Linkorama

The MGoObit of Kurt Vonnegut. Worth a read.

Northern Michigan picked up two commitment from European players. Your guess is as good as mine. Northern Michigan has had some success with European players like Tuomas Tarkki and Juha Alen.

Lake Superior defenseman Derek A. Smith signed with Ottawa. He would have been a senior next season. He'll be replaced by a defenseman from from the Ottawa area, named Matt Cowie.

Ryan Duncan and Taylor Chorney said that they will return. T.J. Oshie also said that he will stay. I can kind of understand Chorney staying, but Oshie could definitely be playing for the Blues next fall, and I don't see what Duncan has to gain by staying in school. More power to them if they decide to stay though. College hockey would be certainly be stronger if they do.

Legendary blog commenter Colin now has his own blog, featuring Michigan. He tries to figure out what to expect from Michigan's freshman for next year. If Aaron Palushaj, Max Pacioretty, and Ben Winnett are playing behind the likes of Tim Miller and Brandon Naurato, I'll be pretty disappointed. He also tries to make sense of the enigma that is Carl Hagelin.

Garrett Suter has run out of chances to get into Wisconsin.

Chicago Steel goalie Rob Madore had an amazing game to steal a win over the Sioux City Musketeers.

CSTV says Boston College has been the best college team over the past ten years. Yet BC's entire athletic department has only won 2.3 national titles in school history. As far as overrated athletic programs, BC is easily among the top.

This guy gives a brief preview of the 2008 and 2009 NHL draft. There aren't any Americans/college prospects in the top 6 for 2008. 2008 could be a rough year for Americans at the top of the draft. The top American prospect could be Mitch Wahl, who is playing in the WHL.

2009 is a more interesting year. It's already being hyped as one of the deepest drafts in years. I hesitate to call it that though. It's too tough to say that this far out. Too many players are either not playing against quality competition, or are playing against much older competition and aren't expected to do much. I'd be surprised if it looked as strong two years from now.

Two college players are on the list though. Notre Dame recruit Sam Calabrese is rated #8, and is compared to Bobby Orr. Yeah, I think he is talking about that Bobby Orr. I guess I don't see it. I'm not even sure we'll see Calabrese in the first round, unless he grows a lot. He'll still be a fun player to watch in college though.

Michigan State recruit Matt Duchene is placed at 11th. He won't be playing in the OHL, but he will have a year of NCAA hockey under his belt before he is drafted, and that will likely play a big role in where he is drafted.

The biggest sleeper that isn't on that list would have to be Minnesota recruit Jordan Schroeder. Schroeder got off to a bit of a slow start with the U17 team, as most players do, but has really exploded since getting called up to the U18 team. His size will be a bit of an issue, but I can see him as being very similar to Pat Kane, who has really risen up the charts in his draft year.

Speaking of Schroeder, he is playing with the US U18 team at the World Championships, which got started yesterday. Team USA lost to Russia 5-3 to start the tournament despite outshooting Russia by a pretty nice margin. Jimmy O'Brien scored twice for the US. It's nice to see him shine against his own age group, because I feel like he was unfairly punished by some people for playing a smaller role on a very good team this year.