating the obvious. I'm guessing it's a tough weekend for him.

Dominic Vicari, Michigan State
He's walking into a tough environment in Ithaca and the team in front of him isn't at full strength. He'll have to put up a great performance to give the Spartans a chance.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Mmmmmm, Fluff

Ok, by my own admission, this is going to have very little actual hockey content. I was all set to look at how freshmen goalies are performing so far this year(hint: If you're not the official goalie of WCHblog, it ain't pretty). But it's been a busy week for me, so that will have to sit on the shelf while I give this easy, pretty meaningless post.

We'll start with the guaranteed easy post material: Whacky Google Searches People Used to Find My Site. Whacky search #1 was a Google search for "college hockey insults" Ok, I can give the people what they want.

"You smell like John Scott after a game.""Yo momma's linguistic skills are so bad, she makes Frank Mazzacco look like Winston Churchill""She was so ugly that she looked like Denver's logo" and finally, "Hey, Western Michigan just called, they want their defense back."

Speaking of Western Michigan, some crazy Canadian found our humble by searching for Jim Culhane. One can only hope that for Jim's sake, this mysterious Google searcher was searching for him to offer him employment next year.

By far the most popular Google search people used to find this site has to do with hockey's own version of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, David Toews and Kelsey Tessier. After their dismissal from Shattuck-St. Mary's, the pair has landed on their feet playing for the Colorado Outlaws AAA program which is coached by former Minnesota and Colorado College coach Brad Buetow.

Finaly, thescoutingnews.com decided they were going to make a few articles free yesterday. Of course what is the free article they show? They announce Kevin Shattenkirk committing to BU, and how it was a bit of a surprise because when they first interviewed him at age 14, he was wearing a Michigan shirt. Gee, thanks for that Hockey Scouting. You guys owe me a new highlighter.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Fredheim Chooses Colorado College

It's been a busy day for recruiting news as another top prospect, this time for the class of 2006, is off the board. Chris Heisenberg is now reporting that Kris Fredheim has committed to Colorado College. This comes as a huge disappointment to Wisconsin fans who were hoping for Fredheim's services. Maine was also one of Fredheim's finalists. Fredheim was considered by most to be the best available defenseman for next season, and is a great pick up for the Tigers.

Break Out the Expletives

Kevin Shattenkirk, the third rated uncommitted defenseman for 2007 has committed to Boston University, along with teammate Colby Cohen. Shattenkirk chose BU over Michigan. Cohen is also a good defenseman, but never made the Recruiting Board because I pretty much assumed he would end up out east. Denver was a finalist for Cohen's services though.

Losing Shattenkirk is a big disappointment for Michigan fans. The focus will now be on the recruiting war with Wisconsin for the services of second ranked uncommitted defenseman Brendan Smith.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Western College Hockey Poll

1. Colorado College
2. Michigan
3. Michigan State
4. Ohio State
5. Minnesota
6. Alaska-Fairbanks
7. Denver
8. North Dakota
9. Northern Michigan
10. Alaska-Anchorage

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Recruiting Update

Spotted at last night's Michigan/Michigan State were 2007 recruiting board prospects Brendan Smith, the second ranked uncommitted defenseman on the recruiting board, and Louie Caporusso, the 17th ranked uncommitted forward, both of St. Mike's in the OPJHL.

I've made a couple more updates to the 2007 Recruiting Board, including adding a few more goalies.

Saturday Recap

Michigan dueled rival Michigan State to a 3-3 draw last night. Both teams are probably pretty satisfied with the tie at this point in the season. Michigan State may have been the better team last night, but freshmen Billy Sauer played outstanding and Michigan converted on 2 of their 4 powerplays, while MSU failed to convert at all with an extra man. Michigan was a little lucky to come away with a point when they didn't play their best game, while State should be happy to come away with a point on the road.

Minnesota played their best game of the season last night, and controlled the majority of the play for the first time this season. For Minnesota State, they got a decent performance from freshmen Mike Zacharias in goal, but once again the powerplay couldn't convert when they needed to and Minnesota State played another good game with no points to show for it.

The Gophers goaltending situation is starting to heat up. Kellen Briggs has played both Friday night games, while freshmen Jeff Frazee got both Saturday starts. After last weekend, Frazee may have had the slight edge, but Briggs was outstanding this weekend while Frazee didn't play his best last night. Frazee may eventually win the job, but Briggs has definitely earned himself some more time with his play.

Denver and Colorado College both finished off their sweeps of lesser opponents with 6-3 victories last night. Both teams will open up WCHA play next weekend on the road.

Northern Michigan completed the sweep of their rival Michigan Tech, this time in a lower-scoring 2-1 battle. Bill Zaniboni played both games for the 'cats in goal this weekend, and it looks like he might be the guy in net for Northern this season.

Jordan Parise is making a case for himself as the best goalie in the WCHA this season. He was outstanding again last night to help North Dakota to a 3-3 tie. If UND has solid goaltending to rely on, they could still put up a good record while their young team adjusts to the WCHA.

In the late game last night, UAF stayed undefeated and took the early lead for the Governor's Cup, with a 2-1 win over Anchorage. Wylie Rogers was outstanding in goal once again for the Nanooks. UAA outshot the Nanooks, but UAF played hard and was able to hang on at the end. They'll complete the series tonight with UAF looking for a sweep on the road before their series next weekend against Michigan.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Friday Recap

Phil Kessel had gone through his first two and a half games as a collegian without a goal, and finally the WCHA had seen enough and decided to take matters into their own hands. After Kessel had blown another scoring chance 15 minutes into the third period, Minnesota State defenseman inadvertly crashed into the net while tied with up Gopher forward Ryan Stoa. For whatever reason, the officials decided to award Kessel a penalty shot, and Kessel converted on the penalty shot for his first career goal.

The officials also showed the hypocrisy of the stricter enforcement of the checking from behind penalty. Twice in the second period, a Minnesota defenseman sent a Minnesota State player into the boards from behind, but both times, the defenseman was called for a cross check. It was an equally, if not more, dangerous play than any other check from behind, but it only received a two minute minor instead of a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. Again, the NCAA had the right idea by trying to enforce the checking from behind rule more strictly, but if it's administered in such a random fashion, it's more of a harm to the game that it is helping.

As for the actual game between Minnesota and Minnesota State, MSU,M played well and controlled the play for the majority of the game, but couldn't finish any of their many chances. On the other side, Kellen Briggs was phenomenal for the Gophers. He helped steal a win for the Gophers tonight. For Minnesota, the win is nice, but this is probably the third game in a row that they were outplayed. For the Mavericks, they suffered from their inability to finish off plays. The powerplay generated a lot of chances, but they weren't able to put anything past Briggs. Once the Mavericks get clicking and start finishing, they could be a very good team.

One team that was able to shake off their early finishing problems were the Miami RedHawks. Miami's offense put up 6 goals in a 6-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha. It was a rough night for Maverick freshmen goalie Greg Barrett, who only made 15 stops on 20 shots tonight.

Perhaps I had really overrated Wisconsin before the season started. The week off last week didn't help Wisconsin get their offense started at all. They struggled their way through a 2-2 tie against St. Cloud State. SCSU should be happy to get a point out of their trip to Wisconsin, and they should be happy that they were able to come from behind in the third period after the game-tying goal bounced of Jeff Likens skate, but they should also be disappointed that they weren't able to win after Wisconsin played so poorly.

Bowling Green bounced back from getting blown out last night to tie Ohio State 2-2. Ohio State dominated the first period, outshooting the Falcons 20-4, but the Falcons led 2-1 after one period. Ohio State was able to tie it up in the third period, to take 3 points away from their first weekend of league play. An interesting note from this game: both starting goalies, Dave Caruso and Jon Horrell were born in Georgia. I'm willing to bet that's a college hockey first.

North Dakota stole a huge road win over New Hampshire tonight by a score of 3-2. Freshmen T.J. Oshie and Jonathan Toews each had a goal. Jordan Parise gave up his first two goals of the season, but picked up his third win of the season.

Northern Michigan cruised to an easy 5-1 victory over Michigan Tech tonight at the Berry Events Center. Now Northern faces the task of completing the sweep in Houghton.

Denver picked up their first win of the season over Air Force 4-2. Denver got two goals from freshmen, and two goals from sophomores tonight.

Colorado College also picked up an easy win against Notre Dame tonight. Marty Sertich got back on track with a goal and assist tonight.

Ferris State and Lake Superior solved nothing tonight in their battle for not last place, with a 4-4 tie. I think instead of playing overtime, the two teams should have played, that's right......Bovine Bingo.

Let's Play Hockey: Rivalry Week Edition

Games to Watch:

#5 Alaska-Fairbanks at Alaska-Anchorage
UAF got their season off to a great start with a win and tie at Minnesota. Meanwhile, UAA was the last WCHA to lose a game this season, before falling last Saturday night. The battle for the Governor's Cup is college hockey's most intense rivlary. Fairbanks comes into the series as the favorite, but haven't swept at UAA since 1987. UAA's only win three years ago came at home against the Nanooks. For the Seawolves, sophomore goalie Nathan Lawson has a groin injury, so senior John DeCaro will probably see most of the action. Wylie Rogers will get the start in goal for UAF on Friday, and coach Tavis MacMillan will decide between Rogers and freshmen Chad Johnson on Saturday. I would not be surprised to see a split this weekend.

#9Northern Michigan vs. Michigan Tech
These two Upper Peninsula teams will play a home and home series this weekend. The real fight though, may be in the stands when two of the best pep bands in the country battle for supremacy. On the ice, Northern is the favorite going into the the games, but they've always struggled against weaker competition, and I think Tech will be able to steal a game in this series.

#4Michigan State at #3Michigan
These teams only meet one once this weekend, but it should be a great game. Both teams are undefeated with wins over good, but young teams. Michigan State will have to try and keep up with Michigan's team speed. Michigan will most likely find themselves trying to cling to a one goal lead late in the game; something they could not do last year against MSU.

#8North Dakota at New Hampshire
Even though UNH was beaten by Omaha last weekend, they are still going to be one of the better teams out east, so it is critical for North Dakota to come away from this series with at least one win to help their tournament resume in March.

Players to Watch:

Jordan Parise, North Dakota
Parise hasn't given up a goal yet in two games played. North Dakota will need another great performance out of him to beat UNH in New Hampshire.

John DeCaro, Alaska-Anchorage
With starter Nathan Lawson not at 100%, DeCaro will have to step up into the starting role for the Seawolves. DeCaro has proven himself capable in the past, but will need a huge performance to slow down one of the most talented UAF teams in years.

Andrew Ebbett, Michigan
The Wolverine's second line center not only needs to provide his play-making ability this weekend, but he also could be matched up against MSU's dangerous second line center, Bryan Lerg who is off to a great start this season.

Ryan Potulny, Minnesota
Potulny had 24 goals last year, and a goal in each of Minnesota's first two games, and the Mavericks of Mankato shouldn't provide too much trouble for the Gophers, but dating back to last season, 19 of Potulny's 26 goals have included an assist from either Dan Irmen, who is out for a month due to finger surgery, or Tyler Hirsch, who announced that he is taking the rest of the year off for personal reasons. Potulny will have to find new linemates to help set him up.

Game Report: Carter Camper

USAFA Bulldog of the blog The DECC is Stacked had a chance to go down to the NAHL Showcase that's happening this weekend at the Blaine Superrink.

While he was there, he kept an eye out for 19th ranked uncommitted forward for 2007 Carter Camper of the Cleveland Barons. You read his recap of the games, as well his report on Camper here. It sounds as though Camper didn't really stand out yesterday, despite scoring a goal and an assist.

Just a reminder that if anyone else gets the opportunity to watch someone from one of the recruiting boards play in a game, and would like to send me a report, I'd be happy to post it.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Link Round-Up

I need a cool name for this feature, and I got nothing. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Anyway, it's been a busy week for me, so this is a little in coming, but it's finally here.

First off, congratulations to fellow blogger Bruce Ciskie, for embarking on new adventure for me to mock, but silently respect. Best of luck in the booth, buddy, and we'll discuss a possible on-air plug for Western College Hockey later.

Do you remember way back to that time long ago called Last Weekend? If you need help remembering, The Blog that Yost Built has a weekend recap to help you. Among other things, he talks about Michigan's wins over Boston College and Merrimack. Also, apparently some Italian fellow named Mario did something in a football game. Who knew?

Ann Arbor will look a little bit like St. Paul this weekend, as a large

statue of Charlie Brown dressed in Michigan hockey gear, will be on display in the Yost Ice Arena lobby. The statue is commemorate Red Berenson's annual participation in Charles Schulz's "Snoopy" Hockey tournament held every summer.

If you think I'm a little biased for starting this off with two Michigan stories, just wait to see what I have planned if Michigan's super mystery recruit turns out to be '07 prospect Pat Kane.

The UAF Hockey Blog had way too many good articles for me to link just one, so I suggest just going over there and reading them all.

Let's Go DU also had some great posts this week, but the most thorough and informational among them was his weekend recap of Denver getting swept at Maine.

Like the UAF Hockey Blog,

MavRick's UNO Hockey Blog had a ton of posts linking to interesting articles about the Mavericks winning the Stampede and Alex Nikiforuk scoring his team's first four goals on the season.

The DECC is Stacked has an interesting feature going on this year where he is trying to chronicle the wins and losses of every hockey team in the state of Minnesota.

Finally, the LSSU Hockey Blog has a preview for Lake State's series this weekend. LSSU is having another special event this weekend called Great Lake State Weekend. If you look closely at this point, first, in the picture, who do you think is less all there mentally. Crazy Frank Anzalone or Reagan? I think it's a tough call. I can only imagine the conversation they had. Also, if you notice at the bottom of the article, the GLSW will feature something called "bovine bingo". I think anyone within 100 miles of this event has to go, if only for that.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Matt Auffrey Leaves Wisconsin for OHL

The Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League have signed Wisconsin forward Matt Auffrey. Auffrey was a sophomore for the Badgers. In his freshmen season, he was plagued by injuries which kept his statistics down. Rangers head coach Pete DeBoer is excellent at convincing players to come to the OHL, and he seems to have lured another player away from NCAA hockey.

Auffrey's loss will hurt the Badgers, but it should free up another scholarship for next season, which will allow Wisconsin to go after forward Jim O'Brien or defenseman Kris Fredheim, as was mentioned in an earlier post.

Michigan's Fast Start

Michigan is off to a fast start. Even though they're only third in the Western College Hockey Poll, they're ranked first in just about every other poll in the country. Brian at MGoBlog took a break from the hard-hitting football coverage, funny quips, and cute kitten pictures to provide a good look at last weekend for Michigan.

There's been a lot of positives about Michigan's fast start. T.J. Hensick is leading the country in scoring with 10 points in 4 games, followed closely by teammates Matt Hunwick, and Jack Johnson who are both in the top 4 in the country with scoring. Seventeen year old goalie Billy Sauer has also played exceptional, giving up 2 goals per game, and saving 92% of the shots he's faced.

On the surface, everything looks great for Michigan. But if you dig a little deeper, the numbers may show a few disturbing trends for the Wolverines.

First, for Michigan this season, one of the keys will be depth at defense. With Matt Hunwick and Jack Johnson forming the best defensive pairing in college hockey, Michigan will need someone else to step up and play defense when those two aren't on the ice. The two players that Michigan needed to fill that role were juniors Jason Dest and Tim Cook. So far on the season though, Dest and Cook each have a -3 +/- rating.

Another key to the Wolverines season is how their large freshmen class performs. The freshmen class has had some pleasant surprises, particularly forward Travis Turnbull and defenseman Mark Mitera, but the freshmen haven't been perfect so far.

Despite the team being a +23 on the season, Michigan has four freshmen forwards with a negative plus/minus rating. Andrew Cogliano and Tyler Swystun are both -2, while Jason Bailey and Brandon Naurato are each -1.

Michigan has started out great, but the fast start is as much a result of Hensick, Hunwick, and Johnson's amazing performance as anything. It's unrealistic to expect that they will continue to average two points per game for the rest of the season.(Even though I have a tough time believing anything is unrealistic for Jack Johnson at this point). Once those guys start to slow down, Michigan will need those other players to step up and help pick up the slack if they want to compete for the CCHA title this season.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Recruiting News

On Friday, reader Kenny Milz sent me
this article from the Wisconsin State Journal. The article talks about Wisconsin freshman Ben Street and his good start in Madison. Later on in the article, it mentions his friend and future teammate Kyle Turris, one of the top players for the class of 2007.

Also, the article talks about Wisconsin's recruiting situation. The Badgers have one full scholarship left for next year's class. In all liklihood, that scholarship will go to BCHL forward Brian Lebler. The other two players mentioned are Kris Fredheim, who is also considering Colorado College and Maine, and Jim O'Brien, who is currently the number two ranked uncommitted forward on the WCH 2007 Recruiting Board.

The article mentions O'Brien's scholarship offer being for next season, and there are rumors that he will be acclerating his education so that he can graduate from high school next summer. This would create an interesting scenario as to where O'Brien would go to college. Wisconsin is listed as one of the teams he might play for, but they may not have room if they give their last scholarship to Lebler. Michigan is the other school mentioned, but Michigan recruiting Bob Miller has basically said that's next to impossible. The other logical choice would be Minnesota, but they may not have room for O'Brien either. In that case, O'Brien would either have to choose somewhere else, or spend a year in the USHL playing hockey. In any case, it will be an interesting situation to follow.

Speaking of the Gophers scholarship situation, Thief River Falls forward Mike Forney made his official visit to Minnesota last weekend, and he was apparently offered a scholarship for next season. North Dakota has also offered him a scholarship, but for 2007-2008, and would probably only have a scholarship for him next year if a player like Drew Stafford, Travis Zajac, or one of their early round draft picks from this past summer decided to leave school early.

Finally, at the Team Illinios won the Autumn Invitational Midget Major Tournament this past weekend, and 2007 Recruiting Board prospect Ryan Santana was named tournament MVP after tallying 7 goals and 4 assists. You can check out the tournament's scoring leaders, as it should have some names that will become pretty well known in the next few years. Some names of note on the list include Justin Florek, who is currently the top committed prospect for 2008, who had 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 games. Dan Durham, a 2007 prospect, had 3 goals and 2 assists in 6 games.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

The Western College Hockey Poll

1. Colorado College
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Michigan State
5. Alaska-Fairbanks
6. Minnesota
7. Denver
8. North Dakota
9. Northern Michigan
10.Wisconsin

Saturday Night Recap

Minnesota fans thought that a pair of victories over the Alaska-Fairbanks would be as simple as catching a punt snap, but Fairbanks continued their great weekend in Minneapolis with a tie against the Gophers. Minnesota walks away from their first series of the season without a victory. Fairbanks went with freshmen Chad Johnson in goal again tonight and he was impressive in his first college start. Fairbanks looks to have two great goalies that they can rely on at any time this season. Coach Tavis MacMillan has to be proud of what he saw from his team weekend. For Don Lucia, hopefully this weekend will serve as a wake-up call for his team that even though they may be the most talented team in the country, they are fallible if they get outworked like they did this weekend.

Colorado College rebounded from last night’s loss to Ohio State with a 1-0 shutout win. The Tigers looked a little tired in the third period on Friday night, but rebounded nicely with a great defensive performance for the win on Saturday. It sounded like a great series from both teams, and they probably each deserved a win.

Maine completed their sweep of Denver tonight, with a 4-2 win. It sounded like an ugly game, as Maine was having trouble with the ice at the Alfond Arena. The warm fall weather caused the ice to be soft, slowing down play. At one point, the teams had to stop the game and skate around in order to lift the fog over the ice. Also, Denver thug Geoff Paukovich was ejected from the game for running over Maine’s goalie. It was a tough weekend for the young Denver team, but should serve as good experience and help them down the road.

St. Cloud State and Northern Michigan also split their series. The Huskies finally founded some goal scoring from senior Joe Jensen, who scored both two goals including the game winner in overtime with 7 seconds left to play. Transfer Bobby Goepfert picked up the win in his first start at St. Cloud.

Bemidji State continued their dominance over the WCHA with their second straight sweep of a WCHA team. Tonight, they dominated Minnesota State, Mankato for a 7-3 win. These past two weekends have put to rest any argument about whether or not Bemidji has closed the gap with the rest of the WCHA. I would not want to have to face them in the NCAA tournament this season.

Finally, Nebraska-Omaha won the Maverick Stampede with a 5-3 win over New Hampshire. It’s a good win for the Mavericks, who are starting to prove that there will be life after Chris Holt. Freshmen Greg Barrett got the start tonight and played an impressive game, despite giving up a fluke goal when New Hampshire tried to shoot the puck around the boards, and it hit the glass in a weird way, causing the puck to go on net for a goal. Omaha picks up a nice win against a Hockey East team that should do pretty well this season.

Though the CCHA had a great weekend, Western Michigan can’t be included in that category. Robert Morris, fresh off a loss to the Penn State club team, went into Kalamazoo and beat the Broncos 5-2. It could e a rough season for the Broncos, and the last for coach Jim Culhane if they don’t turn things around quickly.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Friday Night Recap

What an amazing night of college hockey last night. Here was Western College Hockey Headquarters, we had a game on TV, a game on each of our two computers, a game on the radio, and were Gametracking as many other games as possible.

We'll start with the top team in the country losing on their home ice in Minnesota. Alaska-Fairbanks came out and played a great game, getting off to an early lead. Alaska-Fairbanks outworked the Gophers all night and took a 3-2 lead into the last minute of the game. With 30 seconds left, Gino Guyer was given a birthday gift from referee Randy Scmidt was he was allowed to dig under the pads of goalie Wylie Rogers while the puck was covered until he could knock the puck free and score the game-tying goal. It looked like the Gophers would steal a tie or use that momentum to win the game in OT after that blown call, but Kyle Greentree put a great shot over the glove of goalie Kellen Briggs to win the game in OT for the Nanooks. No matter what happens tonight, this weekend is already a success for Fairbanks as they'll walk away from this weekend with a quality win that will really help them come March.

The Michigan/Boston College game also lived up to it's billing last night. By all accounts, both teams were extremely fast and it was a great up and down game. Michigan may have gotten the better of BC on the scoreboard and outshot the Eagles, but the teams seemed to be very equally matched. There looked to be a bit of controversy when Boston College tied the game with under a minute left, but the goal was waved off by referee Matt Shegos, who instead called a penalty on Peter Harrold for goaltender interference. It seems as though Shegos made the right call, however. First, it was pretty clear that Harrold did interfere with Sauer's ability to make the save. Second, the same call had gone against Michigan about a minute earlier. It was a tough call to make for referee Matt Shegos, but the right one.

Jack Johnson is slowly building his legend at Michigan. He started off the game by scoring a goal with a blast from the point. Also in the first period, he had a great hit that laid out a BC player and ignited the crowd. Finally, in the second period, he took a slap shot that literally knocked the helmet off of goalie Cory Schneider. Schneider was just lucky his head was still attached after that shot. Johnson could earn a reputation as one of the greatest to play at Michigan, even if it's only for a year.

I didn't get a chance to see or hear anything from Colorado College/Ohio State, but it sounds like a great game. Colorado College's top line accounted for both of their goals, while either Rod Pelley or Tom Fritsche had a hand in each of OSU's four goals. OSU put in two goals in the third period while goalie Dave Caruso held off the Tigers and Ohio State will escape from a tough weekend with at least one win.

In Marquette, goalie Tim Boron got the opening night start over transfer Bobby Goepfert and let in two early goals against Northern Michigan. In the end though, it didn't really matter when Boron let the goals in. He could have shut out the Wildcats and only gotten a tie because the Huskies, even with their new coach, had the same problems not generating offense. Someone needs to start scoring for the Huskies if they want to win games.

Colorado College's win over Maine last week looks a little more impressive after Maine defeated Denver 5-1 last night. I stopped playing attention to the Gametracker on this game when Denver was leading 1-0 midway through the second period. The game was closer than the scored indicated though, as Maine added an empty net goal in the last minute of the game, then scored against with one second left. Regardless, I think Denver showed that they're not quite the same team that won the last two national championships just yet.

Devoted Minnesota State, Mankato fan Curtis Meyer said he was tired of journalists only having one line insults for the Mavericks, and while I'd love to break that trend, all I can say about last night's game is: STAY OUT OF THE DAMN PENALTY BOX! The Mavericks dug themselves into a 3-1 hole by way of three powerplay goals for the Beavers. They fought back, scoring two goals in the third period to tie it up at 3 goals apiece. Then, MSU,M took a penalty, negating a 4-on-4 situation and an eventual powerplay for the Mavericks. Instead, Bemidji got a 4-on-3 powerplay and scored the game-winning goal. Bemidji is a very good team, now with three wins over WCHA teams, but the Mavericks can't afford to keep giving teams opportunities like that. Bemidji was 4-11 on the powerplay last night. If the Mavericks can cut down on the number of penalties they take, they could be very good.

Ar the Maverick Stampede, Alex Nikiforuk got off to a great start against Miami, scoring all three of his teams goals in a 3-2 win over Army. Scott Parse assisted on all three goals.

Finally, the new rule emphasis on checking from behind seems to be a bit of a failure. I think it's a great idea by the NCAA to cut down on dangerous plays before something terrible happens, but I also think the punishment has been a bit too harsh. Last night, Andrew Ebbett, Bill Thomas, and Ryan Carter, among other were all ejected from the game in the first period due to this new rule. Just about every game featured at least one ejection for a hit from behind. There needs to be some sort of middle ground between just a two minute penalty and a 5 miute major with game misconduct.

Friday, October 14, 2005

USCHO, You've been Punk'd

First off, yes, this is an MGoBlog-esque mainstream media rant, even though I don't think anything having to do with college hockey can really be considered "mainstream." Second, yes, I really do like the work of Paula Weston and some of the other USCHO staff writers. Finally, yes, if those Detroit-bashing idiots at INCH had pulled this, I probably would be harsher.

That said, if you read this week's league previews on uscho.com, you might have noticed that both CCHA columnist Paula Weston and Hockey East columnist Dave Hendrickson both made mention of a bench-clearing brawl at the Northern Michigan intra-squad scrimmage. There's only one problem...

It never happened.

The famous Northern Michigan fan group, The Puckheads, were in their usual inebriated state after the intrasquad and decided it would be funny to start a thread on USCHO's message board talking about a fake fight at the game that night. Apparently most of the people who read that thread, including the USCHO staff, bought the story.

Of course, if USCHO had done any sort of research into the story, they would have realized it was completely false. I thought the story sounded odd, so I contacted someone at Northern Michigan and was informed it was a Puckhead prank. Simple enough.

So there you have it. Western College Hockey: 1 USCHO: 0

Let's Play Hockey

It's the first full week of the season, and we've got a bunch of great non-conference match-ups to preview. It should be a great weekend of college hockey.

Games to Watch

#3 Ohio State at #2 Colorado College

Colorado College proved they were for real last weekend with an overtime win over Maine, while Ohio State is trying to prove that they deserve to be the favorite in the CCHA for the first time in school history. This should be a good match-up between two of the best teams in each conference to see how each conference will stack up this year.

#10 Alaska-Fairbanks at #1 Minnesota

Everyone knows Minnesota is going to be a talented team this year, but Alaska-Fairbanks has the potential to surprise some people this season. Goalie Wylie Rogers will need to pick up where he left off at the CCHA tournament and stand on his head to help keep the Nanooks in the game. There will be an interesting match-up on the first line when Phil Kessel goes up against forward Kelly Czuy, who is over four and a half years Kessel's senior. Minnesota will probably end up beating the Nanooks, but I expect the Nanooks to keep it closer than people think.

Boston College at #4 Michigan (Fri.)

After a warm-up against Quinnipiac, Michigan faces their first big test of the season. Michigan's large freshmen class, including goalie Billy Sauer, will get to experience their first "big game" at the college level. Tonight will probably serve as more of a learning experience for the Wolverines than anything.

# 5 Denver at Maine

Denver opens up their second consecutive defense of the national title at Alfond Arena in Maine. Maine is a tough non-conference opponent and it's always difficult to win on the road, but I think Hockey East is just a little step behind the WCHA in terms of talent and Denver comes away with a pair of wins.

St. Cloud State at #8 Northern Michigan

St. Cloud State's program has been re-energized thanks to new head coach Bob Motzko. The question is whether or not that will allow the Huskies to score enough goals to match the free-wheeling Wildcats. I expect a series similar to last year, which was hard-fought and ended in a split.

Minnesota State, Mankato at Bemidji State

Everyone knew Bemidji was a good team, but I think they were still a little surprised when they swept Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. The Mavericks have questions all over their lineup, and it's a shame they start the season on the road, because I'm sure Troy Jutting would much rather have the extra lineup flexibility. I expect the Mavericks to steal a game though and walk away from this weekend with a split.

Players to Watch:

Players in Their Second Weekend vs. Players in Their First Weekend

One interesting story to keep an eye on is that there are a number of teams that had games last weekend playing teams that only had exhibitions last weekend. The extra weekend of games should help those teams have a better powerplay as well as better game conditioning.

Jon Dubel, Minnesota State, Mankato

With defensive leader Chad Brownlee out with a shoulder injury for two more weeks, The Mavericks will need Dubel to play strong defense all weekend, especially if he is paired with a freshmen defenseman again.

Nate Dey, St. Cloud State

Goals are going to be at a premium for the Huskies this weekend. One place that they will be looking to for production is the former Mr. Hockey in Minnesota. As a sophomore, Dey will need to step up and give the Huskies a viable scoring threat to turn to.

Wylie Rogers, Alaska-Fairbanks

As I mentioned earlier, with the offensive talent that the Gophers possess, Rogers will probably have to make a lot of difficult saves this weekend just to keep things close. Rogers is one of the most underrated goalies in the country and has the ability to do that.

Andrew Cogliano, Michigan

There were very high expectations for Cogliano coming into this season after he received rave reviews from just about everyone that watched him play. Cogliano didn't have a great series last weekend against Quinnipiac last weekend and Michigan will need his speed and scoring ability this weekend against Boston College.

Dave Caruso, Ohio State

This weekend's series is an opportunity for Dave Caruso and the Buckeyes to make a serious statement. Not only can the Buckeyes establish themselves as one of the top teams in the country, if Caruso can shut down the powerful CC offense, he could solidfy himself as a Hobey Baker candidate.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Programming Note

It's come to my attention that someone from the Department of Justice has been perusing this site, so from here on out, there is to be no more talk of The Uprising.

I will say this though........Tuesday.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

This week's installment of "Let's Play Hockey" will be coming sometime tomorrow in the late morning or early afternoon, but in the meantime, you can read what other bloggers are writing about their games this weekend.

We'll start with the UAF Hockey Blog's preview of The Nanooks trip to Minnesota. One note he mentions at the end is that sophomore Aaron Lee will be returning to the 'nooks lineup and will play on the first line rather than sophomore Kyle Greentree. That allows Greentree to move down to the second line with Ryan McLeod, giving the Nanooks two pretty dangerous scoring lines. It may not be enough to upset Minnesota at Mariucci, but the Nanooks could surprise a lot of people in the WCHA.

The LSSU Hockey Blog has their preview up of LSSU's series against Colgate. Last year, Colgate swept the Lakers in back to back one goal games. The Lakers are looking to get off to a good start under new coach Jim Roque with a pair of wins over an NCAA tournament team from last season. Also, Saturday night is Patriot's Night in Sault St. Marie, meaning any active or retired member of the military gets in for free.

The LSSU Hockey Blog also gets the award for Most Unfortunate Entry Title Ever.

Finally, Let's Go DU did a pretty thorough preview of the #5 Pioneers trip to Maine. This should be a great test to see where Denver is at at this point in the season. Personally, I'm not totally convinced they are as strong as last year, but a couple impressive performances could help sway me.

Also as part of his preview for the series, Let's Go DU had a nice scouting report on Maine freshmen goalie Ben Bishop.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Junior Round-Up

Last week, Wisconsin '07 recruit Kyle Turris got a chance to play on the first line for Burnaby last week when top line center Paul Crowder left the game with an injury, and apparently he went all Steve Davis to the Quesnel Millionaires' Ruben Riley.(You're a big boy, Chris. DO NOT cry). The BCHL had a nice article chronicling Turris' performance, and some other complimentary words. It sounds like the Badgers landed a pretty exciting offensive player.

In the Alberta Junior Hockey League, 2007 prospect Jesse Martin started the season on fire, but was temporarily derailed after a dangerous hit from Ian Barteaux.

Another prospect of interest in Alberta is Bonnyville Pontiacs forward Justin Fontaine. Fontaine is a top 2007 prospect that is currently 4th in the league in scoring with 8 goals and 14 assists. He should receive interest from many top schools.

The USHL had a number of good articles on players that have committed to colleges over the past week.

The first features North Dakota recruit Chris Vande Velde. Vande Velde moved to the USHL for 7 games last season after his high school season was over, and now, in his first full year, he's off to a very good start.

The next is on St. Cloud recruit Ryan Peckskamp. It's a nice story on a local kid that earned an offer from his hometown team through hard work and character.

Finally, there was a nice article on two of Omaha's most recent commitments in Lucas Klimek and Eric Olimb. Omaha has pretty much raided the entire Indiana Ice roster this offseason in their recruiting efforts. They've been aided by assistant coach Doc DelCastillo's connections to the Ice program. So far though, the Ice are 1-2 in their first two games of the season.

It was also a good week for Bowling Green recruits James Perkin and Jacob Cepis. Both players are in their first year in the USHL. Cepis came to Cedar Rapids from the USHL from the NAHL, and is off to a great start with 6 points in his first 5 games. James Perkin was one of the top junior players in Alberta before deciding to move to the USHL. He got off to a slow start, being held off the statsheet for his first three games, but came back in a strong way, having a hand in all 5 of his team's goals in a 5-2 win last week, with 2 powerplay goals and three assists. For that effort, Perkin was named the USHL's offensive player of the week.

Alaska-Fairbanks News

I received an email from Alaska-Fairbanks blogger Eric Carlson saying that his surgery was successful and that the UAF Hockey Blog is back in business. It's good to have him back.

His Nanooks, who made their debut on the WCH Poll this week at #10 will travel to Minneapolis this weekend to take on the top ranked Gophers. It should be a difficult test for them, but should give a good indication as to just how good UAF's team is this year.

Also, on a more cosmetic note, if you scroll down to the bottom of the archives, you'll notice that Western College Hockey has passed to rigorous initiation(complete with gratuitous paddling) to become a member of the Blog Catalog. One can only assume this will aide our budding empire.

There's also a link to a Site Meter on the bottom. So if you ever need to feel unique, go ahead and click it, and you can see that you are indeed the only one here.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The Western College Hockey Poll

Here is this week's poll. Feel free to critique it.

1. Minneosta
2. Colorado College
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Denver
6. Michigan State
7. Northern Michigan
8. North Dakota
9. Wisconsin
10. Alaska-Fairbanks

Monday, October 10, 2005

A Few More Notes

First off, I'd like to direct everyone to CSTV.com 's "Tuesday at the Rink" chats. It's a weekly feature they'll be running throughout the season featuring special guests. This week, RIT head coach, and Bowling Green alum Wayne Wilson will be the first guest at 12:30 CST, and CSTV analyst Dave Starman will follow at 1:00 CST. It should be interesting to tune in and here what Coach Wilson has to say and the RIT Tigers, in their inaugural year of Division 1 hockey.

MavRick's Nebraska-Omaha Hockey Blog had a link to a great story in the UNO Gateway where Omaha head coach Mike Kemp talks about the controversy caused by the CCHA's new playoff system. I think it's interesting that the coaches were so divided on the issue. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I like the idea of only having 4 teams make it to the Joe. It eliminates the embarassing Thursday games, and fans can plan a trip to Detroit, knowing their team is guaranteed two games.

Also, I missed it earlier, but the LSSU Hockey Blog has recaps up of both LSSU's games against York University and the Under 18 team.

Props go out to Michigan Hockey Net for helping locate the super secret free broadcasts of Michigan hockey games this season. I highly suggest everyone visit his website.

Finally, The Blog That Yost Built has finished his Eastern Conference Preview. It's worth a read if you want a quick primer on the NHL.

Two Major Recruit Commitments

The first major commitment of the day goes to the University of Denver, with the signing of Shattuck-St. Mary's forward Tyler Ruegsegger. Ruegsegger is one of the top forwards on Shattucks team this year, but he's not the level of superstar that Shattuck has produced in the past. Ruegsegger is expected to join Denver in the 2007-2008 season.

Michigan Tech got another major commitment today with Honeybaked forward Anthony Schooley. Schooley was ranked as the 26th best uncommited forward on the 2007 recruiting board. He is a natural goal scorer and a great pick-up for Michigan Tech. Schooley's commitment is for the 2008-2009 season.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Weekend Round-up

Every week, I'm going to try to link to some of the blogs on the link list as a way of recapping the weekend, as well as giving my own thoughts. This week is a little light because of the number of games played, but hopefully, we'll add some more blogs over the course of the season.

We'll start with The Blog that Yost Built, who had an excellent recap of Michigan's 3-1 win over Quinnipiac. He seems to be joining me on the Billy Sauer bandwagon.

Also, since I don't really follow the NHL until about June, The Blog that Yost Built had an excellent Western Conference Preview. It's recommended if you're a casual NHL fan like me and don't really know what's up. There should be an Eastern Conference preview up sometime this week.

Let's Go DU had an interesting take on Coach Gwozdecky's comments following a exhibition win over Lakehead.

USAFA Bulldog also has his write up of the Duluth/Bemidji series. Apparently freshmen Mason Raymond lived up to expectations last weekend, and the Bulldogs played hard, but couldn't solve Bemidji goalie Matt Climie.

This doesn't really relate, but Goon's Riverhawk Hockey Blog deserves special mention for his OMG!!! Lowell Preview, that includes both Rodney Dangerfield and French literature; two things I enjoy.

There was some recruiting news that happened over the weekend as well.

Defenseman Kevin Wehrs, of Cedar Rapids in the USHL, choose to play for Minnesota in 2007, over St. Cloud, Minnesota-Duluth, BU, and UNH. The offers from all the other schools were for 2006, but Wehrs chose to wait the extra year to play for Minnesota, with the option of coming in 2006 if someone leaves early.

Michigan Tech also got a commitment from a talented defenseman in Penticton Vees playmaking defenseman Deron Cousens. Chris Heisenberg had mentioned him a blog post the day before he committed.

Now for my thoughts on the weekend:

My worry level for the MSU,M Mavericks was bumped up from about Level 2 to Level 4 on the MGoBlog OMG Kitten scale, meaning kitty is up in the belltower with his rifle, but he doesn't quite have the star set up to steady his aim yet. The 5-0 loss to Alberta wasn't as bad as it looked, and goalie Dan Tormey didn't really get much of a chance to show off his talent, but the lack of finishing ability showed by the Mavs when they got quality chances at the start of the game was definite cause for worry.

Also cause for worry was the fact that Bemidji State swept Minnesota-Duluth at Duluth in pretty impressive fashion. Bemidji looks to be for real this year. I would not be surprised if this was the year that they broke through and won a game in the NCAA tournament.

Billy Sauer deserves special recognition for his effort this weekend because he gave Michigan fans at least one reason not to jump. He'll get his first big test next weekend when he duels Cory Schneider from Boston College.

Matt Hunwick's crazy, hardcore offseason workout regime is already paying big dividends. Hunwick was having a perfect weekend, with an assist on Friday night, followed by a 3 goal, two assist performance on Saturday, right up until the Detroit News called him "Matt Hensick" in the Sunday paper.

Just behind Matt Hunwick in the scoring race is Colorado College forward Derek Patrosso. Everyone wondered who would step up as the linemate of Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, and it looks like Patrosso filled that role with a hat trick against Union and another goal against Maine.

It looks like I may have overrated Wisconsin slightly. St. Lawrence stole some big wins early last season as well, but I really expected more out of the Wisconsin offense.

North Dakota also had a pretty disappointing offensive performance this weekend. The Sioux only managed two powerplay goals against Miami, both scored by freshmen, and an empty net goal. They were then shut out by Michigan State. Jordan Parise was the real star for North Dakota, stopping 36 shots Miami shots for a shutout on Saturday.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Let's Play Hockey

During the season, since there's no way I'd have time to preview every game, what I hope to do is provide a look at a couple games and a couple players that I'll be keeping my eye on over the weekend. This should be a weekly feature every Friday.

Games to Watch:

Bemidji State at Minnesota-Duluth(Fri. and Sat.)

People aren't really sure what to expect from the Bulldogs this season. Will they be the disappointing team from last season, or will the cast of new freshmen turn them into a very good team. They face a tough test against a Bemidji team that has proven they can compete against anyone in the WCHA. Now the Beavers have to prove that they can start beating WCHA teams.

Maine at #4 Colorado College (Sat.)

After getting a warm-up game on Friday night against Union, Colorado College faces a tough non-conference test against one of the best programs in Hockey East. Maine is always tough to beat, but Brett Sterling and Marty Sertich have to be excited about the prospect of facing a freshmen goaltender in net.

#6 North Dakota vs. #9 Michigan State (Sun.)

North Dakota fans are hoping nothing has changed from last season, while Michigan State fans are hoping that everything has changed. It's only the first weekend of the season, but this game could have huge PWR implications down the road if one or both teams end up on the NCAA tournament bubble. Also, Michigan State will go on the road to Cornell and then face Michigan after this game, so it's important that the Spartans win here and don't dig themselves into too big of a hole.

Players to Watch:

Colton Fretter, Michigan State

How will Fretter react to the loss of linemate Jim Slater? Will he continue scoring at the same pace or will he drop-off the way Mike Lalonde did last season when he was moved off of Slater's line?

Robbie Earl-Joe Pavelski-Adam Burish, Wisconsin

Coach Mike Eaves announced this week that his top three forwards would be sharing the top line this weekend. They have the potential to be the best line in the country this season.

Billy Sauer, Michigan

Sauer will get his real test in goal this weekend as Michigan plays Quinnipiac. Michigan fans will have high expectations for the young goalie.

North Dakota's Freshmen Defenseman

Zach Jones, Brian Lee, Taylor Chorney, and Joe Finley will get a rough introduction into college hockey at the Lefty McFadden Tournament this weekend. On Saturday, they'll have to contend with Miami's dangerous first line of Matt Christie, Marty Guerin, and Nathan Davis, and then have to find a way to stop Michigan State the following evening. If they hold up well under fire this weekend, North Dakota could very well have one of the best teams in the WCHA.

Justin Abdelkader-Tim Crowder-Tim Kennedy, Michigan State

It looks as though coach Rick Comley has decided his three talented freshmen forwards on the same line together. Even though they'll only be playing their first college games, if they play up to their potential, they could provide the Spartans with the scoring depth they need to return to prominence.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Western College Hockey Blog Poll

We all know that polls are meaningless, but they're meaningless in a fun sort of way. Throughout the season, I'll be keeping my own personal poll of the top teams in the WCHA and CCHA. Since one of the goals of this poll is to help facilitate discussion, I will be using reader comments to help guide my thought process in creating the poll. If someone can make a convincing argument as to why a team should be higher or lower, I will definitely factor that into the following week's poll.

Here is the poll for the opening week of the season:

1. Minnesota
2. Wisconsin
3. Ohio State
4. Colorado College
5. Michigan
6. North Dakota
7. Denver
8. Northern Michigan
9. Michigan State
10. Minnesota State, Mankato

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Toews and Tessier Expelled from Shattuck-St. Mary's

Last weekend when I got the opportunity to watch Shattuck-St. Mary's play in the High School Elite League, two players that were ominously missing from the lineup were David Toews and Kelsey Tessier, two of the top prospects out of Minnesota for the 2008 recruiting class(Though I probably wouldn't have known either way, since the billion dollar school can't put names on the back of their jerseys or print numerical rosters.) The reason for their absence was explained as an academic problem. I think most people took this to mean that they had fallen behind in some classes and would miss a few games before returning to the team.

But today is was announced by USHR.com that Toews and Tessier have been expelled from Shattuck for cheating. This puts both players in a very difficult position, because both are Canadian, and Hockey Canada's view of America is only slightly more positive than al-Qaeda's. They don't look too kindly upon players that leave their system for the United States. Hockey Canada has tried to regulate the number of Canadians playing in America and they could make it difficult for Toews and Tessier to play in the USHL.

The best option for these two would probably be to find another prep school that will be willing to take them or to move back to Canadian Tier II hockey. If I had to guess, this dismissal probably decreases the likelihood of Toews and Tessier ever making it to college hockey.

Recruiting News

The Wisconsin State Journal had an article previewing the upcoming Badger season. . The article mentions that Robbie Earl, Joe Pavelski, and Adam Burish will be the Badgers top line this season. That could be the most dangerous line in college hockey this season. It also mentions that there seems to be unprecedent ticket demand at the Kohl Center this season.

Finally, the article mentions that Wisconsin has offered their last scholarship for 2006 to BCHL forward Brian Lebler. Lebler is technically a 2007 prospect, but will be accelerating his studies so he can enter college next season. The schools most interested in him are Wisconsin and Michigan, with Ohio State as a longshot possibility.

It's starting to look likely that Lebler will pick Wisconsin though. In the article, his father, who played for the Badgers, says that would love to see Brian go to Wisconsin. Lebler's mother is also originally from Madison. It should also be noted that Michigan hasn't won a recruiting battle with Wisconsin since, hmmmmm, Blake Geoffrion? Nope. Shane Connelly? Nope. Robbie Earl? Nope. I'll try to remain objective and not point out how well that's worked out for Wisconsin on the ice against Michigan. If I had to guess though, Lebler will be a Badger next season, and Michigan will be left out in the cold, losing out on every major forward recruit they went after.

Also, it should be noted that the rumor about Sam Gagner committing to Minnesota is not true. It's pretty likely that Gagner will eventually commit to Minnesota sometime in the future, but as of right now, there is no such commitment.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Brandon Wong

BCHL forward Brandon Wong is the brother of Nebraska-Omaha star Andrew Wong. Last January, he was featured in an article on US College Hockey Online, as one of the best remaining recruits for this season's recruiting class. Wong never received the type of offer he was looking for though, and decided to return to the BCHL. It's looking like that decision will pay off for him.

Last season, he put up 70 points in 59 games for the Powell River Paper Kings. This year, with the Merritt Centennials, Wong has 17 points in his first 9 games, which is good for second in the league in scoring. What's more impressive is that Wong, who is known more as a playmaker, is leading the league with 12 goals, three more than the second highest goal scorer in the league.

The article linked above mentions Minnesota State, Mankato and Saint Cloud State as two possible destinations for Wong, but if Wong keeps scoring at this pace, he'll have even more options.

News of the Day

Matt Rust, the 13th ranked uncommitted forward on the 2007 Recruiting Board, no longer qualifies for the uncommitted list as he committed to the University of Michigan. It's a nice pick-up for the Wolverines, who land one of the top players from Michigan for the class of 2007.

Also, Andreas Nodl has committted to St. Cloud State for next season.

The WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll was released today. Minnesota tops the list, gaining seven place votes. Wisconsin, Denver, and Colorado College each received a single first place vote.

The biggest surprise of the poll occurred at the bottom of the poll. Alaska-Anchorage was picked to finish last in the league, with St. Cloud picked 9th, and Michigan Tech picked to improve all the way to 8th.

Marty Sertich got 7 votes for Player of the Year, while Brett Sterling, Gabe Gauthier, and Dan Irmen all received a vote.

Phil Kessel was the unanimous choice for Freshmen of the Year.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Interesting Note from UAF Blue-Gold Game

Eric from UAF Hockey Blog posted about Alaska-Fairbanks Blue-Gold game.

The game itself didn't have too much action, but afterwards, the Nanooks held their annual team skills competition. Senior defenseman Jordan Hendry proved that there's no ill effects from his season-ending knee injury by winning the team's fastest skater competition again. Kelly Czuy won the hardest shot competition with a blast of 99 mph.

It's a huge positive for the Nanooks if Hendry is back at 100% to help give them depth on the blueline.

High School Elite League Recap

For those people that aren't familiar with the HS Elite League, it is basically a fall league that takes the best high school hockey players from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota and gives them the opportunity to play more games and to be scouted by the NHL, NCAA, USHL, and aspiring college hockey bloggists against top competition.

On Friday, GopherPuckLive poster Iceburg was able to travel down to Owantonna to watch Shattuck-St. Mary's take on the Team Southeast. You can read his recap of the game here.

On Sunday, I got the opportunity to take in a few games at the University of Minnesota and here were my impressions.

In was only able to catch the tail end of the first game between Team North and Team Great Plains. Team North was the superior team and ended up dominating the play. I was interested in seeing 2007 recruit Matt Crandall play in this game. Crandall was very solid with the puck on his stick. He seemed confident and made good decisions. He could probably work on being a little physical and punishing players more against boards, but overall, I was pretty impressed and could see him playing in the WCHA or CCHA one day. Less impressive was 2007 recruit Pat White. White started the year pretty high on the '07 recruiting board, but has slowly faded as he hasn't lived up to his hype. He had a couple bad shifts and took a bad penalty in the time I saw and certainly did nothing to help his position on the prospect board. I didn't really get a good chance to see anything out of '07 recruit Jascha Petit or '08 recruit Jake Johnson. Also, goalie Reid Ellingson wasn't playing when I was there.

Nobody really stood out for Team Great Plains. I didn't see Aaron Marvin, who impressed me at the Select 17 Festival, or Jordy Christian playing at all.

In the second game, Team Southeast took on Team Northwest. There wasn't really anybody on Team Northwest that I was interested in. Goalie Kent Patterson played half the game, but didn't really see much action.

For Team Southeast, I kept an eye on Gopher commit Jay Barriball. Barriball looked decent, but didn't really stand out at all. He never really god an opportunity to show off his much-talked-about speed, but on a few occassions, he showed that he can be lighting quick with the puck on his stick. He also got into a scrum with a Northwest player behind the play and totally lost the fight.

The player that impressed me the most for Team Southwest was Taylor Matson of Holy Angels. Matson was ranked as the number 19 uncommitted forward on the 2007 Recruiting Board, and certainly didn't do anything to hurt his position. Matson showed some unbelievable hands and stick-handling ability, twice putting a move on a defenseman and beating him clean. He wasn't able to finish either opportunity, but he certainly has the ability to create a lot of problems for opposing teams with his stick-handling ability.

The final player I was watching for Team Southwest was Josh Levine. Levine's effort for most of the game was pretty subpar. He wasn't involved in the play for most of the game, but once he got the puck on his stick, he turned into a different player. Especially when he got the puck down low, he turned into a bulldog. He may have the skating ability to create plays, but it's tough to get the puck away from him once he gets it. He'll probably need to develop into a better skater and improve his all-around game, but there is some talent there.

Defenseman Chris Student, a potential '08 recruit playd well enough to catch my attention. He's a very small defenseman, but is good with the puck and doesn't make too many mistakes.

In the final game of the day, Shattuck-St. Mary's took on Team Northeast. This year's Shattuck team lacks the great player it has had in the past, and was really dominated by Team Northeast. Though Shattuck controlled the play for some of the second period, they never really mounted any serious offensive attack and ended up losing 6-2.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't have a Shattuck roster and they don't wear names on the backs of their jerseys so I had no idea who anybody was. The only player I recognized by face was Minnesota State recruit Ben Youds. Youds didn't have his best game, but it's difficult for an offensive defenseman to do much when he's forced to play defense the large majority of the time. Youds probably needs to work on his outlet passes a little more, and work on being more physical, but he did an excellent job quarterbacking the powerplay.

Before the tournament, I would have guessed that '07 recruit Mike Hoeffel, the 6th ranked uncommitted forward, would be the best player in the league, and he certainly looked like it. Hoeffel was about as close to a complete package as there is. He has very good size, and uses it pretty well. He can also skate exceptionally well for someone his size, and has a very heavy snap shot that he loves to use. The only problem was that he had the accuracy of a Stormtrooper today. He had three quality scoring chances today and put all three shots over the net. One beat the goalie cleanly, but hit the crossbar, while the other two missed badly. If he improves his scoring touch a little, he'll be a very good player.

The big scorer for Northeast today was Mike Dorr. Dorr played on a line with Hoeffel and tallied two goals. The first came on a breakaway that he finished with a nice deke, while the second came when he jammed home a scramble down low. He showed great offensive instincts on both goals.

The third player on the Hoeffel-Dorr line was '07 recruit Nick Larson. Larson may not have had the same skills as his two linemates, but his size will earn him some serious looks, and if he improves a little, he could develop into a nice power forward.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Sad News

According to a post on the UAF Hockey Blog, Eric Carlson, the writer of that blog, the owner of uafhockey.com for 10 years, and one of Western College Hockey's eight readers, has been unexpectedly diagnosed with colon cancer.

I'm sure he would appreciate it if everyone kept him in their thoughts and prayers.

Sauer Wins Starting Job at Michigan While Gophers Rotate

This news may not come as a huge surprise to some, but this week it was confirmed that freshmen goalie Billy Sauer has played well in fall practices and will most likely be the every game starter for Michigan this season, beating out senior back-up Noah Ruden.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia was quoted in this Minneapolis Star-Tribune article as saying that junior Kellen Briggs will start the season as the team's number one goalie, but talented freshmen Jeff Frazee will also see playing time. Briggs will get the first start of the season against Alaska-Fairbanks, but Frazee will probably start the next night.