McDermott to CC

Fargo Force defenseman Eamonn McDermott has committed to Colorado College for the 2010 season. McDermott is a small defenseman, originally from the Cleveland area, that is a good skater and excellent at moving the puck. He's played with the US Select teams in Europe the past two summers.

Colorado Linkorama

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Kate Crandall of the Colorado Springs Gazette left the newspaper to work for Teach for America. Kate wasn't at the Gazette for a really long time, but did a nice job getting a lot of information online in blog-form, which was extremely helpful to people like me.

On Frozen Blog had a very nice write-up on Air Force's success.

I hate being the anti-Air Force guy, because I really would like to see them succeed. I think it'd be incredible if they won their league's autobid and made a deep run in the NCAA tournament. But the idea of a team that will play just two games against teams that finish in the top 25 in the country getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament doesn't sit well with me at all. Even if they really are one of the best teams in the country, they'll have done little of significance to prove that.

I feel kind of the same way about INCH putting Jacques Lamoureux on their Hobey Tracker. Lamoureux overcame some pretty incredible odds just to make it into the Air Force, and for that alone, at least deserves some consideration. He's like the anti-Gerbe candidate. He's got the off-ice stuff in spades, but does his play merit consideration? After getting shut out last weekend, it's pretty likely he won't score a point against a single top 25 team. You don't hear much about Case Keenum being a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, even though he leads the NCAA in passing yards. Why? Because he plays for Houston.

On the plus side,Air Force joined Bemidji as the only non-WCHA/CCHA teams to get their own tag here, so they've got that going for them.

Denver's Tyler Bozak is one of the best free agents out there for the NHL right now. You could hold a pretty interesting debate on whether Bozak gained or lost money by coming back this year. On one hand, he'll likely be in the NHL from the start, possibly on a one-way contract(EDIT: All rookie contracts are two-way, but he'll likely spend way more time at the NHL level), meaning he'll get NHL dollars the whole year, as opposed to possibly spending a good chunk of time in the AHL. On the other hand, it's going to take him a year longer to reach his second contract, where he won't be bound by rookie salary limitations. Either way, he's got himself in a pretty good position.

Hobey Watch

Eliot Olshansky wrote his own Hobey Watch for USCHO, which this week, discusses Jeff Lerg and how he might have the intangibles to make a serious run at the Hobey.

Here's my top 3 for the Hobey after a couple games played...

1. Ryan Stoa, Minnesota

Minnesota has played three pretty tough series so far--early returns on St. Cloud and Wisconsin aside, they've got some talent--and he's been pretty close to dominant in all three. Stoa has a goal in every game except one so far, and is a huge reason for Minnesota's turnaround. It helps having perhaps the country's best playmaker on your line. Last year I argued that Minnesota's lack of success would kill Blake Wheeler, but this year, Minnesota's impressive record should boost Stoa.

2. Richard Bachman, Colorado College
Bachman's exclusion as a Hobey finalist last year was a bit of a joke. He was named the WCHA's best player and should make a run at this award again. Last weekend was his first huge test against a highly-ranked Denver team, and he ended up playing well enough to earn conference player of the week honors.

3. Aaron Palushaj, Michigan

Michigan is really missing Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik, as shown by their struggles on the powerplay, but Palushaj has taken a big step forward and become an excellent scorer.

Harstad to CC

Steven's Point(Wis.) HS defenseman Aaron Harstad committed to Colorado College last night. Harstad chose the Tigers over Wisconsin, with a few other WCHA schools interested.

Colorado College Preview

(Note: I accidentally put Joey Marciano in this preview, not realizing he is playing for the Omaha Lancers this year, and by the time I realized it, it was too late to change. So disregard him. Same with Rylan Schwartz.)

Here is your preview of Colorado College.

New Commits

I don't think I ever mentioned that goalie Joe Howe committed to Colorado College for the 2009 season. Howe played high school hockey in Wayzata, Minnesota before moving on to the USHL last season. He'll replace Drew O'Connell who graduates next season, and could step in as a starter if Richard Bachmann has another great year and decides to turn pro.

Justin Filzen committed to play for Alaska this season. Filzen played his high school hockey for Proctor High School, near Duluth and made a nice name for himself playing junior hockey last season.

Traverse City forward Kyle Jean committed to Lake Superior. He's a local kid with a lot of potential. A very nice pick-up for LSSU.

Keegan Meuer committed to Wisconsin. The World of Junior Hockey notes that Wisconsin has a recruiting pipeline with the Waterloo Blackhawks, now having four recruits from that team, as opposed to just three from every other team.

NTDP U17 defenseman Adam Clendening committed to Boston College. He's a small fast defenseman from Buffalo that played hockey in Toronto last year.

Guentzel to CC

Kate Crandall of the Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting that former Minnesota assistant coach Mike Guentzel will be an assistant coach at Colorado College, replacing outgoing coach Norm Bazin.

Assistant Coaching News

Kate Crandall of the Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting that Colorado College assistant coach Norm Bazin is leaving Colorado College to become the head coach at Division III Hamilton College.

Bazin has been with Colorado College since 2000. Bazin was seriously injured an auto accident in 2003 that forced him to miss nearly a year and a half of coaching.

Meanwhile, Alaska-Anchorage has hired former UAA standout Regg Simon as an assistant coach. Simon was head coach of the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers last season.

Guentzel to CC

Sioux Falls Stampede defenseman Gabe Guentzel committed to Colorado College for next season.

Guentzel is the son of former Minnesota assistant coach Mike Guentzel. Gabe played his high school hockey at Hill-Murray in Maplewood, Minnesota, before moving on to the Southern Minnesota Express of the NAHL, and then to the Sioux Falls Stamped of the USHL.

The West Regional

Here's my take on the West Regional.

Game 1: #1 New Hampshire vs. # 4 Notre Dame

This is a tough draw for Notre Dame. They're probably just thankful to be in the tournament after they were able to avoid a deadly tie and instead squeak out a loss against Northern Michigan to sneak into the tournament. But really, they probably should have been a third seed ranked ahead of Wisconsin. The Irish were another team unfairly punished by the flaws in the PWR. They somehow lost comparisons to the 22nd and 25th ranked teams in the RPI, which makes very little sense.

That said, they are the 4th seed and they've got to play a very good New Hampshire team. Losing twice in the CCHA tournament may have been the result Notre Dame needed to get into the tournament, but I felt that they, probably more than anybody, needed a good win in their conference tournament finals to really get back on track for the NCAA tournament.

Their end-of-season slump was well documented, and other than an early season split with Denver and Miami, the Irish don't really have any "big wins" that they can hang their hat on. Add the fact that they're missing their leading scorer in Erik Condra, and it doesn't look good for Notre Dame.

The Wildcats come into the tournament with a nice mix of young and old, led by two great seniors in Mike Radja and Matt Fornataro, and two good freshmen in James vanRiemsdyk and Danny Dries(a Victory Honda-alum from Lake Orion, Michigan). The real leader of the team however is goalie and Hobey Baker finalist Kevin Regan.

Of all the 1-4 match-ups, this one seems the most likely to produce an upset, since UNH was the weakest one seed, and Notre Dame is the only four seed that didn't rely on an autobid to get into the tournament. But I still think that New Hampshire will come out ahead in this game. For whatever reason, Notre Dame just doesn't seem to play their best against top competition, and I think New Hampshire is too strong in goal for the Irish to put up a lot of offense.

Game 2 #2 Colorado College vs. #3 Michigan State

I think this is probably the best, most intriguing first round game. Colorado College won the WCHA regular season title and is playing on their home ice, where they had a fabulous record against a very tough, tournament-tested team in Michigan State.

Colorado College had an amazing year, but two things concern me about them. First, everyone points to the 18-2-0 home record, but those two losses came fairly late in the year to pretty good, but not great teams in St. Cloud and Minnesota State. Second, the team is coming off of two tough losses in the WCHA Final Five, so momentum isn't on their side.

On the positive side, CC will be playing on Olympic-sized ice, which I think benefits them more than any other team. Also, I'm pretty sure Richard Bachman will be starting in goal, so I don't expect them to give up much in the way of goals.

On the other side of the ice, there doesn't seem to be much in favor of Michigan State. They were off last week after losing to Northern Michigan in the CCHA quarterfinals, and didn't play great down the stretch.

But it's still really hard to pick against Michigan State after what they did last year. They may have sleepwalked through games during the regular season, but the talent is definitely there, and in a big game, when they play their best, they can match up with anyone in the country. A player like Tim Kennedy may not have been as consistent as a Chad Rau this year, but at his best, Kennedy can be every bit as electrifying. The same can be said about Jeff Lerg.

It's probably a dumb move to pick against a team on their home ice, but I think Michigan State will find a way to pull this out. I think the Spartans will still manage to keep this a tight, low-scoring game even on the bigger ice surface, and catch a break late to win the game. They won a national title last year by essentially turning all of their games into a coin flip, and it just happened to come up heads for them four times in a row. I see the same formula working for them again here.

Regional Final: #1 New Hampshire vs. #3 Michigan State

This should be another very close game with not a lot to choose from between the two teams. But again, if Michigan State is playing their best, I just like them a little more. I'll take Jeff Lerg over Kevin Regan in a battle of the goalies, and I think MSU's tournament experience will help them pull off the upset.

Crazy Times in Colorado

Kate Crandall of the Colorado Springs Gazette got to the bottom of why Derek Patrosso and Cody Lampl were suspended by Colorado College. It's a fairly graphic tale involving Lampl, Patrosso, a girl, and a recruit.

The story actually sounds like it has similarities to the few details known about Brock Trotter's situation. The story passed around some NHL-circles was that Trotter got into some trouble involving a girl that didn't carry any legal consequences, but did get him suspended by the university. There was some hope that Trotter would be reinstated by the school before the end of the year, like Patrosso, but apparently Trotter didn't want to stick around to find out.

Patrosso Returns

Colorado College senior forward Derek Patrosso is back with the team, after a three month suspension for a student conduct violation.

Patrosso spent that time back home in Michigan, practicing with the Little Caesar's Midget AAA team, and working with a power skating instructor.

New Commits

Hotchkiss Prep defenseman Mac Bennett committed to Michigan. He'll join the Wolverines in 2010. He recently visited Michigan during their series against Northern Michigan.

Colorado College got a commitment from Russell Stover AAA forward Scott Winkler. He was ranked 132nd on NHL Central Scouting's Mid-term rankings, which is pretty impressive for a player playing Midget AAA hockey.

Alaska got a commitment from BCHL forward Carlo Finucci. The 20-year-old forward currently leads the BCHL in scoring with 99 points in 56 games this year.

Since my recruit postings are syndicated over at College Hockey News, I'll throw in a few Eastern notes as well.

Cornell got commitments from Jordan Kary and Sean Collins.

Luke Grenier and Daniel Moriarty committed to Harvard.

Jeffrey Vellaca and Ryan Flanigan committed to Merrimack.

Schwartz Commits to CC

Jaden Schwartz, a 1992-born forward playing for Notre Dame Prep in Saskatchewan has committed to Colorado College for 2010. Schwartz's older brother, Rylan, has already committed to CC, and will join the Tigers either next year or the year after.

Schwartz had a fantastic year last season with Notre Dame's bantam team, breaking team scoring records held by Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards. It was rumored that he would have gone very high in last spring's WHL draft, some suggested he could even go first overall, but Schwartz has always seemed intent on going the college route, which caused him to fall to 173rd overall to the Tri-City Americans. So not only is Schwartz a talented player, but he doesn't seem like a huge risk to jump to the WHL prior to joining CC, unless perhaps his rights get traded to a more local Canadian team.

Schwartz isn't the only top prospect currently playing at historic Notre Dame Prep. The top two prospects for the this year's QMJHL draft are also playing with Schwartz on the Midget AAA Hounds team. Forward Sean Couturier and defenseman Brandon Gormley have been ranked in the top 2 for that draft all year. Drummondville looks to have no hopes of getting out of last place this year, and will probably draft Couturier, who I've never heard mentioned as a potential college player. Gormley could potentially be more interesting, as he's at least mentioned the possibility of college before, but given his close relationship with Tampa's Brad Richards, he'll likely follow in Richards footsteps and play in the QMJHL.

CC Players Suspended

Colorado College will be without a couple of players who were suspended by the school for violations of student conduct.

Forward/defenseman Cody Lampl will be suspended until January of next year. Forward Derek Patrosso will be suspended until the end of CC's sixth academic block, meaning he won't be able to play for the Tigers again until the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Two WCHA Commits

The USHL Hockey Blog had news on two new commitments today.

The first is Chicago Steel defenseman John Moore, who committed to Colorado College for the 2009 season.

The next is goalie Corson Cramer, who committed to Michigan Tech.

Good Times in Colorado

Denver completed a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend, while Colorado College split with St. Cloud, ending the first half of the WCHA regular season for each team, and so far, the WCHA's two Colorado teams are running away with the league. They've opened up a 9-point lead over third place Minnesota-Duluth(North Dakota has games in hand and could climb to within 6 points). It's even more impressive when you look at how they've done it.

CC and Denver are first and second respectively in the league in scoring offense. The Tigers score 3.29 goals per WCHA game, while the Pioneers average 3.21 goals per game. There's a slight drop-off to third place with North Dakota at 3.08 and St. Cloud at 2.92, and then the rest of the league is under 2.50 goals per game.

The numbers are similar when it comes to scoring defense as well. Denver and Colorado College are tied for first in the league with only 1.86 goals allowed per game. North Dakota is the next best defense, giving up 2.42 goals per game.

They're also at the top of the league in Special Teams Net(PP goals for + SH goals for - (PP goals against + SH goals against)). Colorado College is a +8 and Denver is a + 6. St. Cloud at +4 and UMD at +1 are the only two other teams in the league with a positive figure.

What's even more surprising is that Colorado College and Denver are the only two teams in the league with a winning record in conference. In a year where everyone else is so equal, it's amazing how much Denver and CC are standing out from the pack.

Bad Blood

Hey, didn't this used to be a college hockey blog? Why yes, it did. So I should probably post something about college hockey every once in a while.

While researching this weekend's games, I noticed an interesting coincidence. In three different series this weekend, it will be the first game between the two games since a late-game fight in their last meeting.

Michigan and Ohio State last met on February 27th, 2007 when the Buckeyes scored late in the third period to win 6-5. At the 20:00 minute mark of the third period, a scuffle broke out between the two teams. Michigan had 5 players receive a 2-minute minor for roughing, the Buckeyes had four players get assessed a 2-minute roughing minor, and Zach Pelletier was given a double-minor and game disqualification.

Minnesota State last met up with Minnesota-Duluth on December 16th in Mankato. The Mavericks had just taken a 5-3 lead early in the third period, when some pushing behind the net escalated into a full blown fight. The fight started between MSU's Kael Mouillierat and UMD's Matt Niskanen, and both players earned double minors for roughing. While the players were skirmishing behind the net, UMD goalie Alex Stalock hit MSU's Zach Harrison in front of the net, for which he was given a double minor. Harrison got up to challenge Stalock, which drew the attention of UMD's Nick Kemp. Seeing his goalie involved in a fight, Kemp cut-in and fought Harrison, with each ending up with game disqualifications for fighting. MSU's Lucas Fransen was also given a double minor for roughing, and UMD's Travis Gawryletz received a roughing minor.

The fight of the year, however, happened the weekend prior to that in Colorado Springs, when Colorado College took on Alaska-Anchorage. CC won the game in overtime on a Scott McCulloch goal. I never saw a full video, but referee Marco Hunt didn't bother with handing out minors. Six Seawolf players(Chris Tarkir, Chad Anderson, Jay Beagle, Blair Tassone, Mark Smith, and Kevin Clark), and 5 Tiger players(Addison DeBoer, Mike Testwuide, Lee Sweatt, Jake Gannon, and Brandon Straub) were all given fighting majors and game disqualifications. Colorado College was only able to dress 5 defenseman in their next game(which they lost), and Anchorage only skated with three lines in their next(which they also lost).

Friday night will the first time all of those teams get back on the ice with each other, which should add another interesting storyline to this weekend's games.

Marciano to CC

NTDP defenseman Joey Marciano committed to Colorado College. Marciano was the last remaining defenseman off of this year's U18 team to make a commitment.

Linkorama

It's a parade of poor metaphors over at Mav Hockey Nation.

Bruce Ciskie is in Denver with Minnesota-Duluth's team. He should have a lot of hockey content on his blog over the weekend, starting with this weekend preview.

CSTV's Hobey Watch is out, and Michigan's Kevin Porter leads, which is kind of a surprise to me. Not a single person gave a first place vote to Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux, who hasn't allowed a goal yet through three games, which also surprised me.


The Gazette Hockey Blog found an article on CC recruit Rylan Schwartz. Schwartz could join the Tigers next season, rather than 2009.

Minnesota State is trying to cut down on penalties.

So every player photo for the North Iowa Outlaws(NAHL) is in front of a 'Wanted' poster. It's a little cheesy, but I guess it works. The Outlaws are leading the NAHL Central Division. They've had great goaltending from St Louis-native Robby Moss, and are led by a lot of experienced, older players.