More on the NHL Draft and other stuff

The Edmonton Oilers top scout has some thoughts on Troy Hesketh that are worth checking out. He was highly regarded by the organization, and the Oilers give Coach Osiecki some props for the work he does recruiting and developing top blue liners at UW.

I was looking for something similar from the Nashville Predators about Craig Smith, but no luck. They mention Craig in this draft recap, and from their draft blog the Preds say the following about Craig:

"Decent size, good speed, high energy guy. Tremendous work ethic. We’ve always appreciated his speed and his work ethic and then this past year he was able to provide some offense for his team; that has really come along. We think he has a bright future. "

Congrats to Troy and Craig on being drafted in the NHL and having a dream come true.

On to the other stuff, Baggot mentions that all six new Badgers are on campus and getting ahead of the curve. The Men's Basketball team has had a successful summer program of having incoming players take summer classes to get use to school, the campus and the City, and Coach Eaves is following suit for the Hockey team. Justin Schultz and Derek Lee, as Canadians, need the classes to be allowed to come to campus to praticipate in the off season strength and conditions which is also occuring.

Over at HIW, Dplaya has the following snipet:

The incoming Freshmen are on campus practicing with the veterans from the UW Men's Hockey Team. I heard from a source today that Ryan McDonagh has an absolutely great work ethic and has returned to school at about 225 pounds and chiseled. I also hear that Craig Smith and John Ramage have looked great at practice thus far and have really stood out.

I love good news! Dplaya also mentions that Wes Wauters has made the Gamblers 30 man roster, and that another recruit and Gambler Sean Little has again broken his hand during a fight during the tryout camp. I'm excited to see Sean play again this season, to see how his role w/ the team expands. Last season he was a 4th line grinder, energy player, but he definately showed some skill too.

Zengerle stars in BCHL All-Star game

1st Star Zengerle (formerly known as Mark Zengerle) not only started for the Interior Conference in the BCHL All-Star game, but notched a playmaker (3 assists) in a losing effort, as the Interior Conference lost 13-5 to the Coastal Conference. Zengerle also won the fastest skater competition (thanks Dplaya for this link). Can we bring this kid in right now? I don't see how he doesn't somehow, someway find his way onto the roster at Wisconsin next season.

Justin Schutlz also starting for the Interior Conference, but didn't crack the scoresheet.

Dplaya @ HIW also has a link to an article about Wes Wauters. Word is he is being recruiting by Wisconsin likely for 2010 or 2011. Hoping he makes it to State this year so I can see him play in person.

Again, MASSIVE recruit update coming next week.

Linkorama

Not often I do one of these, but there is a lot to cover and most of it is odds and ends type stuff. One of these days 60 will return from her current hibernation, and the linkorama will return in full force.

• The Badger Women completed the sweep on sunday over Mankato 7-2. Kyla Sanders, Meghan Duggan and Brooke Ammerman each had 2 goals, while Angie Keseley made it 7 total. Jasmine Giles had a playmaker and Mallory Deluce had two assists in the winning effort. Other articles from the TCT and the Daily Cardinal.
• The Women remain #1 in all the land, and for your enjoyment get to know Meghan Duggan.
• There are several Badger Men weekend review type articles: Eaves press conference, TCT, Badger Blog (Lebler is a goon), Daily Cardinal and Badger Herald.
• Jake Gardiner was named WCHA co-Rookie of the Week, and I think its quite deserved.
• The Wisconsin Men have started a new streak in the USCHO poll, receiving votes again this week following the big sweep in the Showcase. The LetsGoDu SuperPoll has Wisconsin #6, and INCH puts UW at #20 in their power rankings. Notre Dame takes over the #1 spot. Jeff Jackson must promise those kids something to come play in that crappy facility.
• Thanks to Goon's blog for finding this video at Hockey Buzz. Toward the middle of the first episode of "Julie Loves Hockey", Julie talks about the Badger dmen being a large part of the scoring and the Badgers in general being goons for all the penalty minutes. Sure the Badgers are #2 in the nation in PIM/game, but does too many men on the ice really make players goons? A bonus is Julie is kinda cute and she likes hockey.
• Dpalya over at HIW is reporting that Wisconsin is interested in Ashwaubenon's Wes Wauters. Wes made an unofficial visit this past weekend. He is a senior this year, and was the 2nd leading scoring for Team Wisconsin in the HS Hockey Elite League (11th overall). I saw Wes play early in September in Verona, and he had a couple nice goals. Apparently several other DI schools are interested as well.
• If you remotely interested in WI HS Hockey head over to HIW and check out Dplaya's team previews. He's previewing 22 teams across the state, and has 21 of those up.
• The Waterloo paper had an article recently about future Badger Craig Smith. Craig has come a long way from his high school hockey days in Madison, to growing as a player in the USHL to being the Captain of Team USA at the Junior A Challenge (and all tourney honoree). The hype will continue until next October.
• Last but certainly not least, here is an article on one of my favorite Badger alums Tom Gilbert. After a slow start, Tommy is starting to put together another nice season w/ the Edmonton Oilers. About a week ago over on the Lowetide blog, Lowetide had quarter grades for all the Oilers players. Sounds like Tommy has been having to pick up the slack for a less than stellar blue line partner, much like last season.

Team Wisconsin weekend results

I've neglected TW a bit lately and failed to mention that last week TW Minor was were ranked #2 by both MyHockeyRankings and ushsho.

With a 7-3 victory over 8A/AA on Saturday and a 6-0 victory over Team North Dakota on Sunday, tdd informs me that TW Minor may be ranked #1 this week. (I think MyHockeyRankings will release their rankings tomorrow, and ushsho will release their rankings on Friday.) Nice job, boys!

On Saturday, TW Major lost to Minnesota N 5-4 and defeated Minnesota NW 7-4. On Sunday, TW Major tied Minnesote SE 2-2. Badger recruit Matt Paape had 2 goals and 3 assists on the weekend, and Badger recruit Cody Strang had 1 assist. Potential Badger recruit Wes Wauters had 2 goals and 4 assists.