Misc. Linkorama

There's a fairly credible rumor posted on the USCHO message boards that Wisconsin native Craig Smith will be committing to Wisconsin for the 2009 season. Smith is a nice player, and there's been some gnashing of teeth in Wisconsin about Mike Eaves' ability to attrack in-state players, so it's a score on two fronts for the Badgers.

Hockey Thoughts also has an interesting rumor that Wisconsin has been recruiting Saskatchewan goalie Pier-Louis Nadeau. Wisconsin commit Scott Gudmanson has struggled in his first season in the USHL, which helps fuel those rumors.

I suppose this isn't a huge secret anymore since he's played two games, but former NTDP defenseman Colby Cohen left the team to play in the USHL. Apparently Cohen wasn't happy with the amount of playing time he was receiving and didn't get along with his teammates. From watching Team USA at the NAHL Showcase, I find that believable. They were an incredibly selfless team, except for Cohen who wanted to take a one-timer from the point every time he touched the puck. There was some controversy about where Cohen would play, and I guess his family paid $10,000 to make him a free agent and have him end up in Lincoln. He picked up a goal and an assist in his first two games. The NTDP didn't exactly miss Cohen when they blew out Clarkson last weekend.

British Columbia 1992 defenseman Austin Madaisky seems like a pretty nice prospect, and could potentially be interested in the NCAA. He's in a similar situation to his Burnaby teammate Kevin Sundher, in that they're both top prospects, and are also good students who skipped a grade of elementary school, so they're both 2009 prospects rather than 2010 prospects.

The USHL has gone back to putting player's birthdates on their Pointstreak page. It was basically a case where people, led by JHB's Marc Foster, pointed out how dumb and pointless the decision was, and the USHL reconsidered.

St. Cloud goalie Bobby Goepfert's new, black pads have arrived, according to Kevin Allenspach, meaning he can ditch the ugly yellow abominations he's been wearing.