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The 60 Minutes blog has a nice interview with new Badger recruit Chase Drake.
Team USA defeated Norway 9-1 today at the World Championship. Dany Heatley and Team Canada remained undefeated with a 6-3 victory over Finland. Both teams begin quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The Wisconsin State Journal has some info on the coaches' salaries, travel allowances and recruiting allowances for Men's and Women's Hockey today.
The 12 USHL teams released their protected lists today in preparation for the upcoming draft on Wednesday. Some of the listings or exclusions are curious and/or interesting including:
UW recruit Chris Hickey is not on Tri-City's protected list, meaning he is coming to UW for next season, or that they do not have an interest in having him play for them next season, or that they believe he will play in another league next season. (At least those are all the scenarios I can come up with....)
Fargo did protect Wausau West product Nate Condon, meaning they do not think he will play for the Gophers this season, which is in contrast to an article I linked to a recent post which indicated it was likely he'd join the Gophers this season. (I think he needs a year in the USHL personally)
Green Bay protected defenseman Kyle Ensign meaning they do not think he will go to the University of Nebraska Omaha next season as was planned. I belive Ensign originally was going to join UNO for the 2007-2008 campaign but an injury wiped out most of his 2006-2007 season, and his arrival date got pushed back. (I wonder if it took him a while to get back to 100% this season, and thus the reason for another season delay)
Many Wisconsin players & UW recruits had been on team's Affiliated Lists and have been retained including: Jeff Costello from Waukesha Catholic Memorial was kept by Cedar Rapids. UW recruit Nick Pryor was retained by Des Moines. Fargo held onto the rights to Nate Condon and Jordan George. Tim Smith from Superior was retained by Sioux Falls. Tyler Barnes was kept by Waterloo.
Team USA lost to Finland 3-2 at the World Championships in a game featuring 202 total penalty minutes. Former Badger Tom Gilbert and Madison native Phil Kessel had Team USA's goals, while former Badger Adam Burish received a butt-ending penalty resulting in a game misconduct.
Next on Team USA's schedule is Norway. Team USA has qualified already for the quarterfinal round which begins Wednesday.
The word on the street weeks ago was that John Cooper was going to be the next Head Coach for the Green Bay Gamblers. The fact that Cooper was involved in the NAHL Playoffs was the reason the search was taking so long (not because the Gamblers were checking references, as they stated publicly). Today it is official as Cooper takes over the reigns of the Gamblers just two days before the USHL draft.
This article indicates Nate Condon from Wausau West may end up playing for the University of Minnesota in 2008 rather than 2009, in part due to early departures for the Gophers including Blake Wheeler who just announced he was turning pro.
After trailing Waterloo in the Clark Cup Finals two games to one, Omaha roared back to claim game four and has won game five in overtime by the score of 4-3, and claim the Clark Cup. Lancer and future Badger defenseman Patrick Wiercioch was Third Star of the Game a goal and two assists on three shots, as well as a +3 rating. Also for Omaha, Wisconsin native Jake Hauswirth had a goal on three shots and was +1, while Wisconsinite and future Badger forward Matt Thurber had an assist, three shots and was +2. Seth Soley did not play for Omaha again due to injury. For Waterloo, Wisconsin native Brett Olson had a goal and an assist on five shots but was -1. Somerset native and future Badger Brock Montpetit was +1 in the game, while future Badger Craig Smith was even. Madison native Blake Kessel had an assist but was -2, while Wisconsinites Keegan Meuer and Scott Pavelski were -1.
I spent a lot of time recently going back to see what other schools UW's current recruits considered before making a commitment to UW. See the chart below, and a few thoughts after the chart.
2008-2009
Tom Bardis-59 193 lbs.-transfer from St. Lawrence
Matt Thurber-5-9 185 lbs.-CC, Denver, UNO & UNH were interested
Derek Stepan-60 170 lbs.-Was looking at Minnesota & North Dakota
Jordy Murray-59 170 lbs.-Notre Dame was his other finalist
Ryan Little-511 170 lbs.-Was offered scholarship by Notre Dame
Eric Springer-59 180 lbs.-Visited MI. Tech, was scheduled to visit MI. State & Northeastern
Jake Gardiner-61 170 lbs.-Visited UMD, Mankato & North Dakota; also considered Denver
2009-2010
Brock Montpetit 511 185 lbs.-Was also considering Minnesota
Craig Smith-60 175 lbs.-Had spoken to a few other WCHA schools
Travis Erstad 64 185 lbs.-Had interest from North Dakota
Tyler Barnes 60 170 lbs.-Interest from Denver, CC, St. Cloud, UMD & Harvard
Derek Lee 59 162 lbs.-Pursued by Michigan, UNH & Boston U.
Justin Schultz 61 175 lbs.-Was also considering UNH
Patrick Wiercioch 62 178 lbs.-Dozens interested; narrowed to Denver, UNH, Michigan & BC
Nick Pryor 510 177 lbs.-Committed as Freshman through fathers connection to Eaves
Aaron Crandall 60 181 lbs.-Offer from Niagara; Princeton & Dartmouth had interest for 2008; had spoken with Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan Tech & more
2010-2011
Tyler Lapic 62 180 lbs.-Interest from North Dakota & Minnesota State
Chase Drake 62 170 lbs.-Visited Yale & Princeton; had scheduled visits to Miami Ohio & Notre Dame; had interest from CC & MI. State
Wisconsin & UW recruiting thoughts:
The Badgers have competed with New Hampshire (4) and Notre Dame (2) for recruits quite a bit lately, along with other WCHA schools. Wisconsin seems to have had great success getting the players they want when competing with both of them.
The recruiting battles with UNH and Notre Dame have been magnified as those two schools as well as the University of Nebraska Omaha and Michigan Tech have all spent a lot of time recruiting Wisconsin players lately:
UNH-Mike Sislo, Blake Kessel (committed), recruited Matt Thurber
UNO-JJ Koehler, Dan Swanson, Kyle Ensign (committed), Brent Gwidt (committed), recruited Thurber
Michigan Tech-Jake Hauswirth(committed), Seth Soley (committed) and Brett Olson (committed), recruited Eric Springer
Notre Dame-Luke Lucyk, Nick Condon (committed), Jeff Costello (committed), recruited Jordy Murray & Ryan Little
Team USA defeated Germany 6-4 in the first qualifying round game at the World Championship. Meanwhile, Canada survived a scare by Norway but prevailed 2-1.
Adam Burish has also posted another blog entry. Here is that entry, which is his fourth installment.
With their backs against the wall, Omaha came up big tonight with a 2-0 victory against Waterloo to even the Clark Cup Championship series at two game a piece. Game 5 will be for all the marbles, and will take place tomorrow.
For Omaha, UW recruits Matt Thurber and Patrick Wiercioch were +1 and Wisconsin native Jake Hauswirth was even. Seth Soley was inactive for Omaha again with an injury. For Waterloo, Keegan Meuer, Brett Olson, and Scott Pavelski were even, Craig Smith was -1, and Blake Kessel and Brock Montpetit were -2.
Defenseman Chase Drake, who played this past season with Team Wisconsin, Mosinee High School, and finally the Green Bay Gamblers, has committed to UW, likely for 2010.
Drake was ranked the 136th skater in North America by NHL Central Scouting in their final rankings.
I think the Badgers have realized they need to continue to attempt to recruit at least one player a season on defense who is likely to be around for 3-4 years, in order to build some continuity. Getting guys who are drafted in the first few rounds of the NHL Draft is great, but you can't always rely on them to be around more than a season or two. Recruiting one of each type of player per season would probably help the Badger's defense remain more consistent year in and year out.
Waterloo handled Omaha 3-1 tonight in the Clark Cup Finals in the USHL. For Waterloo, Brett Olson had a goal and was +1. Blake Kessel was also +1 and chipped in an assist. Brock Montpetit, Scott Pavelski, Craig Smith and Keegan Meuer were all even. Meuer also had two penalties, each for ten minutes for Abuse of Officials. For Omaha, Jake Hauswirth was even, while Matt Thurber and Patrick Wiercioch were both -1.
Waterloo will claim the Clark Cup with one more victory. The series continues on Friday, and game five will be played on Saturday if necessary.
The HockeyInWisconsin blog formerly found at hockeyinwisconsin.blogspot.com has been a daily must read for any hockey fan in the Badger state over the past few years.
Recent Posts:
Monday Linkorama
Team USA Racks up 106 Penalty Minutes & a Loss
Cooper Hired by Gamblers
Nate Condon a Gopher for 2008?
Clark Cup Champions include Future Badgers
UW & Wisconsin Recruiting Thoughts
World Championship Update
Omaha Forces Decisive Game 5
Chase Drake Commits to UW
Waterloo Takes 2-1 Lead in Clark Cup Finals
Archives:
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
The Hockey in Wisconsin Blog features news, notes and links on the top stories in hockey.
• Monday Linkorama
• Team USA Racks up 106 Penalty Minutes & a Loss
• Cooper Hired by Gamblers
• Nate Condon a Gopher for 2008?
• Clark Cup Champions include Future Badgers
• Milwaukee Custer's Harper earns Division I scholarship to Coppin State
• Observations from the Wisconsin State AAU Tournament
• AAU Preview: Badger Sporting Goods 16U
• Scholarship offers begin to pour in for Madison Memorial's Jeronne Maymon
• AAU Preview: Wisconsin Swing 17U
• Friends of Hoop 16U squad captures Silver Division title at Run 'N Slam in Indiana
• Eau Claire North's Anderson gives verbal commitment to play for Wisconsin
• Bay View's Lacy continues to receive recruiting attention from Marquette and others
• St. Norbert strikes big by landing Bay Port's Meyer and Appleton East's Coenen
• AAU Preview: Green Bay Townline Sports 17U
• UW Recruiting ... Vander Blue says yes to Badgers' scholarship offer
• Madison Memorial schedules non-league game against Minnesota prep powerhouse Henry Sibley
