Mike Davies promoted, & other things I've missed

Apparently I haven't been paying very good attention to our Badger alums lately, as I've missed the following items:

• MIKE DAVIES was recalled from Gwinnett by the Chicago Wolves on Nov 3. He has 1 assist in 3 games for the Wolves.
• Before AARON BENDICKSON was called up to Rochester last month, he was named ECHL Rookie of the Month for his efforts in Gwinnet (2G 7A +8 in 4GP). He has since played 5 games with Rochester but has been held off the scoresheet.
• ANDY BOHMBACH is doing well in Toledo. He was recently named Walleye Player of the Week, Walleye Player of the Month, and Walleye Rookie of the Month, and he received the following mention in the Walleye blog:
  

  The Walleye are lead by a pair of rookies: Andy Bohmbach (2 g, 3 a) and Zack Torquato (2 g, 3 a). Ryan Stokes is 2nd in the ECHL with 40 penalty minutes.
  
  Andy Bohmbach leads the team in plus/minus (+3) and three players have 20 or more shots on the season (Torquato-22, Peter Leblanc-21, and Bohmbach-20).

  Scoring his 2nd goal of the season on 11/3, Bohmber now has 2G and 3A in 8 GP.

I'm sure I've missed a ton of other items, but within the constraints of limited time these are the players that are foremost in my mind right now.

Oooh, sparkly . . . (& other alumni updates)

- This is Jake Dowell's Stanley Cup ring. He was invited to the Sept 30 ceremony with the team and received the ring at that time. Nice and sparkly, 8 carats of diamonds I'm told. Thanks to Vicki for sharing the photo.

- Speaking of Jake, it's nice to see him record his 1st goal of the season on Wednesday. In 11 games he's 1-2-3 and has been averaging over 10 minutes per game.

- Tom Gilbert scored his 2nd goal of the year on Tuesday, and Paul Capobianco asks us if we recognize the spot from which TG scored.

- Blake Geoffrion was featured in the Badger Herald this Monday. Blake has yet to score a goal for the Admirals this season but has 4 assists in 7 games. EDIT: Thanks to Capo for pointing out this longer article on the Admirals website.

- Aaron Bendickson, who was leading the ECHL's Gwinnet Gladiators with 9 pts (2G 7A) in the 1st 4 games of the season, has signed a 25-game professional tryout agreement with the AHL's Rochester Americans. He'll potentially make his AHL debut tonight @ the Worcester Sharks.

- And since we mentioned Gwinnett, I should mention that Andy Brandt has 2 goals in 5 GP and Mike Davies has 1G and 3A in 3 GP.

- Josh Engel was recently recalled from the ECHL's Reading Royals to the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Engel played just 2 games for the Royals before being recalled.

- People keep asking me where Joe Piskula is. And so I'll tell you - he's with the AHL's Abbottsford Heat and has played in all 10 games so far this season.

Andy Bohmbach / Mike Davies / Aaron Bendickson updates

Andy Bohmbach, Mike Davies, and Aaron Bendickson will all be starting this season in the ECHL.

Bohmbach will be with the Toledo Walleye, and we hope to see him up with the Rockford Icehogs soon. Here's a nice little picture of Bohmber!

Davies and Bendickson will be with the Gwinnett Gladiators, where Andy Brandt has returned after a season with the Victoria Salmon Kings. I've been told, by the way, that Davies will be moving from wing to center and needless to say is looking to move up to the Chicago Wolves. Brandt, if you'll recall, was a fan favorite in Gwinnett before being traded to Victoria, and I expect he'll continue to be so. (Thanks to HatchetJoe for the heads-up on Davies/Bendickson and to nubeetle for the heads-up on Brandt.)

Season Preview: Juniors

Last week, I previewed the senior class of the Men’s Hockey team, now it’s on to the juniors. With the changing landscape of College Hockey, having a large junior class is a huge bonus for any program looking to compete for a National Championship. With the best players leaving after their freshman and sophomore years, upperclassmen are at a premium. Wisconsin is fortunate to have 8 juniors suiting up in 08/09.

Of the 8 juniors, 7 of those young men are forwards, including Aaron Bendickson, Andy Bohmbach, Ben Grotting, John Mitchell, Blake Geoffrion, Michael Davies and Tom Bardis. I’m not actually sure if Bardis is considered a junior or a sophomore. Since he transferred and sat out a year, I’m not sure if that counted against his eligibility or not, but regardless I’m counting him as a junior for this discussion. Zach Bearson was part of this class until the recent announcement that he is no longer part of the team. The sole upperclassman blue liner is Jamie McBain.

Of all the offseason news, McBain’s return to Wisconsin was the biggest. As last season ended, I felt that if McB returned to Wisconsin’s lineup for 08/09 that the Badgers would be legitimate contenders for large trophies come next March/April. As an individual player, he is that important. Had McB left to join the Carolina Hurricanes organization, the Badgers would have been left w/ a huge lack of experience at defensemen. As it stands, McB is the only upperclassman on the blue line, and while not a captain, his leadership and experience will hold sway throughout the season.

McB was part of Wisconsin’s best pairing last season w/ Ryan McDonagh. Despite their youth, they gave the team the most consistent performance every night, shift to shift. Assuming that pairing remains the same to start this season, Wisconsin will arguably have the best pairing in all of College Hockey. For those who attended the Regional, McB’s play was nothing short of spectacular, especially on the PP, and when that carries over to this season, he will be a force to be reckoned w/.

As important as McB’s play will be to Wisconsin’s success this season, the large group of junior forwards is the first of two keys to Wisconsin’s 7th National Championship. Of the 7 returning players, 5 played in almost every game last season including Geoffrion, Davies, Bendickson, Grotting and Mitchell. When Josh Engel returned to the blue line, Bohmbach filled in the last forward spot during most of the 2nd half. Bardis practiced with the team all season, but sat out due to his transfer from St. Lawrence.

Geoffrion highlights this group. He made leaps and bounds during his sophomore season. On top of high expectations for this season, Geoffrion will serve as Co-Captain w/ Ben Street. Similar to McB, Geoffrion’s return to Madison was not set in stone due to his status as a Nashville Predators draft pick in 2006, but fans are happy to have him back. Goeffrion plays on the PP and PK, can score goals, work in the corner for the puck, and knock someone on their ass. Despite the departure of line mate Kyle Turris, Geoffrion’s point production should continue to rise, as he makes more things happen himself.

The most improved player on the team in 07/08 was Mitchell. Along w/ Grotting, they formed two-thirds of the most consistent line (centered by Sean Dolan) the Badgers had last season. Mitchell showed some scoring touch and due to his improvement and size, even had a few NHL teams calling on him. More will be expected of Mitchell this season, though I hope the coaching staff does not break up that line, since they worked together well and should be able to carry a little more of a scoring role this season.

Another player who definitely needs to step up his game in 08/09 is Davies. He is slowly developing into a consistent two way player, though his play in his own end is sometimes suspect. There is no doubt that Davies can score goals and should be a fixture on the PP this season. How much additional scoring burden can Davies fill? Will Davies take his game to the next level? A lot of questions surround Davies, and hopefully Coach Eaves doesn’t have to banish him to street clothes for a night to motivate him this season.

Grotting and Bendickson played in every game a year ago, and I expect that to continue this season. While Grotting isn’t going to provide Wisconsin w/ a lot of offense, he is an energy player who gets his job done. If he plays w/ Mitchell and Dolan again this season, that trio should continue to do good things that don’t show up on the score sheet, but often impact the outcome of the contest. Bendickson on the other hand is a player who I think is ready to make a dent in the offensive production of the Badgers. I first noticed Bendickson’s play during the second half of 06/07. He hustled every shift and that continued during 07/08. Bendy spent most of 07/08 on the 4th line, which limited his scoring chances, and he was a solid contributor on the PK. Somehow, someway, Bendy will take his game to another level this season.

Rounding out the junior forwards are Andy Bohmbach and Tom Bardis. W/ the strong incoming group of freshman forwards, both will likely be fighting for playing time this season. I don’t really know enough about Bardis to comment further, but what I saw from Bohmbach during late 07/08 impressed me. If he continues that this season he should see a lot of ice time. Similar to Grotting, he is not a scorer, but provides a “checking” line player who does some of the hard work that makes a team succeed.

I think in any class of players this big there are going to be surprises. For instance last season, as a sophomore Mitchell’s improvement was a huge surprise. As freshman, the play of Dolan and Patrick Johnson were not what I was expecting from them, they far exceeded it. How will it be this season? As I stated earlier, the play of the junior forwards is the first key to Wisconsin’s success this season. The Badgers lacked upperclassmen scoring from the forward position last season, w/ the exception of Street. These young men have been through 2 WCHA seasons, they know what to expect. While the sophomores and freshmen will contribute, if the junior class doesn’t show the way and put some goals up on the scoreboard, it could be another long season on offense.

Next week the attention turns to the veterans of one WCHA season, the sophomores. The other key to Wisconsin’s season will be discussed as this classes group of highly touted defensemen move into the spotlight.

Playing Catch-up

Since I've been AWOL for a couple of weeks, I thought I should do a little link-o-rama to post the random items that have escaped our attention here on the blog.

I have a number of links from HIW, which just goes to show that if you haven't been reading that blog, you probably should be.

• As you may be aware, Rene Bourque has been traded to the Flames. Regarding the acquisition, Flames GM Darryl Sutter said, "Rene is a young player with size who will play in our top nine forwards. He will be an important part of the remaking of our left side along with other young players already under contract."

• Blake Geoffrion has been making adjustments to his workout regimen and has been doing a lot of little extra things.

  "The biggest thing was that I got back in the weight room and got in the best shape I could,'' Geoffrion said. "There were a lot of little things, too — eating a lot healthier, working out hard and going in with a positive attitude at the beginning of a new year.''

  "I did all the extra little workouts after practice — putting pucks in from (close range) and putting shots upstairs,'' said Geoffrion, elected by teammates as one of Wisconsin's captains for the coming year. "I was always one of the shooters in goalie practice. All those things can be kind of annoying to do, but they really pay off and I really saw that this year.''
  

  I'm impressed by Geoffrion's attitude and work ethic, and I'm excited to see his game further elevated to another level this upcoming season.

• Mike Davies is now apparently off of goaltender Charlie Effinger's family Christmas list. Back home in St. Louis, Davies played in the Blues Future Stars scrimmage at the Scottrade Center, and he scored a goal off a face-off just after Effinger entered the game in the 2nd period. Davies reportedly had another nice scoring chance later in that period.

• Here's another nice article about Justin Schultz. (In case you missed it, Gandalf had recently posted this article about Schultz, and I had previously posted a nice little feature on him.)

• Derek Stepan participated in the NY Rangers Prospects Camp, and you can find video footage on Rangers NHL TV.

• The Daily Telegram has a nice article on Dave McNab and the Anaheim Ducks, asking the question "when did University of Wisconsin become an unofficial farm team of the Ducks?". McNab, a longtime assistant manager for the Ducks, was a goaltender for the Badgers 1973-78.

And here are some links that we haven't yet mentioned from Capobianco's blog:

• Curtis Joseph has been picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Says GM Cliff Fletcher, "Curtis will bring great character to the locker-room. We're going to have a lot of young players in there next year. His leadership will be invaluable.''


• Kyle Turris participated in the Coyotes camp, and you can watch an interview with KT on Coyotes NHL TV.

I also have some links from the LetsGoDU blog. This is not strictly related to Badger Hockey, but LetsGoDU has been doing a nice job following the David Carle story.

• David Carle story at ESPN.com
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often misdiagnosed
• David Carle: News, Notes & Articles