Linkorama

There's a new USHL Blog out there that looks very promising.

Another blog I came across today is the Osprey Blog, which features writers writing about a bounch of different stuff in Ontario. Journalist Randy Russon covers the NOJHL junior league. In a November 20th post, he mentions that Lake State's Jim Roque and Michigan State's Rick Comley both went out to watch forward Brett Perlini. The NOJHL doesn't produce a ton of college players, but they certainly produce some. There's also a couple Minnesota kids playing in that league, including Holy Angels' Ky Moje, and Hibbing's Brennan Poderzay.

INCH has their weekly Hobey Tracker up. In this week's injustice, the third best player on Vermont gets the mention as the Hidden Hobey rather than Travis Morin. I find their shenanigans harmful and tragic. Which really doesn't make them shenanigans at all.(Note: Even though I complain about Mike Check and the Hobey Tracker like every week, I still think they have a great site, which is why I link to them so frequently.)

Minnesota is College Hockey News' Team of the Week and Adam Wodon wrote a feature on Blake Wheeler. Wheeler was a perfect choice because he seems to be a microcosm of the Gophers team. He was highly-touted last year, but played a little too soft and wasn't able to produce when it mattered most. But a change in playing style and change in attitude over the summer has produced sexy results. I actually think the youth of this team has been an advantage to Minnesota because it's allowed them to change the attitude and style of the team so easily.

Matt Wellens takes a closer look at NMU recruit Mark Olver.

James Mirtle references a Hockey News article that talks about Minnesota Twins' AL MVP Justin Morneau and his hockey career.

Gilbert Brule won't be on Canada's World Junior team since he didn't show up to their tryout camp. He likely would't have been released by Columbus anyway. Canada is still waiting to hear if Jordan Staal, Guillaume Latendresse, and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic will be released by their NHL team for the tournament. I kind of wished they would have asked Pittsburgh if they could have Sidney Crosby for the tournament, just to see what kind of a reaction they got. Anyway, those other three are probably unlikely to be released since they're playing fairly significant minutes at the NHL level, which can only help the US.(In an interesting twist, Latendresse would have been available to Canada, had American Chris Higgins not gotten injured.)

I haven't heard if Phil Kessel will be released to play for the Americans, but I'd guess not. He's playing fairly regularly for the Bruins. Tuesday night was the first time Kessel didn't play see at least 13 shifts and 8 minutes of ice time in a game.


Chris Heisenberg has more on Vermont recruit Wahs Stacey.