The Pat Kane thing is over, finally, and in the end, he decided to sign with London of the OHL. The Scouting News first reported it two weeks ago, and it has since been confirmed by various other sources. US Hockey Report was one of many places to report it. Though I can't say I agree with their headline "BU Gains a Split". You can't "gain" a split. You can earn a split, and you can gain in a split, but you can't gain a split. Oh well.
By the way, the other part of BU's split was that they got a commitment from Cushing Prep defenseman David Warsofsky. Warsofsky is one of the best defenseman in the '90 class. He's a small, offensive-minded defenseman who was supposed to be a 2009 recruit, but he'll accelerate his last two years and join BU in 2008. He never made my recruiting boards because he seemed destined to stay out East, but he sounds like a nice prospect.
If, like me, you were desperate for good, interesting college hockey recruiting news, Andy Baggot has got you covered. We'll start from the top.
First, it turns out that Finnish center Jan-Mikael Juutilainen didn't commit to Nebraska-Omaha as was previously reported. Juutilainen had a nice year in Finland, and played well internationally which caused him to be ranked as a potential first round draft pick by some people. But he slipped all the way to the 6th round of the draft, where many people thought that Chicago got a huge steal by picking him that late. Baggot reports that UNO, Miami, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin are all interested in him. Juutilainen will be playing in the USHL this year, so it should be a little easier to follow his progress.
The second note is that Wisconsin is interested in Sioux Falls forward Ryan Malone. The article says Malone is "is regarded as the top available North American recruit for the 2007-08 season." Which website lists him as the top available recruit? That's right, this one. It's always nice to get a little indirect quotation love.
Anyway, there's not a lot of new information on Malone, except that he's taking an unofficial visit to Wisconsin because his uncle knew Mike Eaves from the Penguins organization.
Next on the hitlist is Wisconsin native Brent Gwidt, who took an unofficial visit to Wisconsin last week. Gwidt got a lot of attention from other CCHA and WCHA schools, but he seems really interested in going to Wisconsin, and if the Badgers end up offering him a scholarship, I'd guess that he would go there.
Finally, he says that the Badgers are still interested in Brett Bruneteau.
Also, Baggot mentions that the NCAA increased the amount of time that coaches can have with their full squad before the start of the season, which is a great move, and that Wisconsin is considering making their banner raising a two night ordeal. I can't wait to see how that works out.
Michigan State's Rivals Board is reporting that Dominic Vicari is probably leaving MSU. Vicari lost his starting role to freshmen Jeff Lerg last year, and like Tim Boron last week, doesn't want to spend his senior year riding the bench and not playing. It's not a huge loss, but would leave MSU with a former club team goalie as their only back-up.
I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but North Dakota hired Dane Jackson as the assistant coach to replace Brad Berry, and apparently, Sioux fans would have preferred Steve Johnson.
UAA added a player late in Swedish defenseman Nils Backstrom. As you can see in the link, Hockey's Future doesn't exactly give a glowing report of him, but you also have to keep in mind that he's being viewed through NHL glasses over there, and just because he'll never make the NHL doesn't mean he can't play at the college level. Looking through the report though, he reminds me a lot of Nebraska-Omaha defenseman Juha Uotila.
Dustin Nielson, who hosts Hockeys Future radio, has his own blog, where he has some good stuff, including his own 2007 Draft Top Ten, where he says a few things about each player. It's worth a read.
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7 comments:
I hope UW can work out some sort of trade with the Penguins to get Ryan. :)
I think the Madison paper is calling Malone the best available recruit based on Red Line Report rankings as he is their highest NCAA eligible player that has yet to commit anywhere. The Madison paper has often quoted Red Line when making similar comments in the past.
didn't vicari have an off season injury?
Does anyone know details?
He very well could have been referring to RLR. But still, let me have this.
If you click on the link I provided, it says that Vicari broke his foot at the beginning of the offseason, which is why he hasn't left yet.
Where is Kane supose to go in the draft? I havent even seen his name mentioned once yet. He may not be the biggest guy on the ice but his talent is undeniable and he has great speed. The lack of inclusion of Turris surprises me too.
The impression I've got is that Kane is somewhere in the middle of the first round. I've heard some people talk about him in the top 10 or even higher, but I think he'd have to do very well this year in the OHL and prove that his size won't be an issue.
I think Turris will be more towards the end of the first round. He might be hurt since he's playing in the BCHL rather than in the WHL with all those other top picks. He should be very similar to Andrew Cogliano in that regard.
Don't say "Sioux fans would have preferred Steve Johnson." At best say "SOME Sioux fans would have preferred Steve Johnson." As you know from reading the SiouxSports message board, pretty much everybody there trusts Hakstol's ability to make a good hire, and is behind the Jackson hiring.
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