Bill McCoshen on Matt Paape, Cody Strang

Gandalf's Much Needed Recruit Update has inspired me to finally write a bit more about a couple of other future Badgers, Matt Paape (whose name Gandalf intentionally pronounces incorrectly because he knows it bugs me) and Cody Strang. This is a long time coming, as way back in September I had the pleasure of speaking with Team Wisconsin GM Bill McCoshen about the boys but never got around to posting his remarks -- my excuse at the time (in addition to being quite busy myself) was that there was a ton of other Badger news happening, and anything I wrote about Paape/Strang would get buried. I have no such excuse now.

So, without further ado, here's what McCoshen had to say:

Cody Strang and Matt Paape are two of the top high school players in
Wisconsin. Both players are highly skilled and they have the ability to
completely control the game when they are on the ice. I would not be
surprised if one of them wins the Mr. Hockey award at the end of the
WIAA season.

Cody and Matt have been part of Team Wisconsin for the past three years.
They continue the tradition of players staying home and playing for
their high school while gaining high level development and exposure as
members of Team Wisconsin. The Badgers have been watching them closely
over the past year. I expect them to be big contributors for the
Badgers after some time in the USHL."

Thanks again to Bill McCoshen for taking the time to chat and for sharing his remarks.

I was going finish this post with a few links for those of you who (like me) are all fired-up again about Paape and Strang but (again like me) whose recollections are a bit fuzzy due to all the talk about more recent commits. Unfortuantely (or fortunately from my standpoint), I gotta finish getting ready and head down to Madison, as nubeetle has graciously agreed to take me to Chicago with him to see the Wolves v. Icehogs. In case it slipped your mind, Badger Don Granato is head coach of the Wolves, Badger Alex Brooks plays for the Wolves, and Badgers Jake Dowell and Jack Skille play for the Icehogs. Go BADGERS!