This past weekend the Sioux City Musketeers hosted the USHL Fall Classic (formerly known as the Buc Bowl), a pre-season event that attracts hundreds of scouts from the NCAA and NHL.There were seven committed Badger recruits participating as well as numerous uncommitted prospects that we've got on our radar.
Brendan Woods-Muskegon (2011 recruit)
Finished the weekend with one assist in three games but the positive here is that he came out of the tournamanent healthy. Last year he broke his leg during the fall classic and misssed over half of the USHL season. Woods was a first round pick in the expansion draft by Muskegon and should be in line for a big year.
Cody Strang-Youngstown (2011 recruit)
Strang (who I believe may have been named a captain for the Phantoms) had a goal in the opener of the fall classic and picked up an assist on the second night. Strang really came on at the end of last year and Youngstown plans to lean on him for some scoring punch this year.
Matt Paape-Sioux City (2011 recruit)
The Appleton native picked up a pair of helpers over the weekend for the Musketeers. Paape started off strong last year and many thought he might be brought in as an 18 year old freshman. With a year under his belt in the USHL, he should be able to hold pace a bit better this season.
Corbin McGuire-Fargo (2012 recruit)
Corbin got his first introduction to the USHL this past weekend at the Fall Classic picking up an assist over two games. McGuire should be fun to follow this season because he's only a junior in high school and I'm interested to see what kind of an adjustment he will make to the pace of the USHL from prep school. In late May I talked to Corbin and he felt that moving to the USHL this season was best for his hockey development, I feel he made the correct choice.
Troy Hesketh-Fargo (2011 recruit)
The former Minnetonka high school defenseman didn't put up any points in his first two USHL games but did end the weekend +1. Hesketh is expected to play big time minutes for the Force this season.
Jake McCabe-USA NTDP U18 (2011 recruit)
McCabe has yet to play in an exhibition game for Team USA so far this season which would lead me to believe he's got some sort of injury. Since there has been no reports on it yet, I'm going to assume it's something minor and they are just holding him out of the pre-season contests. Hopefully we can see him soon.
Tyler Lapic-Chicago (2011 recruit)
Lapic has taken the tour of the USHL now that's for sure. He was recently traded from Des Moines to Chicago. Last season he was traded from Omaha to Des Moines. The New Prague native had 1 assist over the weekend. I've seen Lapic play and he's got the skill set to put points on the board so hopefully he can get into a rythm this season and find some consistency with Chicago.
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