Robbie Earl Recalled By Minnesota Wild

2006 Frozen Four MVP Robbie Earl has been recalled by the Minnesota Wild today. In a corresponding move, Minnesota reassigned Cody Almond to Houston.

The self proclaimed "steal of the 2004 draft," has played in 14 games for the Wild's top farm club in Houston notching four goals and five assists for nine points to lead the team in scoring so far this season.

Earl spent a chunk of the 2009-2010 season with the Wild and was so effective that he had many fans scratching their heads as to why he wasn't seeing more ice time on a team struggling to score goals. Earl notched six goals in only 32 games while averaging a paltry 9 minutes of ice time per game under first year coach Todd Richards.

The Chicago native won a National Championship with the Badgers in 2006 in a season where he recorded 50 points, second on the team to only line mate and All-American Joe Pavelski, currently a forward with the San Jose Sharks.

Earl becomes the 18th former Badger to wear an NHL sweater this season and the eighth player from the 2006 National Championship team to do so this year.

If you haven't been doing so, check out the link on the left side bar of our blog under "Wisconsin Statistics" where I've been tracking the progress of all former Badgers in the pro ranks. It's up to date as of Saturday afternoon. I'm sure it's not 100% accurate so if you see a player who I have erroneously left off, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. Especially with the players overseas it's sometimes hard to be get everyone.

Badgers in the pros

chuckschwartz@live.com
Follow me on Twitter

Wisconsin All-Decade Team

Lot of talk at different blogs and websites about different All-Decades teams from conferences and things like that. I eventually plan on doing an All-Decade team for the WCHA but for today we'll settle for the Wisconsin All-Decade team.

Something like this is very tough to do because your basically creating your own criteria here. Do you go for the best career? Do you go with each players best individual season? It's really a tough thing. I wrestled with a lot of ideas and players and decided to take each players best individual season into account when making the list. Also, since I'm making the rules, I included the 1999-2000 season in here because I simply could not leave Rhino off the list. He may have gotten screwed for the Hobey but he's not getting screwed here.

Wisconsin All-Decade First Team
F-Steve Reinprecht (99-00)
F-Dany Heatley (00-01)
F-Joe Pavelski (05-06)
D-Jamie McBain (08-09)
D-Tom Gilbert (05-06)
G-Brian Elliott (05-06)

Wisconsin All-Decade Second Team
F-Rene Bourque (03-04)
F-Blake Geoffrion (09-10)
F-Robbie Earl (05-06)
D-Brendan Smith (09-10)
D-Jeff Dessner (99-01)
G-Bernd Bruckler (03-04)

Wisconsin All-Decade Third Team
F-Michael Davies (09-10)
F-Adam Burish (05-06)
F-Derek Stepan (09-10)
D-Davis Drewiske (07-08)
D-Dan Boeser (01-02)
G-Scott Kabatoff (01-02)

Wisconsin All-Decade Rookie Team
F-Dany Heatley (99-01)
F-Joe Pavelski (04-05)
F-Kyle Turris (07-08)
D-Ryan Suter (03-04)
D-Jake Gardiner (08-09)
G-Bernd Bruckler (01-02)

Wisconsin Player of the decade: Goaltender Brian Elliott

Flat out, Brian Elliott won Wisconsin the 2006 National Championship. There were pieces on that team that could be replaced and we still would have won, but not Elliott. Elliott had the best season I've personally ever had a chance to be around for a goaltender. His stats were flat out sick that season. A 1.55 GAA and .938 Save percentage is absolutely ridiculous. The team was 27-5-3 when he was in goal, and 3-5 when he wasn't. 2 of those losses for Elliott were immediately after he came back from a knee injury on the road. In my opinion, this was a simple decision.

Leave comments and let me know what you think. There are about 1,000 different ways this thing could have been sliced.

Badgers In The Pros: Tuesday Recap

Wasn't really planning on writing this blog post but I happened to stumble onto the box scores from last nights NHL games and there were Wisconsin players all over the place so I figured it was time for a brief update at least.

Robbie Earl who has been up and down with the Minnesota Wild all season long had a goal in a 3-2 shootout loss. Earl had a nice goal on a wrist shot after Nick Schultz found him streaking through the slot with a nice pass. Earl has produced for the Wild in extremely limited playing time. He's averaging only just over 8 minutes a game for playing time yet if you take his stats over a whole season he'd almost be leading the Wild in goals scored.

Ryan Suter continued his hot play after a fantastic showing in the Olympics by netting a power play goal for Nashville last night. The big lefty from Madison fired a puck that had eyes towards the net and it found it's way to the twine. Suter has really developed his game and is becoming one of the elite blueliners in the league.

Rene Bourque is having an absolutely tremendous season up in Calgary and didn't disappoint last night. The former Badger had a goal and an assist in an upset victory for the Flames in Detroit. Bourque is the proud owner of a new contract which will pay him an average of 3.33 million dollars until the end of the 2015-16 season. Hey Rene...have you heard about our new practice facility we're trying to build?

Former Badger defenseman Brian Rafalski who also played in the Flames/Wings game also had impact, albeit on the losing side. Team USA's number 1 defenseman at the Olympics, Rafalski had two assists last night for the Wings.

Just another ho-hum performance for Brian Elliott last night. The former Hobey Hat Trick finalist stopped 18 of 19 Edmonton shots to record a 4-1 victory for the Senators. Elliott is 13-3 for the Senators over his past 17 games. Elliott had to shut down Hillary Duff's fiance Mike Comrie when he got a penalty shot in the first period. "I know Mike from being in Ottawa and he is a little trickster," Elliott said. "He got a good shot but I got it with my stick."

Robbie Earl Wild Pictures

With ExileOnDaytonStreet's recent alumni update, I just had to include a couple of recent Robbie Earl photo's from the Minnesota Wild Skills competition.

Photo credit to outstanding up and coming photographer Brace Hemmelgarn.

Alumni Updates

Robbie Earl:

Ever since not getting picked up off waivers (more on that in a bit), Earl has made the most of his limited ice time. Two goals in two games has been drawing some raves from west of the St. Croix. This is especially notable considering that he's getting less than nine minutes of ice time (he got less than 7:00 against Detroit), and also considering that he's mostly playing on the fourth line. Not easy to score a goal when you spend most of the game paired with Andrew Ebbett and Derek "Good Lord, That Man Was Sired By A Moose" Boogaard. It definately seems like he's starting to find a groove that he was unable to get in Toronto. What once seemed like a career AHLer is finding ways to be a serviceable third and fourth liner.

In either case, he's getting some very favorable press in St. Paul. Wild beat writer Michael Russo had this to say:

And, 29 GM's should get fired today. These 29 men could have had Robbie Earl for jack squat Wednesday when he was on waivers. In the two games since, the former Wisconsin Badger's got two goals -- and now five in 15. I'm no math genius, but that puts him on pace for 27.33333333333333333 goals over an 82-game season.

He also brought speed, physicality and a helped draw a double minor from Derek Dorsett. The Wild's 9-0-1 the past 10 games Earl's in the lineup, and 10-3-2 overall when he plays. He's a difference maker!!!

Good work, Robbie!

Jamie McBain:

A nice little write-up on McB that I found on NHL.com.

Adam Burish:

Stumbled accross this NHL.com video linked on UrineSoakedHellholeNow.com of Adam Burish discussing, among other things, his timetable for returning to the Blackhawks. You can sense the restlessness, and there's something about that that seems like vintage Burish to me:



Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski continue to set the world on fire in San Jose. I don't need links or stats. It's just a fact.

Bernd Bruckler:

This is a poorly translated link ("is Andre Lakos some time no longer in the squad by a tractor." Zuh???), but evidently Bernd's been battling an ACL injury, although Torpedo is still in the playoff hunt in the KHL. Speedy recovery, Bernd!

Brian Elliott:

One of the greatest Badger goalies of all time had one of the greatest weeks of his professional career last week, winning four games in four starts- a streak that included a stretch of three games in four days. It was enough to earn the NHL First Star of the week last week.

He was lights out with a .957 SV%, 1.26 GAA and allowing only 5 goals. I caught the end of an interview with Els on Hockey Central, and so far I haven't seen it on Versus.com or on Youtube. I'll keep an eye out for it, but in the meantime, here's a WTF save Elliott made against Marian Hossa after the puck took a WTF bounce off the endboards:

Late Tuesday Update: Schultz Makes Grades

Badger fans can rest easy, Justin Schultz apparently did what he needed to do to stay eligible tonight according to Baggot's update tonight.

According to Baggot Eaves refused to get into details but said "a perfect storm happened.''

Schultz, a freshman defenseman from West Kelowna, British Columbia is having a solid freshman season for the Badgers. He has recorded two goals and seven assists while playing in all 22 games for the Badgers this season.
---------------------------------------------
Former Badger forward and 2006 National Champion Robbie Earl was placed on waivers by the Minnesota Wild today.

From the article: In most cases, a player who passes through waivers either remains with the club or would be assigned to Houston of the AHL. For instance, Robbie Earl was placed on waivers Tuesday, but he practiced with the Wild and will either stay or be assigned to Houston if he clears.

Earl has had some success with the Wild this season. In extremely limited playing time, Earl recorded three goals in thirteen games.
---------------------------------------------
The opening night of the inaugural "Showdown in Titletown" had an interesting twist. Two teams that many had pegged for the Championship game Saturday both lost tonight. Fourth ranked Eau Claire Memorial lost 3-2 on home ice to second ranked Wasau West. Over in Stevens Point, the undefeated and number one ranked team in the state Green Bay Notre Dame was upset by S.P.A.S.H. 5-2. Wausau West plays the winner of the Fond du Lac/Appleton matchup and S.P.A.S.H. plays the winner of the Madison Edgewood/Waukesha Catholic Memorial tilt.
---------------------------------------------
DPlaya has some coverage of how the WIAA Hockey sectionals break down this season. It's a good read of your a high school hockey fan. I can't wait for the high school playoffs to get kicked off this season.
---------------------------------------------
Ok so this isn't really news but I think it's funny regardless. There is this little link at the bottom of the blog where you can see the website statistics with how many people per day are viewing the blog and what not. You can also see how people accessed the site, through links or google searching or whatever.

I just noticed that someone found our blog today by trying to find out whether or not Adam Burish is married. I can tell you that as far as I know, Burish is not married, but maybe someone else can confirm that. This is not the weirdest search I've seen that someone got to our blog though. In the last couple of weeks someone found us by trying to find out if assistant Waterloo Black Hawks coach Shane Fukushima is married. Good luck with that.

Robbie Earl Fighting For Spot With Wild

Minnesota Wild beat reporter/Star Tribune blogger Michael Russo made mention of Robbie Earl's chances of staying up with the big club in a blog post on Tuesday:

Right now, the last defenseman spot is between John Scott and Jaime Sifers, and if Shane Hnidy’s not healthy by Opening Night, maybe Scott and Sifers both stick temporarily.

Same goes with the forwards. Right now, dinged up are Koivu, Brunette, Sheppard, Bouchard, Boogaard, Weller and Pouliot (that we know of). The Wild so far has kept Danny Irmen, Matt Kassian, Nathan Smith, Andy Hilbert and Robbie Earl. If the regular’s are not healthy Opening Night, maybe one or two of those guys remain (Irmen being the clearcut frontrunner there).

Earl, by the way, has been cleared to finally play and will get in probably Thursday against St. Louis or Friday in Chicago.

But the Wild is keeping so many extra bodies because of the amount of injuries. The team needs guys to play the back-to-backs coming up. Afterward, you can bet many of the forwards listed above will be sent down.

Make of that what you will. It's not likely that Earl will crack the Wild's lineup any time in the near future, but its good to know that he's probably close to the top of the Wild's call-up list.

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.

Just so you know I wasn't making things up

Last Friday, I reported that Jake Dowell was called up to Chicago on Thursday night. But then he played for the Icehogs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and so I was a bit confused. But it turns out he did fly up to Chicago from Houston on Thursday, just to fly back to Houston on Friday morning, barely having set foot in Chicago. Here's what happened, as told by the Icehogs' blog:

The Travels and Tribulations of Jake Dowell
03/27/2009 3:10 PM - Mike Peck

Think you’ve had a long past 24 hours?

You should be in the shoes of Jake Dowell!

Dowell was with the IceHogs on the trip down to Houston Thursday morning. Less than two hours after arriving, which was about 2:30 p.m., the winger was notified that he would have to fly back to Chicago on Thursday night on an emergency basis because of an injury to an un-named Blackhawks’ skater.

After heading to the morning skate on Friday morning in Chicago with the Blackhawks, it was determined that all was well with said skater on the Hawks, meaning Dowell’s services was not going to be needed for tonight’s game against New Jersey at the United Center.

So yes, you guessed it, Dowell headed back to the airport for a return trip to Houston to rejoin the IceHogs for Friday night’s game at the Toyota Center.

Sounds like a indecisive Brett Favre promotion…oh wait, we’ve already done that!

I sure hope the Jake has some frequent flier memberships.

Well, that's a kick in the pants, isn't it?

Dowell didn't get any points that weekend, but he did get 5 for fighting in both Saturday's and Sunday's games. Nubeetle was at Sunday's game, and he said Dowell won his fight that night. (I haven't heard anything one way or the other about Saturday's fight.) Nubeetle also said that, despite not recording any points, Dowell looked pretty good all night and had a pretty good game.

He did score a goal in Rockford's most recent game -- a 5-2 victory over Lake Erie. And hmmm, he got another 5 for fighting.

In other Rockford Badgers news . . . nubeetle reports that Jack Skille was injured in the 1st period of Sunday's game, and I see that he didn't play on Wednesday. I haven't heard anything more specific. It's too bad --he'd been playing pretty well lately, with 3 goals and 1 assist in his previous 4 games.

Nubeetle also got to see Robbie Earl play for the Aeros in Sunday's game. No points for Robbie (although he did score a goal in Friday's game in Houston), but the change of scenery seems to be agreeing with Robbie, and he seems happy with his new team.

Robbie Earl traded

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Robbie Earl to the Minnesota Wild. He'll report to the Houston Aeros, the Wild's AHL affiliate. (Good thing EoDS is around to keep us up to date.)

Minnesota assistant general manager Tom Lynn says Earl "adds the elements of speed and energy that will strengthen our prospect base and improve team speed and attack in Houston.''

Hopefully the change in scenery will give Earl just the spark he needs, as his production this year is less than expected, especially compared to his stats from the last 2 years.

2006-07: 67 GP, 12-18-30, -6
2007-08: 66 GP, 14-33-47, +15
2008-09: 36 GP, 2-8-10, -3

C'mon Robbie, show everyone what you can do!

Alumni updates

• Blackhawks TV has a slow motion video of an Adam Burish body check. By the way, if you missed them earlier, check out Burish's "One Goal" spots on Blackhawks TV -- 1st spot, 2nd spot. Classic Burish.


• Adam Burish hasn't updated his blog in the past week, but Chicago Sun-Times online sports editor Roman Modrowski stopped by to take a shot at Adam and to post a Burish fight video.


• Hockey's Future has released its previews of the Rockford Icehogs, Toronto Marlies, and Manchester Monarchs. No mention of Jake Dowell in the Icehogs preview, but Robbie Earl gets some nice mention in the Marlies preview, and Joe Piskula and Davis Drewiske are briefly mentioned in the Monarchs preview.
  

  Other promising Marlie forwards include late cuts Robbie Earl and Kyle Rogers. Earl, 23, has improved consistently since joining the Marlies two years ago. In 2007-08, he notched 14 goals and 47 points in 66 games after scoring 30 points in 67 games the year before. Earl's ticket to the NHL is his speed which he uses primarily in a setup role. Leaf injuries may allow him to see a few NHL games, but he'll likely bulk up and fine tune his game in the AHL this season.
  
  Joining Martinez and Voinov on the blueline will be Davis Drewiske, Joe Piskula and Drew Bagnall. Each is returning to Manchester for his second season, albeit after only a handful of games for Drewiske. Drewiske and Piskula are solid defensive defensemen who will be looked to as the anchor of the defense and on the penalty kill.
  



• In his blog post about Badger lines, Todd mentioned several recent transactions:
  
  
  • The Los Angeles Kings assigned defensemen Davis Drewiske and Joe Piskula to Manchester (AHL).
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs sent forward Robbie Earl to their Toronto AHL affiliate.
  • The New York Rangers assigned defenseman Brian Fahey to Hartford (AHL).
    
  • Hartford, meanwhile, released forward Matthew Ford to Charlotte (ECHL).
  • The St. Louis Blues sent forward Brad Winchester and defenseman Andy Wozniewski to Peoria (AHL).
  • The Chicago Wolves (AHL) released forward Andy Brandt and defenseman Josh Engel. They'll return to Gwinnett (ECHL).

More Hockey's Future: Top 20 Prospects, SM-Liiga

As you know, we've been posting Badgers that make HF's Top 20 lists as the Fall 2008 edition for each NHL team is released. Anyway, HF has released a few more teams, as well as feature on SM-Liiga. A number of Badgers make the Top 20 lists, and Badger Bernd Brückler and Coach Eaves' son Ben are mentioned in the SM-Liiga feature.

Montreal Canadiens:

2. (2) Ryan McDonagh, D, 19
Acquired 1st round, 12th overall, 2007

The Canadiens have placed a premium on blueliners over the past few seasons, and McDonagh represents the cream of the crop. Not only does he possess solid size on the blue line, at 6'1 and well over 200 pounds, but he represents the type of defenseman who's prized throughout the league -- a mobile, puck-moving presence with the ability to both start and finish the rush.

His skating has been described as "dimensional" by the team's player development guru, Trevor Timmins. McDonagh is expected to anchor a strong University of Wisconsin blue line this year. He is also expected to play a key role on Team USA for the upcoming WJC, despite being left off the squad last season.

Other notables: Patrick Johnson, C

Columbus Blue Jackets:

5. (NR) Cody Goloubef, D
Grade 7.0C Projection: Top 4 defenseman
Age: 18 Height/weight: 6'0, 195
Drafted 37th overall, 2008

Goloubef had a very good season in the NCAA, where impressively he played a regular shift as an 18-year-old defenseman. He finished the year with 10 points in 40 games for the Badgers. An extremely smart defender who makes an excellent first pass, Goloubef plays very well in his own end. He plays smart and safe, but there also is a good deal of offensive upside to his game.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

10. (6) Robbie Earl, LW, 23 -- Toronto Marlies (AHL) - 7C
Acquired: Sixth round, 187th overall in 2004.

While Earl improved during his second AHL season, he has yet to show the goal scoring touch that he did at the University of Wisconsin. The swift winger followed up his 12-goal, 30-point rookie season with 14 goals and 47 points last year, which earned him a nine-game stint with the Leafs that resulted in one assist. At times he was the best player on the ice last year, but there were also times he failed to make any impact at all. There is no questioning his speed and game-breaking ability from the wing, but whether or not he will ever produce like he did in college when he scored 41 goals and 90 points during his last 80 games, is another question. Earl will head to camp this fall hoping to lock down a spot on one of the Leafs' scoring lines with an impressive camp. No matter where he plays in 2008-09, he will have to produce more offensively to keep his prospect status.

New York Rangers:

11. (N/A) Derek Stepan, C, 7.5D
Age: 18
Acquired: Second Round, 51st overall, 2008 NHL Entry Draft

A boom or bust prospect, Stepan was a major force at Shattuck St. Mary’s during the 2007-08 season. His 44 goals and 111 points led the team last year. Now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Stepan is a very good skater, with excellent hands, and a fast release. A natural playmaker, Stepan has a knack for making the right pass, and the speed to make things happen. Stepan will be looking to take his game to the next level on one of the best teams in collegiate hockey. Unlike some other hockey players, who take an extra year before beginning college, Stepan was extremely anxious to join the Wisconsin Badgers at age 18, and currently is one of the youngest players on the team. It is hard to predict at this point how long it will be before Stepan is ready for a professional hockey career. There is no question that he has a lot of potential, but it will be awhile before the Rangers know whether Stepan will be boom or bust.

LA Kings:
Other Notables -- Davis Drewiske (D), Joe Piskula (D)



Finnish SM-Liiga prospects 2008-09 season preview

BLUES
Like Karpat, Espoo Blues will have a primarily veteran lineup as they prepare for Champions League and SM-Liiga play. However, unlike their Northern rivals the Blues were able to keep much of their lineup intact – including top two scorers Ryan Keller and Stefan Ohman. Keller, a 24-year-old former Saskatoon Blade, is one of three North American imports for the Blues along with defenseman Dale Clarke and former Penguins’ draft pick Ben Eaves. Coach Petri Matikainen should have another strong club this season.

Austrian goalie Bernd Bruckler was drafted by the Flyers in 2001 and played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin (where Eaves’ father Mike is the head coach). Bruckler was a workhorse for the Blues last year and should again handle the bulk of the goaltending duties. Antti Harma (a 1987-born goalie) gained some professional experience last year playing for KooKoo (Mestis) and was also on the Finnish junior team in 2007. Mika Korhonen (21) and Mikko Koskinen (20) split the duties on Espoo’s A junior club.

Hockey's Future Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

Hockey's Future has been continuing to issue Top Prospect articles for each of the NHL teams. And while I have been "temporarily hibernating" since Denver, thankfully DPlaya has not, and therefore all the links were there waiting for me when I stopped by his blog today as one of my first stops since turning my computer back on.

Last month, I posted the HF articles pertaining to Jamie McBain, Brian Elliott, and Kyle Turris. Today, I have the same for Robbie Earl, Brendan Smith, Jack Skille, Jake Dowell, and Matt Ford.


Maple Leafs Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

6. (4) Robbie Earl, LW, 22, Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Acquired: Sixth round, 187th overall in 2004.

Earl’s second full professional season started off strong, but his play has tapered off as the season progressed. Earl potted 10 of his 14 goals this season before the calendar flipped to 2008. The 6’0 195 lb winger possesses blazing speed off the wing and shifty one-on-one moves that make him difficult to contain. Consistency has been an issue for Earl since he arrived in Toronto. There are games where he looks like a high-end prospect, capable of scoring on any given shift, and then there are games when he is difficult to find. The Illinois native got his first taste of the show this year as well, suiting up in nine games with the Leafs and registering one assist. Is Earl a late bloomer or just another player who can’t translate NCAA stardom into pro success? Next year will be a big one for Earl. He finished the season with 14 goals and 33 assists in 66 games.



Red Wings Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

5. Brendan Smith, D

Acquired: 1st round, 27th overall, 2007
Height: 6’1, Weight: 172 lbs

Smith raised a lot of eyebrows at the start of his first year of college hockey. The defenseman tallied two goals and four assists in his first four games with the NCAA Wisconsin Badgers. Smith was only able to muster six assists in his last 18 games, but still it was good production for a a true freshman defenseman.

A re-occurring back injury was to blame for the minimal amount of games that he played in. Smith needs to build up more muscle to withstand the constant pounding. He is expected to take on a more prominent leadership role next year for the Badgers.


Blackhawks Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

4. Jack Skille, RW

6', 205 pounds
Drafted Round 1, 2005
Born: May 19, 1987

In 16 games with the Blackhawks in 2007-08, Skille showed both the skill and holes in his game that have always divided observers alike on his potential. In those contests, he had three goals, two assists and was +1. Without question, he is blazing fast and has a nose for the offensive transition game. However, Coach Denis Savard rightly questioned Skille's commitment to work on the boards. His defensive zone play and positioning on the breakout were sloppy and inconsistent. The former Wisconsin Badger has always been touted as a power forward, with a stout 205-pound frame, yet he seems to play the game more as a finesse winger, preferring to prowl for breakaway opportunities and fat rebounds. At Rockford, Skille was marginally more productive, with 18 goals and 16 assists (-3) in 59 games.

Jake Dowell and Matt Ford did not make the Chicago's Top 20, but they were listed as #7 and #8 of the "Other Notables", so I suppose that puts them as #27 and #28 overall.