News Updates

There’s a lot of stuff for me to catch up on, so I'll get right to it.

Pat White from Grand Rapids HS committed to the Gophers for 2007. As a junior last season, he led Grand Rapids to the state tournament and played great there. There’s a bit of a Grand Rapids connection with the Gophers as defenseman Alex Goligoski and coach Don Lucia are both from Grand Rapids.

Jordan Parise decided to leave North Dakota for the pros, and the Sioux responded by bringing in Ontario goalie Anthony Grieco to back-up Phillippe Lamoreaux next season. I would guess that the Sioux might still be interested in trying to recruit a blue-chip goalie for next season.

Corey Tropp has committed to Michigan State for 2007. Tropp was one of the best player’s in Michigan, playing for the Belle Tire AAA program. This past season, he moved on to play for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL where he scored a respectable 7 goals and 8 assists as a 16 year old.

Michigan’s streak of recruiting goalies to start as true freshmen will end after over a decade. The Wolverines got a commitment from Lincoln(USHL) goalie Bryan Hogan for 2007. Hogan was a standout at Detroit Catholic Central HS before moving on to the USHL and having an outstanding season.

I also received word from a reader, who most Minnesotans would know as “Iceburg,” that Lincoln defenseman Chad Langlais was listed as a Michigan commit at the Lincoln tryout camp last weekend. There hasn’t been any other confirmation of this yet, though. Langlais played high school hockey at Detroit Cranbrook HS, and spent last season with the Stars. Langlais would likely be a walk-on or near walk-on at Michigan, but the Wolverines desperately need some defenseman for the 2007 season, after a number of potential recruits decided to commit elsewhere.

Last December I speculated that St. Cloud forward Matt Francis might be better served by a change of scenery, either to the WHL, or transferring to a different college hockey team. Francis has decided to take that route by transferring to Bemidji State. He’ll have to sit out next season before starting with the Beavers in 2007. Francis is talented, but never seemed to find himself at St. Cloud, and the pressure of not being able to tally his first collegiate goal seemed to kill his confidence. With a fresh start, he could be a very good player for Bemidji in his last two seasons though.

Brent Borgen, who left the University of Minnesota midway through last season due to a lack of playing time will enroll at St. Cloud State. Borgen has two years of eligibility remaining.

There have been reports that Wisconsin recruit Garrett Suter has failed to academically qualify and won’t be playing for Wisconsin next season. Suter isn’t considered a huge loss for the Badgers, who have recruited many other talented defenseman for the future.