Skille, Smith, Gardiner to represent USA at IIHF Men's World Championships

The United States squad that will compete in the 2011 IIHF Men's World Championships April 29 - May 15, in Kosice and Bratislava, Slovakia will have a major Wisconsin presence as two former Badgers (Jack Skille, Jake Gardiner) and one current member (Craig Smith) have been named to the roster.

Florida Panthers forward Jack Skille was named to the roster earlier in the week. The Madison native is no stranger to international competitions as he won a bronze medal with the United States World Junior team in 2007 and a gold medal with the USA U18 squad at the World Championships in 2005. A product of Verona high school and the United States National Team Development Program, Skille recorded 19 points in 62 games between the Chicago Blackhawks and after a mid-season trade, the Florida Panthers.

Looking for another puck moving defenseman that can skate, the United States added Toronto Marlies defenseman Jake Gardiner to the roster today. Gardiner recently finished up his junior season with the Wisconsin Badgers before signing a pro contract with Toronto. The Minnetonka, Minnesota native recorded 41 points in 41 games for the Badgers during his junior season and was named a second team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Gardiner won a gold medal for the United States during the 2010 World Junior Championships.

In somewhat of an eyebrow raising move, the team USA brass has also added current Wisconsin forward Craig Smith to the roster. The Madison native paced all Badger forwards in scoring this season with 43 points in 41 games including a team leading 19 goals. The Madison La Follette product is only one of two players not currently playing pro hockey to be named to the roster. Boston College forward Chris Kreider is the other. Smith represented his country in the World Junior A challenge in 2007 and 2008, winning a gold medal with the 08 squad when was named to the all tournament team.

Skille, Gardiner, and Smith will begin play on Saturday, April 30th when they kick off the tournament against Austria at 9:15 AM CST. The United States will also play Norway and Sweden in first round action.

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Jack Skille traded to Florida

Sometimes a change of scenery can be the best thing for a player. In Jack Skille's case, it might end up being the best thing for him.

It was just announced that Jack has been traded to the Florida Panthers along with Hugh Jessiman and David Pacan for Michael Frolik and Alexander Salak. He's now re-united with the man that drafted him, Dale Talon.

Skille is the second Badger today that had the GM who originally draft him make a trade for him. Earlier this afternoon, Brian Burke, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for current Badger defenseman Jake Gardiner, whom he drafted in the first round back in 2008 for Anaheim.

It didn't take long for Talon to speak about the trade, "Jack is a high character, big, strong player who will add a physical presence to our line-up and also possesses the ability to score goals."

Skille, who is from the Verona area has 17 points in 49 games for the Blackhawks this season. The 23 year old former Badger was the 7th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft by the Hawks.

Skille is currently on a 1 year contract for $600,000. He will be a restricted Free Agent at the end of the 2011 hockey season.

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Jack Skille on American Chopper TV show

Random Friday morning thoughts . . .

• I like Tex Western's new "What I Want to See this Weekend" feature, and I'd like to see all of the things that he mentioned. I'd also like to add one more thing I'd like to see - I'd like to really see Justin Schultz step up. You know he's one of my favorites, and while he looked fine on Sunday v. HC, I thought he looked a bit off on Friday v. BU. (Just my impression, I could be wrong.) I think he's going to be a great player for us this year, and I'm looking forward to his showing that this weekend.
  

• I recently received an email from the UW Athletic Department that details the carry-in policy for the Kohl Center, which I don't think has really changed but I never really read it before. Granted, you never really want to be the person sitting next to the fan who can't stop ringing the cowbell, but I find it amusing that a cowbell is shown in the "No Noisemakers" picture. Doesn't it just seem wrong to ban cowbells at a hockey game?

• I like Ryan Little's response to his switch from D to F: ' "Obviously I'm not the most skilled player," he said with a straight face. "But I go out there and work hard and my linemates have been helping me out a lot, so good things have happened. I'm pretty fortunate." ' [Baggot]. And I'm confident that Gandalf and Hatchet Joe will like Ryan's response to this question: 'Asked for his preference — a goal or a big hit — Little smiled. "For my role, probably a big hit," he said. "Goals are an added bonus." ' [Baggot]

• Last Friday (before the Badgers took the ice), when chatting about the Badgers with a scout, I remarked that the Badgers weren't the team that they were last year, having lost a ton of players to graduation or early departure. I'm afraid I may have implied that it might be a rough year for the boys (although in my defense, I did say I was optimistic and was looking forward to the season). But I like 1st-Star Zengerle's perspective of things: "For the new guys coming in, there's a good amount of talent and a good amount of offensive players," Zengerle said. "We may not be the same offense as last year, but it's a good base to grow as a young [team]." [Gabriel]

• I miss Todd Milewski, whose Badger Hockey beat coverage was eliminated with the demise of the printed Cap Times. I know this is old news, but I just can't help lamenting the issue. Sure, we can still read some of his work on USCHO (and it's always good), but his focus has shifted to general NCAA/WCHA news, and I really miss his Badger Hockey coverage. *sigh*
  

• You probably already know this, but in case you missed it, blog favorite Brian Rafalski is going to be out for a few weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.

• I love Derek Stepan. By now, everybody knows about his NHL debut hat trick, and I'm late to the party in commenting on it. Rangers fans picked his hat trick goal as the Moment of the Week, and yesterday the Wall Street Journal featured him in a nice article (thanks to Capo for the link). I'm having trouble getting the video to play, but Stepan is featured in a couple of videos on Rangers TV: an interview about his hat trick, and a discussion of tonight's home opener. Oh, and my favorite quote? This quip from Derek provided by INCH: “I settled in pretty well.”

• The Hartford Wolfpack (AHL) website has a nice article about both Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh. (Thanks to byndblueshirts and Capo fort the link.)

• Coming Down the Pipe listed their Top 5 Calder Dark Horses, with Jamie McBain at #5 and Derek Stepan at #1. Good stuff.
  

• I love that Jake Dowell and Jack Skille are up in Chicago this season. (I only wish the Hawks would win a few more games.) The Hawks play in Columbus tonight.

• In 3 games (2W, 1L), Tom Gilbert has 1 point and 1 assist. If you miss good ol' Tom, you can see him in the most recent post game presser.
  

• Earlier this week, Andy Baggot had an article about future Badgers Tim Davison, Cody Strang, and Troy Hesketh in which he discussed their delay in donning the cardinal and white. The article offers a perspective for playing an extra year in juniors.
• (Edited By Chuck) I didn't want to make a new post so I'm adding on to this 60, hope you don't mind. The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead's Ryan Clark who is the beat writer for the Fargo Force has a feature this morning on Badger recruit Troy Hesketh who was traded from Fargo to Chicago. Chicago is going to play in Fargo for the first time this season.
  

I can't remember anything else right now, but I reserve the right to make additions to this post throughout the day . . .

Skille, Dowell Likely To Open Season With Blackhawks

It isn't yet official, but with the Blackhawks sending down rookie forward Jeremy Morin to Rockford, it looks as if former Badgers Jack Skille and Jake Dowell have secured roster spots with the Hawks. Currently the Blackhawks sit at 13 forwards, and that's not expected to change. If one more forward is sent down, it is likely to be either Viktor Stalberg, or Ryan Potulny.

Dowell has spent parts of the past three seasons in Chicago. In 23 career NHL games, the Eau Claire native has recorded 3 goals, 2 assists to go along with 17 penalty minutes.

The scrappy center is excited to take a bigger role with the Hawks this season. In a recent interview, Dowell talked about taking his game to the next level.

"I don't want to be a dime-a-dozen, fourth-line grinding guy that can be replaced. I want to be a guy that's really wanted and needed on the penalty kill and being able to be counted on in those situations. That's kind of where I'm trying to separate myself.''


For Skille, this season is an opportunity to prove his worth to the Hawks. Picked #7 overall in the 2007 draft, Skille has yet to live up to the hype. He's spent the majority of this three professional seasons in Rockford of the AHL, not always necessarily due to his skill.

Last season despite playing well and putting up big numbers in Rockford, Skille fell victim to Chicago's salary cap limitations. As a result, he was forced to spend 63 games in the AHL, despite being more talented than some players on the Hawks Stanley Cup winning squad. As a restricted free agent this season, Skille took a pay cut to stay in Chicago to prove that he's worthy of his first round billing.

Currently hindered with an arm injury suffered in a preseason game last week, Skille is expected to be back at practice on Tuesday and is said to be ready for Thursday night, when the Blackhawks open the season vs the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

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Dowell Expected To Be An NHL Regular This Season

With the proximity of Chicago to southern Wisconsin, numerous Badger fans double as Blackhawks fans as well. While the salary cap crunch has forced many players off last seasons Stanley Cup championship roster, it should provide some opportunities for younger players.

One of those players expecting to benefit from Chicago's cap issues is none other than Eau Claire native and former Badger Jake Dowell. According to Hawks GM Stan Bowman, Dowell is expected to be a player to help replace some of the grit lost by losing Adam Burish, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Eager.

"I expect a guy like Jake Dowell to have a really good chance to be on our team next year," Bowman said. "He brings a lot of that tenacity and aggressiveness to his game."

Currently the Blackhawks have 8 forwards under contract for next season on one way contracts. With how close Chicago is to the salary cap, and Dowell's cap friendly $525,000 salary, you should expect Jake to settle into the fourth line center role right out of training camp in the fall.

Another Wisconsin native and former Badger is in an interesting spot. Verona native Jack Skille is a restricted free agent this summer. Bowman is expected to clear some cap space by figuring something out with backup goaltender Christobal Huet. According to Tim Sassone that should leave the Hawks with about 9.18M to resign restricted free agents Niklas Hjalmarsson, Antti Niemi, Bryan Bickell, and Jack Skille.

Being a RFA, Skille can be offered a contract by other teams around the league with Chicago having an opportunity to match the offer. It should be interesting to see if someone takes a shot on offering Skille a contract knowing that Chicago doesn't have much room to operate financially. San Jose is exploiting this by offering a contract to Niklas Hjalmarsson. Either way, if Skille is with the Blackhawks or not, he is expected to be an NHL regular next season.

Badgers In The Pros: NHL Playoff Update

The University Of Wisconsin has a long history of producing NHL level talent. The 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are doing nothing to dispel that fact.

Joe Pavelski continued on his historic pace Sunday night by netting his 8th and 9th goals of the playoffs. It's Pavelski's third straight multi-goal game of the playoffs. The last player to do the same was Mario Lemieux.

Pavelski is having one of the best playoffs in San Jose history. His 9 goals tie him with Patrick Marleau for the clubs playoff record. Marleau set the mark during the 2006 playoffs. Pavelski is currently first in goals scored and his 14 points are second to only Sidney Crosby's 16.

Dany Heatley had a breakout performance on Sunday. His three assists were huge in the Sharks taking a 2-0 series lead heading into game three in Detroit. Heatley is having quietly solid playoffs. The former Badger All-American has 9 points in 7 games. His 8 assists are tied for second behind Crosby.

Brian Rafalski, the third former Badger All-American in the Detroit/San Jose series also had a big Sunday game. The Red Wings blue liner picked up a pair of assists in the loss on Sunday. He now has 8 points through 9 playoff games, good enough for fourth on the Wings in scoring.

Pavelski, Heatley and the Sharks next play Tuesday against Rafalski in Detroit at 6:30 CST on Versus (HD).

Wisconsin Badgers NHL Playoff Statistics

	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P
1	Joe Pavelski	SJS	C	8	9	5	14
2	Dany Heatley	SJS	RW	7	1	8	9
3	Brian Rafalski	DET	D	9	1	7	8
4	Ryan Suter	NAS	D	6	0	0	0
5	Adam Burish	CHI	R	3	0	0	0

	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L		OT	SA	GA	GAA	Sv	Sv%
1	Brian Elliott	OTT	4	4	1	2		0	95	14	4.14	81	.853

Pavelski, Heatley, Rafalski, and Burish are still active and playing in round number two. Suter and Elliott have been eliminated. Davis Drewiske was on the Kings roster for the playoffs but was a healthy scratch thought the first round and they have been eliminated. Also, Jack Skille and Jake Dowell are on the playoff roster for the Hawks but they have not seen time as of yet.

Weekly playoff schedule

Mon-8 PM CST: Van at Chi (Burish, Dowell, Skille)-Versus (HD)
Tue-6:30 PM CST: San Jose (Pavs, Heatley) at Det (Rafalski)-Versus (HD)
Wed-8:30 PM CST: Chi (Burish, Dowell, Skille) at Van-Versus (HD)
Thu-6:30 PM CST: San Jose (Pavs, Heatley) at Det (Rafalski)-Versus (HD)
Fri-8:30 PM CST: Chi (Burish, Dowell, Skille) at Van-Versus (HD)
Sat-9 PM CST: Det (Rafalski) at San Jose (Pav's, Heatley)-Versus (HD)
Sun-7 PM CST: Van at Chi (Burish, Dowell, Skille)-Versus (HD)

A few alumni links

Here are some blurbs on Dowell/Skille/Burish from various Blackhawks blogs over the past couple days, as well as a Kyle Turris article I stumbled upon:

• Turris learning while bidding for for an NHL return

• Second City Hockey (Oct 26): It was nice to see the fourth line generate a little bit of pressure and physicality tonight, with Jake Dowell getting into an obligatory scrap with Shane Hnidy

• Chicago Blackhawks Examiner (Oct 26): Jake Dowell should stay up in Chicago, even when Toews comes back. Working a rotation with Fraser, Ebbett and Dowell would bode well for the Hawks, who can chose for a player based on the team they would be playing and the level of physicality. If Dowell, the Rockford IceHogs captain, is too valuable to the AHL to be kept up as an NHL scratch, then the Hawks should call up a player like Rob Klinkhammer or Bryan Bickell to fill the role of de-facto enforcer and fourth liner. Also, I sure hope that Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook don't need as much time as Ben Eager to recover from a concussion. I understand that the Eager has a history of concussion problems, but Jake Dowell's AHL/NHL status might as well be how Ben Eager is feeling that day. If it's bad, Dowell is in the NHL, good, Dowell is in the AHL. Overall, I'm not sure why the Blackhawks don't put a timetable on Eager so they can stop stringing players between Rockford and Chicago. Then again, this is the team that refuses to put Adam Burish and Marian Hossa on the long term injury lists, so logic isn't exactly first priority.

• Fifth Feather (Oct 25): The much maligned Hawks fourth line put together a respectable performance with some solid forechecking and pressure. I would venture to guess Jake Dowell will probably get to stick around a bit this time even when Toews returns. Not to take away anything they did tonight, but they were playing Nashville. The true tests will come when they play better teams.

• Jesse Rogers - ESPNChicago (Oct 25): Toughness vs. Fighting. There is a difference. When Toews got lit up at center ice by Willie Mitchell, it once again brought up a decade-old question: Do the Hawks have enough toughness? A heavyweight is nearly meaningless in this day and age. The rules have changed. There really are no more goons. At least not on great teams -- they can't afford to carry them. And I don't mean because of the salary cap.

  I said that when Adam Burish went down, we would start looking back and saying, "Man, we could have used Bur in that situation." I think we can name about four or five situations already. It's not the heavyweight they miss. It's the energy and toughness that Burish and Ben Eager brought last season. They bring that partly because they can skate. Stan Bowman said as much on the Hawks' radio flagship after Saturday's game. He said the Hawks would consider replacing that toughness if they could find someone who can play a regular shift. Bowman said you can't hit what you can't catch, and he's right. Those guys are not as easy to find as you might think.

Monday morning odds & ends

• Todd Milewski is trying out a new weekly installment on his USCHO From the Press Box blog, and I gotta tell ya, I like it. In this week's "What I Think", Milewski talks about minnesota being shutout in 2 consecutive games for the 1st time since 1930 (0-0 tie w/ Tulsa Athletic Club and 2-0 loss to Wisconsin), defending national champ BU's opening season losses to Notre Dame, George Gwozdecky's 500th win, Wisconsin's terrible CFBs, Michigan Tech's brutal PK (60% overall), and his Top 20.

• Andy Baggot covers some of the same ground in his "The weekend that was in the WCHA" blog post. Baggot chose to look at the bright side of things regarding Tech's brutal PK and their being swept by CC this weekend. CC converted on 8 of 14 PPs, but hey, at EV, Tech outscored CC 5-2. Go TECH?
  

• The campus papers have some coverage of the Men's and Women's games this past weekend:
  Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Penalties cost Badgers chance at road sweep
  Donohue (Badger Herald): DeKeyser's squad continues to struggle in 1st game
  Hager (Badger Herald): Wisconsin splits weekend series with Ohio State
  Skurzewski (Daily Cardinal): UW continues trend of splits against Buckeyes

• I missed a couple of Jake Dowell and Jack Skille blurbs over on the Rockford Icehogs blog last week:

  10/21/09
  Lead By Example: Since being named team captain on Friday, centerman Jake Dowell has taken over the team lead in points and assists, a spot the third-year pro is not used to being in. In the last two games, Dowell has factored in on 71% of Rockford goals, recording two helpers on Friday and three on Saturday. Before this season, Dowell had five career multi-point games (one in 2006-07, two in 2007-08 and two in 2008-09). The Eau Claire, Wis. native now has three in 2009-10.
  
  Jack Skille will also go tonight for Rockford and he’ll be my first intermission guest. Some interesting stuff and for a sneak peak, click here. Say what you want about Skille, he’s been great through this whole up and down process with the Blackhawks and is carrying a great attitude.

• Baggot has an article about Mark Johnson's sabbatical from the Badgers this year. Dang, I really need to do an update of the Women's National Team and the Qwest Tour, don't I?
  

• Back in September, Baggot had an article about the plans for the new UW hockey rink being in jeopardy. And the same topic is in the news again this month. (Thanks to DPlaya for the heads-up on the 2nd link.)

• I've been AWOL in my coverage of TW because I simply don't have time. But DPlaya and Walby have been terrific (thanks, guys!), so I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you to check both of their sites for TW Major and TW Minor updates. Go TW!
  

• Speaking of DPlaya and Walby, they are also in the process of previewing HS hockey teams, so check that out. DPlaya also has Fri and Sat USHL updates from this past weekend, Wisconsin players on the NHL Central Scouting list, Wisconsin players in the USHL, and Wisconsin players in the NAHL.
  

Skille back to Rockford (really this time), Bourque makes INCH's napkin

Kuc (Chicago Tribune): Arrival of Blackhawks winger Andrew Ebbett ends Jack Skille's travels from Rockford for now

Waiver pickup from Ducks takes spot on fourth line

The arrival of Andrew Ebbett to the Blackhawks has put a halt -- at least temporarily -- to Jack Skille's up-and-down season.

Ebbett, who was claimed off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, has joined the Hawks' fourth line, and Skille will remain in Rockford when the Vancouver Canucks visit the United Center on Wednesday night.

Skille had been shuffling from the Hawks to Rockford of the AHL on non-game days in an effort to save money.

"We have 12 forwards here right now, and Jack is not going to be here Wednesday," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Our staff really liked the addition (of Ebbett). He can really help us in a lot of ways. He can play center and he can play wing and he can make plays."

INCH's Found on a Cocktail Napkin: Nine ex-collegians off to fast NHL starts

• Rene Bourque (Wisconsin): Bourque is the leading scorer (11 points) for Calgary, the NHL's highest-scoring team. The Flames are tied with surprising Colorado for the Western Conference lead.

Jack Skille back in the NHL... for now

At a certain point, its going to stop being worthwhile to keep posting updates on Jack Skille's status with the Blackhawks. But, at least this time, he got called up before lunchtime on a gameday, scored a goal and has gone (almost) the whole day without getting sent back to Rockford. So I guess there's that.

Skille reassigned

Well, that was a short trip. After playing just 5:22 in the Blackhawk's 4-3 SO win over Colorado on Saturday, Jack Skille was sent back down to Rockford.

Jack Skille Called Up... For Now

It's no secret that Jack Skille is having trouble staying up with the big club in Chicago. It's no secret that Chicago is flirting with the salary cap. (Not taking into account the many call ups and send downs: nhlnumbers.com has the Hawks at only $804,000 below the cap as I'm writing this)

Suburban Chicago news source The Herald News has an article up comparing the two situations, along with some of Jack's takes on the situation:

As for Skille, he's just happy for whatever time he gets with the Hawks. The five minutes he played in Saturday's opener was his first taste of ice time this regular season.

''It feels good to be part of this team that, that's for sure,'' Skille said. ''It's frustrating knowing your contract is what's really hurting you, and there's nothing you can do about it. That's the worst part. You're helpless in that situation.''

...

''His being sent down was the economics of our game, and that plays a part in hockey decisions,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Jack had a real good camp. You could see his speed and how much he wanted to make this team.''

...

''Whether he's a fourth-line player or more than that, he provides speed and give us a lot of energy,'' Quenneville said.

...

Because of the NHL's salary cap rules Skille isn't sure where he'll play his next game, and he's prepared for a season of bouncing between the Hawks and Rockford.

''I've got to have the attitude that I've got to prove myself every shift like I had in training camp,'' he said. ''For me this is still training camp. You never know what will happen. I might get called in one morning and told I'm back to Rockford for salary cap issues again. That will be haunting me the whole year, until they make some moves to make some [cap] room.''

I don't think its unreasonable to say that Chicago's lack of money management is both handicapping the team and its ability to develop players like Jack Skille. On the bright side, he seems to have a good attitude about it. Any way you slice it, he's absolutely right that if the Blackhawks want to be successful, they'll have to make some cap moves, and I wouldn't be shocked to see them selling off some players by the deadline, regardless of their placement in the standings.

It's a shame that someone like Jack has to get caught in the middle of what's going on on Madison St. By all reports I've read, the Hawks seem to wish they could keep him up top, but it's just not happening. Whattya gonna do? That's just the way the business goes. We'll be pulling for you, Jack.

Adam Burish Out For (Most Of) Season

Wasn't able to get to this until now, and I'm sure many of you are already aware, but Adam Burish (he of "Badger Alum, captain of the 2006 title team, Chicago Blackhawks, nearly getting his head chopped off in last year's playoffs, extremely popular among Hawks fans and players alike, and the likely father of about 5,000 children in the greater Chicago area" fame) has suffered a pretty serious ACL injury.

In the first period of a preseason game against the Wild, Burish went into the boards awkwardly and tore his ACL. He doesn't score a lot for Chicago, but is a huge contributor to the team in almost every other way imaginable. As such, his reputation among the Hawks is really impeccable. He will be sorely missed until his (in my opinion, very optimistic) return target date of March 1st.

The main ESPN.com story features a link to a pretty solid Q&A session between Burish and some reporters that I highly recommend listening to. In fact, if you check out none of the other links here, check out the audio link on that story. Some quotes from there (which also pop up in a lot of the links I'll provide at the end here):

"I'm kind of reminded of when I was 18 years old, I went through a pretty srious car accident and the quote that stuck with me was "Make every obstacle an opportunity", and I'm gonna try to find a way to do that." -On finding the positives in the situation.

"I'll be around... I'll make fun of them and I'll tell them when they suck and tell them when they're good." -Jokingly, about his role with the team while he's recovering.

"I know they'll be fine... it's such a good team, such a deep team." -On how the Blackhawks will do without him.

"It was fine. It was fine. It was just one of those goofy plays ... I was just doing everything I could to get the puck out of the zone, I really reached for it and I was in kind of a vulnerable position and [Minnesota winger Benoit Pouliot] gave me a little shot from the side or from the back, and I went into the boards goofy." -Responding to a question of whether the hit from Pouliot was clean.

"That's probably the most frustrating part: I work so incredibly hard earlier in the summer... ten minutes into your first preseason game and most of your season is gone... If it was Game 7 of the Cup Finals, you could take both of my knees and I wouldn't care" -On the timing of the injury.

"I knew something was wrong, something didn't feel right. They asked me 'Did you hear a pop in the knee?' and I said, 'Guys, I didn't hear anything, I crashed into the boards.' That's all I heard, was the crash. ... But, when I got into the dressing room something didn't feel right." -More details about the injury itself.

Numerous articles are mentioning that the most likely replacement for Burish on the fourth line is to have Tomas Kopecky take over at center and bring up none other than Madison's own Jack Skille to the wing on the fourth line. I can't find a quote attributed to Hawks coach Joel Quenneville to that effect (the Southtown Star article below claims Quenneville has stated this, but does not quote him). While it hasn't been written, and nothing is assured, I certainly hope that that's the route the Hawks take.

Not as popular of a thought, but just as pleasing for us in Badgerland, is the notion of the other BadgerHawk- Jake Dowell- centering the fourth line. I believe I saw one mention of Dowell somewhere, but I can't recall where at this point. And its late, damnit.

Some articles about Burish's injury:

Hawks' Burish to Undergo ACL Surgery (ESPNChicago.com)
Moral Support: Burish Will Stick Around Hawks While Rehabbing Injured Knee (ESPNChicago.com)
Hard to Replace What Burish Does (dailyherald.com)
Hawks will miss Burish more than a lot of people think (Chicago Tribune)
Hawks' Burish Out Six Months With ACL Tear (Southtown Star)
Hawks Enforcer Burish Out For Season (NBC Chicago... notable article because Burish really isn't an enforcer, and the picture shown is of ex-Blackhawk James Wisniewski)
Burish Out For Six Months, Committed Indian Writers Hang Themselves (Second City Hockey... as usual with that site, the comments are pretty amusing. And, per SCH commenter Battery, he was at the Hawks first home preseason game, signing autographs and such in the 200 level stands. That's true class, Adam!)

And, because no Adam Burish story is complete without some reference to his rumored womanizing:

Adam Burish Knows All About Hockey Groupies (NBC Chicago "Street Team")

HF's Top 20 Prospects, Fall 2009

Hockey's Future is releasing their Fall 2009 top 20 prospects for each NHL team, and here are the teams so far with Badgers in the top 20. Nice to see previously unranked guys like Drewiske and Dowell make the jump into the top 20.

Anaheim Ducks

2. Jake Gardiner, D - 8.0C
6'1, 173 pounds
1st round, 17th overall, 2008

As a late convert to the blueline, Gardiner displays everything a team could want in a puck-moving defenseman. He has all of the size, as well as vision, hands, and a quickness on his feet that allows him to play strong positional defense. Now that he's at the back of the play most of the time, he has the opportunity to display his vision and awareness by developing plays. Most forwards that transition to defense have issues in their own end, but Gardiner is developing into the kind of defenseman that a team would want on the ice for all situations.

In 2008-09, Gardiner joined an already solid defensive unit at the University of Wisconsin. By the end of the season, he finished third in points among defensemen with three goals and 18 assists in 39 games and tied for fourth in plus/minus among all skaters with a plus four. He will return to the Badgers.

20. Justin Schultz, D - 6.0C
6'2, 162 pounds
2nd round, 43rd overall, 2008

After his stint as top defenseman in his conference in the BCHL, Schultz is ready to move on to the Wisconsin Badgers for the 2009-10 season. His offensive potential is high, with extraordinary puck-moving abilities and the skills to develop plays from the back end which is sought after in all power-play quarterbacks. At 6'2, but just 162 pounds, he needs to put on some muscle in order to play professional hockey. With Wisconsin, he will look to prove he can handle bigger competition.

LA Kings

16. (NR) Davis Drewiske, D
Signed as free agent, 2007

On the other end of the spectrum in terms of potential is Drewiske, who is never going to be an offensive player and not one to physically dominate an opposing forward. The 24-year-old has good feet and positioning to keep himself between the forward and the goaltender and subsequently the puck out of the net. While he has been penciled in as a possible starter on the third defensive pairing for Los Angeles to start the season, he has likely leveled off in terms of his potential. The Kings are not likely to get much more than a third-pairing defenseman out of Drewiske, which is fine for an organization looking for a “bridge” player to fill the gap between the now and when one of the more talented defensemen are ready to step in. While Drewiske is an important piece for an organization to have, his long-term contribution to the Kings will be limited and so is kept in the bottom half of these rankings.

Joe Piskula and Podge Turnbull are among the "Other Notables".




Chicago Blackhawks

7. (8) Jack Skille, RW - 22, 7.0C
6'1 208 lbs
Drafted first round, 7th overall, 2005

After opening the year on the Blackhawks’ roster, Skille spent a majority of the year with the IceHogs. He managed just one goal in his eight NHL games but fared much better in the American league. In 58 matches, he scored 20 goals and 25 assists to finish fourth on the team in scoring with 45 points. Skille’s speed fits well on Rockford’s top line and he’ll likely remain one of the first offensive options for the ‘Hogs. While he may be ready for another shot at the NHL, both the number of forwards already signed by the Blackhawks and Skille’s substantial cap hit may keep him in the minors.

16. (NR) Jake Dowell, C - 24, 6.0C
6'0 197 lbs
Drafted fifth round, 140th overall, 2004

Dowell has 20 games of NHL experience under his belt from his first two pro seasons. He spent 75 games in Rockford last season and scored six goals, added 14 assists, and earned 128 PIMs. A strong defensive forward, Dowell was generally used to center one of the bottom lines for the IceHogs. Though his role will likely remain the same, he remains a strong candidate for a call-up in the right situation. He is capable in both zones and especially strong in the faceoff circle providing some defensive depth at the center position.

Columbus Blue Jackets

4. (3) Cody Goloubef, D
Grade 7.5C Projection: Top-three defenseman
Age: 19 Height/weight: 6'0, 195
Drafted 37th overall, 2008

Goloubef plays a solid, unspectacular game, but is highly regarded. Goloubef has shown the ability to chip in offensively, but doesn’t have the power play potential that Moore displays. Instead, Goloubef has ample potential to become a top defender on the penalty kill.

He will enter his third season with the University of Wisconsin next season, after posting five goals and eight assists in 36 games last season.

Wednesday evening linkorama

• Paul Capobianco indicates that the Badger Men's roster will be released soon, probably Friday. In addition to freshman additions, he says we can also expect one number change for a returning player.
  
  In the same post, Capobianco reminds us that we can follow the Badger Men on twitter, and he also rounds-up a number of items that he had previously posted on twitter. Most of them we've already posted here, but one of the exceptions is this 2001 USA Today article about the UM-MSU Cold War game which fortells a Badger Hockey game @ Camp Randall.

• The Badgers high school development camp, which is "open to all and any participants", is taking place this week, and the top players in the state are there. DPlaya reports he is hearing that there may be some unhappy campers, saying that 'the camp may be trying to be "all things to all people" and not finding the mark with some campers.' That's unfortunate for players on both ends of the spectrum.

• UNO's new head coach, Dean Blais, reportedly has an "out" in his contract that allows him to apply for the Gophers head coach position should it become available. Thanks to Goon for pointing out the brief mention in the News-Chronicle. As Goon says, it's interesting, but nothing that Mavericks or gophers fans should worry about yet.

• Schlossman tells us that the WCHA's agreement with the Xcel Energy Center to host the Final Five runs out after this season but will likely be renewed. Talking about moving the Final Five to different sites is like beating a dead horse, it's not going anywhere. Fwiw, I don't really have a problem with it being at the X each year.

• The Blackhawks Confidential blog has a post that speculates Hossa's injury may open up a spot in Chicago for Jack Skille. (Thanks to the anonymouse who pointed it out.)
  

  Without Hossa's 71 points (40 goals) for Detroit last season, and with Martin Havlat's 77 points departed for the wilds of Minnesota, the Blackhawks are missing a big bopper that leads the orchestra.

  
  

  Jack Skille isn't that big bopper, but read on to see why I think this slow developer might be Hossa's early replacement and come riding to the rescue out of nowhere. Rockford is nowhere, isn't it?

  .
  .
  .
  

  That could open a chance for 2005 first-round draftee Skille to break into the NHL and see what he has to give after the 22-year-old scored 20 goals and 45 points in 58 games for Rockford last season. He comes at the right price for this squeezed salary cap and some think he can be an offensive force.

  
  

  Skille has rated uneven evaluations for his play in Rockford. He has been inconsistent, but with a strong training camp, he could turn around the way he is viewed and put all that behind him.

  
  

  The Hawks have to find out about Skille sooner or later after taking him as the seventh player chosen overall in the '05 draft. It might as well be sooner with Hossa's absence lighting the way for coach Joel Quenneville to tutor Skille in the first couple months while Hossa heals.

  The Madison-born Skille, who played for the University of Wisconsin, has appeared to some observers to be maturing slow step by slow step into a NHL-ready player. As long as he delivers a strong effort in camp, he should be in line for a promotion. But he has to rise to the moment.

• Guy Flaming implies that the blogger who started a rumor about an Oilers/Panthers trade might have been inhaling/drinking too much ether. (Ok, Guy didn't really imply anything about ether abuse; that's more an inference on my part.) The likely bogus rumor includes a number of players, including Tom Gilbert.

• The Edmonton Journal and the Ottawa Sun are both now indicating that (gasp) the Oilers haven't really given up hope or run out of patience regarding the Dany Heatley deal. Their trade offer is reportedly still on the table.

• The above Ottawa Sun article also has the following blurb about Brian Elliott:
  

  The indication on Monday was that the Senators and 24-year-old goalie Brian Elliott are close to an agreement on a multi-year deal. It could be announced any time soon.
  
  Elliott, who made $757,700 U.S. last season, will serve as a backup to Pascal Leclaire next season. Leclaire has two years left on his contract. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010-11.
  
  By then, if not sooner, Elliott is expected to be ready to be the No. 1 goalie.
  
  If he's not, then the hope will rest on 6-3, 220-pound Swedish goalie Robin Lehner, who was selected in this year's entry draft.

• Jonathan @ the Copper and Blue has a post about the best goaltenders since the lockout. As part of his discussion of "youngish goaltenders who have had good results but don't have a long track record", he says the following about Els:
  

  Brian Elliott has had a very nice run the last few years; his college numbers and AHL numbers are very good and would seem to indicate that his performance this past season isn't an aberration. Ottawa brought in Pascal Leclaire as insurance but I would be very surprised if Elliott doesn't win out over the next few seasons (particularly given Leclaire's injury woes).

Just so you know I wasn't making things up

Last Friday, I reported that Jake Dowell was called up to Chicago on Thursday night. But then he played for the Icehogs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and so I was a bit confused. But it turns out he did fly up to Chicago from Houston on Thursday, just to fly back to Houston on Friday morning, barely having set foot in Chicago. Here's what happened, as told by the Icehogs' blog:

The Travels and Tribulations of Jake Dowell
03/27/2009 3:10 PM - Mike Peck

Think you’ve had a long past 24 hours?

You should be in the shoes of Jake Dowell!

Dowell was with the IceHogs on the trip down to Houston Thursday morning. Less than two hours after arriving, which was about 2:30 p.m., the winger was notified that he would have to fly back to Chicago on Thursday night on an emergency basis because of an injury to an un-named Blackhawks’ skater.

After heading to the morning skate on Friday morning in Chicago with the Blackhawks, it was determined that all was well with said skater on the Hawks, meaning Dowell’s services was not going to be needed for tonight’s game against New Jersey at the United Center.

So yes, you guessed it, Dowell headed back to the airport for a return trip to Houston to rejoin the IceHogs for Friday night’s game at the Toyota Center.

Sounds like a indecisive Brett Favre promotion…oh wait, we’ve already done that!

I sure hope the Jake has some frequent flier memberships.

Well, that's a kick in the pants, isn't it?

Dowell didn't get any points that weekend, but he did get 5 for fighting in both Saturday's and Sunday's games. Nubeetle was at Sunday's game, and he said Dowell won his fight that night. (I haven't heard anything one way or the other about Saturday's fight.) Nubeetle also said that, despite not recording any points, Dowell looked pretty good all night and had a pretty good game.

He did score a goal in Rockford's most recent game -- a 5-2 victory over Lake Erie. And hmmm, he got another 5 for fighting.

In other Rockford Badgers news . . . nubeetle reports that Jack Skille was injured in the 1st period of Sunday's game, and I see that he didn't play on Wednesday. I haven't heard anything more specific. It's too bad --he'd been playing pretty well lately, with 3 goals and 1 assist in his previous 4 games.

Nubeetle also got to see Robbie Earl play for the Aeros in Sunday's game. No points for Robbie (although he did score a goal in Friday's game in Houston), but the change of scenery seems to be agreeing with Robbie, and he seems happy with his new team.

Skille reassigned to Rockford

Unfortunately, Jack Skille's recent stay in Chicago was short-lived, lasting just 2 games.

Skille recalled by Hawks

Jake Skille was called up to Chicago today and is in the lineup tonight for the Hawks.

Jake Dowell scores, Skille/Carlson held off scoresheet

Jake Dowell scored a goal and an assist, had 2 SOG, and finished +2 in Rockford's 2-1 victory over the Rochester Americans tonight. Nice work, Jake! Dowell has had a bit of a rough season, I think, in that he's played fairly well and fairly consistently (based on Chris Block's assessments on TheThirdManIn) but he hasn't had much luck in finding the back of the net. But since 1/7/09 he's had 3 goals and 3 assists, and we hope to see his scoring luck continue to improve.

In his 2nd game back from injury, Jack Skille had 0 pts, 3 SOG, and finished -1. And in his 3rd game up with Rochester, Ross Carlson had 0 pts, 2 SOG, and finished -1.