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.






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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.”