New Commits

UAA picked up a commitment from BCHL forward Chris Crowell.

AJHL forward Carter Rowney committed to North Dakota after visiting during North Dakota's series against Minnesota.

New Commits

The next stop on the Mike Dorr WCHA Tour will be Minnesota State.

Jacob Cepis decided on Minnesota after also taking a visit to Boston University.

North Dakota picked up commitments from AJHL forward Corbin Knight and Winnipeg Midget forward Brendan O'Donnell.

Vilardo to OSU

Team Illinois U16 center Michael Vilardo committed to Ohio State. Vilardo is a late '92 birthdate that would likely join the Buckeyes in 2011. Vilardo had visited Ohio State with teammate Chris Joyaux, who also committed to the Buckeyes.

Buckeyes Add Youngsters

Team Illinois Midget Minor defenseman Chris Joyaux, a '92 birthdate, committed to Ohio State, likely for the 2011 season.

The Buckeyes also added Ohio Jr. Bluejackets '92 defennseman Clark Christofoli, according to Chris Heisenberg.

New Commits

Marquette Ranger Aaron Pietila committed to Michigan Tech.

Former Roseau Ram Jason Fabian committed to Air Force.

Waterloo Blackhawks forward Eriah Hayes committed to Minnesota State. Uriah's Haze would make a great band name.

Nick Pryor finally ended up deciding on Maine.

New Commits

Lincoln Stars captain Chris Forfar committed to Michigan State over the weekend.

Defenseman Danny Biega committed to Harvard. His two brothers play for the Crimson.

Blake Geoffrion's brother Sebastien committed to Alabama-Huntsville. Huntsville is only about a 100 miles from his hometown of Brentwood, Tennessee.

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.

New Commits

NTDP defenseman John Ramage committed to Wisconsin. Defense is an area that Wisconsin isn't actually overloaded with prospects. Only Justin Schultz is scheduled to come in next year, and it's pretty plausible that the Badgers will be losing a couple blueliners to the pros.

Also, Anchorage reportedly got a commitment from '92 Joe Giordano. He's the second '92 birthdate UAA has recruited this year.

Providence continued their run of taking Minnesota HS players, by picking up a commitment from Lakeville South's Bill Simon. Simon had a pretty nice Elite League run this year.

New Commits

USHL vet Mike Seidel committed to Minnesota-Duluth. Seidel took visits to Ferris State, Michigan Tech, Western Michigan, and Quinnipiac. It sounds like he committed to UMD after talking with a couple former Cedar Rapids teammates. It's nice to see UMD has gotten past the Mason Raymond "You don't want to come to school here" era.

Also, Chris Heisenberg lists Edina defenseman Brendan Baker as committing to Holy Cross, which, like, whoa. I really like the way that Baker plays and think he's one of the best defensemen in the Minnesota HS ranks, and Holy Cross is, well, Holy Cross. Not that they're a bad team by any stretch, I just would have guessed he'd end up somewhere more known for their hockey program, so that seems like a huge recruiting win for their program.

Side note, I know my street cred in Atlantic Hockey is already perilously low after this past week, but it took me 7 guesses before I guessed what state Holy Cross was in. I don't know what I was thinking when I guessed Hawaii. Also, no mention of Holy Cross would be complete without this.

Anyway, it looks like Baker will start college right away out there, and should have a very good career out there.

New Commits

Nebraska-Omaha picked up two new defenseman for the future. The first is Northwood Prep defenseman Nick Cecere, who is originally from West Des Moines, Iowa.

The other is St. Louis Jr. Blues defenseman Brian O'Rourke. He was selected by Green Bay in the USHL Future's Draft this fall, and played two games with GB while defenseman David Makowski was at the World Jr. A Challenge.

Both defensemen will join the Mavericks in either 2010 or 2011.

Lake Superior also had commitments from Ben Power and Kellen Ainsworth. Who knew?

Also, Cornell got a verbal commitment from Ben Thomson, who looks like a top '93 prospect from Ontario.

White to Sioux

Des Moines forward Matt White committed to North Dakota. The big power forward is an interesting prospect. He's got great size and skills, and looks to have all the tools of a excellent player, but it hasn't translated onto the scoresheet yet in the USHL. He's a young '91 birthdate, so he won't join the Sioux until at least 2010, and his draft year isn't until next year, so there's definitely time for him to put it all together.

Add Herbert to 'Dogs List

I mentioned earlier today that Shattuck forward Joe Basaraba had committed to Minnesota-Duluth, and Chris Heisenberg lists another forward committing to UMD.

This time it is Bloomington Jefferson HS forward Caleb Herbert. Herbert is a slender but speedy forward that missed most of last year with an injury, but was very impressive over the summer at the Select 17 Festival, and had a nice Fall Elite League. He should be a top player on a pretty good Jaguars team this year.

New Commits

Chris Heisenberg has two new commits listed.

First, Shattuck-St. Mary's forward Joe Basaraba committed to Minnesota-Duluth. Basaraba is from Fort Frances, Ontario, which borders International Falls, Minnesota. Basaraba was selected by the Erie Otters in the second round of last summer's OHL Draft, and seemed intent on playing in the OHL, but apparently had a change of heart this year. This allows Basaraba to play within three hours of his hometown, as opposed to playing over 1000 miles away in Erie.

Second, Waterloo Blackhawks defenseman Mike Montrose committed to Bowling Green. Montrose was an excellent defenseman for the Little Caesar's organization before making the jump to the USHL last year.

Clare Commits to Michigan

NTDP U17 defenseman Kevin Clare committed to Michigan. It looks like USHR broke the story.

Clare joins Jon Merrill, Luke Moffatt, Jacob Fallon, and Jack Campbell as players on the U17 team that have committed to Michigan.

That Didn't Take Long

Green Bay Gamblers forward Sean Little committed to, yeah, you guessed it.

Also, per Chris Heisenberg...

Roseau's Tyler Landman is going to Providence. The Friars have hit Minnesota hard lately, taking Matt Bergland, David Brown, and Rob Maloney straight out of high school.(Incidentally, Bergland is off to a fantastic start with 11 points in his first ten games). Landman is a very hard-working player, and it's great to see that rewarded.

Also, Anchorage picked up a commitment from Sam Mellor, a late '92 birthdate, that plays in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League for the Kimberley Dynamiters(No, I didn't make up that name). He's got 4 goals and 8 assists in 18 games against mostly older competition.

Signing Week

The Early Signing Period was this past week for college hockey, meaning teams no longer need to maintain radio silence on many of their recruits. Here are some of the press releases.

Notre Dame looks like they could have the best class in the country, if all those players make it to campus. Also, I think Riley Sheahan's jersey gave me a seizure.

Western Michigan's class.

Michigan Tech's class. Hurray for Milos!

Michigan signed three NTDP players. That class should grow by the end of the summer.

St. Cloud signed three players from the western part of the state.

Minnesota State signed four players, including one from Florida, Arizona, and Alaska.

New Commits

Indian Ice forward Shane Berschbach committed to Miami. Berschbach is small, but always seems to find a way to put points up on the board.

BCHL forward Garrett Milan committed to St. Cloud, and upon doing so, gave this rousing endorsement of the school: "I think St. Cloud fits me better academically. It's a good school, and I want to go into business, but I didn't feel like it was Harvard and it would be hard to keep up."

Bemidji picked up two commitments from the Topeka Roadrunners of the NAHL in forward Jordan Geroge and Matt Hartmann. Geroge is the second leading scorer in the league. He's a smaller playmaker that runs Topeka's offense. Hartmann is tied for 11th in league scoring. He's one of the strongest players in the league, and in addition to being a big hitter, he added a deadly shot to his arsenal this season and has become a dangerous offensive threat. Two very nice pick-ups for the Beavers.

New Commits

Des Moines forward Chris Knowlton committed to Denver.

BCHL defenseman Matt Grassi committed to Michigan State. One could only hope his middle initial is D.

BCHL forward Mark Zengerle committed to Wisconsin.

Lincoln Stars defenseman Ross Henry committed to Western Michigan. Henry is an interesting player. At his best, he looks like a very high-end defender. If he develops a little more consistency, he could be a real steal for Western.

Sioux Falls forward Matt Farris committed to Princeton. Farris is unique in that he is a native of Pierre, South Dakota. The Ivy League makes sense for Farris as he won the USHL's Scholar-Athlete Award.

Another Berge Commits to MSU

Josh Berge, the brother of Minnesota State senior Mick Berge, committed to Minnesota State for the 2010-2011 season.

Mick was the first Oklahoman to play Division I hockey. Josh would likely be the third, following Matt Donovan who will start with Denver next year.

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.