Thursday, March 22, 2007

Skille Leaves Wisconsin

The Madison Capital Times' Todd Milewski is reporting that Wisconsin forward Jack Skille will sign with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Skille was a first round pick of the Blackhawks two years ago. He scored 21 goals in his two years with the Badgers.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

These guys are Skeee-roooed again. The little bit of talent they had has either graduated or left early, putting them in an even worse position for next year than they were in this year.

dggoddard said...

The WCHA bloodbath begins. Obviously expected, but it tears your guts out to see the great players leave early. good luck to Skille.

Anonymous said...

Wisconsin will be alright. No one had over 30 points this year. Both Davies and Turris should exceed that next year. Geoffrion will get better. Gouloubef, Smith, and McDonaugh will outproduce Piskula, Olinger, and Likens.

Anonymous said...

Would it be fair to say Skille was a bit of a disappointment for the Badgers? Granted, he played a role on the title team last year, but he certainly wasn't one of their go-to players. And this year when the departures of Earle and Pavelski meant that Skille would need to shoulder a great scoring load, he seemed to regress.

Do Badger fans/observers think it was the system?

Anonymous said...

Skille didn't produce as much as I would have liked, but his value to the team was unquestioned. With Skille, UW was 16-11-3. Without Jack, UW was 3-7-1. With him, scoring was up and the team played better.

For his sake, I really wish he hadn;t been injured. I think he could have developed a nice rhythm during the season. He missed so much time that it was hard to do that.

All in all, he played well at the WJC, and I think he'll be ok as a pro, but he's still got some developing to do.

Anonymous said...

anon 10:37--

I don't think Skille was a disappointment for the Badgers, unless you had your heart set on him staying more than 2 years.

His offense was a product of the system. Put Skille on Minnesota or UND or perhaps Michigan or BC and his offensive numbers would be much better than they are. UW's system is extremely defensive oriented. Skille's production is a direct correllation to that system.

Skille will be a fine pro. IIRC, Chicago was very impressed with him after last season and there were rumors that the Hawks would sign him out of rookie camp.

The question is: Who will reach the NHL sooner? Toews or Skille? Both are/will be signed this year by the Hawks.

Anonymous said...

Toews makes the NHL first....

Anonymous said...

I think the BADgers will be okay if their planned recruiting class all end up in Madison next year. If Turris goes high, he might do what Lewis did last year and sign right away. That would be a huge blow to already offensive challenged team.

Unfortunately I think this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as early signings go.

Anonymous said...

Lewis was reportedly influenced because he wasnt that academically savy. He was never sought after by major juniors until his breakout year. Turris has held out from Major Juniors for 2 years. He has talked about staying at Madison for all four years. While that wouldnt happened, it is very unlikely he wouldnt show up unless the Flyers want him on their roster next season. How many guys resist major juniors for 2 years and then go after they are drafted? Outside of guys who major juniors didnt want up to that point I can tink of none.

Anonymous said...

Skille was not a disappointment. He was never thought of as a sniper, and expecting him to take over a lead scoring role because Earl and Pavs left was not fair to him or a match for his game. He may end up being a decent scorer in the NHL, but he will need a playmaking set up man at center and even then a good portion of his production will be garbage/lunchbox type of goals.

I agree Turris will play at least a year in Madison, and because of his size/weight, I would expect he may stick around a couple years while he fills out.