Fiala Chooses Western Michigan

Ohio State. Miami. Western Michigan. Which one of these is not like the other?

The answer is obviously Western Michigan, the school that Verona, Wisconsin native Joey Fiala alerted me this morning that he just committed to. The other two options, Ohio State and Miami were his other two finalists, which to the naked eye may make one scratch it's head at Fiala's decision.

I for one, give the kid credit on taking a chance with an upstart Western Michigan program with a solid new coach in Jeff Blashill who has rejuvenated the campus.

Blashill and Fiala have a history, which was certainly a determining factor in Western Michigan landing an elite prospect out of the USA NTDP. Blashill who was the head coach with the Indiana Ice of the USHL before taking his current gig at Western selected Fiala in the USHL Futures Draft, so they have been linked for a while.

Additionally, you have to give Fiala credit for choosing a school for the right reasons. When so many kids are committing virtually the moment they come out of the womb, Fiala waited until late in his senior year, and had great reasons for making his decision.

"I chose (Western) because I will be able to step in right away and be a difference maker, lots of ice time, and (Kalamazoo) is pretty close to home."

The influx of Wisconsin born players getting Division 1 scholarships is great to see and here is another kid to add on the list. Let's hope that list keeps growing.


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Wisconsin No Longer In Fiala's Plans

Of of the top remaining uncommitted 2011 defensemen in the country is Verona's own Joey Fiala. It's been well know around recruiting circles that the Badgers have been following Fiala's progress, even before he started high school.

The 6'2 defender left Verona high school mid-last season to accept an invitation to play with the USA National Team Development Program. He went back to Ann Arbor again for his senior season.

I was able to speak with Fiala Wednesday afternoon about life with Team USA, and how the recruiting process is going for the young defenseman.

Chuck Schwartz: You’re back for another season with the NTDP after joining Team USA mid-season last winter. What are some of the main things you’re looking to improve upon in your second season in Ann Arbor?

Joey Fiala: This year I am looking to play with more confidence and to be more physical. I am looking to improve my gap when going against the college teams witch is difficult with their speed.

Chuck Schwartz: You got an opportunity to play against Denver at Magness and against Colorado College at the World Arena over the weekend. What was it like playing in your first games against a D1 college hockey teams?

Joey Fiala: Playing my first college games was sweet. It was weird at first battling against guys you watched playing the badgers last year, but I got used to it right away. They have a lot of skill and are fast, but to be honest our team kept up and did great. We were down 2-1 to Denver in the 3rd, and then penalties killed us and we lost 8-1. I got kicked out of the game for a scrum. CC has a huge rink, it is really wide. When they would dump it into the zone, most of the time it popped right back out. They were good, but Denver was definitely better. We were down 3-1 in the 3rd and lost focus and took penalties just like in the Denver game and suffered another big loss. The student sections are great and can get in your head, but they did not compare to the fans at the Kohl Center. I am excited to play all our college games, especially North Dakota.

Chuck Schwartz: There’s obviously a lot of college interest out there for you right now. Can you give us a list that you may have it narrowed down to at this point?

Joey Fiala: I have had interest from more than 17 schools, but I am pretty sure I have narrowed it down to Western Michigan, Ohio State, and Miami of Ohio. Wisconsin was in my top 5, but I talked to coach Eaves and found they have a lot of defense coming in and I found it wouldn't be the right fit for me, especially with coach Oz leaving. I have been in the locker room and around campus a lot over the years and was recruited before Freshman year, so it was hard at first to understand I was not going to play in my home town.

Chuck Schwartz: While being recruited, coaches will tell you anything to come to their school. When you’re weighing your options on these schools, what factors are you considering?

Joey Fiala: When deciding on a school you have to go where you are really wanted. Getting a few phone calls doesn't always mean that. You also have to take what they say and take what applies to you and understand that sometimes they will say things that sound good, but shouldn't be a huge factor in the decision. An example that everyone has heard is Miami of Ohio has the best girl to guy ratio. I am considering opportunity of playing time, # of defense committed for next year and who is already on the team, defense coach, strength and conditioning coach, and if the school has my major.

Chuck Schwartz: Do you have an idea of when you may be making your decision?

Joey Fiala: There is a good chance I will be making my decision by next week Tuesday. Western Michigan has put a deadline out and I am currently deciding where I should go. The decision is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
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I want to thank Joey for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us this afternoon about his recruiting process. If sounds as if he's picking schools for the right reasons, and that's always refreshing to hear. Thanks again Joey.

Additionally, another player that Wisconsin had been tracking is off the board as well. Appleton native Cliff Watson has committed to Mark Osiecki and Ohio State.


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Recruit News Linkorama

Congratulations are in order to Gavin Hartzog and the Bismarck Bobcats on capturing the 2010 Robertson Cup and North American Hockey League championship! Gavin is a 2011 recruit who had a rough year in juniors after a solid rookie campaign. He began the season where he finished his last one, w/ the Fargo Force of the USHL, but was demoted to the NAHL early in the season and ended up in Bismarck. Gavin didn’t factoring into the scoring in the championship game, but he did register 5 SOG. While he did struggle this season, Gavin still has one thing that cannot be taught (similar to John Mitchell): Size.

Speaking of his old team in Fargo, they are headed to a concluding Game 5 against the Green Bay Gamblers to decide the USHL Clark Cup on Wednesday night in GB. Green Bay features 2010 Badger recruit Sean Little. After winning Games 1 & 2 on the road, Fargo went home looking to clinch, but lost a heart breaker in Game 3 where the game was decided in 3OT’s. Green Bay won Game 4 the next night to send the series back to Titletown and Game 5. Tickets for Wednesday’s game are only $5. I’m thinking of going myself, since it is not often you get to see a champion crowded at any level w/ in such a short drive.

Good luck to Sean as he tries to keep the streak of Badger recruits winning the Clark Cup alive. In 2008, Matt Thurber and the Omaha Lancers were winners, last year Brett Bennett and the Indiana Ice took home the title. Green Bay won the Anderson Cup earlier in the year as the USHL regular season championship.

Over at the Hockey in Wisconsin Blog, Dplaya continues to do an outstanding job w/ his series interviewing former Wisconsin High School hockey players. Last week’s interview was w/ 2011 Badger recruit Cody Strang. Cody is a 2009 graduate of Edgewood HS and as a senior won Wisconsin’s Mr. Hockey award. Last season, he played for Youngstown of the USHL. He talks about all of that and more in his interview; definitely a good read. I pulled out two questions to cut and paste.

Dplaya: Can you fill us in on how your college recruitment progressed (when it happened, what teams were involved, which you liked, who you visited, why you chose UW)?

Cody: As far as recruiting went I had only talked to Wisconsin, Bowling green, St. Cloud and UMD. Wisconsin was the first scholarship offer I got and that was my dream growing up so when that offer came I knew there was nothing else that could top that. I had over ten offers to play golf to schools down south and some big ten schools, but all my life playing hockey for the Badgers has been a dream so there is no way I could pass that up.

Dplaya: You played with Wisconsin natives David Donnellan and Jefferson Dahl this season in Youngstown. Could you briefly describe their style of play (strengths, weaknesses, etc.)?

Cody: Playing with David and Jefferson was a great experience and a ton of fun. They are both great players and friends I will have for the rest of my life. David was our captain and did a great job handling the leadership role while also being our top defenseman all season. He is a physical player and moves the puck up the ice well. He blocked more shots than anyone on our team and was our best defensive player we had. Jefferson was an assistant captain for us this year and had a great year as well. I got to play on his line for a good portion of the second half of the season and it was a lot of fun. He is definitely an excellent playmaker and can find you with the puck no matter where you are on the ice. In addition to contributing offensively he was one of our top penalty kill guys and probably our best defensive forward.

The second question doesn’t relate directly to Cody (though he did say he spent the entire season on the PK), but I liked what he had to say about Jefferson Dahl and wanted Badger fans to see that. I didn’t get to see Jefferson play this past season (he played for GB in 2008/09) and I think this is a nice summary of his talents. The penalty kill will really be hurting next season since the majority of the best PKers were seniors (especially Captain Asskicker and the Bohmber) and hopefully Jefferson can step into that role. One thing is for sure, there will be opportunities at forward next season in all situations. A hard working, motivated freshman could see a lot of playing time.

A defensive forward who comes to play each night won’t take long to become one of my favorite players.

Got off track, but good luck to Cody next season in the USHL and looking forward to seeing him in the Cardinal and White not long after.

Two weeks before, Dplaya interviewed defenseman Joe Fiala, a Verona native, who is currently w/ the US NTDP. Wisconsin has shown interest in his services, and it would be a very nice recruit to add to the blue line pantheon w/ McCabe, Hesketh and Schmatlz.

Lastly, I stumbled across a newer blog last week: An Unofficial USHL Prospect Blog. The blog is constructed by a high schooler who loves hockey and wants to be a college scout, and reading through several of his player reports, he is doing a hell of a job. Keep up the good work! Of particular interest to Badger fans is a write up he did on 2011 recruit and Chicago Steel forward Brendan Woods. I’m going to have to make a point of seeing Brendan play next season, which shouldn’t be too hard between Dubuque and Green Bay.

Of possible other interest to Badger fans wanting to get to know future opponents, this blog covers several 2010 recruits Kevin Gravel (St Cloud), Seth Ambroz (minnesota), Jaden Schwartz (CC) and Derek Forbort (North Dakota), and one 2011 recruit Scott Mayfield (Denver). There might be some other future WCHA kids in there, but those jumped out at me.

He also is previewing kids who will be drafted in the upcoming USHL draft; these are kids whose names will be seen on the recruiting radar in the coming year(s). Chuck, not sure if you have any insight on any of these kids, if you do, pass it on, if you want to stay retired that is. 

Recruiting: It's Vladdy D Time (And Time To Sign Fiala)

Wisconsin recruiting took a large step this weekend when we landed a premier goaltender for the 2011 season with Joel Rumpel. It's been the number 1 priority for a while now. In my opinion, our next step is to lock down Joe Fiala, a defenseman from Verona.

Fiala, who has been talked about here many times has recently accepted a mid-season invitation to join the USA NTDP U-17 squad full time. The NTDP has experienced an exorbitant amount of injuries and suspensions this season leading to Fiala's invitation.

At 6'2, 190 pounds, Fiala already has the size you look for in a Division 1 WCHA defenseman. His biggest problem was his every day competition at Verona high school. Moving to the USA NTDP will accelerate his development. We have two defensemen coming in for the 2011 season, Jake McCabe, and and Troy Hesketh. Fiala would fit in well in 2012, arriving with Chicago Mission defenseman Jordan Schmaltz.

Speaking of Schmaltz, he has been added to the USA U-17 squad for the upcoming 2010 Vlad Dzurilla Under-18 Tournament. "The defenseman helped the U.S. National Under-17 Team capture first place at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in January. Schmaltz participated in each of Team USA’s seven games and notched one goal. In 39 games with the Mission, Schmaltz has led the team’s defensemen with 31 points (10-21)."

The tournament starts on Thursday but they played an exhibition this morning which they lost, 4-3 to Slovakia. Schmaltz had a goal in the exhibition. "Jordan Schmaltz (Madison, Wis.) skated in from the blue line, wheeled around a defender and put a backhanded shot under the blocker of netminder Dusan Szalontay with 4:52 remaining in regulation."

USA U17's McCabe, Schmaltz, Fiala Win GOLD!!!!

Press Release From Hockey Canada

TIMMINS, Ont. – For the first time since 2002, the United States is on top of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Reid Boucher (Michigan State commit) set up Tyler Biggs (Miami commit) for the game’s opening goal early in the second period and Biggs returned the favour on Boucher’s game-winner in the first minute of the third as the United States ended a two-game losing streak in the gold medal game with a 2-1 victory over Ontario on Monday night.

The U.S. won its first U17 title since claiming the second of back-to-back golds in 2001 and 2002. It lost in the gold medal game in 2006 and 2008 – the 2008 game to Ontario. The win also made the Americans just the third team to win three U17 golds; Ontario leads with seven, and Quebec has also won three.

The game was a goaltender’s duel from the start; despite 21 shots on goal in the opening period (11-10 in favour of the United States) netminders Tyson Teichmann of Ontario and John Gibson of the U.S. kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes.

Boucher finally broke the goose egg 1:51 into the second period, snapping a shot past Teichmann, but the middle frame was also owned by the goaltenders – Boucher’s goal was the only one of 25 shots to beat Teichmann and Gibson.

Just as it did in its tournament-opening loss to Finland, Ontario owned the third period, outshooting the U.S. 19-6, but not before Biggs sent a shot far side on Teichmann to double the American lead just 31 seconds into the period.

Gibson and the American shut the door from there, although a goal from Daniel Catenacci with just one second remaining gave the pro-Canadian crowd of more than 2,000 at McIntyre Arena something to cheer about late, and ruined Gibson’s shutout bid.

The loss ended Ontario’s gold medal game winning streak at three – it had not lost the final game at a U17 tournament since 2000, when it lost to Russia in, ironically, Timmins.

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PS...Sue me if it's illegal to blog like this. Your not going to win much money.

USHL Futures Draft

The USHL futures draft is going on right now. You can find the live draft results here.

From the USHL site explaining the futures draft:

The USHL Futures Draft consists of five rounds and allows each of the 13 member clubs to draft players who were born in 1993. These 65 players will then be placed on the affiliate list of their respective clubs for the 2009-10 season. USHL teams retain the rights to players selected in the Futures Draft for three years and can add these players to the active roster at any time during the season.

Wisconsin commit Jordan Schmaltz (Pictured) from Verona, WI was just drafted #6 overall in the first round by the Sioux City Musketeers. Schmaltz, who was mysteriously left off the 40 man NTDP tryouts, was recently selected by the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL draft. Don't let that fool you though, Schmaltz is still expected to stay true to his commitment to Wisconsin. I would expect him to play a season of Midget Major hockey and then his senior season with Sioux City. By then, he should be ready to step onto the Madison campus and be ready to contribute to the Badgers as an 18 year old freshman.



Wisconsin potential recruit Alex Racino from Merrill, WI was just drafted #8 overall in the first round by the defending Clark Cup Champion Indiana Ice. Racino, like Schmaltz, was recently selected to represent the Central District at this summers USA Hockey Select 16 festival in Rochester, NY. Racino is a forward and was a key member of the Team Wisconsin Minor Program. Racino finished third in the Elite II Hockey league in scoring in the fall of 2008 with 23 points. He was only 1 point behind the leader Jacob Ladouceur from North Dakota.


Another future Badger goes off the board in the second round. The most recent commitment for the Badgers, Taft Prep forward Corbin McGuire was selected by the Fargo Force with the 22nd Overall selection. McGuire, a smallish, crafty forward was a force last summer at the USA Hockey Select 15 festival in St. Cloud. I would expect nothing short of that performance again this summer at Select 16's in Rochester. McGuire, like Schmaltz is committed for 2012. McGuire is committed to his education and there aren't many prep schools in the nation better than Taft. Right now I'd say it's a toss up to as if he finishes his senior season at Taft or goes to Fargo.


The Clark Cup Champion Indiana Ice continue to raid the Wisconsin high school ranks. In the third round they have selected Verona defenseman Joey Fiala. He was a lock down defender for Verona high school this winter leading them to the WIAA State Tournament. Fiala, like Schmaltz was recently selected in the OHL draft. Fiala, who was the only Wisconsin high school player selected, was taken by the Saginaw Spirit in the 14th round. He's a big kid, 6'2, 185 lbs and moves fairly well. He was a key member of TW Minors as they made it to the national tournament. He's definitely a kid to keep an eye on in the next few years.

Eau Claire Memorial Defenseman Jake McCabe has been selected by the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Stampede took McCabe with the 7th pick in the 4th round, #46 overall. McCabe, who is at this time the superior defensman over Fiala, most likely dropped in the draft due to his size (5'10, 165). In the end, I think McCabe will be the better prospect. His brother Andrew will be an incoming freshman forward for Nebraska-Omaha. McCabe, who was a freshman this past season for Memorial, had 22 points in 23 games for the Old Abes.

OHL Draft Results

The OHL held it's "Priority Selection" today so I figured I'd give you an update on a few things Wisconsin related.

First of all, I hope everyone got to read the absolutely comical situation with Scott Harrington. If you aren't aware, read this article from Western College Hockey. Basically, the kid was going to be a top 5 selection in the OHL draft, and his advisor talks with a newspaper and puts it out there 2 days before the draft that he plans on going the college route. Like I mentioned yesterday, this SCREAMS pre-draft deal with a team drafting later in the first round. And guess who selected Scott Harrington with the second to last pick in the first round? You guessed it, the shadiest team in the league, the London Knights.

Next item of business. I certainly wasn't planning on it, but it also doesn't surprise me in the least that John Moore was selected. Moore, who currently plays for the Chicago Steel in the USHL, and is a Colorado College recruit for the upcoming season, was drafted early in the second round by the Kitchener Rangers. Moore is expected to be a top 10 pick in this summers NHL Draft. OHL teams don't draft players in the top 2 rounds that are already committed to colleges unless they have a deal in place. Don't expect to see Moore in at the World Arena in the fall.

The third round saw Trevor Morbeck, a Team Illinois forward and Wisconsin natives name called by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Everyone knows that Team Illinois is a major pipeline to UW, and with Morbeck being a Wisconsin native, it could have been a great fit for him and the Badgers. Morbecks older brother, a goaltender with TI, was drafted in the 2007 draft by the Oshawa Generals. As a third round pick he's a near lock to end up north of the border eventually. Morbeck should have a great time in Sault Ste. Marie if he ends up there as well. I'm not sure if you guys are up on your geography, but I've attached a map of the OHL franchises at the bottom of this post. The closest city to Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, is a 5 hour bus ride. Have fun with that.

The next Wisconsin born player to be selected was 2012 Wisconsin commit Jordan Schmaltz. Schmaltz, who is a Verona native, currently plays his hockey for the Chicago Mission. Jordan was drafted in the 7th round by the Windsor Spitfires. It was assumed that someone would take a shot at Schmaltz, but I don't think the 7th round is going to be high enough to entice him to give the OHL a serious look. Expect him to stay on track to Wisconsin.

After Schmaltz was another Team Illinois forward Lane King who was selected in the 13th round by the Oshawa Generals. King, who is from Waunakee, Wisconsin, is rumored along with a few other current AAA players to be returning to Waunakee to play Wisconsin high school hockey next season. No idea how true that is, stay tuned to see how that turns out.

Jake Dutter, another Team Illinois player was also taken in the 13th by St. Michael's Majors. Dutter, who is from Kenosha is an interesting player and was at last summers select 15 festival. DPlaya from Hockey In Wisconsin got to see King and Dutter play at the Central District tournamet in March. He had a few comments on both players as well as Trevor Morbeck.

The next, and last Wisconsin born player selected was Verona high school defenseman Joey Fiala. Fiala is the only Wisconsin high school player who was selected today. He was taken in the 14th round by the Saginaw Spirit. The 6'2, 185 lb defenseman was a lock down defenseman for Team Wisconsin minors as they navigated thier way to the USA Hockey national tournament about a month ago.