Garrett Clarke, a defenseman currently playing for the Russell Stover Midget Major team, has committed to North Dakota for the 2010 season.
Clarke was born in 1992, and is originally comes from Canada. He spent last year at Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School, before moving on to Russell Stover this year. He's a very smooth offensive defenseman, that is ranked as one of the top prospects in this year's QMJHL draft.
In addition to committing to North Dakota for the 2010 season, Clarke also agreed to join the Fargo Force of the USHL next year, an expansion team that will be run by former North Dakota coach Dean Blais.
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Schmidt is likely to play for the Force next season as well. Together with Clarke and Ravndalen, Blais's team could have some teeth their first year out.
Clarke will be in the QMJHL.
"Patrick Roy will get his man"
deano is fielding a nice team...he and schmidt will be nice additions for the force with the warroad kid. wcha all star team....hope clark doesnt go major juniors
Looks like every WCHA will need a USHL affiliate in their backyard. DU should gobble up the Aspen market while it is still available and make Ralph Backstrom the GM.
I have a feeling we're going to get a couple of other Midget AAA recruits from the tournament in Grand Forks. Cichy last year, Clarke this year....not bad exposure for the Sioux. I like our defensive recruits for the next few years: Blood, Fienhage, Gleason, Mattson, Clarke, and Eidsness aren't a bad start.
Sorry folks, the Gophers didn't recruit him.
"Sorry folks, the Gophers didn't recruit him."
Nice........I was wonering when that would come up. :-)
YEAH, HES A CANADIAN, WHU WOULD MINNY WANT A TOP PLAYER FROM CANADA, THEY CAN JUST GET THIER ASSES HANDED TO THEM PHYSICALLY EVERY WEEKEND NOW PLAYING WITH 3RD TIER MINNY RECRUITS INSTEAD OF BRANCHING OUT, OH YEAH, YOUR 2 TITLES, VANEN AND POTUNLYS, HMMM, THEY WERENT MINNY KIDS WERE THEY, LUCIA HAS SOME NICE SCONNIE KIDS COMING IN SO GOOD FOR HIM, ABOUT TIME TO GO OUTSIDE THE BOX WOOGER STYLE. FUK THE GOPHERS EITHER WAY
I think despite what the parents said in the newspaper, it is a long way before Clarke ever sets foot on a college campus. He has yet to even be drafted by a QMJHL team so there hasn't been anything negotiated on that front. Once some QMJHL team puts a healthy deal on the table, he could quite easily forget about college hockey. Let's check back in a year before we get too excited about another 15 year old committing to the NCAA route.
How does this post become a fuck the Gophers rally ever single time?? This has nothing to do with them, get over it!! You guys would probably rather see the Gophers lose than your own team win, its just sad.
Anon 4:49....the "Gophers didn't recruit him" is a long standing joke on this board. Get a fricken life for crying out loud. As big of a Sioux fan as I am, what Anon 5:20 has a lot of truth.
As for the people talking about him going QMJHL, we've heard for a long time Cichy will bolt from his commitment and that hasn't happened yet either. Believe it or not, there are kids with Canadian roots that want to attend college and play hockey, ala Johnny Toews.
this from the GF Herald. Jason Herter is his coach and a former Sioux defenseman. It sounds like the kid had game!
Clarke, a sophomore who just turned 15 in November, is an offensive defenseman on the Russell Stover team, based in Overland Park, Kan.
He already had racked up scholarship offers from 13 college programs, but ultimately chose UND over Wisconsin.
“He’s a very skilled defenseman,” said Herter, who played at UND from 1988-91 and is UND’s highest-drafted defenseman ever. “Some of the stuff he can do with the puck. .¤.¤. I thought I was pretty darn good at that. Then I look at him and say to myself, ‘I couldn’t do that.’ He has a fake shot move — I’ve never seen one better. And that includes college and the pros.
“But he’s a young kid with a lot to learn. He has a long way to go to get to being a Fighting Sioux and he knows that. He’s going to continue to grow.”
Clarke grew up in New Brunswick, but moved to the Midwest and he played one year for the Shattuck-St. Mary’s bantam team. Then his family moved to Kansas City and Clarke joined the nearby Russell Stover team.
He will likely play next year for the Fargo Force in the United States Hockey League under former Sioux coach Dean Blais.
Herter said he had hoped that Clarke would wind up with his alma mater.
“I love all of my hockey players, but I’ve only had one in my four years here who I saw play and immediately called the Sioux coaches to say, ‘You’ve got to watch him play,’ And it was (Clarke),” Herter said. “He’s an offensive player, but he plays with grit and he plays pissed off. He’s the most talented ’92 (born) defenseman that I’ve seen offensively.”
SCSU wasn't interested either.
Yeah, but the Gophers did recruit Danny Kristo and he wanted no part of the Gophers and Don Lucia.
SCSU wasn't interested in Danny Kristo either.
Wow, UND gets a recruit from QMJHL land and the only MJ hogwash to be found comes from one anonymous poster?
I'm, quite frankly, shocked.
Instead, we've gone an entirely different direction in finding some absurd way to trashtalk Minnesota.
You "anonymous" posters out there really amaze me sometimes.
Are you the blah blah blah family from the Afton area or you the blah blah blah's from Delano?
"blah blah blah" = "Anonymous"
Watched this young defenseman play on the weekend. Talked with Herter about him and met Clarke for a couple of minutes. We are going to love this kid in Sioux land. According to Herter there's no possible way Clarke will go back to Canada to play major junior. While the major junior teams can throw money around Herter says the parents are fcoused on one thing only that is school and long term development. Sounds like we have a Sioux in 2 years. If he plays for us like he played this past weekend, the fans are in for a treat. Too bad for the schools that didn't get him.
How will this commitment be affected when the USHL team in Fargo plays all of their games on the road next year, as well as the team doesn't play at all in 2009-10?
Dean Blais doesn't even believe that the arena will happen.
The arena is up. A week or so ahead of schedule. Season tickets are selling well and the box seats are almost sold out. This team is going to be supported well. No fear of playing on the road all of next season.
We're lucky to have Blais back here and he's obviously showing his recruiting talents by bringing in the best prospects.
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