Wisconsin native Donnellan leaves Western Michigan

In somewhat of a surprising turn of events, Eau Claire, Wisconsin native David Donnellan has left Western Michigan and has joined the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League.

Donnellan, a 6'0, 185 pound defenseman, was a freshman defenseman for Western Michigan this season. Donnellan had only played in 5 games for the Broncos registering no points.

Donnellan got caught in an unusual set of circumstances. He had committed to Western under old coach Jim Culhan. Culhan was fired at the end of last season before Donnellan stepped on campus and new coach Jeff Blashil obviously doesn't like him as much as Culhan did.

Donnellan, who won a Wisconsin state championship with Eau Claire Memorial, has moved back to the USHL where he spent the past two seasons. Donnellan played in two games last weekend with Sioux City registering no points.

Donnellan could be an interesting player to keep an eye on as a transfer recruit for the 2012 season. This is his final year of eligibility in the USHL so wherever he goes next season he can only practice. Donnellan will have 3 seasons of eligibility starting in the fall of 2012.

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Committed Recruit Dahl Selected In USHL Expansion Draft

2010 Forward recruit Jefferson Dahl who played last season with the Green Bay Gamblers was selected by the newest member of the USHL, the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL Expansion draft on Monday. Dahl, who played his high school hockey at Eau Claire Memorial, had 28 points in 61 games between the regular season and the playoffs this season for the Gamblers. If you remember, Dahl was the 2008 winner of the Wisconsin Mr. Hockey award..


Dahl should be a key member of the new Youngstown franchise. Youngstown most recently played in the NAHL and has had success there. In the expansion draft, they also selected one of Dahl's former teamates at Eau Claire Memorial, defenseman David Donnellan. Donnellan played this past season for Sioux Falls before he was traded to Tri-City. Donnellan is a good solid defenseman who has had contact with the Badgers in the past and would look good in cardinal and white should we lose some of our defensemen to the pro's after next season.

GB Gamblers/Tri-City Storm Scouting Report

Last friday night, I made my way to GB for the Gamblers game against Tri-City. Tri-City is not a good team, and the Gamblers dominated the whole night. It was watching a Gamblers game last season, just in reverse. I was joined by buckyville's own DoorCountyBadger, but I didn't let his Door County Bias get in the way.

Jefferson Dahl (2010 forward recruit from Eau Claire) was in the lineup and had a goal and an assist late in the 1st period as GB scored twice w/ in 20 seconds or so. I don't have much to add to my previous scouting report from around Thanksgiving. He looked good on the PP, and spent some time camped in front of the net, always a good sign. Another season in the USHL will do well for his strength IMO.

Sean Little (2010 forwrd recruit from Fondy) was ever so close to notching his first USHL point on the 4th line friday night. He had a great feed to a teammate that was stopped, had a perfect tip that the goalie was in the exact position to defend (luck on that one) and hit the pipe later in the game. He looked much improved from when I last saw him. He also took a puck off his helmet, which didn't phase him.

I made a point of watching David Donnellan on Tri-City a defenseman who Chuck pointed out has garnered interest from UW. It was tough though, his team spent so much time in their end. He looked like a strong skater who moved the puck well on top. He was out there on the PP.

David Donnellan update

The Eau Claire paper put out a nice article on David Donnellan. Donnellan, a defenseman, won a state championship with Eau Claire Memorial last season (26-0) and is currently playing for Tri-City of the USHL after a mid-season trade from Sioux Falls. (Drafted first round, 8th overall)

This was not in the article, but he has had contact with Wisconsin and has also talked with CC and Denver. There is a very good chance he stays in the WCHA with those 3 as the front runners.