Wednesday Morning Link Roundup

-I've been trying to do some more research to familiarize myself with recent 2011 forward recruit Joseph Labate (pictured) out of the Academy of Holy Angels in the twin cities. I came across this fantastic interview that he did with McKeens hockey. The interview gives some great insight to his game and the recruiting process. Note that the interview was done February 22nd. He doesn't even mention Wisconsin as an option in the interview but committed a mere 12 days later. Shows you how fast things can move in the recruiting world.

-As you are probably already aware the United States Hockey League completed it's "Futures Draft" last week and the only player with Wisconsin ties to be selected was Notre Dame Academy forward Jason Reynolds. The DePere, WI native was selected by the Youngstown Phantoms. The club recently put out a release detailing the players selected, this is what they had to say about Reynolds.

“Jason is the top ’95 born forward coming out of the state of Wisconsin right now,” said Koehler. “Reynolds is a true competitor and he is developing into a “coaches’ favorite”. As a sophomore - he is already the top center playing on one of the elite high school hockey teams is his state and producing well at a young age compared to other older junior and senior forwards in the state.”

-As first reported on this website, Hudson forward Ryan Dau has committed to play for the Air Force Academy. Dplaya at the WSN Hockey In Wisconsin blog interviewed Dau about his decision to play at a service academy. Dau is the fourth player from this past season's Team Wisconsin squad to commit to a division 1 college program. Dau is also the fourth player to come out of the Hudson program in the past decade to division 1. (Davis Drewiske, Jake Drewiske, and Andy Bohmbach are the others)

-Minnesota picked up a goaltender recruit from the USHL in Des Moines Buccaneers netminder Michael Shibrowski. He's actually a transfer from Colorado College but decided to go back to the USHL after it became apparent that Joe Howe was going to be the guy for the Tigers. This brings up an interesting situation for the Gophers because they currently have Muskegon (USHL) goalie Joel Vienneau scheduled to come in to replace departing senior Alex Kangas.

I can't imagine Minnesota rocking three scholarship goalies next year with Kent Patterson, Shibrowski and Vienneau (they also have walk on third stringer Jake Kramer). To make things more complicated they have Green Bay Gamblers goalie Adam Wilcox committed for 2012. If I had to guess, it would be that the Gophers have pulled Vienneau's offer. He played pretty bad in the USHL this season. Should be interesting to follow.

-Internet rumors that Green Bay Gamblers head coach Eric Rud was at Michigan Tech today to interview for their head coaching opening were confirmed by Wes Hodkiewicz from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Michigan Tech has reportedly already been turned down by Nebraska-Omaha head coach Dean Blais and Michigan assistant Mel Pearson. UNO assistant Mike Hastings has also interviewed for the position.

-Rumors are circulating from Grand Forks that North Dakota forwards Mike Cichy and Brett Bruneteau are considering transferring. According the rumors, Cichy is looking to transfer to Western Michigan in the CCHA, and Bruneteau to Vermont in Hockey East. Neither player saw much ice time for the Sioux last season so the news isn't entirely shocking.

I'll leave you with this little gem. Video of Wisconsin superstar forward Hilary scoring the game winning goal for Team USA in OT of the gold medal game at the IIHF Women's World Championships.



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Badgers bounce back, grab a point

Thought the team really battled on Saturday and probably deserved more than a point but that's hockey. Freshman Jefferson Dahl got his first career goal and many players had great games including Patrick Johnson. It's been a nice bounce back season for PJ.

WSJ (Baggot): Badgers salvage a tie against Minnesota
DailyCardinal.com (Evans): Badgers salvage a point from border battle series
BadgerHerald.com (Holt): Series feels familiar as Badgers earn 1 point
Star Tribune (Augustoviz): Badgers rally to salvage a tie with Gophers
UWBadgers.com: Badgers battle Gophers to a 3-3 tie
UWBadgers.com: Game Highlights
UWBadgers.com: Photos
UWBadgers.com: Post Game Quotes
UWBadgers.com: Post Game Presser
GopherSports.com: Gophers, Badgers skate to 3-3 tie
GopherPuckLive.com: Gophers earn tie, 3 point weekend
USCHO.com: Dahl's first collegiate goal helps Wisconsin tie Minnesota

BOX SCORE (Courtesy of USCHO.com)

First Period
Minnesota-1 Nate Condon (Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ness) PPG 13:06
Wisconsin-1 Justin Schultz (Michael Mersch, Podge Turnbull) 13:23

Second Period
Wisconsin-2 Patrick Johnson (Jake Gardiner, Frankie Simonelli) 3:25
Minnesota-2 Jake Hansen (Jacob Cepis, Cade Fairchild) 12:37

Third Period
Minnesota-3 Jacob Cepis (Cade Fairchild) 0:44
Wisconsin-3 Jefferson Dahl (Mark Zengerle, John Ramage) 3:06

Goaltenders
Minnesota-1 Kent Patterson (65:00 T) 7 9 15 1 = 32 (3 GA)
Wisconsin-1 Brett Bennett (65:00 T) 3 15 10 0 = 28 (3 GA)

Scores from around the WCHA Saturday:

North Dakota 3, St. Cloud 2
Bemidji State 2, Colorado College 1
Denver 5, Michigan Tech 1
Minnesota-Duluth 6, Minnesota State 2
Nebraska-Omaha 4, Alaska-Anchorage 1

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Minnesota hangs one on Bucky

You're never as good as you think you are, and you're never as bad as you think you are.

WSJ (Baggot): Badgers' home win streak is halted with loss to Minnesota
Star Tribune (Augustoviz): Scoring outburst continues as Gophers whip Badgers
UWBadgers.com: Badgers fall to rival Gophers 5-2
UWBadgers.com: Final Stats
UWBadgers.com: Highlights
UWBadgers.com: Post Game Press Conference
UWBadgers.com: Post Game Quotes
GopherSports.com: Gophers overwhelm Badgers, win in Madison
Gopher Puck Live: Gophers school Badgers 5-2 in Madison
USCHO.com: Gophers overwhelm Badgers

BOX SCORE (courtesy of USCHO)

First Period
Minnesota-1 Mike Hoeffel (Jacob Cepis, Aaron Ness) PPG 15:22

Second Period
Wisconsin-1 Jake Gardiner (Craig Smith, Justin Schultz) PPG 0:32
Minnesota-2 Jacob Cepis (Kevin Wehrs, Patrick White) 4x4 1:42
Minnesota-3 Taylor Matson (Mike Hoeffel, Aaron Ness) GWG PPG 3:31
Minnesota-4 Taylor Matson (Mark Alt, Max Gardiner) 18:40

Third Period
Minnesota-5 Patrick White (Erik Haula, Cade Fairchild) PPG 11:08
Wisconsin-2 Jordy Murray (Jake Gardiner, Justin Schultz) PPG 5x3 19:29

Goalies
Minnesota-1 Kent Patterson (60:00 W) 10 7 19 = 36 (2 GA)
Wisconsin-1 Scott Gudmandson (59:58 L) 7 9 11 = 27 (5 GA)

Scores from around the WCHA:
North Dakota 3, St. Cloud State 3
Colorado College 5, Bemidji State 5
Michigan Tech 3, Denver 2
Minnesota State 3, Minnesota Duluth 1
Alaska-Anchorage 3, Nebraska-Omaha 2

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Wisconsin 3 - Minnesota (Sucks) 2

Box Score

Quite the sloppy game at the Target Center tonight, but UW comes away with the victory. The Badgers had a lot of help from a two-goal performance by Craig Smith- who is doing his best to strengthen his case for the WCHA Freshman of the Year award.

I felt like it was a game with a lot of good and a lot of bad- like I said, this was a sloppy game. There were a lot of really bad, undisciplined penalties by both teams. The gophers took a lot of bad penalties in the first, and UW certainly returned the favor in the second. But, there was also a lot of good intensity and when the Badgers were passing well, they looked pretty darn good.

The rodents took the lead with a shortie off of a very poor turnover by Justin Schultz at the blueline. However, Schultz acquitted himself with a nicely excecuted power play, setting himself up at Wangas' weak side and getting an excellent pass from Michael Davies. In between these two goals, Craig Smith had tied the game with a very nice transition goal on the power play. Ben Street took an errant gopher shot that wound up back in the neutral zone, and dished it on up to Jordy Murray, who had Smith on Wangas' left side on an odd man rush.

Some controversy, as the rodents were on the disappointing end of three close calls/goal reviews. The first was a no-brainer: Goody got his stick back after a Jacob "I guess I should've transferred to UW" Cepis breakaway shot hit the crossbar and his leg. The second was tricky. Towards the end of a 5x3 power play, the gophers Mike Hoeffel thought he had banged a rebound past Goody, but he was determined to be in the crease. The differences between the college and NHL rules for crease violations aren't known by everyone- so I do understand the whining that is due to come from rodentsota- but the facts are the facts: the rules dicate that it was a crease violation, thus no goal. Unless the refs just had the rule wrong. But that's crazy talk. I mean, it's not like a WCHA ref would ever screw up a replay. Right?

The third was a close call, after tying the game off of the faceoff in the third, the goofs thought they had a goal, but the net had clearly come off its moorings beforehand, much to Don Lucia's chagrin. Frankly, all three of these "controveries" are pretty open and shut if you ask me, so the outcry ought to be pretty small.

UW broke the tie late in the game with Craig Smith's second goal. Captain Kickass gave a nice feed from the boards to Smith, who sat uncontested just behind the hash marks. Smith had plenty of time to settle the puck and fired a twisted wrister past Kangas for the GWG.

Under the cover of night, another WCHA team bumps players to 2010

As a Badger fan, one of the regular comments left by fans of lesser teams always revolves around Eaves and company bumping back players a year. This year, unfortunately Tyler Barnes was asked to come in in 2010 instead of joining the Badgers this year as planned. Much was made by gopher fans who apparently know every kid in their state about how Eaves was screwing this kid over and had he know this was going to happen, he wouldn't have verballed to UW.

Well gopher fans, I want you to tell me then how Nate Condon and Jake Youso feel right now. Both were 2009 gopher recruits before tDon had to pull the rug out from under them and tell them sorry but you'll have to wait another year to wear that ugly jersey. I wonder if they wish they would have left their commitment open and went somewhere else where NHL GM's aren't criticizing the progression of their draft picks and pushing players back since minnesota currently has so many untalented hacks that NHL teams don't want to bring them in.

Chris Heisenberg's recruiting blog provides all the proof that is needed. Take a look first at his final 2008 recruit spreadsheet and scroll down to minnesota. Condon and Youso are both listed as 2009 recruits, now look again at the 2009 recruit spreadsheet where Youso is now a 2010 recruit, Condon is listed as 2009, but if you are brave enough to link over and endure the utter horror of the gopher website you won't find Nate Condon on the roster. Instead you'll find Nate Condon on the Fargo Force USHL roster. Even better if you look again at the 2008 spreadsheet Nick Leddy is listed as a 2009 OR 2010 recruit. Sure he is a dman while Condon and Youso are forwards, but these little details have never stopped Badger haters from jacking Eaves for pushing off a year X OR year Y kid for another player to add to the roster.

I'm in no way saying that Eaves hasn't made a few poor decisions on the recruiting front w/ stockpiling players and bringing in guys like Bardis who weren't going to crack the lineup taking up spots on the roster, but Eaves isn't the only one guilty of pushing players back. Before gopher fans come over here on their high horse to bash Bucky's recruiting practices, maybe its time to take a look in the mirror (if your mom will let you out of the basement to look at one) and see your golden program and moron coach are guilty of the same crimes you decry others of committing.

WCHA Previews: minnesota

School: minnesota
Mascot: imbecilic smiling golden ground squirrel
Head Coach: Don Lucia, 10th year, 239-113-38

Last Season: 9-12-7, 7th place WCHA; 19-17-9 Overall

Predicted 08/09 WCHA Finish: 6th

Key Departures:
F Blake Wheeler, 15-20-35*
F Ben Gordon, 15-14-29
F Mike Howe, 7-14-21
D Derek Peltier, 4-17-21
G Jeff Frazee, 6-7-0, 2.93 GAA**
*All stats listed from 07/08
** Sarcasm intended

Key Returnees:
F Jay Barriball (Jr), 6-15-21
F Mike Hoeffel (So), 9-10-19
F Tony Lucia (Jr), 7-11-18
F Ryan Flynn (Jr), 4-11-15
D Cade Fairchild (So), 2-13-15

Top Sieve:
Alex Kangas (So), 12-10-9, 1.98 GAA

Key Additions:
D Aaron Ness (HS), 38-44-72, 2008 Mr. Hockey
F Jordan Schroeder (NTDP), 22-31-55
F Jake Hansen (USHL), 31-27-58
D Sam Lofquist (NTDP), 7-9-16

When Wisconsin Beats UM: KC 10/24 & 10/25, @ UM 2/6 & 2/7

07/08 Recap: minnesota struggled last season, and the rest of the WCHA enjoyed watching the powerhouse flounder in the bottom half of the conference. minnesota started things off on the right foot by falling way behind in the season opener to Rensselaer, only to be bailed out by biased officiating at a home tournament. At mid-season, Kyle Okposo left and joined the NY Islanders organization, depriving Minnesota of one of their top players and creating a storm of harsh words, including a critical critique of Don Lucia by Islanders GM Garth Snow. Around the same time, Jeff Frazee was benched for poor play in net, and in stepped Alex Kangas. There was a lot of talk about how great Kangas played in the 2nd half of the season, mainly by experts like Mazdorko and Woog. I wasn’t impressed though. Down the stretch minnesota did poorly against good teams (Denver and North Dakota) and feasted off of poor teams (UAA and Duluth). They stumbled into the WCHA Playoffs where they caught fire and made it to the final only to lose to Denver in front of a home audience at a “neutral” site. The WCHA Playoff surge landed them in the NCAA tourney where Boston College dispatched them in the 1st round on its way to the National Championship. Following the season assistant coach Mike Guentzel resigned, and rumors swirled that he was forced out as a scape goat for a poor season. If you are going to let someone go, why not convince FSN to let moron Kevin Gorg walk.

08/09 Thoughts: I originally had minnesota to finish 4th in the WCHA, but then in researching them I realized how much scoring they lost and how young the team will be. Four of their top five scorers are gone, and they struggled last season to score goals. Sure Kangas is back in net, but so what? He won’t be the first talented goalie to arrive in the Twin Cities only to leave a huge sieve. No doubt that minnesota has talented players, but they are very young. Included in this mix is a HUGE freshman class, bigger than either Wisconsin has brought in the last two years, which has to assimilate. At the end of the day, minnesota could easily finish higher in the WCHA standings if they pull it all together. The rest of the WCHA won’t shed any tears if minnesota has to travel again for the WCHA playoffs.