A few more items . . .

• Part 2 on Scanlon's interview with Badger Women's Hockey interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser indicates that the 2 vacant assistant coaching positions for this season have been filled:
  

  With respect to the upcoming season, I will be surrounded by another solid, albeit new staff, that is looking forward to the challenge ahead. Fortunately, both coaches have ties to Badger Hockey so it should be a pretty seamless transition since they’re familiar with the UW campus and the rest of our support staff.

  Not sure who the 2 coaches are. Names that have been mentioned by the lunatic fringe include Phoebe (Monteleone) Turner (F, 2003-07) and Jackie Friesen (F, 2001-05).
  
  Another name that had been mentioned is Tom Osiecki, but it's not surprising that he's been named interim assistant for the gopher women while Natalie Darwitz is with the US National Team. (Thanks to the kids on the uscho women's forum for the link.)
  

• In other WCHA coaching news, Scott Sandelin has received a 2-year contract extension at UMD. Going into (and during) last season, I thought he might be on the hot seat soon if the chumps didn't have a good season, and a 7th-place WCHA finish wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But when they defeated Princeton 5-4 in OT in the West Regional semifinal, I said to myself "Congratulations, Scotty, your boys just kept you from soon being out of a job". A bit simplistic on my part, perhaps, but it's the first thing that jumped into my head.
  
  
• Hockey's future released their Oilers' draft review this afternoon, including their take on future Badger Troy Hesketh:
  

  Troy Hesketh, D
  6’2 178 lbs, Minnetonka Skippers
  3rd Round, 71st Overall
  
  With their third pick in this year’s entry draft the Oilers took high school defenseman Troy Hesketh. Hesketh was unranked by Central Scouting for the draft. Critics of this pick, and there have been many, argue that Edmonton took a flyer on the young defenseman way too early in the draft. But a perceived competition for his services made him the 71st pick.
  
  Hesketh’s biggest asset is his size. At just under 18 years old, the Oilers feel Hesketh has the potential to develop into a hefty 6’4 blue liner. With the Skippers, Hesketh plays in all situations including the power play. Despite the heavy ice time, his numbers are not great given that he is playing at a lower level than many other players in this year’s draft.
  
  One advantage both Hesketh and the Oilers have is that there is absolutely no rush for him to develop. Hesketh has committed to playing his NCAA hockey at the University of Wisconsin, however, he hasn’t yet started his senior year of high school. Hesketh is a boom or bust type prospect that the Oilers will give every opportunity to develop properly.

  I think it's a bit unfair to judge a stay-at-home defensemen on his numbers. Hesketh isn't one of those players who's going to put up a ton of numbers. Now, that's not to say that he'll be a liability for the generation of offense -- interviews indicate that he understands the importance of a good 1st pass out of the defensive zone to generate offense, and he's not unwilling to jump into an offensive play when appropriate. Plus, he sounds like a very smart player, and that's always a good thing.
  

• The NHLPA is advising NHL players not to participate in any on-ice activities at the various Olympic orientation camps. Something about "unwarranted and unnecessary risk" and insurance concerns.
  

  The NHLPA doesn't believe the federations are providing enough insurance to cover players' current contracts and potential future earning power in the event of an injury.

  Badgers at the US Olympic camp include Tom Gilbert, Joe Pavelski, Ryan Suter, and Brian Rafalski. Dany Heatley is the sole Badger representative at Canada's Olympic camp

• Coming Down the Pipe had an interview last Tuesday with Preds' scout Rich Knickle. With 2 Badgers drafted recently by the Preds -- Craig Smith this year and Blake Geoffrion in 2006 -- it's interesting to hear from one of their scouts, even if it's just generalized information on one particular scout's scouting philosophy. Knickle, who scouts the WHL for the Preds, stresses the importance of hockey sense in a prospect. He also mentions that, in general, the Preds are not an organization that rushes players up the the NHL because they want the players to succeed.
  

Saturday afternoon catch-up

It's time for me to catch up on some things that have accumulated over the last week or so.

• First, props to DPlaya for finding yesterday's Windsor Star article indicating that the Windsor Spitfires are still pursuing and "keeping a close eye on" future Badger Jordan Schmaltz. Apparently the Spitfires selected him in the 7th-round of this year's OHL draft. It seems to me that the OHL likes to talk a lot, and so I don't pay a whole lot of attention in most cases, but I simply list it as an item of interest.
  

  “He doesn’t know a lot about the OHL, but he’s quite a player,” Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel said. “I would say he’ll likely not be here this season, but maybe next year.”

• Mike Chambers of the Denver Post has WCHA head coach salaries, and Mike Eaves is near the top of the list with a 2008-09 salary of $229,511. It's difficult to put the salaries in exact order, as only 2007-08 (rather than 08-09) salaries are listed for Lucia and Hakstol, and Scott Owens salary isn't given. Puck Swami reminds us that the salaries listed don't take into consideration performance bonuses, hockey camp income, TV/radio show income, and other compensation package perks. UPDATE: Gwozdecky says that his salary listed in Chambers' original post includes incentive-based compensation, whereas the other salaries listed are base salaries He further says that his base salary places him 5th in the WCHA.
  


• Earlier this week, Badger alumni Robbie Earl and Joe Piskula accepted qualifying offers from their respective clubs. Earl signed a 1-year deal for $550,000 with the Minnesota Wild, and Piskula signed a 1-year deal for $650,000 with the LA Kings (contract values per CapGeek).
  
  Speaking of Joe Piskula, I see that his Hockey's Future profile was last updated in March of this past year. While I don't know how subsequent transactions have affected things since then, at that time HF made the following statement about Piskula's position in the Kings' system:
  

  Piskula is a defensive defenseman with good size. For a man who is 6’3/212, he skates remarkably well with deceptive speed and can move the puck quite effectively. His smart, sound defensive zone play and great mobility are two of Piskula’s attributes that have gotten many in the scouting community taking notice.

• On July 2, the Charlotte Checkers announced that they made a qualifying offer to Badger alum Matt Ford. I haven't seen anything since then about whether he accepted or declined the offer.
  
  
• Hockey's Future has released their Nashville Predator's draft review on Thursday, including of course their take on incoming Badger Craig Smith:
  

  Craig Smith, C – USHL Waterloo
  98th Overall 4th Round
  6’1 189 lbs
  September 5, 1989 Madison, Wisconsin
  
  An over-ager not ranked by Central Scouting at midseason, Smith’s game saw improvement in the second half, as he finished ranked 177th among North American skaters.
  
  Smith is a hard-hitting center with strong offensive abilities, though he does have a tendency to take many penalties. Through 54 games with Waterloo of the USHL, a team that Smith captained, he scored 28 goals and 48 assists, with 108 penalty minutes. In three playoff games, Smith recorded four points and 26 penalty minutes.
  
  Smith played for the East Division at the 2008 USHL All-Star game, and also captained Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, winning the gold medal.
  
  Smith will be attending the University of Wisconsin next season.

• Last week, Schlossman listed some 1st-round draft picks that will need to make decisions in the next month or so, and he included Ryan McDonagh as needing to make a decision between returning to the Badgers or signing with the Rangers. I'm curious as to what prompted Schlossman to include McDonagh.
  


• In the same post, following up the assertion by Sioux Women's head coach Brian Idalski that the Sioux are "on the radar of a lot of top players in the country", Schlossman indicates that potential Badger recruit Amanda Kessel might be looking at UND. On one hand, I chalk this up as Idalski promoting his program, but on the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if top recruits are starting to consider UND a bit more -- UND seems to be a team on the rise, showing improvement last season over previous seasons and landing the Lamoreux twins as transfers from minnesota. (Unlike new Badger Geena Prough, the twins will have to sit out this season because they transferred within the WCHA.) As far as Kessel goes, I haven't heard much chatter about where she might end up collegiately.

• NHL.com has released their list of North American Players to Watch for the 2010 NHL draft. WCH says, "It's a pretty good start to the list, though apparently they didn't get out to see the NTDP U-17 team last year, since a number of those kids should factor into the draft somewhere." No future Badgers on the list yet. Hayward's Nolan Kirley (about whom I know absolutely nothing) is included as a "B list" player and is the sole WI player on the list.

Swapping Badgers?

Well, I guess it depends on whether you consider defenseman Nigel Williams a Badger or not. Seeing as he didn't even stay a full season (heck, he didn't even make it to Christmas break) before bolting for the OHL, I'd say it's stretching things "just a bit". He played in just 1 game for the Badgers. But even if you don't consider him a Badger (and honestly I don't, although I have no hard feelings toward him), he's still a player of interest to Badger fans, I think. (At the very least, I know HatchetJoe will be interested.) After 2 years in the O, Williams played last season with the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters (Colorado Avalanche affiliate).

There's no argument about Brian Fahey being a Badger. He played 4 years on the Badgers' blueline (1999-2003). He's spent most of his professional career in the AHL, with a couple of stints in the ECHL. Most recently, he spent last year with the Hartford Wolfpack (NY Rangers affiliate) and the 2 prior years with the Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers affiliate).

Anyway, the point of this post --the New York Rangers have traded Brian Fahey to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Nigel Williams. (Thanks to "anonymouse" for the heads-up.)

Meet Your 2009-10 Wisconsin Badgers

Uwbadgers.com has released the Badger Women's roster and bios for the upcoming season.

A couple of jersey changes this year:

• Maria Evans will be wearing #3 (formerly #14)
• Olivia Jakiel will be wearing # 13 (formerly #3)
• Carla Pentimone will be wearing #14 (formerly #18)
  

Looks like Pentimone, who transferred from Sacred Heart last year, did obtain a redshirt for last season as speculated. I think the only game she played in last year was the exhibition game v. the US Select Team.

I don't see Mercyhurst transfer Geena Prough on the roster, but WHKY blogger tells me that Prough doesn't officially become a Badger until Fall and so the team won't comment on her 'til then. (Thanks, blogger!)

The roster includes 8 freshman:
G: 30 Becca Ruegsegger
D: 5 Stephanie McKeough, 15 Alev Kelter, 16 Saige Pacholok
F: 10 Derya Kelter, 18 Brianna Decker, 19 Breann Frykas, 21 Lauren Unser

I should also point out that apparently Alev and Derya Kelter's last name is actually Kelter Perusse, and although they go by Kelter, they're listed on the roster as Perusse. Also, Alev goes by her middle name (her bio lists her first name as Leyla).

Badger Women's Hockey linkorama

• Senior forward Jasmine Giles has been named captain of the 2009-2010 Badgers. Senior forwards Kyla Sanders and Emily Kranz will serve as alternate captains.

• Part 2 of Scanlon's interview with interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser is now available. This time she talks about the upcoming Badger season, recruiting, and differences between the women's and men's games.

• Six Badgers will be participating in Canada's U22 Selection Camp: sophomore D Brittany Haverstock, freshman D Stefanie McKeough, freshman D Saige Pacholok, junior F Mallory Deluce, sophomore F Carolyne Prévost, and freshman F Breann Frykas. Badger alumna Bobbie Jo Slusar was invited to participate but was unable to attend. The camp runs Aug 7 - Aug 14.
  
  Roster, schedule

• There's a new website devoted to Badger women's hockey -- it's called Wisconsin Women's Hockey, and it's run by Adam Augustine, who has worked for 7 years in various capacities with the men's and women's Badger hockey programs, most recently as video coordinator for the women. The site is in it's infancy, but I'm a fan of anyone who offers Badger Hockey highlight videos . . .
  
  Today, he tells us why Jessie Vetter is better than everyone else and offers us a Vetter career highlight video. Earlier this week he offered us goals from the 2009 Championship Game (5-0 victory over Mercyhurst) and some of the best goals of 2008-09.

Schmaltz, Racino, McCabe Named To U-17 Select Team

Wisconsin natives Jordan Schmaltz (Verona, 2012 Badger Recruit), Alex Racino (Merrill), and Jake McCabe (Eau Claire Memorial) have been named to the 2009 U.S. Under-17 Select Team.

According to the press release, "Twenty players who participated at USA Hockey's Boys' Select 16 Player Development Camp have been selected for the 2009 U.S. Under-17 Select Team that will compete at the 2009 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament from Aug. 18-22, in Fussen, Germany."

Schmaltz, which has already been noted, has already committed to Wisconsin. McCabe has been talked up quite a bit on this blog and has visited the UW and is also considering a host of schools including UNO, UMD, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Racino is a bit of an enigma at this point. The talent is there for Racino, but he's not likely a player that UW will target.

Posting the cat

I don't have much news today, nor do I have much time, and so instead I'll simply leave you with a favorite picture of mine . . . (I promise to never stoop to posting pictures of my own cats . . .)

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this . . .

With future Badger Troy Hesketh drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, I stop by Guy Flaming's and Dean Millard's blog Coming Down the Pipe on a pretty regular basis, as they do a fantastic job covering Edmonton's prospects. And this evening, Millard posted 5 rookies to watch for in the AHL. I wasn't expecting any Badgers, as the Badgers don't have any players besides McBain (that I'm aware of) joining the professional ranks as rookies this season. (And while I like McBain a lot, 5 is an awfully short list to make.)

So imagine my surprise to see Ryan McDonagh at #4 . . .

4. Ryan McDonagh-Defence-New York Rangers
Will the Rangers ask Mcdonagh to leave Wisconsin after 2 years and turn pro? That's what I'm banking on with him on this list. The blueliner was involved in the trade that send Scott Gomez to Montreal and New York might want to get his pro career started. With Bobby Sanguinetti likely graduating to the big club this year there will be an opening on the blueline with the farm.

There hadn't really been any chatter about McD leaving early once it was relatively established that everyone but McBain was returning. But of course McD's situation may have changed now that a different team holds his rights, and that's something I didn't really think about until now. I don't follow the Rangers at all, so I have no clue regarding their player development philosophies or how much they might be itching to get him into the professional ranks. I suppose we won't know anything for certain until the first day of practice.

Damn you, Millard! Now I get to worry about this for the rest of the offseason. Didn't you know that McDonagh is one of the players I'm most excited about seeing back with the Badgers this season?

UPDATE: In response to my comments/questions on their blog post, Flaming respondes as follows:

I know the Rangers have a lot of solid looking defence prospects so I actually don't know if there would be a big rush to bring him out of college.

I'll let you know if Millard responds.

A few Tuesday evening links

• First off, I've had several posts today, and I'm afraid that I've bumped Chuck's USA Hockey Select 17 Recap down the page. So I thought I'd start out linking it here so that no one misses it.

• DJ Powers of Hockey's Future is covering the DU Pioneers Alumni team at the Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament (Santa Rosa, CA) for LetsGoDU. She was kind enough to pass on to me that Danny Geoffrion (Blake's father) is competing with the Nashville Old Notes. The Nashville team plays in a different age division than the DU Alum team, but DJ tells me that she hopes to see Nashville play on Wednesday when their group (50C) begins tournament play. And she said she'd let us know if she does. Thanks, DJ!
  
  By the way, DJ also tells us that Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson is playing for the Michigan Wolverines team.

• The other day, someone found our site by googling Matt Doman. So, (naturally!) I googled Matt Doman as well. I knew he was head coach of the Stillwater Bantam A program, but I didn't know that he's President and a Head Trainer of The EDGE Performance Hockey Training Center.
  
  And taking a look at the "Trainers" section of their website, I found that John Funk is also Director of Hockey Operations and a Head Trainer. His bio indicates that last year he coached St. Thomas Academy to the state championship and that he's currently Head Coach of the Stillwater Pee Wee A team and the Player Development Coordinator for the Stillwater Area Hockey Association. So if you wondered where John Funk had gotten off to, now you know!
  
  Here's an article about Doman and Funk co-founding the center.
  
  Oh, and scrolling down the trainers section, I also see that former Badger assistant coach Troy Ward is on their staff. Ward is also currently an assistant coach and assistant GM for the AHL's Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild affiliate).

• In an interview at the Caps development camp, Joe Finley looks a little uncomfortable about being asked about slashing Bucky. Plus he sounds like a dumbass. (Skip to 7:55 or so of the interview.)
  

• Registration is open for the 6th Annual USA Hockey / Labatt Blue Adult Pond Hockey Tournament in Eagle River, WI (Feb 12-14, 2010).

• I can't seem to get away from the Dale Tallon news today, even though it's not necessarily Badger-related news. (But like I said previously, with several Badgers in the Blackhawks system, I find this to be an item of interest.) The Illegal Curve isn't surprised that Tallon was reassigned, but rather by the timing of everything. TSN says that the RFA qualifying offers blunder was not a major factor in the reassignment, and The Hockey News backs that up with some analysis of the RFA contracts.
  
  The Blackhawks website has several clips from today's presser -- Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4, Clip 5, Clip 6.
  

Chris Chelios / Dany Heatley

About a week ago, Ma 60 asked me if I thought anyone was going to pick up Chris Chelios. The prevailing opinion seems to be "no". But someone at the Bleacher Report would like Cheli back in Chicago, so I thought I'd better provide the link for Ma.

I also thought Ma might like this picture of Chelios that I found when I stumbled upon Steph's Chris Chelios Page. When he was young. Before his face looked like leather. Wow.






-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dany Heatley Saga continues. A few days ago (July 9), Bob Stauffer told us why he thought the Oilers should continue to pursue Heatley.

On July 11, Dan Barnes at the Edmonton Journal indicated that the Oilers haven't given up on Heatley but that the "sniper's trade demands might not be satisfied until September, or later." Jonathan Willis of Oilers Nation, cranky about the stand-still and the various updates/non-updates in the media, begged someone/anyone to make this stop.

Now Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun tells us today that the Oilers' patience is wearing thin and that "Edmonton could go in another direction as early as today if Heatley won't agree to a trade." David Staples responds to this by saying it doesn't matter whether or not the Oilers are losing patience because "Heatley ain't coming here and he never, ever was coming here". Lowetide expresses relief that the matter might finally be coming to an end. Willis, however, still believes the Oilers are in ardent pursuit of Heatley.

Mike Chen of Foxsports says Heatley needs an attitude adjustment, but Senators teammate Daniel Alfredsson disagrees. He doesn't know why Heatley demanded a trade, but he'd like to talk to him about it. He further indicates that if Heatley wants to return to the Senators he doesn't see it as a big problem for the team, saying that it will be easier for the players to welcome him back that for the media and fans. The Universal Cynic says that, in the end, it won't be all that hard for the fans, either.

Bowman replaces Tallon as GM: press conference at 3PM

Bowman's now GM
Tallon has a new title
Senior Advisor

Were those late offers
To free agents, the straw that
Broke McDonagh's back?

The above is a haiku offered by the Chicago Sports in Haiku blog. Who knew such a site existed? (Don't expect me to start writing Badger Haiku; I've never been good with that sort of thing.)

Anyway, the Chicago Blackhawks have made an official announcement on their website. Stan Bowman is the new GM. And rather than being fired, Dale Tallon has been reassigned to Senior Adviser, Hockey Operations. There will be a live press conference available on the Hawks website at 3PM CT today.

Meanwhile, I have a few more links for you:

• In case you missed it when I added them to last night's post, here are Mirtle's and Puck Daddy's posts.
  

• Mirtle also reports that former Hawk Matin Havlat is making some cryptic comments on twitter about Tallon's reassignment.

• The Hawks website has a feature video with the Bowmans from the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal.

• The Second City Hockey blog expresses their displeasure with the recent events.

USA Hockey Select 17 Recap

Been pretty busy so I haven't really had time to update you guys on the USA Hockey Select 17 Festival that took place over the past week. In case you weren't aware, Wisconsin sent C.J. Eick (Green Bay Jr. Gamblers), Aaron Harstad (Green Bay Gamblers, Colorado College Recruit), Jose Delgadillo (Milwaukee Jr. Admirals), and Garrett Allen (Team Illinois).

Here's a little bit about each player and how they fared at camp:

C.J. Eick: Eick is a solid player who played his junior season with the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers. Eick won't be heading back there this season as he's choosing between playing with Team Wisconsin, or the St. Louis Bandits in the NAHL. Eick played a couple of games in the USHL last season and should have been drafted this year. He's had contact from Wisconsin, Mercyhurst, and Air Force. Eick, who stands 5'10, 165 had 67 points in 50 games last season for the Jr. Gamblers. At camp, Eick recorded a goal and an assist through 5 games.


Aaron Harstad: Harstad is an outstanding defenseman from Stevens Point. Harstad played his Junior year for the Panthers of S.P.A.S.H as well as Team Wisconsin, and finished up the season playing 10 games with the Green Bay Gamblers who now hold his rights. He will play his senior season with the Gamblers. Harstad who stands 6'1, 165 has committed to Colorado College for the 2011 season. Harstad did not record a point while he was at camp, but he was invited to the "All Star Game."


Jose Delgadillo: Delgadillo is a defenseman from the Milwaukee area who has really blown up over the past season. Delgadillo, is a slick skater who has a ton of potential. He was drafted this spring in the NAHL draft by the expansion Janesville Jets. Delgadillo played last season with the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals minor program and is still deciding where he will play this upcoming season. Delgadillo recorded 3 assists while at camp. He lists Wisconsin, Miami of Ohio, and Maine as his top 3 college destinations.


Garrett Allen: Allen is an interesting prospect to me. I have yet to see him play but there could not be a wider variety of opinions on him. I've talked with people who have been pretty disappointed, while others have raved about him after watching him. He played last season for Team Illinois Midget Majors and recorded 31 points in 44 games. At camp he had 5 goals and 2 assists in 5 games. The 5'10, 155 lb forward is going to have to improve his overall consistency to play at the next level. Allen, like Harstad, was invited to the "All Star Game."

Dale Tallon fired

Not necessarily Badger news, I know, but as the Hawks have a number of Badgers in their system, I found it to be an item of interest.

Dale Tallon has been fired as the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks. Assistant GM Stan Bowman (Scotty's son) is taking over the reigns as new GM, effective immediately. (Thanks to TheThirdManIn for the heads-up.)

By the way, Eklund had this as a rumor this morning, and lookie, it actually happened. Who would've thunk?

EDITED TO ADD: Myles pointed out to me that this has "Scotty Bowman" written all over it, and he's not the only person who thinks so (not that I doubted Myles). Here's an interesting blog post from 7/5/09 titled "Dale Tallon Dodging the Chopping Block". It includes links to a couple of interesting articles after Savard was fired.

MORE ETAs: Mirtle's post on the firing is a good read, as is Puck Daddy's.

The Foul Balls blog weighs in with their simultaneous suprise yet lack of shock at the news.

And The Daily Herald give us some insight into the firing, indicating that there have been concerns over Tallon's ability to address this summer's salary cap issues:

There have been whispers in the last year that management questioned whether Tallon could navigate the team through the salary cap issues that were going to present themselves this summer and next when Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith need to be re-signed.

It was also Tallon who signed Dustin Byfuglien to a three-year, $9 million contract before last season that surprised many executives around the league because of the money involved. Another problem contract was Brent Sopel's extension that runs through 2010-11 with a cap hit of more than $2 million for a sixth or seventh defenseman.

The article further indicates (again, just like Myles told me) that, while the RFA blunder is being used as a reason for the firing, it might just be more of an excuse than the actual impetus for the decision:

Tallon was one of last holdovers from the Bill Wirtz regime, which led some to question if he would receive a contract extension despite putting together one of the best young teams in the NHL, mostly through the draft.

According to a source close to the situation, McDonough and Al MacIsacc, the senior director of hockey administration and assistant to the president, might have been looking for a reason to dismiss Tallon, which the restricted free agent blunder provided.

Jessie Vetter / Tracey DeKeyser

• Madison Magazine has published their "Best of Madison '09" issue, and Jessie Vetter received an Editors Choice Award: "Best in Monona Grove to best in the nation to best in the world? Could be. Of this we're certain: Jessie Vetter is Best of Madison."

• Del Scanlon of WSN has a 2-part interview with Badger Women's interim head coach Tracey (Cornell) DeKeyser. In Part 1, DeKeyser talks about girls youth hockey in Wisconsin. Good stuff!

Coach Johnson makes Top 15 Badger Moments

As you know, uwbadgers.com is listing the Top 15 Badger Moments of 2008-09, and Mark Johnson's being named head coach of the Team USA 2010 Women's Hockey Olympic Team puts him #7 on the list. (He shares the spot with Men's Basketball Head Coach Bo Ryan, who was named head coach of Team USA's men's basketball team for the 2009 University Games.)

That's back-to-back Badger Hockey moments, as Jamie McBain's performance from the blueline put him #8.

Saturday evening linkorama

• Blake Geoffrion gets some camera time in the "Day 5" video of the Preds development camp. Geoffrion scored the shootout winner in the final drill of the day.

• This is over a week old, but somehow I missed this interview with Ryan Suter regarding his invitation to the US Olympic Orientation Camp in August.

• Jonathan and Derek over at the Copper & Blue are ranking the Oilers' top 25 prospects, and Troy Hesketh comes in at #23.
  

  23. Troy Hesketh
  
  Strengths: He's a high school kid playing weak competition, so his strengths are purely physical - he has good size and footspeed.
  
  Weaknesses: Has not played high level hockey, he's extremely light. He has a long way to go to have a chance.
  
  Seal Value: A couple of years in a solid college program and he has a long, quiet career like...Tom Kurvers

• Guy Flaming and Dean Millard have listed our blog over on their Coming Down the Pipe site as a Pipeline Pal (NCAA). My reaction is similar to when Mirtle stopped by and actually left a comment here or when Todd Milewski linked one of our posts on his blog: I feel famous.

• While waiting for the official Team Wisconsin Major and Minor rosters, DPlaya has the projected rosters.

• Chris at The Third Man In has the Rockford Icehogs projected lines. He includes Jack Skille as RW on the top line and Jake Dowell as the center on the 3rd line, although he says, "Either [Colin] Fraser or Dowell will be kept around Chicago as the extra forward."

• I seem to be the only person who counts to 12 when counting Badger players at the USA Hockey Women's National Festival. Uwbadgers.com counts 11 but doesn't include Geena Prough, who is transferring to UW from Mercyhurst this season. (On the women's side, as long as they're transferring to a different conference, they don't need to sit out a year.)
  
  BTD counts 11 but doesn't include Chanda Gunn. (I suppose since Chanda finished her collegiate hockey career at Northeastern that she's more accurately a Husky, so I can't fault BTD, but nubeetle has won me over in considering her a Badger, so I'm still going with 12.) If you're interested in where the camp invitees are from, BTD breaks down the roster by league representation, collegiate representation, and home state representation.
  
  Scanlon counts 11, but I'm not sure which of Prough/Gunn he's counting or leaving out. But he has a nice little synopsis for the other 10 players, so go ahead and take a look. By the way, Scanlon links Kerry Weiland's website in his post, and it has some pretty nice pictures.
  

• Badger fans might be amused by this Don Lucia quote regarding gopher Patrick White:
  

  "The biggest issue is he's got to learn to compete harder one on one. He's a really nice kid, great student, comes from a wonderful family, but ‘Mr. Nice Guy' has got to go away when he steps on the ice. When he learns to battle consistently he'll take a step as a player. That's been his struggle over two years. We've talked to him about it. He understands it."

  I can't imagine that I really need to explain to Badger fans why I think this is funny. Of course I'm sure my amusement will be either misconstrued or overreacted to by readers who are not members of our target audience, but I still can't figure out what those readers are doing here in the 1st place. (Thanks to goon for pointing out the article, although I'm certain that he didn't do so for my amusement, lol.)
  

More on Geoffrion and Smith @ the development camps

A couple more links regarding Blake Geoffrion @ the Nashville Predators development camp:

• Glennon (Tennessean): Day 2 at the prospect camp: Who's making an impression?
  

  Forward Brent Geoffrion showed some nice vision during the day’s last drill, when he was stationed as a "designated passer" for two teammates that were going head-to-head against two other players.
  
  Geoffrion made three nice feeds into the slot, resulting in goals for defensemen Roman Josi, Jeff Foss and Teemu Laakso.

• Felder (HockeyBuzz): A Nice Day to Watch Prospects -- Day 1 of on-ice sessions
  

  Felder - “What types of things have you been trying to focus in on for you during this prospect camp?”
  
  Blake Geoffrion - “Just trying to get better each and every day. We talk a lot about mental toughness and there’s a lot more to the NHL these days. Obviously its on the ice but there’s a lot more physical and mental preparation off the ice. Just trying to learn from those.”
  
  Felder - “You’re coming off an injured season. How are things progressing?”
  
  Geoffrion - “Oh I feel great. This is actually the best I’ve felt because of the injuries that I’ve had and the surgeries I’ve had I feel unbelievably strong and I feel great right now.”
  
  Felder - “Being in a leadership role at Wisconsin, do you feel like that’s able to translate here as you help the newer guys at the Development Camp?”
  
  Geoffrion - “Absolutely. I had a lot of experience with that this year at Wisconsin being a captain and a junior captain. I guess the biggest thing I learned as a leader this year is to make guys feel comfortable and apart of the team as they come in. Meeting Ryan Ellis here and Zach Budish and those guys, I told them to relax, have fun, and enjoy it.”

• McCann (HockeyBuzz): Development camp on ice session observations
  

  Blake Geoffrion – I have to say… it’s funny to watch a kid you saw play as a nine year old actually be part of a professional camp. It may be commonplace in Canada, but it isn’t in Nashville. Blake showed an exceptional defensive game, he shows progress with each passing year.
  

And several links on Brendan Smith at the Red Wings development camp:

• redwings.nhl.com: Smith gears up for important junior season
• redwings.nhl.com: A Q&A with Brendan Smith
• mlive Snapshots: Red Wings prospect camp 09, day 3
• Detroit news: Red-Wings ex-top pick out to go pro in spring
  

Summer Spotlight: Davis Drewiske!

The Manchester Monarchs shine their summer spotlight this week on Badger alum Davis Drewiske. And so I thought I'd see what other Davis Drewiske links I could find.

First up, here's Drewiske's "Who Are You?" video from the Monarchs, which you may have already seen linked on twitter.

You might remember that Drewiske was named Monarchs Man of the Year in March, but in case you didn't, I thought I'd better remind you.

Also in March, the Union Leader had 5 Qs with Monarchs defenseman Davis Drewiske.

Drewiske started the 2008-09 season with the Monarchs but was called up in February and played 5 games with the Kings before being reassigned to Manchester. He was then recalled in March and played 12 more games with the Kings. I really like this article about Drewiske's 2nd stint with the Kings.

The Hudson Star Observer recently had a nice article about Drewiske going back to Hudson to thanks his coaches, but apparently now we have to pay $2.95 to read it.

I'd also like to mention that Drewiske was nice enough to donate one of his Badger jerseys for Joe Pavelski's golf outing fundraiser this summer. (I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was his freshman year jersey.) Very cool, Davis, very cool.

(Photo courtesy of Redheat15)

Thursday Evening Linkorama

I was going to do a linkorama yesterday, but I didn't have many links, and the 'rama was looking a bit anemic. So I held of until today. And lucky lucky me, I have all sorts of stuff to post today!

• Brian Elliott looks to have the backup goaltending position with the Senators all to himself, as the Sens traded backup goaltender Alex Auld to the Stars for a 6th-round pick in 2010.

• Sens owner Eugene Melnyk says Dany Heatley is welcome back with the Sens and they expect him to be at training camp. Melnyk's spin control is right up there with Brownlee's suggested spin control for Heatley.
  

• DPlaya always finds stuff I miss, and so naturally he found some articles about a couple of Badgers at NHL development camps. Here and here are two articles about Brendan Smith @ the Wings camp, and here's an article about Blake Geoffrion's status with the Preds. (I've added these stories to my previous NHL development camps post.)

• The Oilers website has a video interview with future Badger Troy Hesketh at the development camp today. The direct link to his video isn't up yet, but clicking here will link you to another video from today, and then you can select the Hesketh interview from the list on the right. Speaking of Hesketh, here's a quick blurb from Coming Down the Pipe regarding Tuesday's interview on the Pipeline show:

  We also had extended interviews with a pair of new Oiler prospects in Kyle Bigos and Troy Hesketh - two defencemen that originally caught Edmonton fans off guard at the draft but are starting to change minds as people get to know more about them.

  Nice to hear that Oilers fans might be starting to come around . . .

• The rumors are that future Badger Jordan Schmaltz and fellow Wisconsinite Alex Racino have made the USA Hockey U17 team that will compete for the Five Nations Cup in Germany in August. DPlaya promises to post the roster when it's officially announced, and I promise to try to follow suit.

• DPlaya tells us that future Badgers Jefferson Dahl and Cody Strang (as well as fellow Wisconsinite David Donnellan) have been included on Mahoning Valley's protected list, and future Badgers Matt Paape and Jordan Schmaltz have been included on Sioux City's futures list. WCH has links to the protected lists for 7 of the USHL teams.
  

• I'm trying to do a better job of following where WI girls hockey talent ends up collegiately, and I see (thanks BTD!) that SSM defenseman Madison Kolls (Hudson, WI) has recently verballed to UND for the 2010-11 season. A number of Wisconsin players will also be entering the DI college ranks this season: Madison Capitals goaltender Ilana Friedman (Middleton) @ Vermont, Monona Grove HS / Madison Capitols defenseman Emily Groth (Monona) @ Providence, and Cedarburg HS / Madison Capitols goaltender Emily Siira (Cedarburg) @ Sacred Heart. And of course, SSM foward Brianna Decker (Dousman) and Madison Capitols forward Lauren Unser (West Salem) will be joining the Badgers!

• This isn't really worth linking, but I'm easily amused, and I think it's funny that the Edmonton Journal ended an article with this line from Sam Gagner regarding why he and Cogliano declined Tom Gilbert's offer to live at his new house: "[Gilbert]'s getting old now. I think we want to let him spread his wings."

• Here's another thing that might not be worth linking, but again, I'm easily amused. Apparently there's a website called eHow where you can learn how to do all sorts of things. And someone named ProWriter1 actually wrote an entry telling guys how to get their girlfriends to like hockey. I could list all the reasons why ProWriter1 is an idiot, but luckily Aubrey has already done a pretty good job. Pretty funny. Btw, ProWriter1 also brings us a number of other gems, including "How to find Mr. Right on the Internet", "How to find an ugly woman", "How to plan a wedding in 48 hours", "How to get fat", "How to prepare roadkill appetizers", and "How to sponge a TV serving tray." Fantastic!

12 Badgers invited to USA Hockey Women's National Festival

The 41-player roster for the Aug 18-24 USA Hockey Women's National Festival in Blaine, MN includes 12 players with Badger ties:

G
Chanda Gunn
Jessie Vetter

D
Molly Engstrom
Kerry Weiland
Geena Prough

F
Brooke Ammerman
Brianna Decker
Meghan Duggan
Angie Keseley
Hilary Knight
Erika Lawler
Jinelle Zaugg


I see that Amanda Kessel is also on the roster. Has she committed anywhere yet??

uwbadgers.com announcement (neglects to include Prough)
usahockey announcement
camp roster

The festival will serve as the selection camp for the 2009-2010 National Team that will compete in the Qwest Tour. The 23-player roster will be named on Aug 24. The roster will further be pared down to the 21-player Olympic roster in mid-December.

First up for the National Team is the National Women's Invitational Tournament (Aug 26 - Sept 6, Vancouver), a test event for the 2010 Olympics. The Qwest Tour runs from Sept 25 through Feb 4. Additionally, the team will compete in the Four Nations Cup (Nov 2 - 8, Finland).

In somewhat related news, espn has a fun article by Team USA defenseman Caitlin Cahow about summer training.

McCabe officially accepts NTDP invitation

I've been told that Jake McCabe officially accepted the NTDP invitation yesterday. (Yeah, we already knew he was going to accept, but now it's official.) So I figured his official acceptance was a good excuse to post a bit more on him, and luckily a few friends obliged with some fun quotes!

Regarding McCabe's game:

* Jake is a tremendous skater, he sees the ice very well and can pass and shoot with the best of them. He was the youngest player on the 16s last year but still developed very rapidly. If his development continues at the same pace with the USNDTP he will play in the NHL a few years from now. -- TW GM Bill McCoshen

* The first time that I saw Jake skate with TW 16's I knew along with Rick Dorman that he had the "it" factor that you want to see in a hockey player or any athlete. That "it" factor was he always wanted the puck and played the game with a edge that some players even at the college or pro level don't have.

Jake is a strong skater and sees the ice very well for a young hockey player and is only going to get better and better over the years. The chance to play at USNDTP will help him learn the game from a international level as well from playing at the junior level. It will also increase his exposure to the NHL with playing at Ann Arbor. -- TW U16 Head Coach Gary Shuchuk

* I think McCabe's biggest advantage is that he doesn't have a weakness. He's consistently consistent when he's on the ice. Never finds himself out of position, never finds himself having to make a recovery play. He doesn't get rattled and for a kid his age that's pretty impressive. I saw him play in an intra-city game this year with 1,200 people in the stands and he didn't flinch. Not bad for a freshman. He doesn't do anything great, but he doesn't do anything bad. Every game I saw him play last year was against kids 2-3 years older than him so I didn't see a ton of offense but there were a few flashes of brilliance. His defensive game is more advanced than LaPoint's at the same age, his offensive game not as much but he can grow into it. Could stand to grow a little bit but it's not a huge drawback. He's fairly solid for his size. -- Chuck Schwartz

* Jake McCabe is unreal. He’s going to be a sophomore. He might be the best defensemen in the state. -- WSN's Chris Walby

* He is a really good player that has a ton of upside. Skates well and does not make any mistakes. Also, has a bit of an edge to his game which makes him really intriguing. He is going to be really good and has pro potential in my books. -- friend of the blog who has seen McCabe play

Gotta give some love to Team Wisconsin for improving McCabe's game and increasing his exposure on the national stage. Coach Shuchuk says he "believe[s] playing for TW helped in his development by playing with and against older players, and the competition that he was up against helped elevate his game." And I've been told that the USNDTP "saw him good" (to borrow an expression from LT) while he was playing with TW at the USA Hockey National Tournament in St. Louis this year. And since I jumped on the TW bandwagon last year, I feel obligated to point out TW's role in McCabe's success. Go TW! By the way, if you have a chance to make it to any TW U16 or U18 games this year, I highly recommend doing so. (And if you show up wearing a Shuchuk jersey, there's no telling who all might stop by to talk to you, lol.)

And speaking of McCabe's play at Nationals in St. Louis, I gotta share this recount of his game-winning goal in the 1st game of the tourney:

Jake had a HUGE goal in the first game at Nationals very reminicent of Billy Baker's game tying goal for the 1980 US Olympic in their first game against Sweden. The difference was Jake's goal was a game winner with about a minute to play in the game.

Now it's just a waiting game to see where McCabe ends up collegiately. As mentioned previously, UW, the little green bastards, minny, Notre Lame, and UMD (what are we calling them now?) are all hot on his trail. I'd expect he's exploring all of his collegiate options, and this could get interesting. But I'd like to share the sentiment offered to me the other day: "Playing for Mark Oseicki would certainly prepare him for his NHL career as Mark is one of the top defenseman coaches in the country." Hey Jake . . .

More Badgers @ NHL development camps

We've already talked a bit about Derek Stepan @ the Rangers development camp and Troy Hesketh @ the Oilers development camp. So today I got curious about other development camps which Badgers/future Badgers might be attending. Unfortunately, it appears that most teams don't provide as much coverage of the camps as the Oilers do (or at least not that I could find), but at least I have basic links, dates, and players.

(If anyone has any good links to coverage of these events, please post them in the comments section or send me an email. Thanks!)

June 29 - July 3
- New York Rangers - Derek Stepan (HF)
- Columbus Blue Jackets - Cody Goloubef

July 6-10
- Edmonton Oilers - Troy Hesketh (Tencer, Millard/Flaming, oilersTV)

July 6 -12
- Detroit Red Wings - Brendan Smith (Winsdsor Star, mlive.com)
- Montreal Canadiens - Patrick Johnson
- Nashville Predators - Blake Geoffrion (Tennesseen), Craig Smith

July 7- 12
- Minnesota Wild - Chris Hickey

July 8-11
- Phoenix Coyotes - Brett Bennett


* I can't figure out when the Carolina Hurricanes development camp is. As a rookie, Jamie McBain would be there, wouldn't he?

* I also can't figure out when the Anaheim Ducks development camp is. The Ducks hold the rights to Jake Gardiner and Justin Schultz.

* Ryan McDonagh's rights, of course, are now held by the Rangers, but they didn't obtain his rights until after the camp was underway, so no camp for McD this year. (His rights were previously held by the Canadiens, and their camp is underway this week.)

* Podge Turnbull's rights are held by the LA Kings , but I don't see him on the roster for their camp (July 10-12).

USNTDP: Frankie Simonelli, Michael Mersch

I really need to start paying better attention to things. Apparently, last month (where was I?) usahockey.com had a feature on future Badger defenseman Frankie Simonelli, and 2 days ago (again, where was I?) they had a feature of future Badger forward Michael Mersch.

Simonelli and Mersch both played on the USNTDP U17 squad last season. I'd imagine that they'll be on the U18 squad this season? I think both players are slotted to join the Badgers in 2010 or 2011 -- I think Simonelli more likely in 2010 and Mersch more likely in 2011, simply based on the players lined up so far on D and F.

Another Troy Hesketh interview!

With Hesketh participating in this week's Oilers development camp, The Pipeline Show has a nice interview with the future Badger blueliner. (Skip to 3:10 of the audio, as the interview doesn't start until then.)

Among other things, Hesketh talks a bit about:

• his game -- stay at home defensemen (but willing to jump into the play if needed), good stick, willing to make/take the big hits (but won't take himself out of the play by doing so)
  
• his size -- currently 6'2", expects to grow to 6'5"-6'6", 188# and still gaining (has a dad and brother who are 6'8" and 6'9", btw)
• on whether he'd like to fast forward a couple years -- "I'm in no rush to grow up. . . . I have so much to look forward to, and that just makes me want to work harder every day. . . . . I'd kind of hold off on that fast forward, I just want to get better. . . . If it takes longer, so be it."
• looking forward to playing for Mark Osiecki: "I love the way he coaches, and I love what he did with my old defensive partner Jake Gardiner."
  

Good stuff, take a listen!

Jamie McBain / Jessie Vetter

I don't have a whole heck of a lot to post today. I was hoping for the Tracey DeKeyser interview on WSN, but I don't see it there yet; I suppose I should be a More Patient Badger.

So today I simply bring you 2 items:

• uwbadgers.com is listing the Top 15 Badger Moments of 2008-09, and Jamie McBain's shorthanded goal on Feb 6 (coupled with another goal on Feb 7 and an All-American season) puts him #8 on the list.


• espn.com has a very cool photo of Jessie Vetter, and if I were smart enough to know how to post the actual photo here, I would. It's photo #9 in the photo gallery.
  

Heatley another day closer to being an Oiler (or someone besides a Senator)

Lowetide tells us that, with the Senator's acquisition of Alexei Kovalev, Dany Heatley is one day closer to being an Oiler. Because the Sens simply don't have salary cap room for both Kovalev and Heatley. So Heatley is going somewhere, and it seems like the Oilers are a team that really wants him.

Over on OilersNation, Brownlee offers us the spin control that we'll likely see if the Heater does in fact become an Oiler.

Mudcrutch breaks away from the general online opinion of Dany Heatley and offers this dissenting opinion:

Nowhere in his deconstruction of Dany Heatley’s moral failings does Barnes ask why it is that Heatley might not be completely excited about signing on with the local team. I haven’t seen anything this critical written about the decisions made by the Oilers in the past three years but it’s not like Heatley was being offered an opportunity to join a team that has provided the slightest of evidence that it has a clue about what it’s doing.
.
.
.

I’m not surprised that Dany Heatley prefers other teams to the Oilers. Personally, I have a hard time blaming him, given the track record of the Oilers in the past three years. With that said, Heatley has fit into a number of teams in the past and, until this trade demand, nobody’s had much that was bad to say about him publicly. He’s as good a goal scorer as you’ll find in the NHL who isn’t named “Ovechkin” and has proven that he can be a big part of a succesful team.

Edmonton is stuck in the embarassing position of having to grovel for elite talents because of how the team has performed over the past few years. That’s not on Dany Heatley - that’s on the Oilers management. If there’s some disappointment or embarassment that this is the route that the Oilers have to take to get players to come to Edmonton, the finger should be pointed at the Oilers, not at the players who are leery of getting on what appears to be a rudderless ship operated by a new captain, who has the guy responsible for the rudder getting broken off whispering instructions in his ear.

If Dany Heatley ultimately ends up in Edmonton, which I think is possible unless he’s personally willing to write a $4MM cheque to the Ottawa Senators, it will be a lucky break for this franchise. The team will take a significant step forward and, with the expected improvement that Heatley will bring, might well be able to avoid the embarassment of the past week when they’re trying to add talent in the future.

Select 16s update / More Jake McCabe

In his post today, Dplaya has the final stats for WI players at the Select 16s.

He also has a bit more info on Jake McCabe: Looks like all the usual suspects are on McCabe's trail, including UW (has had an unofficial visit), UND, minnesota, Notre Dame, and UMD.

I can't believe that any self-respecting defenseman would want to go to "the U", so screw them. But UND and ND are always pesky on the recruiting trail, and their interest in McCabe was pretty much assumed even before I had confirmation. And while UMD might not be a usual suspect, we're not surprised to hear that they like McCabe a lot.

Badgers at development camps

I'll be honest; I have a hard time keeping track of the development camps held by NHL teams who hold the rights of Badgers/future Badgers. So if anyone has any pertinent links or can fill me in on other development camps, please do so. (You can post in the comments section, or you can always send me an email at sixtymin@gmail.com. Thanks!)

Right now, I can tell you this:

The Oilers' development camp is this week (July 6 - 10), and Guy Flaming reports that Troy Hesketh is in attendance. I'd imagine Guy will have further reports from the camp later on, and I'll try to link them as they become available. Also, looking at the 1st link here, it appears that the Oilers website will have a Hesketh feature available on Thursday, so keep an eye out for that. EDITED TO ADD: 630 CHED has an audio interview with Hesketh available today. Good stuff!

The Rangers had their development camp last week (thanks to DPlaya for the heads-up!), and HF indicates that Derek Stepan had an excellent camp:

Finally, Stepan’s on-ice work this past week is indicative of why the Rangers think he may be their first-line center of the future. His vision, decision-making with the puck, speed, acceleration, shot, and hard work were all superb. Perhaps the most creative player on the ice during Friday’s scrimmage, Stepan and Bourque on the ice together were an exciting duo. Although it was Bourque that got the winning goal on an excellent skate in on net, it was Stepan that stepped around defender after defender to make the plays during much of the scrimmage.

Nice work, Derek!

(I gotta tell ya, Stepan is one of the players that I'm really looking forward to seeing play next year. I've got a good feeling about him and the elevation of his game.)

Ryan McDonagh, whose rights the Rangers recently obtained, wasn't at the camp -- the Rangers didn't obtain his rights until June 30, and the camp was already underway.

16 Forwards: Hickey's gone . . .

"He just thought there was a gut feeling that he could go some place and have a better shot to play more right away." -- Coach Mike Eaves regarding Chris Hickey

Entering this offseason with a glut of forwards for the coming year, I was going to do a little series of posts titled "19 Forwards", "18 Forwards", "17 Forwards", etc., because it seemed clear that something(s) had to give. But then Tom Bardis left the program and Tyler Barnes was delayed a year, and we were down to 17 forwards before I had a chance to write my 19 or 18 forwards posts.

But at 17 forwards, I actually thought things had stabilized. Yeah, 5 forwards seemed like an awful lot to be sitting each night, but I looked at the roster and didn't really see anyone else leaving. Admittedly, I didn't really think very hard about Hickey. My mistake.

And now, after hearing chatter over on uscho about someone (possibly Hickey) leaving the program, it appears that Hickey is in fact leaving.

You know, I liked Chris Hickey, and I know Gandalf liked him a lot, and I'm kinda bummed about the whole thing. (Well, bummed might not be the right word, but I'm trying to be diplomatic.) Good luck to Chris wherever he ends up.

By the way, Baggot's article also talks about the aforementioned Bardis and Barnes situations. I find Mike Eaves' quotes interesting. (Again, interesting might not be the correct word here.)

Regarding Bardis:

"[W]e just didn’t see him being able to play here with his skill set."

Which begs the question: wasn't the coaching staff familiar with his skill set before he became a Badger?

Regarding Barnes:

“I think we tried to manage it in the proper fashion,” Eaves said. “We met face-to-face and explained to him what our situation was and how it would affect (him). It’s not an easy thing to.

“They sensed we were trying to be up-front and honest. At first, I’m sure it’s an inital shock, then you try to take a look at it.

“That was a big part of our talk — would another year (in juniors) benefit him? In Tyler’s situation, we think that it will because he’s going to be in a lot more responsible situation with his junior team.”

Happy Independence Day

A few Friday evening links

• Part 2 of Scanlon's interview with Mark Johnson is up on WSN. Also, look for an interview with Tracey (Cornell) DeKeyser on Monday.

• The NCAA Rules committee has announced their points of emphasis for the 09-10 season. They want to crack down on after-the-whistle shennanigans (late hits, facewashing), obstruction, and hitting from behind. The committee wants the officiating to be more consistent (ie higher overall enforcement.)
  
  They also said they'd consider several new rules next summer, including hybrid icing, reducing/eliminating ties, pucks shot out of play, timeouts during situations where players are not allowed to change, icing the puck during shorthanded situations, delayed penalty administration, leaving the feet to play the puck.

• Baggot says the WCHA was selfish to admit BSU and UNO. Something about robbing Peter to pay Paul. (I'll let the boys on the blog handle this one.)

Men's Hockey Video Series: Part 3

The final installment of the 3-part Q&A with Coach Eaves is up today. In it, Eaves addresses the following:

This week, you have an extra an week before your first game? Is that and advantage?
What are the changes to this sesason's Badger Hockey Showdown?
What makes the Camp Randall Hockey Classic such a special event?
Is it a coincidence that the Frozen Four will also be held at a football stadium?
Would it be an advantage playing in Ford Field having played at Camp Randall?
What are your thoughts about this year's WCHA schedule?

Around the WCHA: NHL Draft & Expansion

Been awhile since I've done one of these. I was bored so I took a look at the NHL Draft from a WCHA prospective. 25 current or future WCHA players were drafted. Out of 210 that isn't too bad.

minnesota and St. Cloud led the way, each having 6 players drafted. The highlights for minnesota were Nick Leddy who somehow went to the Wild over Jordan Schroeder who was then stolen (figuratively speaking) by Vancouver a few picks later. Nashville also grabbed a steal in the 2nd round w/ Zach Budish. Saw him at the HS Elite League last year; he's a beast. In the short term I wish all three, well anyone wearing the ugly 'm' for that matter, the worst.

St. Cloud had a lot of mid-round picks. MN HS's all-time scoring leader Ben Hanowski was the first Huskie taken in the 3rd round, and he was later joined by Mike Lee who is going to be a good goalie for the Huskies. He might actually be deserving of accolades unlike Bobby Geoffert.

Duluth, North Dakota and Denver all had three picks. Duluth had the highest pick of those schools w/ late 1st rounder Dylan Olsen. He was considering UW before choosing to play at the DUMP. Didn't have room; rather have McD, Goloubef, Smith and Gardiner back then a freshman from Jr A. DU had back to back picks in William Wrenn and Drew Shore in the 2nd round, both products of the US NTDP. Many people had Shore as a late 1st rounder in mock drafts, and he adds to DU's talent ladened forward corp next season. North Dakota had some late round picks.

Unless this is your first day reading the blog or you have been on vacation, UW had two players selected. Troy Hesketh (3rd round to Edmonton) and Craig Smith (4th round to Nashville). Scroll down if you want to learn more.

Not to be missed, Colorado College and Alaska Anchorage each had a recruit drafted. CC might have a problem as 1st rounder John Moore is still undecided on where he will be next season, CC or OHL.

Michigan Tech didn't have any selections...and no players were selected from Mankato since their freshman regularly are well beyond their draft age, and no one respects a Purple Cow.


Lastly, in case you forgot, the WCHA is expanding to 12 teams in 2010/11 w/ the addition of Bemidji State and Nebraska Omaha. Over at Goon's World, Goon has been all over this, and has some good links in case you are interested. One talks about the prestige of the WCHA, and the other is a linkorama.

Don't forget to renew

I just renewed my tickets for the upcoming season. Always a good feeling, now the 3+ month wait until I can actually use these tickets.

Anyway, don't forget renewals are due on July 7th. Don't lose your tickets; Men's Hockey is still one of the best values in town (beaten only by Women's Hockey).

Heatley invited to Team Canada's Orientation Camp

Dany Heatley is the sole Badger invited to Team Canada's Orientation Camp.

uwbadgers announcement
hockeycanada announcement
orientation camp roster

By the by, Team Canada's camp roster is a bit larger (46 invitees) than Team USA's camp roster (34 invitees). Heatley will be competing with 24 other forwards for a spot on Canada's Olympic team.

As you know, 4 Badgers were invited to Team USA's camp -- Rafalski, Gilbert, Pavelski, Suter.

HIW: McCabe accepting NTDP U17 invite

Despite being on vacation in the north woods, DPlaya is reporting that potential Badger recruit Jake McCabe has accepted (or will be accepting shortly) an invitation to play for the US NTDP U17 team.

You know, I think I like this McCabe kid . . .

Update: Not that I really needed confirmation, because you know DPlaya's always right, but yeah, I have confirmation. :-)

And yeah, I'd really like to see this kid wearing the Cardinal & White . . .

Speaking of Mark Johnson . . .

Del Scanlon of WSN has a 2-part interview with Coach Johnson, and Part 1 was posted today.

In other Badger Women's Hockey news, Mercyhurst F/D Geena Prough is transferring to Wisconsin. The articles says she has "transferred to Wisconsin for the 2009-10 season", but I'm assuming she'll have to sit out for a season. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) Sounds like a nice pick-up for the Badgers. Welcome to Wisconsin, Geena!

EDIT: WHKY Blogger tells me that you only have to sit out a season when transferring to a WCHA from another WCHA team. Thanks, Blogger.

Mark Johnson to return for Camp Randall Hockey Classic?

Excuse me... the CULVER'S Camp Randall Hockey Classic.

WKOW, Madison's ABC affiliate, is reporting that Mark Johnson is hoping to be able to come back to Madison for the event. Exactly what that means (coach for one game? observe from the bench? check it out from the AD boxes with Barry?) isn't specified, but considering that opening ceremonies is a week later (and that Team USA has an exhibition game the same day as the CCRHC), it might be a little tough for him to get the time to do it.

Mark's quote from the article:

"I don't know yet. I want to be back for it. It's a once in a
lifetime opportunity and I want to see the hockey rink on our football
field. To walk out and be a part of it would be special. I just need to see if
we can change our[Team USA] game on February 6," Johnson said.

Heatley to . . . [insert team name (if any) here]

Hopefully something will be announced shortly after the 12 AM ET deadline . . . (UPDATE -- looks like that might be wishful thinking on my part) . . .

Most recent updates:
LeBrun (11:15 p.m. ET): Dany Heatley is done meeting with Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe and GM Steve Tambellini and is now mulling over his decision with his family in Kelowna. The clock is ticking toward midnight ET, when the Ottawa Senators will be on the hook for his $4 million bonus (they don't want to deal him after that). Stay tuned.

McKenzie (11:44 PM ET): With just mere minutes remaining before the Ottawa Senators are on the hook for a $4 million signing bonus, it looks as though Dany Heatley is no more inclined to waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a trade to the Edmonton Oilers than he was 24 hours ago. Sources close to Heatley say he doesn't intend to make a decision by 11:59 p.m. eastern tonight and that he's not comfortable making a decision on the Senators' timetable.

Dreger (12:10 AM ET): Heatley wont decide tonight. He believed NYR and SJ were the main targets before Oilers offer was accepted.

LeBrun (12:24 AM ET):

Dany Heatley is now $4-million richer but he's still with the Ottawa Senators.

A trade to the Edmonton Oilers, completed Tuesday night, could not go through until Heatley decided whether or not to waive his no-movement clause.

"No decision tonight," a source in Heatley's camp told ESPN.com at 12:06 a.m. ET.

So what now?

Senators GM Bryan Murray had said all along he wasn't interested in moving Heatley after having paid him the $4-million bonus that kicked in at midnight ET Wednesday night.

Heatley met with Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe and GM Steve Tambellini in his off-season home of Kelowna, B.C., earlier Wednesday night but the sales pitch didn't produce the immediate result.

Tencer (12:30 AM ET): Source: Meeting went OK with the Oilers. It's more about Heatley trying put the screws to Ottawa.

McKenzie (12:48 ET): Heatley situation likely to get ugly.

Dreger (12:48 ET): Heatley felt "blindsided" by Oilers' offer.

Part of the problem can be traced back to the NHL entry draft last weekend in Montreal. Heatley was led to believe both the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers were both strong trading partners. Some suggested, the Los Angeles Kings showed interest as well.

Heatley was preparing for the trade.

No doubt he started thinking about life in California, playing for a contending Western Conference team like the Sharks, or the much improved Kings. Heatley thought about the excitement of New York City and how he might fit in with the Rangers.

If any of those teams had come up with a package suitable to the Senators, this deal would be done and Heatley will be merrily on his way.

Instead, Ottawa accepted the only offer Sens GM Bryan Murray deemed worthy. The only offer he had based on an asking price some teams reveal was too steep. An offer from the Edmonton Oilers that some close to Heatley say, ''blindsided'' him.

Heatley knew Edmonton was in the mix. How could he not? From the moment news broke he had requested a trade, Edmonton has been at, or near the top of the list of likely destinations. Heatley's meeting with the Oilers brass on Wednesday night was described as very good and he liked what he heard…just not enough to waive his no-move, end this saga and join a team that is desperate to bring him on board.

Heatley still believes there are other NHL options that haven't surfaced and he wasn't willing to bend to meet Ottawa's financial deadline to clear this trade.

Tencer (1:30 AM ET): FYI: Heatley has a no movement clause. That means no farm team, either. Ottawa has no bullets other than refusing to trade him.

Jonathan Willis (OilersNation): A Bad Day / Where do we go from here?

Dany Heatley

This stuff honestly couldn’t get made up, it’s that weird. To recap:

• 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley demands a trade from his team because he doesn’t get along with the new coach (under who the team finally started winning).
• Despite demanding a trade, Heatley doesn’t waive his no-movement clause; he still demands the right to determine where he gets traded.
• Edmonton puts together a package that Ottawa finds palatable, and Bryan Murray asks Heatley to waive his NMC to go to the Oilers. Heatley says (through his agent) that he wants to “sleep on it”.
• At this point, we find out that neither the Oilers nor Senators have been interpreting his contract correctly – the 4 million dollar signing bonus that Heatley is owed won’t be due until the next night. Heatley’s agent, meanwhile, knew this the entire time (I wonder if he wants to be an assistant GM – I can think of two teams that would probably be upgrading in that slot by hiring him).
• The Oilers dream team flies out to meet with Heatley to persuade him to waive his NMC.

Heatley however, has decided not to waive his NMC to come to Edmonton, leaving Ottawa on the hook for four-million dollars. The reason though seems to have little to do with Edmonton – this from Dan Tencer’s Twitter feed:

Source: Meeting went OK with the Oilers. It’s more about Heatley trying put the screws to Ottawa.

At this point, it’s anyones guess as to what eventually will happen. Ottawa’s in a bad situation, and the Oilers might be able to take advantage of it. Than again, maybe Bryan Murray will return the favour and refuse to deal the winger – which takes us to our final question:

Where Do They Go From Here?

Let’s assume that the Oilers are still interested in a left-winger to play on their top line. If Heatley doesn’t work out, I imagine that Tambellini’s backup plans go something like this:

• Plan B – Sign Marian Hossa.
• Plan C – Sign Martin Havlat.
• Plan D – Sign Marian Gaborik.
• Plan E – Sign Mike Cammalleri.

Unfortunately, while the Oilers were busy chasing Heatley, the Blackhawks, Wild, Rangers, and Canadiens decided to sign virtually every high-scoring left-winger on the market. Alex Tanguay is probably the next best thing available via free agency, while it’s possible that Alex Frolov or Simon Gagne are available via trade.

Regardless, the Oilers still have some options, but a) they aren’t in the same class as the three top-end guys who signed today and b) it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll still be available when the Heatley saga finally comes to a conclusion one way or the other.

Wednesday evening linkorama

• The Dany Heately waiting game contines, for approximately another hour and a half, anyway. TSN is reporting that the Oilers management is meeting face-to-face with Heatley to try to facilitate a deal.
  
  Interesting blog posts today include We're not the Jet Set (Lowetide), Official 2009 NHL Free Agency Thread (Copper & Blue), WTF: The Dany Edititon (OilersNation), Happy Canada Day (OilersNation), The Oilers signing of Khabibulin and why there are no shortcuts in the NHL (Cult of Hockey).
  
  The stupidest quote of the day? Heatley reportedly said that he felt Ottawa "virtually put a gun to his head" by giving him the sole option of Edmonton. Well, that's a bit, ummm, overly dramatic.


• Chris at TheThirdManIn talks a bit about the Blackhawks depth at C now that they've signed John Madden.
  

  So up the middle now....
  
  1. Jonathan Toews
  2. Dave Bolland
  3. John Madden
  4. Tomas Kopecky (c/w)
  5. Adam Burish (c/rw)
  6. Jake Dowell
  
  Is that enough to lead you to a Stanley Cup? Are the Hawks any better off up the middle now than they were at the end of May?
  
  This means Fraser only returns under a two-way. Kopecky is a weird one. I've got a feeling that the inclusion of Kopecky was some kind of a package deal with Hossa/Kopecky agent Rich Winter. Adam Burish will be in the lineup every night above all else because of his favorable fourth-line cap hit. The inclusion now of Kopecky (probably at wing) also indicates to me the Hawks have little or no expectation Kyle Beach will make this team in training camp. They probably can't afford him at this point anyway.

• Dplaya has an update from the Select 16s.

• Four members of the Badger Women's 08-09 Championship Team - Alycia Matthews, Kyla Sanders, Kelly Nash, and Anne Dronen - took part in the Marshall Firemen's Parade last weekend, as did Director of Hockey Ops Paul Hickman. Photo Gallery.

• Uwbadgers.com catches up with Jackie Friesen.
  

  "There is a pride factor that goes along with being a Badger. I remember how much pride I had putting on my jersey for games and just being so thankful that I was a Badger. I always thought and still do that the UW is the best school and wondered why anyone would pick any other."

• Last week I posted a couple of links from June USA Hockey women's performance camp. Not surprisingly, I missed a few links. The first 2 links here illustrate the rigorous nature of the June camp; the 3rd link is points out the benefits of the upcoming Qwest Tour: Grinding it Out, My Threshhold, Hitting the Road.

• Last week I also posted about Jackie MacMillan's taking the head coaching position for the new CSS Women's Hockey Program. This week I stumbled upon the video of the report from the local Duluth TV channel. The report doesn't contain any new info, but the entire footage used is of Jackie as a Badger.

Sponsored by Culvers

A news conference was held today at Camp Randall to announce that Culvers has agreed to become the primary sponsor of the Camp Randall Hockey Classic, and will have its name attached to the title: Culvers Camp Randall Hockey Classic.

Barry Alvarez (who badly needed a telepromptor in the beginning) was present along w/ Mike Eaves and Mark Johnson, and Craig Culver of course.

Barry stated that 20,000 tickets have been sold, but they expect 80k on gameday. I guess we'll wait and see. They are running two promotions. Groups that purchase tickets will be in a drawing to win a suit at the Kohl Center for a Men's game at some point, and the other is for youth groups. One youth group will be picked at random and have the Camp Randall ice to themselves earlier in the day for an entire hour.

One thing I forgot to mention about the Women's team, if you buy a season ticket for $30, you'll likely get free custard at Culvers about 12 times during the season. The ticket damn near pay for itself.

Edited to add: Baggot's blog post