I've finally finished my Select 17 Festival Camp report. Overall, there were some excellent players at the camp, despite some of the "big names"(Fowler, Morin, Maxwell) not participating. I was there for the games on Wednesday and Saturday, and solicited a few opinions from people that were there on other days. As usual, comments on goalies are extremely thin since it's hard to judge with such a small sample size.
You can read my thoughts on individual players here.
My top 5 forwards for the camp were:
1. Zach Budish
2. Drew Shore
3. Ryan Walters
4. David Valek
5. Kyle Beattie
And the top defenseman:
1. Collin Bowman
2. William Wrenn
3. Beau Schmitz
4. Nick Leddy
5. Tyler Amburgey
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pacioretty Signs with Montreal
The Montreal Canadiens have signed Michigan forward Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty was leaning towards returning to Michigan for his sophomore year, but was one of the most impressive players at Montreal's development camp.
Pacioretty had 39 points in 37 games as a freshman with Michigan, primarily playing on the team's top line with Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik.
Pacioretty had 39 points in 37 games as a freshman with Michigan, primarily playing on the team's top line with Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Penalty Frustration
The Select 17 Festival finished up Sunday afternoon in St. Cloud, and one of the biggest stories to come out of the event wasn't the fantastic play of the players involved, but the absurd number of penalties called in every game. Officials were apparently under orders to call things tight, and they took that directive to the extreme, leading to quite a bit of frustration from everyone else in St. Cloud.
That frustration reached a boiling point during the last game of the day on Saturday in the game between Team Black and Team Red. Black was leading 6-2 in the second half of the game. Red was whistled for two straight penalties. The first call was fairly weak. The second penalty was absolutely abysmal, and apparently it was the breaking point for Red. Red called timeout, and when they broke from the timeout, they left the goalie on the bench. When the referee dropped the puck, the Red team just stood around and let Black score into an empty net. The face-off came back out to center, and again, Red left the goalie pulled, and when the puck was dropped, Red just stood around again. Black took the puck, awkwardly skated towards the net and scored another easy goal.
I'm not sure that was the best way for the Red team to handle that situation, especially since those poor calls were consistent in every game I saw, but it does highlight a problem that USA Hockey needs to work on. I love the Select Festivals because there is so much great hockey crammed into such a short period of time, but when teams are intentionally allowing goals to protest bad calls, and PA announcers feel the need to announce when both penalty boxes are empty(yeah, that happened too), there's a problem with how the games are called. It's frustrating for the players, coaches, scouts, and fans that are there to watch. Hopefully USA Hockey gets this fixed, so it doesn't ruin a great event.
I'm still working on the full rundown of the event, and the players there, which should be done sometime this week.
That frustration reached a boiling point during the last game of the day on Saturday in the game between Team Black and Team Red. Black was leading 6-2 in the second half of the game. Red was whistled for two straight penalties. The first call was fairly weak. The second penalty was absolutely abysmal, and apparently it was the breaking point for Red. Red called timeout, and when they broke from the timeout, they left the goalie on the bench. When the referee dropped the puck, the Red team just stood around and let Black score into an empty net. The face-off came back out to center, and again, Red left the goalie pulled, and when the puck was dropped, Red just stood around again. Black took the puck, awkwardly skated towards the net and scored another easy goal.
I'm not sure that was the best way for the Red team to handle that situation, especially since those poor calls were consistent in every game I saw, but it does highlight a problem that USA Hockey needs to work on. I love the Select Festivals because there is so much great hockey crammed into such a short period of time, but when teams are intentionally allowing goals to protest bad calls, and PA announcers feel the need to announce when both penalty boxes are empty(yeah, that happened too), there's a problem with how the games are called. It's frustrating for the players, coaches, scouts, and fans that are there to watch. Hopefully USA Hockey gets this fixed, so it doesn't ruin a great event.
I'm still working on the full rundown of the event, and the players there, which should be done sometime this week.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wiercioch Switches
Defenseman Patrick Wiercioch verbally committed to Wisconsin this winter, but this week, switched his commitment by signing a letter of intent with Denver.
Wisconsin has many, some might say too many, defenseman committed to their team for the next couple of seasons, and Wiercioch would have had to wait to 2009 to join the Badgers. But Denver had a spot on their blueline open up when David Carle's hockey career was sadly cut short, and Wiercioch, who was a second round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators in this year's draft, was anxious to play college hockey next season, and jumped at the opportunity.
Wisconsin has many, some might say too many, defenseman committed to their team for the next couple of seasons, and Wiercioch would have had to wait to 2009 to join the Badgers. But Denver had a spot on their blueline open up when David Carle's hockey career was sadly cut short, and Wiercioch, who was a second round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators in this year's draft, was anxious to play college hockey next season, and jumped at the opportunity.
Select Camps
The USA Hockey National Select 16 Festival was two weeks ago in Rochester, New York. A couple of people asked if I went out there to watch. I wasn't there, though I do appreciate how much people over-estimate the budget for this site. So I don't have too much in the way of new information to add about the event, but do have a few links worth looking at.
Here were the leading scorers for the tournament, led by Belle Tire's Austin Czarnik and St. Louis' Tucker Long, with 9 points over the course of the week.
USA Hockey also picked their U17 team for the Five Nations Tournament in Slovakia. There's only three eastern players on the team; one from New York, one from New Jersey, and one from Pennsylvania.
Amateur Hockey Report also had a number of very detailed scouting reports on players at the Select 16 Festival. It sounds like forwards Christian Isackson and Max Gardiner and defenseman Stephen Johns and Frankie Simonelli made quite a good impression at the camp.
The Select 17 Festival is currently going on in St. Cloud. I'll have a pretty long write-up once the tournament is over, and will take a wild-ass stab at a draft list for next year's NHL draft. The action in St. Cloud so far has been pretty intense; not necessarily between the players, but between the officials to see who can call the most penalties. Leading scorers are here.
Here were the leading scorers for the tournament, led by Belle Tire's Austin Czarnik and St. Louis' Tucker Long, with 9 points over the course of the week.
USA Hockey also picked their U17 team for the Five Nations Tournament in Slovakia. There's only three eastern players on the team; one from New York, one from New Jersey, and one from Pennsylvania.
Amateur Hockey Report also had a number of very detailed scouting reports on players at the Select 16 Festival. It sounds like forwards Christian Isackson and Max Gardiner and defenseman Stephen Johns and Frankie Simonelli made quite a good impression at the camp.
The Select 17 Festival is currently going on in St. Cloud. I'll have a pretty long write-up once the tournament is over, and will take a wild-ass stab at a draft list for next year's NHL draft. The action in St. Cloud so far has been pretty intense; not necessarily between the players, but between the officials to see who can call the most penalties. Leading scorers are here.
Friday, July 04, 2008
New Commits
Western Michigan got two commitments. Kyle O'Kane will join the Broncos next year, while Ben Miller will join them in 2009.
BCHL forward Derek Grant committed to Michigan State. He was selected in this year's NHL draft.
Russell Stover U16 forward Nate Heng committed to Nebraska-Omaha. Heng is a Nebraska-native.
BCHL forward Derek Grant committed to Michigan State. He was selected in this year's NHL draft.
Russell Stover U16 forward Nate Heng committed to Nebraska-Omaha. Heng is a Nebraska-native.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
CHL Import Draft
I mentioned Stepan Novotny signing with Kelowna earlier this week after being taken in the CHL Import Draft, but there were two other NCAA names of interest in the Import Draft.
Luca Cunti, who spent most of the past year petitioning the NCAA to be ruled eligible to play for St. Cloud, was selected by Rimouski Oceanic.
Cunti's Chicago Steel teammate Simon Olsson was also selected by a QMJHL team. He had a verbal commitment to Alaska, though his commitment surprised a lot of people since he wasn't academically eligible to play college hockey, and he never showed much interest in trying to become academically eligible.
Luca Cunti, who spent most of the past year petitioning the NCAA to be ruled eligible to play for St. Cloud, was selected by Rimouski Oceanic.
Cunti's Chicago Steel teammate Simon Olsson was also selected by a QMJHL team. He had a verbal commitment to Alaska, though his commitment surprised a lot of people since he wasn't academically eligible to play college hockey, and he never showed much interest in trying to become academically eligible.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Bjugstad to Gophers
Blaine HS forward Nick Bjugstad committed to Minnesota. Bjugstad was a freshmen last season, so the earliest he could join Minnesota would be 2011.
Bjugstad will obviously still need a lot of development, but he showed some amazing potential last season with Blaine, and has the potential to develop into a big-time goal scorer as he matures and fills out.
Bjugstad will obviously still need a lot of development, but he showed some amazing potential last season with Blaine, and has the potential to develop into a big-time goal scorer as he matures and fills out.
Knight and Novotny Bolt
Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been away from a computer the past couple days, and it might take me a few to catch up.
DU recruit Stepan Novotny will be signing with the Kelowna Rockets rather than attending Denver. Maybe it will help Novotny's draft status to put up big numbers playing younger competition next year, rather than being an ancillary player on a loaded DU team.
Also, Michigan recruit Jared Knight will be signing with the London Knights. I don't have a solid permalink, but there's a ton of discussion here. Apparently Dale Hunter made quite a pitch to Knight's father at the Select 16 Festival to convince him to sign.
People north of the border are trying to create panic about "all the future first round draft picks going to the CHL," but looking back at the '90 birthdates, the US lost these "future first round picks" to the CHL: Zach Bogosian(1st round), Phil McRae(2nd round), Mitch Wahl(2nd round), Adam Comrie(3rd round), A.J. Jenks(4th round), and Barry Sanderson(still waiting to be drafted), and at last check, there were still NCAA games scheduled for next year, so I guess the lesson is that there are far more "potential first round picks" than actual first round picks, and if these kids want to leave, it's not much of a deal.
It's kind of a shame for both Denver and Michigan. It's a tough blow for Denver because they probably don't have time to add someone for next year, and they've already lost one player in their class with David Carle. It's a little easier for Michigan to replace a 2010 recruit, though it's a shame that they passed on some other, more loyal, players that have made commitments elsewhere since to keep a spot for Knight.
DU recruit Stepan Novotny will be signing with the Kelowna Rockets rather than attending Denver. Maybe it will help Novotny's draft status to put up big numbers playing younger competition next year, rather than being an ancillary player on a loaded DU team.
Also, Michigan recruit Jared Knight will be signing with the London Knights. I don't have a solid permalink, but there's a ton of discussion here. Apparently Dale Hunter made quite a pitch to Knight's father at the Select 16 Festival to convince him to sign.
People north of the border are trying to create panic about "all the future first round draft picks going to the CHL," but looking back at the '90 birthdates, the US lost these "future first round picks" to the CHL: Zach Bogosian(1st round), Phil McRae(2nd round), Mitch Wahl(2nd round), Adam Comrie(3rd round), A.J. Jenks(4th round), and Barry Sanderson(still waiting to be drafted), and at last check, there were still NCAA games scheduled for next year, so I guess the lesson is that there are far more "potential first round picks" than actual first round picks, and if these kids want to leave, it's not much of a deal.
It's kind of a shame for both Denver and Michigan. It's a tough blow for Denver because they probably don't have time to add someone for next year, and they've already lost one player in their class with David Carle. It's a little easier for Michigan to replace a 2010 recruit, though it's a shame that they passed on some other, more loyal, players that have made commitments elsewhere since to keep a spot for Knight.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Day 2 of the Draft
A lot of eyebrows were probably raised when the New York Islanders selected Aaron Ness at 40th overall in the second round of the draft, after Garth Snow's comments about coach Don Lucia's coaching abilities last winter. I think that if anything, this move goes to prove that Okposo's departure last year was orchestrated by Okposo and his advisor more than the Islanders desperate desire to sign Okposo.
After a slow first round, 10 future college players were taken in the second round of the draft.
One of those players taken in the second round was Ohio State recruit Zac Dalpe. Unfortunately, he was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes. Dalpe said he was committed to Ohio State and not the OHL, but left a little bit of an opening, saying it would depend on what the team that drafted him wanted him to do. The Hurricanes and Whalers are both owned by Peter Karmanos, so I think it would be safe to say the 'Canes would want him playing in Plymouth.
Anaheim had three picks early in the second round and picked a nice trio of players in Nicolas Deschamps(Pieree McGuire just squealed like a little girl), Eric O'Dell, who originally committed to St. Cloud before signing with the OHL this past year, and Justin Schultz, a talented puck-mover that is going to Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is having the best Draft Day(s) of any college program with Jake Gardiner selected 17th, Peter Wiercioch and Justin Schultz selected back-to-back at 42 and 43 respectively, Derek Stepan selected at 51
Michigan is following close behind with every member of their recruiting class being selected with Brandon Burlon at 51, Robbie Czarnik at 63, Greg Pateryn at 128, and David Wohlberg at 172.
Brad Schlossman kept track of all the future college players on his site.
Mark Olver of Northern Michigan, born on January 1st, 1988, which is the oldest a player can be and still get drafted, was taken in the 5th round by Colorado.
After a slow first round, 10 future college players were taken in the second round of the draft.
One of those players taken in the second round was Ohio State recruit Zac Dalpe. Unfortunately, he was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes. Dalpe said he was committed to Ohio State and not the OHL, but left a little bit of an opening, saying it would depend on what the team that drafted him wanted him to do. The Hurricanes and Whalers are both owned by Peter Karmanos, so I think it would be safe to say the 'Canes would want him playing in Plymouth.
Anaheim had three picks early in the second round and picked a nice trio of players in Nicolas Deschamps(Pieree McGuire just squealed like a little girl), Eric O'Dell, who originally committed to St. Cloud before signing with the OHL this past year, and Justin Schultz, a talented puck-mover that is going to Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is having the best Draft Day(s) of any college program with Jake Gardiner selected 17th, Peter Wiercioch and Justin Schultz selected back-to-back at 42 and 43 respectively, Derek Stepan selected at 51
Michigan is following close behind with every member of their recruiting class being selected with Brandon Burlon at 51, Robbie Czarnik at 63, Greg Pateryn at 128, and David Wohlberg at 172.
Brad Schlossman kept track of all the future college players on his site.
Mark Olver of Northern Michigan, born on January 1st, 1988, which is the oldest a player can be and still get drafted, was taken in the 5th round by Colorado.
Carle's Career Over
The most shocking news to come out of the NHL Draft today is that David Carle's hockey career is over. It was discovered at the NHL Combine that he had a heart abnormality that will be career-ending. Best wishes go out to Carle and his family. Perhaps the only positive is that his condition was discovered before it proved fatal.
Carle will still be attending the University of Denver on scholarship, and will still play a role on the team, though he won't be playing with the team.
Carle will still be attending the University of Denver on scholarship, and will still play a role on the team, though he won't be playing with the team.
Friday, June 20, 2008
NHL Draft Liveblog
The draft show has started on Versus, meaning the first pick will go down about half an hour from now or so. James Duthie is hosting, and Darren Dreger is on the draft floor.
The first trade of the day is that LA sends Mike Cammalleri to Calgary, while LA and Anaheim end up with some draft picks.
Apparently the official TSN dress code is a light blue shirt and striped tie and sports coat. Every analyst is wearing one. Lots of talk about trades and potential trades. Nobody really cares. Let's get this thing under way.
They tried to interview Steve Stamkos but the mic didn't work. Nice prep work.
The draft will begin after this commercial break. Everyone seems to think Stamkos will go first overall, but I don't think so. It's like Kevin from The Office said. If someone gives you 10,000 to 1 odds, you always take it(and it certainly worked for whoever bet that Prince Fielder would have two inside-the-park homeruns in his career). I'm guessing the website was just a smokescreen.
They finally got the microphone issue cleared up with Stamkos. He didn't have much interesting to say. It's got to be pretty easy knowing where you're going to be drafted.
Gary Bettman is up to the podium, and makes an awkward joke about being booed by the fans. Tampa Bay is on the clock. Let's see how much time they waste.
Stamkos is sitting with about 50 of his closest friends and family. Lamest posse ever.
Tampa Bay is moving towards the podium to make it official. They congratulate the Red Wings on winning the Cup. New owner Oren Koules gets the honor of announcing the pick.
1st overall, Tampa Bay selects: Steven Stamkos Stamkos apparently has to hug everyone in attendance in the arena before he gets to the podium. It's true what people say about hockey players being overly polite. Five minutes later he's up to the stage and shakes hands with about 40 old white guys in suits. The camera shows Stamkos' mom trying to take pictures with her cheap little digital camera. Good thing she remembered that, because I doubt anyone else is capturing this moment.
Stamkos is the 6th player to be taken first overall in his major junior draft and the NHL Draft.
Los Angeles is drafting next. Bob McKenzie is thinking Drew Doughty is the pick, and I'll agree. Zach Bogosian is a possibility here too. Pierre McGuire lists one of Doughty's strongest qualities as "knowing the difference between pain and injury". Yeah, that's huge.
Los Angeles is at the podium. They thank the 2000 fans at their draft party and make a joke about how many picks they have. "Ha ha, we sucked so bad that we had to accumulate draft picks to rebuild. Super-sorry, dedicated Kings' fans."
Second overall, Los Angeles selects: Drew Doughty Pierre McGuire says the LA Kings defense will be just like the Detroit Red Wings defense, except they don't have a Nick Lidstrom. That's like saying this blog is just like Deadspin, except without the millions of readers.
Doughty says it has always been his dream to play on the LA Kings. Yes, every kid in Ontario grows up hoping to don the black and purple. James Duthie asks about the Mike Cammalleri trade and Kings GM Dean Lomardi has no answer. Gripping televsion.
Gary Bettman announces a trade: Olli Jokinen to Phoenix for Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard and the 49th pick. There were a ton of Jokinen rumors ever since the season ended, and Florida finally pulled the trigger.
Darren Dreger asks a GM about a possible trade. Response: "I can't answer that". These guys understand how interviews are supposed to work, right?
I have to say that I'm thrilled that 36 minutes into the draft, I haven't seen any reference to The Love Guru. I know the league is desperate for publicity, but I can't believe they let Mike Myers use their logos. That movie is unbelievably awful.
Don Waddell of Atlanta is heading to the podium. Bob thinks Zach Bogosian, and I'll agree.
Atlanta congratulates the Wings and thanks their fans at the draft party. The double!
3rd overall, Atlanta selects: Zach Bogosian Pierre calls this a cover-up for trading Braydon Coburn, implying that if Atlanta still had Braydon Coburn, they would have just passed the pick, or selected somebody projected to go in the 7th round.
Another trade from the commish. Now the crowd loves him. Fickle bastards. Montreal trades pick 25 and a second round pick next year to Calgary for Alex Tanguay and a 5th.
Garth Snow and Charles Wang are manning the phones at the Islanders table. That's a lot of stupidity concentrated in one spot.
St. Louis is up next. I've got a feeling that Alex Pietrangelo will be their pick.
Bob McKenzie mentioned Steve Wagner, and occasionally reads this blog. The man is a hero.
St. Louis already traded Jamal Mayers to Toronto for goalie Chris Mason. Bill Simmons had a theory that whenever a team had a player they were ready to cut, the GM would say, "What the hell, let's give Isiah a call" and see if they could trade him to the Knicks. The Maple Leafs are kind of like the Knicks in the NHL.
John Davidson gives a shout out to flood victims.
4th overall, St. Louis selects: Alex Pietrangelo Pietrangelo has a guy with a douchey haircut in his camp. Pietrangelo looks good in a suit, which is good, because that's what he'll probably be doing next year with Andy Murray as his coach.
Pietrangelo is called Chris Pronger without the nastiness and phyiscal edge.
James Duthie has to ask every prospect how many points they'll score next season, and every prospect has to try to be as modest as possible. Then Duthie asks the GM sitting next to him about a potential trade, and the GM declines. I'm just going to start cutting and pasting this.
Toronto and the Islanders will be making a trade. Both teams will be losers. Not necessarily because it will be a bad trade for either team. But they'll both suck regardless.
Cliff Fletcher almost dozed off there. How metaphorical.
"People are going to start to question what direction the Leafs are headed in" "start"?
The Leafs are going to move to 5th overall, while NYI gets the 7th overall and a 2nd and 3rd round pick. The Islanders either gets pick 60 this year and a 3rd next year, or 68 this year and a 2nd next year.
Ottawa's fans don't like Toronto getting the 5th overall pick.
5th overall, Toronto selects: Luke Schenn
We're at a little over an hour and have only made 5 picks so far.
Gary Bettman announces that Columbus is on the clock and then starts reading something. The camera stayed with him thinking he would do something else, but nope, just reading. I'd like to think he was reading Cosmo.
Now Bettman announces a trade. Columbus trades 19th overall and third this year, for R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick. Umberger gets to go back to where he played college hockey. Hopefully he has a little more success in Columbus this time around.
Columbus also has the 6th overall pick, and I'm think they'll pick Filatov. There's always a concern about Russian players early in the draft, but I think Filatov is a pretty safe bet for a Russian.
6th overall Columbus selects: Nikita Filatov Either Columbus' GM doesn't know how to pronounce his name, or everyone else is pronouncing it wrong.
Filatov's interview is just painful. A shrug is not an answer. At least Duthie had the good sense to realize it wasn't going anywhere and cut it off short, with a sound of defeat in his voice.
The Islanders trade down again. They give up the 7th for the 9th overall and a second round pick.
Nashville has the 7th overall now and they're at the podium. I'm thinking Boedker.
7th overall, Nashville selects: Colin Wilson The first NCAA selection. He looks huge.
Wilson said he's ready to play in the NHL next season, which isn't great news for BU fans.
Phoenix is up next and I think Boedker is the obvious pick. They have lots of great forwards and need young defenseman.
Wayne is heading up to the podium and is ready to make the pick.
8th overall, Phoenix selects: Mikkel Boedker Boedker has an absolutely mullet. He'd be an awesome bad guy in an 80's movie.
Credit to Wayne Gretzky for at least artfully dodging James Duthie's questions. I guess that's the advantage of being used to having to answer questions with non-answers.
The Islanders are on the clock now. This pick could be a bit of a reach. I think it's obvious NYI had a player in mind, and tried to trade down, knowing he'd still be there.
9th overall, New York Islanders select: Josh Bailey Not much of a reach, though he still went earlier than he was projected.
Vancouver is up next, and everyone seems to think they'll take Kyle Beach.
10th overall, Vancouver selects: Cody Hodgson I like this pick a lot better than Beach. The Brampton Battalion have incredibly ugly jersies.
Mike Gillis says the Sedins aren't available for trade. The first real answer from a GM tonight.
11th overall Chicago selects: Kyle Beach Eh. I'm not a huge fan of Beach, but Chicago could use a tough forward like him.
Los Angeles is up next as part of the trade they made earlier, though it looks like LA is going to trade this pick to Buffalo.
You'd think the NHL draft would be more interesting since everything is out in the open, as opposed to the NFL draft, where most business is conducted inside the "war room" with everything going down on phone, but as it turns out, not really. It's just a lot of guys milling around and talking.
Bettman announces the trade. LA trades down one spot with Buffalo to get an additional 3rd round pick next year.
Buffalo walks to the podium. Lindy Ruff looks bored to be there.
12th overall, Buffalo selects: Tyler Myers Myers is an interesting pick. He didn't blow me away at last summer's Select 17 Festival, but apparently he came a long ways this year, and has the potential to get much, much better.
13th overall, Los Angeles selects: Colton Teubert The Kings are building quite a stable of defenseman with Jack Johnson, Thomas Hickey, Drew Doughty, and now Teubert.
Jimmy Rutherford is coming to the podium to draft for Carolina.
14th overall Carolina selects: Zach Boychuk I'm glad we're done with the prospect interviews. They didn't add much.
Nashville is going to be drafting again. They already have Colin Wilson in their stable, and TSN is speculating that they're going for a goalie.
Bettman announces a trade. Nashville trades their pick to Ottawa for the 18th and a 3rd round pick in 2009. Ottawa being on the clock wakes up the crowd.
Daniel Alfredson gets the honor of making the selection. I guess the Senators want to get their moneys worth out of him.
15th overall, Ottawa selects: Erik Karlsson I guess it makes sense that one Swede would announce another.
Karlsson gets interviewed. First question: "Do you think you can play in the NHL at your size?" Does it even count as a question if there is no possibility of more than one answer?
McKenzie discusses Colborne and Gardiner has "wild card" picks that could go anywhere. Boston is up at the podium. The Bruins congratulate the Celtics on their championship.
16th overall, Boston selects: Joe Colborne The first player playing college hockey out west is taken. He's got a lot of potential, but I think he also has the potential to bust. One knock is that he struggles with physical play, but he'll get lots of experience playing physical hockey in the WCHA.
There were a lot of fireworks in the first couple of picks with a ton of trades being made, but overall, not as much excitement with the actual drafting as there was last year with Thomas Hickey going fourth overall and Cherepanov falling to later in the first round. So far this year, it's been pretty much by the book.
Anaheim is drafting next, and I think they'll pick Satan. He can play on a line with Bertuzzi and Kunitz and not look out of place.
17th overall, Anaheim selects: Jake Gardiner Gardiner goes 17th overall. I think this is a little high for him, but I had a feeling some team would fall in love with him and select him early.
Some Minnesota HS goalie just got totally schooled in a highlight video on cable television.
Gardiner's pick brings about some pretty good analysis of college hockey and players leaving early from the crew. It was pretty nice work from Canadian-based analysts.
Duthie asks Brian Burke who is making him offers for their next pick and Burke just laughs in his face. These interviews are basically dead air.
18th overall, Nashville selects: Chet Pickard Nashville gets the goalie they needed. They already made a nice pick in Colin Wilson, and were able to trade down while still getting the second guy they wanted.
This is the biggest day of Pickard's life and he didn't take the time to shave the ugly semi-goatee off his face.
RE: College hockey analysis. The TSN guys didn't say anything groundbreaking. Just that it's difficult for teams to keep their good players because of the new CBA, and how Wisconsin had 15 seniors on their national title team, as opposed to just four last year. It wasn't much, but from a Canadian crew, it's nice to see them know their stuff when it comes to American hockey.
19th overall, Philadelphia selects: Luca SbisaSbisa is a Swiss player, which is starting to become a little more common in the draft.
20th overall, New York Rangers selects: Michael Del Zotto Del Zotto slipped a couple of spots, and I think this is a really nice pick for the Rangers. Del Zotto slipped this year, but I still think he's very talented, and the Rangers get another solid young defenseman.
Pierre McGuire used the phrase "too cool for school". I don't think I've heard that phrase used in at least a decade.
There is a congregation of guys with legal pads, so it looks like there will be a trade. Gary Bettman announces that New Jersey trades pick 21 to Washington for picks 23 and 54.
GMGM is heading to the podium to make the selection for Washington. They're bringing their goalie coach up to the podium, so it looks like a goalie.
21st overall, Washington selects: Anton Gustafsson I'm kind of surprised by this. A lot of teams moved him way down due to injury concerns. I thought the Wings would take him at 30th overall. If he stays healthy, he'll probably be a nice pick, and Washington is deep enough in terms of prospects that they can take a chance.
Edmonton is up next, and they seem like a team that might select Daultan Leveille.
Glenn Anderson, the newest member of the Hockey Hall of Fame is announcing the pick. He's ad-libbing with a story about Lorne Davis.
22nd overall, Edmonton selects: Jordan Eberle They dedicate the pick to Davis, and select a player from his old team.
Most of Eberle's highlights are from his years playing squirt hockey. I'm sure that's what the folks in Edmonton wanted to see.
Eberle is the first kid to look visibly excited about being drafted, and he admitted that he read mock drafts, which is a little funny.
New Jersey trades the 23rd pick to Minnesota for pick 24 and a third round pick next year. All of these trades seem to indicate that teams want to stockpile picks for next year's draft, which should be pretty deep.
Nicholas Deschamps has a name that is French enough for the Wild to select him here at 23.
23rd overall, Minnesota selects: Tyler Cuma The Wild need a defenseman, and Cuma slipped a little lower than most people had him ranked, so not a bad pick.
New Jersey is finally going to make a pick after trading down about 8 times.
The Devils have 5000 fans skating on their new rink tonight? That can't be good for the ice.
24th overall, New Jersey selects: Mattias Tedenby
Calgary is making their way to the podium, but stops for a casual conversation with the Buffalo table. Nice focus, Calgary.
25th overall, Calgary selects: Greg Nemisz
Darryl Sutter at least gets points for honesty by admitting that there's no way he'd answer a question.
26th overall, Buffalo selects: Tyler Ennis The TSN guys thought Buffalo would go for a goalie to possibly replace Ryan Miller, but they weren't going to find a goalie ready to start in the NHL in 18 months late in the first round of the draft. Ennis is a nice up-tempo offensive player.
Bettman announces another trade, but by this time, the crowd can only offer up a half-hearted response. Steve Eminger and pick 84 are traded to Philly for this next pick.
27th overall, Washington selects: John Carlson Carlson slipped a little bit, but is a pretty nice player.
The latest trade is that Anaheim trades pick 28 to Phoenix for 35 and 39. Nice trade for Anaheim. I'm not sure who Phoenix wants this badly. Probably a goalie.
Phoenix traded for this pick, so there must be a specific player they want. I don't get why it's taking them so long to get to the podium.
28th overall, Phoenix selects: Viktor Tikhonov This seems like a big reach for 28th overall. Tikhonov really moved up with some big performances in big tournaments. Tikhonov is described as very American for a Russian, but is still sporting a mullet.
29th overall, Atlanta selects: Daultan Leveille Nobody could have guessed he'd be a first round pick 6 months ago. Definitely a nice find by Rick Comley and the Michigan State coaching staff.
Michigan State is going to be counting on freshmen from less than stellar junior leagues next year, so seeing Leveille go this high has to be a nice validation of his skill.
Pierre McGuire is officially on the Nicholas Deschamps bandwagon. I think he's mentioned him about 15 times now. Maybe he gets a cut of the kid's first contract?
30th overall, Detroit selects: Thomas McCollum An American goalie closes out the first round.
A pretty decent year for American-born players in the first round, and a fairly rough showing for future college players, but still great compared to 10 years ago. Tomorrow morning should see a lot of future college players taken.
The first trade of the day is that LA sends Mike Cammalleri to Calgary, while LA and Anaheim end up with some draft picks.
Apparently the official TSN dress code is a light blue shirt and striped tie and sports coat. Every analyst is wearing one. Lots of talk about trades and potential trades. Nobody really cares. Let's get this thing under way.
They tried to interview Steve Stamkos but the mic didn't work. Nice prep work.
The draft will begin after this commercial break. Everyone seems to think Stamkos will go first overall, but I don't think so. It's like Kevin from The Office said. If someone gives you 10,000 to 1 odds, you always take it(and it certainly worked for whoever bet that Prince Fielder would have two inside-the-park homeruns in his career). I'm guessing the website was just a smokescreen.
They finally got the microphone issue cleared up with Stamkos. He didn't have much interesting to say. It's got to be pretty easy knowing where you're going to be drafted.
Gary Bettman is up to the podium, and makes an awkward joke about being booed by the fans. Tampa Bay is on the clock. Let's see how much time they waste.
Stamkos is sitting with about 50 of his closest friends and family. Lamest posse ever.
Tampa Bay is moving towards the podium to make it official. They congratulate the Red Wings on winning the Cup. New owner Oren Koules gets the honor of announcing the pick.
1st overall, Tampa Bay selects: Steven Stamkos Stamkos apparently has to hug everyone in attendance in the arena before he gets to the podium. It's true what people say about hockey players being overly polite. Five minutes later he's up to the stage and shakes hands with about 40 old white guys in suits. The camera shows Stamkos' mom trying to take pictures with her cheap little digital camera. Good thing she remembered that, because I doubt anyone else is capturing this moment.
Stamkos is the 6th player to be taken first overall in his major junior draft and the NHL Draft.
Los Angeles is drafting next. Bob McKenzie is thinking Drew Doughty is the pick, and I'll agree. Zach Bogosian is a possibility here too. Pierre McGuire lists one of Doughty's strongest qualities as "knowing the difference between pain and injury". Yeah, that's huge.
Los Angeles is at the podium. They thank the 2000 fans at their draft party and make a joke about how many picks they have. "Ha ha, we sucked so bad that we had to accumulate draft picks to rebuild. Super-sorry, dedicated Kings' fans."
Second overall, Los Angeles selects: Drew Doughty Pierre McGuire says the LA Kings defense will be just like the Detroit Red Wings defense, except they don't have a Nick Lidstrom. That's like saying this blog is just like Deadspin, except without the millions of readers.
Doughty says it has always been his dream to play on the LA Kings. Yes, every kid in Ontario grows up hoping to don the black and purple. James Duthie asks about the Mike Cammalleri trade and Kings GM Dean Lomardi has no answer. Gripping televsion.
Gary Bettman announces a trade: Olli Jokinen to Phoenix for Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard and the 49th pick. There were a ton of Jokinen rumors ever since the season ended, and Florida finally pulled the trigger.
Darren Dreger asks a GM about a possible trade. Response: "I can't answer that". These guys understand how interviews are supposed to work, right?
I have to say that I'm thrilled that 36 minutes into the draft, I haven't seen any reference to The Love Guru. I know the league is desperate for publicity, but I can't believe they let Mike Myers use their logos. That movie is unbelievably awful.
Don Waddell of Atlanta is heading to the podium. Bob thinks Zach Bogosian, and I'll agree.
Atlanta congratulates the Wings and thanks their fans at the draft party. The double!
3rd overall, Atlanta selects: Zach Bogosian Pierre calls this a cover-up for trading Braydon Coburn, implying that if Atlanta still had Braydon Coburn, they would have just passed the pick, or selected somebody projected to go in the 7th round.
Another trade from the commish. Now the crowd loves him. Fickle bastards. Montreal trades pick 25 and a second round pick next year to Calgary for Alex Tanguay and a 5th.
Garth Snow and Charles Wang are manning the phones at the Islanders table. That's a lot of stupidity concentrated in one spot.
St. Louis is up next. I've got a feeling that Alex Pietrangelo will be their pick.
Bob McKenzie mentioned Steve Wagner, and occasionally reads this blog. The man is a hero.
St. Louis already traded Jamal Mayers to Toronto for goalie Chris Mason. Bill Simmons had a theory that whenever a team had a player they were ready to cut, the GM would say, "What the hell, let's give Isiah a call" and see if they could trade him to the Knicks. The Maple Leafs are kind of like the Knicks in the NHL.
John Davidson gives a shout out to flood victims.
4th overall, St. Louis selects: Alex Pietrangelo Pietrangelo has a guy with a douchey haircut in his camp. Pietrangelo looks good in a suit, which is good, because that's what he'll probably be doing next year with Andy Murray as his coach.
Pietrangelo is called Chris Pronger without the nastiness and phyiscal edge.
James Duthie has to ask every prospect how many points they'll score next season, and every prospect has to try to be as modest as possible. Then Duthie asks the GM sitting next to him about a potential trade, and the GM declines. I'm just going to start cutting and pasting this.
Toronto and the Islanders will be making a trade. Both teams will be losers. Not necessarily because it will be a bad trade for either team. But they'll both suck regardless.
Cliff Fletcher almost dozed off there. How metaphorical.
"People are going to start to question what direction the Leafs are headed in" "start"?
The Leafs are going to move to 5th overall, while NYI gets the 7th overall and a 2nd and 3rd round pick. The Islanders either gets pick 60 this year and a 3rd next year, or 68 this year and a 2nd next year.
Ottawa's fans don't like Toronto getting the 5th overall pick.
5th overall, Toronto selects: Luke Schenn
We're at a little over an hour and have only made 5 picks so far.
Gary Bettman announces that Columbus is on the clock and then starts reading something. The camera stayed with him thinking he would do something else, but nope, just reading. I'd like to think he was reading Cosmo.
Now Bettman announces a trade. Columbus trades 19th overall and third this year, for R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick. Umberger gets to go back to where he played college hockey. Hopefully he has a little more success in Columbus this time around.
Columbus also has the 6th overall pick, and I'm think they'll pick Filatov. There's always a concern about Russian players early in the draft, but I think Filatov is a pretty safe bet for a Russian.
6th overall Columbus selects: Nikita Filatov Either Columbus' GM doesn't know how to pronounce his name, or everyone else is pronouncing it wrong.
Filatov's interview is just painful. A shrug is not an answer. At least Duthie had the good sense to realize it wasn't going anywhere and cut it off short, with a sound of defeat in his voice.
The Islanders trade down again. They give up the 7th for the 9th overall and a second round pick.
Nashville has the 7th overall now and they're at the podium. I'm thinking Boedker.
7th overall, Nashville selects: Colin Wilson The first NCAA selection. He looks huge.
Wilson said he's ready to play in the NHL next season, which isn't great news for BU fans.
Phoenix is up next and I think Boedker is the obvious pick. They have lots of great forwards and need young defenseman.
Wayne is heading up to the podium and is ready to make the pick.
8th overall, Phoenix selects: Mikkel Boedker Boedker has an absolutely mullet. He'd be an awesome bad guy in an 80's movie.
Credit to Wayne Gretzky for at least artfully dodging James Duthie's questions. I guess that's the advantage of being used to having to answer questions with non-answers.
The Islanders are on the clock now. This pick could be a bit of a reach. I think it's obvious NYI had a player in mind, and tried to trade down, knowing he'd still be there.
9th overall, New York Islanders select: Josh Bailey Not much of a reach, though he still went earlier than he was projected.
Vancouver is up next, and everyone seems to think they'll take Kyle Beach.
10th overall, Vancouver selects: Cody Hodgson I like this pick a lot better than Beach. The Brampton Battalion have incredibly ugly jersies.
Mike Gillis says the Sedins aren't available for trade. The first real answer from a GM tonight.
11th overall Chicago selects: Kyle Beach Eh. I'm not a huge fan of Beach, but Chicago could use a tough forward like him.
Los Angeles is up next as part of the trade they made earlier, though it looks like LA is going to trade this pick to Buffalo.
You'd think the NHL draft would be more interesting since everything is out in the open, as opposed to the NFL draft, where most business is conducted inside the "war room" with everything going down on phone, but as it turns out, not really. It's just a lot of guys milling around and talking.
Bettman announces the trade. LA trades down one spot with Buffalo to get an additional 3rd round pick next year.
Buffalo walks to the podium. Lindy Ruff looks bored to be there.
12th overall, Buffalo selects: Tyler Myers Myers is an interesting pick. He didn't blow me away at last summer's Select 17 Festival, but apparently he came a long ways this year, and has the potential to get much, much better.
13th overall, Los Angeles selects: Colton Teubert The Kings are building quite a stable of defenseman with Jack Johnson, Thomas Hickey, Drew Doughty, and now Teubert.
Jimmy Rutherford is coming to the podium to draft for Carolina.
14th overall Carolina selects: Zach Boychuk I'm glad we're done with the prospect interviews. They didn't add much.
Nashville is going to be drafting again. They already have Colin Wilson in their stable, and TSN is speculating that they're going for a goalie.
Bettman announces a trade. Nashville trades their pick to Ottawa for the 18th and a 3rd round pick in 2009. Ottawa being on the clock wakes up the crowd.
Daniel Alfredson gets the honor of making the selection. I guess the Senators want to get their moneys worth out of him.
15th overall, Ottawa selects: Erik Karlsson I guess it makes sense that one Swede would announce another.
Karlsson gets interviewed. First question: "Do you think you can play in the NHL at your size?" Does it even count as a question if there is no possibility of more than one answer?
McKenzie discusses Colborne and Gardiner has "wild card" picks that could go anywhere. Boston is up at the podium. The Bruins congratulate the Celtics on their championship.
16th overall, Boston selects: Joe Colborne The first player playing college hockey out west is taken. He's got a lot of potential, but I think he also has the potential to bust. One knock is that he struggles with physical play, but he'll get lots of experience playing physical hockey in the WCHA.
There were a lot of fireworks in the first couple of picks with a ton of trades being made, but overall, not as much excitement with the actual drafting as there was last year with Thomas Hickey going fourth overall and Cherepanov falling to later in the first round. So far this year, it's been pretty much by the book.
Anaheim is drafting next, and I think they'll pick Satan. He can play on a line with Bertuzzi and Kunitz and not look out of place.
17th overall, Anaheim selects: Jake Gardiner Gardiner goes 17th overall. I think this is a little high for him, but I had a feeling some team would fall in love with him and select him early.
Some Minnesota HS goalie just got totally schooled in a highlight video on cable television.
Gardiner's pick brings about some pretty good analysis of college hockey and players leaving early from the crew. It was pretty nice work from Canadian-based analysts.
Duthie asks Brian Burke who is making him offers for their next pick and Burke just laughs in his face. These interviews are basically dead air.
18th overall, Nashville selects: Chet Pickard Nashville gets the goalie they needed. They already made a nice pick in Colin Wilson, and were able to trade down while still getting the second guy they wanted.
This is the biggest day of Pickard's life and he didn't take the time to shave the ugly semi-goatee off his face.
RE: College hockey analysis. The TSN guys didn't say anything groundbreaking. Just that it's difficult for teams to keep their good players because of the new CBA, and how Wisconsin had 15 seniors on their national title team, as opposed to just four last year. It wasn't much, but from a Canadian crew, it's nice to see them know their stuff when it comes to American hockey.
19th overall, Philadelphia selects: Luca SbisaSbisa is a Swiss player, which is starting to become a little more common in the draft.
20th overall, New York Rangers selects: Michael Del Zotto Del Zotto slipped a couple of spots, and I think this is a really nice pick for the Rangers. Del Zotto slipped this year, but I still think he's very talented, and the Rangers get another solid young defenseman.
Pierre McGuire used the phrase "too cool for school". I don't think I've heard that phrase used in at least a decade.
There is a congregation of guys with legal pads, so it looks like there will be a trade. Gary Bettman announces that New Jersey trades pick 21 to Washington for picks 23 and 54.
GMGM is heading to the podium to make the selection for Washington. They're bringing their goalie coach up to the podium, so it looks like a goalie.
21st overall, Washington selects: Anton Gustafsson I'm kind of surprised by this. A lot of teams moved him way down due to injury concerns. I thought the Wings would take him at 30th overall. If he stays healthy, he'll probably be a nice pick, and Washington is deep enough in terms of prospects that they can take a chance.
Edmonton is up next, and they seem like a team that might select Daultan Leveille.
Glenn Anderson, the newest member of the Hockey Hall of Fame is announcing the pick. He's ad-libbing with a story about Lorne Davis.
22nd overall, Edmonton selects: Jordan Eberle They dedicate the pick to Davis, and select a player from his old team.
Most of Eberle's highlights are from his years playing squirt hockey. I'm sure that's what the folks in Edmonton wanted to see.
Eberle is the first kid to look visibly excited about being drafted, and he admitted that he read mock drafts, which is a little funny.
New Jersey trades the 23rd pick to Minnesota for pick 24 and a third round pick next year. All of these trades seem to indicate that teams want to stockpile picks for next year's draft, which should be pretty deep.
Nicholas Deschamps has a name that is French enough for the Wild to select him here at 23.
23rd overall, Minnesota selects: Tyler Cuma The Wild need a defenseman, and Cuma slipped a little lower than most people had him ranked, so not a bad pick.
New Jersey is finally going to make a pick after trading down about 8 times.
The Devils have 5000 fans skating on their new rink tonight? That can't be good for the ice.
24th overall, New Jersey selects: Mattias Tedenby
Calgary is making their way to the podium, but stops for a casual conversation with the Buffalo table. Nice focus, Calgary.
25th overall, Calgary selects: Greg Nemisz
Darryl Sutter at least gets points for honesty by admitting that there's no way he'd answer a question.
26th overall, Buffalo selects: Tyler Ennis The TSN guys thought Buffalo would go for a goalie to possibly replace Ryan Miller, but they weren't going to find a goalie ready to start in the NHL in 18 months late in the first round of the draft. Ennis is a nice up-tempo offensive player.
Bettman announces another trade, but by this time, the crowd can only offer up a half-hearted response. Steve Eminger and pick 84 are traded to Philly for this next pick.
27th overall, Washington selects: John Carlson Carlson slipped a little bit, but is a pretty nice player.
The latest trade is that Anaheim trades pick 28 to Phoenix for 35 and 39. Nice trade for Anaheim. I'm not sure who Phoenix wants this badly. Probably a goalie.
Phoenix traded for this pick, so there must be a specific player they want. I don't get why it's taking them so long to get to the podium.
28th overall, Phoenix selects: Viktor Tikhonov This seems like a big reach for 28th overall. Tikhonov really moved up with some big performances in big tournaments. Tikhonov is described as very American for a Russian, but is still sporting a mullet.
29th overall, Atlanta selects: Daultan Leveille Nobody could have guessed he'd be a first round pick 6 months ago. Definitely a nice find by Rick Comley and the Michigan State coaching staff.
Michigan State is going to be counting on freshmen from less than stellar junior leagues next year, so seeing Leveille go this high has to be a nice validation of his skill.
Pierre McGuire is officially on the Nicholas Deschamps bandwagon. I think he's mentioned him about 15 times now. Maybe he gets a cut of the kid's first contract?
30th overall, Detroit selects: Thomas McCollum An American goalie closes out the first round.
A pretty decent year for American-born players in the first round, and a fairly rough showing for future college players, but still great compared to 10 years ago. Tomorrow morning should see a lot of future college players taken.
Draft Liveblog Tonight
So I've decided to a liveblog of the first round of tonight's NHL Draft, starting at 7pm EST. I was a little lukewarm on the idea, until I remembered that Bill Simmons gets paid like a million dollars for these types of things, so a little practice couldn't hurt.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Linkorama
Lake Superior's Nathan Perkovich is probably returning to LSSU.
USA Hockey released the roster for their World Juniors Tryout Camp.
Mock Drafts from The Hockey News and Illegal Curve.
DU alum Glenn Anderson was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Some pretty good candidates like Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates, and Phil Housely were all left out.
North Dakota's roster is pretty much set for next season.
Duluth will have three captains next year.
Columbus Dispatch aritlce on Zac Dalpe.
The draft always brings about a story on Ryan Sittler.
USA Hockey released the roster for their World Juniors Tryout Camp.
Mock Drafts from The Hockey News and Illegal Curve.
DU alum Glenn Anderson was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Some pretty good candidates like Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates, and Phil Housely were all left out.
North Dakota's roster is pretty much set for next season.
Duluth will have three captains next year.
Columbus Dispatch aritlce on Zac Dalpe.
The draft always brings about a story on Ryan Sittler.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
TSN Draft Rankings
TSN released their draft rankings. Bob McKenzie's draft preview has been the one must-read draft preview for me since, well, probably longer than he'd like me to mention. It's the best you'll find.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Hockey in the Glass City?
Bowling Green athletic director Greg Christopher hosts an online chat every two weeks or so at the Bowling Green website, and in the June 6th installment, he dropped some pertinent knowledge.
First off, the Minnesota/Bowling Green football game will start at 7:30pm, and I'm assuming the varsity game will start immediately afterwards.
More importantly, there was this Q and A:
This an extremely exciting development for a couple reasons. First, it helped lead to the demolition of the Toledo Sports Arena. Ask any former hockey player to tell their worst story about life in the minor leagues, and 95% of the time, the Toledo Sports Arena will be the setting for that story.
Second, the midwest is always desperate for neutral sites to host NCAA tournament regionals. Basically there is Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, which I think people got sick of, and recently, sites in Wisconsin, which in terms of college hockey geography, is in the west, not midwest. Toledo is pretty centrally located in CCHA-country, and could probably draw a decent-sized crowd if any number of CCHA teams made the tournament.
First off, the Minnesota/Bowling Green football game will start at 7:30pm, and I'm assuming the varsity game will start immediately afterwards.
More importantly, there was this Q and A:
Q: With the new hockey arena opening in Toledo next year, is there any chance of BGSU hosting an annual holiday tournament up there?Said new arena is the Lucas County Arena, the future home of your Toldeo Walleye, and possibly an Arena Football team.
Terry in Midland, Mich.
A: We have had conversations with the arena's management on two fronts. First, BGSU Athletics and the arena have submitted a bid to host an NCAA Ice Hockey Regional in the future. It will be several months before we know if the bid was successful, but bringing a regional to our area would be a plus on several fronts...especially if the Falcons were in the field! Second, we have discussed options related to BGSU playing a home game or tournament at the new facility. Not sure if anything will develop, but having a first-rate hockey facility in our backyard is worth exploring the options.
This an extremely exciting development for a couple reasons. First, it helped lead to the demolition of the Toledo Sports Arena. Ask any former hockey player to tell their worst story about life in the minor leagues, and 95% of the time, the Toledo Sports Arena will be the setting for that story.
Second, the midwest is always desperate for neutral sites to host NCAA tournament regionals. Basically there is Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, which I think people got sick of, and recently, sites in Wisconsin, which in terms of college hockey geography, is in the west, not midwest. Toledo is pretty centrally located in CCHA-country, and could probably draw a decent-sized crowd if any number of CCHA teams made the tournament.
Watson Signs with Windsor
The Windsor Spitfires announced todhttp://www.blogger.com/layout?blogID=12302090
Layoutay that Compuware forward Austin Watson signed with the team.
Watson "committed" to Maine earlier this year, mainly because he was desperate to have some sort of commitment in place to try and get a better negotiating position with an OHL team.
Layoutay that Compuware forward Austin Watson signed with the team.
Watson "committed" to Maine earlier this year, mainly because he was desperate to have some sort of commitment in place to try and get a better negotiating position with an OHL team.
Archibald Goes to O
Detroit Honeybaked defenseman Brandon Archibald has signed with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL.
Archibald visited some colleges this past year and definitely would have gotten an NCAA scholarship eventually, but it's hard to fault him for taking what I'm sure was a pretty offer from the Soo.
Archibald visited some colleges this past year and definitely would have gotten an NCAA scholarship eventually, but it's hard to fault him for taking what I'm sure was a pretty offer from the Soo.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Pateryn In, Somebody Out at Michigan
After the Fargo Force camp last weekend, head coach Dean Blais let it slip that defenseman Greg Pateryn will be joining Michigan's team next year, as opposed to a second player year in the USHL due to a player not qualifying academically for Michigan.
There were rumblings prior to this that a member of Michigan's freshman class last year might be signing a pro contract earlier than expected for academic reasons, so that could be it, but we'll have to wait for official confirmation of who is gone.
UPDATE: The Yost Post reports that as of today, Michigan hasn't lost anyone to academic troubles. So there you go.
There were rumblings prior to this that a member of Michigan's freshman class last year might be signing a pro contract earlier than expected for academic reasons, so that could be it, but we'll have to wait for official confirmation of who is gone.
UPDATE: The Yost Post reports that as of today, Michigan hasn't lost anyone to academic troubles. So there you go.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Clarke Goes to Q
It was a bad sign when North Dakota recruit Garrett Clarke opted to attend the QMJHL Draft, as opposed to attending the Fargo Force Tryout Camp this weekend.
Today, according to Force head coach Dean Blais, Clarke will be signing with the Lewiston Maineiacs, who took him 6th overall in the draft yesterday.
Blais told the Grand Forks Herald:
Today, according to Force head coach Dean Blais, Clarke will be signing with the Lewiston Maineiacs, who took him 6th overall in the draft yesterday.
Blais told the Grand Forks Herald:
“It’s disappointing for both us and UND. He committed to both of us. He went back up there (to Canada) and got caught up with all his buddies and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft. Sometimes these guys get caught up in the draft and they forget the most important thing is an education. He basically backed out on his word.”I'm not sure if I agree with the first half. Regardless of which route he chooses, he's talented enough that he has the opportunity to make it in hockey either way. But I completely agree about backing out on his word. It's incredibly disappointing to see a kid who basically spent the last 6 months lying to anyone that would listen.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
TI Pair Commits to Wisconsin
Two players from the Team Illinois AAA program, forward Michael Mersch and defenseman Frankie Simonelli, have both committed to Wisconsin.
Amo Bessone
The Republican in Massachusetts ran an excellent feature on legendary Michigan State/Michigan Tech coach Amo Bessone.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Brian Moore
Bowling Green junior forward Brian Moore took a 10-day mission to Haiti and wrote about his experiences. It's definitely worth a read.
New Rules Approved
The NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee announced some changes for next season.
Next year, all games will use the two-referee, two linesman system. There are pros and cons to both ways of officiating, but I didn't notice a huge difference in the games with two referees as opposed to one last year.
They also outlined their points of emphasis:
Other proposals forwarded were:
1. I still don't think this rule makes a lot of sense and it will leave a lot of grey area. The easiest solution would just be to allow players to kick the puck into the net, but I know they can't really do that since it's not allowed anywhere else in hockey.
2. This seems like the best way to handle shootouts. It gives some closure to games, and should make intra-conference rivalries a little more dramatic, but doesn't have any real effect nationally.
3. This was a no-brainer after the NHL implemented it and it seemed to work. I'm surprised we also didn't see the 2-minute minor for shooting the puck over the glass.
4. Um.....ok?
Next year, all games will use the two-referee, two linesman system. There are pros and cons to both ways of officiating, but I didn't notice a huge difference in the games with two referees as opposed to one last year.
They also outlined their points of emphasis:
"Protection of the puck carrier and faceoff protocols were identified as the committee’s points of emphasis. The committee believes officials have properly handled obstruction away from the puck, but believes the puck carrier must be afforded more opportunities to make offensive plays. In the area of faceoffs, the committee will continue to emphasize the administration of the line change procedure and increase the enforcement of interference and obstruction fouls immediately after a faceoff."Really? I recall very few penalties ever being called away from the puck last year. The two-man forecheck has virtually been banished from the game because it's impossible to attack effectively when one forechecker is always going to get held up by the opposition. The NCAA may be patting themselves on the back, but the rest of the hockey world is starting to recognize that college hockey is falling behind in terms of calling obstruction penalties.
Other proposals forwarded were:
* Goals scored by kicking. The committee spent a considerable amount of time discussing goals that are scored with the use of the skate. To make this rule as clear as possible, the group proposed adjustments to its rules that will allow all goals scored as a result of deflections. This will include deflections off an attacking player who is in the act of stopping, provided neither skate is used to direct the puck into the net. Pucks that are directed or kicked with the skate moving toward the goal will not be allowed.In order...
* Shootout. The committee voted to maintain the traditional game structure (60 minutes, followed by a five-minute overtime), but will allow interested conferences to use shootouts at their discretion. This will in no way alter national rankings or the NCAA championship selection process.
* Icing. The committee approved a proposal dealing with icing. The rule will not allow a team that ices the puck to change its on-ice personnel.
* Faceoff locations. Starting next season, all faceoffs will be conducted at one of the nine faceoff spots.
1. I still don't think this rule makes a lot of sense and it will leave a lot of grey area. The easiest solution would just be to allow players to kick the puck into the net, but I know they can't really do that since it's not allowed anywhere else in hockey.
2. This seems like the best way to handle shootouts. It gives some closure to games, and should make intra-conference rivalries a little more dramatic, but doesn't have any real effect nationally.
3. This was a no-brainer after the NHL implemented it and it seemed to work. I'm surprised we also didn't see the 2-minute minor for shooting the puck over the glass.
4. Um.....ok?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
USHL Tryout Camps
Two USHL teams held their Open Tryout Camps last weekend in Minnesota, so I went down to watch some of the action.
As a disclaimer, I was at the morning session for the Tri-City Storm and afternoon session for the Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday, so that's what I'm going off of. It's not ideal, but better than the non-existent alternatives.
Here are the links:
Tri-City Storm Camp
Sioux Falls Stampede Camp
As a disclaimer, I was at the morning session for the Tri-City Storm and afternoon session for the Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday, so that's what I'm going off of. It's not ideal, but better than the non-existent alternatives.
Here are the links:
Tri-City Storm Camp
Sioux Falls Stampede Camp
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