Mick Hatten of the St. Cloud Times reported that Nebraska-Omaha has contacted St. Cloud State assistant Steve Johnson about filling the vacancy left by Mike Hastings when he took the head coaching gig at Minnesota State. Johnson's connections to UNO head coach Dean Blais are pretty extensive, and that job probably comes with a bit of a pay raise, and the added gravitas of working for an NCHC "charter member".
The Big Ten pulled a pretty major coup yesterday when they announced that Steve Piotrowski would serve as the league's director of officials. Piotrowski's qualifications include the numerous NCAA championships he's officiated, helping lead the men's ice hockey rules committee, and never cursing out an umpire at a kid's baseball game. On the downside, people will complain about the quality of officiating in the CCHA over the past few years. These people watch very little college hockey outside the CCHA.
SB Nation site Bucky's 5th Quarter took in the Central District's tryout process for the Select 15 and 16 age groups. The Central District has to be the most competitive in the country in that it includes the very deep Chicagoland-area, while also including pretty talent rich areas in Wisconsin and St. Louis. There's lots of really good players there, including a few already with college commitments in hand, and it's worth a read.
Colorado College has consistently struggled in the second half of the season in the Scott Owens era. It's a tough thing to explain, though I wonder if the smaller lineups the Tigers tend to rely on get a little worn down in the tough grind of the second half of the WCHA season.
Mariucci Arena will be getting their own mega-videoboard, that looks pretty similar to the one Michigan installed in Yost Arena last summer. With the larger arena and higher roof, it likely won't look as out of place as Yost's. They will also try to improve the acoustics in the building, which is a much needed improvement.
Meanwhile in Gopherland, Anthony LaPanta, who has handled play-by-play for Fox Sports North the past two years, was named the new play-by-play voice for the Minnesota Wild. I've always like LaPanta as a play-by-play guy, although he got off to a difficult start with the Gophers, in part because of the circumstances of him getting the job, and because he got paired with a rotating cast of color guys, some of whom were not very comfortable in the booth.
TSN's Craig Button has his Top 60 players for this year's NHL Draft. Jacob Trouba is ranked 13th, but only 8th among defensemen. Providence recruit Mark Jankowski continues to rise, and is listed at 14th overall here.
Fascinating research on the correlation between a team having top prospects/NHL draft picks and success in the NCAA tournament. Also, the impact of winning on attendance.
The news to come out of Florida from the Coaches Convention/League Meetings was pretty bland this year, especially considering it was a rule change year.
The big news was that it now looks likely that college hockey will be making the move from full face shields to visors. I'm not a huge fan of the move, but I'm fine with it as long as we're all honest about the true reason for this move, which is to have college hockey players look like the players in every other league. The notion that it improves safety by taking away safety measure is downright silly. If it makes things safer, why does every player with a facial injury play with a full cage instead of no facial protection?
In other news, this paragraph made me want to cut myself:
The exact makeup of the board is still being haggled over. In one incarnation, it would involve the commissioners, three coaches and three athletic directors, comprising the six conferences that will be playing as of 2013-14. In another, it will be one commissioner and six athletic directors. And there are various combinations in between.
That's discussing the endless and needless bureaucracy that will be used to oversee College Hockey Inc. These are seriously the issues the people in charge think we need to hammer out to fix college hockey. I can't Tyler Biggs announced he was going to play anywhere but Miami without sticking around to find out if it was going to be four commissioners, and 2 ADs, or two commissioners and 3 ADS, or a commissioner, an AD, and third guy that more overtly sets money on fire. Meanwhile, there was no discussion about fixing the NCAA tournament format.
There were some other minor rule change discussions too. 4-on-4 overtime didn't get enough support. That stupid rule that cost Michigan State a goal in the NCAA tournament is getting fixed, which duh, and they're going to tweak the rules on directing the puck in with a skate. Everyone's life is much easier if they adopted my 'if it counts in soccer, it counts in hockey' rule, but the odds of the NCAA going beyond the NHL's rules are slim to none.
The NCHC hired their first ever director of hockey ops. Air Force assistant athletic director Joe Novak was given the job. Novak seems like a fine hire. It seems like they've got a decent front office set up. Here's a Q&A with conference commissioner Jim Scherr.
It's also been widely rumored that the NCHC is close to announcing the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis as the host of their conference tournament. Good luck with that.
North Dakota made a shocking announcement when they announced that they would not be renewing the contract of popular assistant coach Cary Eades. There were all sorts of crazy rumors out there about why Eades was let go--especially when Dave Hakstol gave a cryptic "There are no other reasons" in the press release announcing it--but it sounds like it was just a difference of opinion/coaching style between Hakstol and Eades. In searching for a new coach, North Dakota said they are looking for a former NHL defenseman, or someone who has coached defensemen in the NHL, for what it's worth.
As expected, Seth Jones signed with the Portland Winterhawks. It's a shame to lose out on a talented player, but given his unique position, it's not a terrible decision for Jones.
Michigan State has been working to upgrade their facilities this summer, especially since they'll be going from near the top of the pack in terms of arenas within their conference to the clear-cut bottom next summer when they join the Big Ten. There was some hope that MSU would build an entirely new arena, but unable to secure funding for a new building--They should contact the Minnesota legislature, who is running out of schools to give arena money to instead of Minnesota State--, it looks like MSU will just make serious renovations to Munn Arena.
D-3 Hamline University in Minnesota hired former Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo as their new head coach.
Here's a look at some of the storylines from today's WHL Bantam Draft.
-The most direct impact on college hockey came early when Prince George moved up a couple spots in the first round by putting together a package that sent Michigan Tech recruit Jujhar Khaira's rights to Everett. Prince George seemed to have no chance at signing Khaira, and with Everett getting him in a trade, they have to think their odds are less-than-zero. Khaira was ranked 74th among NA skaters by NHL Central Scouting for this year's draft, and was invited to the NHL Draft Combine today, so he'd be a pretty big recruit for Michigan Tech. Khaira has a reputation as being pretty academic-minded, but there's always a chance he could be swayed after he is drafted by an NHL team.
-The second overall pick in the draft was forward Jansen Harkins of the North Shore Winter Club. Harkins is the son of Todd Harkins, who played three years of college hockey at Miami, before going on to a long pro career that included a couple stops in the NHL. Also, thanks to a retweet from Bob McKenzie, I had half of Canada inform me that Harkins also was on a reality show in Canada.
There's never a great amount of confidence for the NCAA any time a player is selected that high in a CHL draft, but on the positive side, he was picked by Prince George, which has a tough time drawing players due to location, and his dad has experience working in the BCHL, potentially giving him some place to play pre-college. And with the WHL drafting earlier than the other CHL leagues, a high draft pick doesn't mean as much. Luke Moffatt and Dan Bertram were both second overall draft picks and ended up playing college hockey. Jonathan Toews went first overall in his draft year. Perhaps there's a chance for the NCAA there.
Harkins also theoretically would have the option of playing for the NTDP, similar to the top prospect in the QMJHL draft this year, Daniel Audette. Although with the IIHF's goofy ruling on Stefan Matteau's eligibility, it seems Harkins would have to play in the US next year--I'm not sure if just playing in the Youth Olympic Games would count--in order to be eligible for the U18 world championships as a 17-year-old.
-The first player playing in the US to go in the draft was Los Angeles Selects defenseman Keoni Texeira, who was selected 26th overall by Everett. That's fairly high for an American, but lower than a player of his talent would usually go, depending on if you're glass half-empty or glass half-full.
-The younger brother of Seth Jones, Caleb, was taken at the end of the 3rd round by Portland. Caleb is reportedly a pretty good player in his own right, but probably more importantly, it gives Portland another bargaining chip in trying to woo Seth to play for the Winterhawks next year.
-The first Minnesotan to be selected was Osseo/Maple Grove forward Jesse Gabrielle. Benilde-Margaret's forward Chase Jungels was selected 133rd by Vancouver. He was overshadowed a bit as a very young kid on a very good Benilde team, but he definitely showed some talent, especially later in the year. Other Minnesotans to be drafted: Stillwater's Luke Osterman, Shattuck's Jordan Klehr and Rem Pitlick, and UMD recruit Blake Heinrich. Heinrich went in the 12th round to Portland, and seems like a complete shot in the dark.
-Kelowna traded away once-top prospect Shane McColgan for draft picks, so next time Bruce Hamilton runs his mouth about his team could get a player to the NHL faster than an NCAA school, know that by 'NHL' he really means 'Saskatoon'.
It's a busy week for draft in the world of Junior A hockey. Last night, the USHL conducted their Futures Draft for 1996-born players. Tomorrow, the WHL holds their bantam draft for 1997-born players. And earlier this week, the QMJHL released their final scouting list of players for their draft, which will be held in early June.
In the USHL, this year was the first year the league allowed teams the option to tender one to two players in exchange for giving up a second/third round pick at the Futures draft. The list of 12 players that were tendered prior to the draft can be found here.
At the actual draft, Holy Family Catholic(MN) forward Shane Gersich was the first overall pick by the Omaha Lancers. Gersich turned down the opportunity to play for the NTDP earlier this spring in order to return for his sophomore season at Holy Family. It sounds as though the current plan is for Gersich to play one more year of high school hockey, and then join the Lancers.
Diminutive Maine recruit Liam Pecararo went 2nd overall, Ohio State recruit Nick Magyar went 4th overall, and Penn State recruit Kevin Kerr went 7th overall. Chicago Mission had three players taken in the first round, and had two players taken in the tender process.
In the WHL draft, forward Matthew Barzal seems to be the consensus top pick. Buzzing the Net's Kelly Friesen has a great look at some of the stories leading up to the draft, including a couple Americans to watch out for. Coming Down the Pipe has a look at their top 22 prospects, none of whom are American.
Here's the QMJHL draft list. This is the first year of the QMJHL's new rule that every team has to draft at least two Americans. Vermont recruit Anthony Duclair is listed as a top round pick. The other interesting name likely to go in the early rounds is Notre Dame Prep defenseman Duncan MacIntyre. MacIntyre tried out for the NTDP team, and his father played at Maine, though he also has pretty strong connections to some Q teams. I've seen him listed as a top five talent by some people, though the final list has him in the second round. Seeing him drop a little in the draft would be a positive indicator.
TSN's Bob McKenzie reported via Twitter this evening that Miami freshman Tyler Biggs is leaving the school after just one season in Oxford. It's unknown what Biggs' next step will be. His OHL rights are owned by the Oshawa Generals, and he was a first round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer. Because he played college hockey last year, Biggs would also have the option of playing the year in the AHL if he signs with Toronto and doesn't make the club.
It's perhaps all coincidence, but the timing of the announcement, combined with no word on a next step, comes during the week of final exams for Miami's spring semester.
Biggs had a solidly productive year, scoring 9 goals and 8 assists in 37 games, while playing his trademark gritty, physical game on Miami's second line.
It's been a busy week for outgoing NTDP players heading to the CHL. North Dakota recruit Miles Koules announced he will be playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL, while Miami recruit Ryan Hartman announced he will play for the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL.
It is funny to see the NTDP getting blamed for these departures when, as far as I can see, the NTDP kept these players out of the CHL for the duration they were in the program, and as soon as they aged out, they opted for the CHL. That seems more like a North Dakota and Miami problem to me. Maybe it's time for them to print up another $10 banner and hold another press conference to pat themselves on the back about what Important People they are.
With Koules, the writing seemed to be on the wall after a disappointing season that concluded with him being left off the US roster for the World U18 championships. A better writer could probably draw a comparison between Koules' downfall and the Ashton Kutcher fiasco on Two and A Half Men. Being sent down to the U17 team didn't bode well for his college career, and I have to imagine Medicine Hat ended up being quite a bit more interested in Koules than North Dakota was. Normally it's not a wise move for a kid facing the likelihood of going undrafted to double down on hockey and give up hope of a college education, but Koules is in a unique position because of his background, which cancels out a lot of that.
Hartman, as a late '94 birthdate, still had another year of high school left to finish before he was eligible to play college hockey. Hartman had been trying to accelerate his schooling to get to Miami next year, but that didn't work out. That's not something to hold against a kid. With the incredible demands put on these kids just with hockey, it's difficult enough to keep up with a regular academic load, let alone double that. That meant Hartman was left with a choice of playing for Dubuque of the USHL, or Plymouth, and heading into his draft year, I don't think he wanted to make what he felt was a lateral move.
That said, I'm not convinced this was the best long-term move for his future. Hartman is a fine player, but he's still 5'10", and despite whatever they may have promised, I doubt Plymouth is going to make him 3 inches taller. He'll definitely be drafted next year, but where? I think it's highly unlikely to see him in the first round of the draft, and once you get outside the first round of the draft, even a 2nd round pick only has like a 40% chance of making it as an NHLer, and the numbers decline pretty steeply after that. What exactly is Hartman gaining compared to what he is giving up in getting a college education? I haven't heard many people talking about how Kenny Ryan is totally tearing it up in the ECHL playoffs this year.
It's a tough loss for Miami, in what could end up being a tough summer. They'll still have to wait on decisions from recruits Pat Sieloff and Riley Barber, whose rights are both owned by Windsor. My gut feeling is that Sieloff ends up in Windsor by next year. Barber is tougher to peg, if only because he's had multiple chances to leave and hasn't.
Meanwhile, the big prize remains Seth Jones, who recently had his rights traded from Everett to Portland, and is deciding between playing in the WHL for Portland and heading to North Dakota next year. Jones took a visit to Portland this past weekend. The Hawks have come a long ways from not paying for their own players sticks and medical procedures four years ago to becoming one of the WHL's big spenders.
Jones is a rare case where I think actually think playing in the WHL makes at least as much sense as playing college hockey. Playing with the NTDP U18s this past year, Jones was watched by pretty much every NHL team in every game he played this year. He's competed against the best in the world at his age group, and he's got a pretty solid understanding of where he's likely to go in next year's draft. Much can change, but it's looking pretty likely that Jones is a top 5 draft pick next year, and the odds of him being an NHLer are almost guaranteed. Playing college hockey certainly wouldn't hurt him, but it's also understandable if he wants to focus solely on hockey as he prepares for the NHL.
Jacob Trouba will be another player to watch this offseason. I've felt, ever since his commitment, the odds of Trouba actually playing for Michigan are about 50/50, though I think the only way he ends up in the OHL next year is if the NHL team that drafts him gets him to sign a contract and assigns him there, similar to JT Miller last year.
Minnesota held their final round of tryouts for the national Select 16 and 17 Festivals--meaning kids born in 1996 and 1995 respectively, who are probably all like, "What's a Candlebox?"--this past weekend in Plymouth. I was at the tournament on Saturday, and figured I'd give my take on which players should move on to New York for the national festivals.
The level of play here was pretty impressive. Goal tending was pretty atrocious, but that's usually case, even at the national tournament level. Skaters develop faster than goalies, and it is especially evident at these age levels. Neither group appears especially deep with NHL Draft-type talent, but there were plenty of really good future junior/college players here.
After the jump, I'll make my picks.
The US U18 team finished off a fourth consecutive gold medal performance yesterday with a dominating 7-0 victory over Sweden. The US won all six games at the tournament, and outscored opponents by a total of 27-4, with all four goals against coming in two games against Canada.
The World U18s is an IIHF event, and I've always believed that it serves as a kind of "final exam" for the NTDP program. If that's the case, this year's group passed with flying colors. Everyone will be quick to point out that Canada does not send their best to this tournament, which is correct. But that means that at worst, the NTDP has elevated USA Hockey to the second best hockey playing nation in the world at the youth level, which is no small feat.
There was some concern heading into the tournament about the US' scoring, especially after they passed on Alex Galchenyuk, and then lost Stefan Matteau to a puzzling IIHF ruling, and then passed on Galchenyuk again to fill Matteau's spot. But scoring isn't much of an issue when you allow .67 goals per game. Nic Kerdiles finished as the team's leading scorer, thanks in large part to a big final game. Seth Jones had a very productive tournament and continued to cement his status as a top pick for the 2013 draft. And obviously a defensive performance that dominating has to help the stock of all the defensemen on the US team. I was surprised at how low Collin Olson was on the final Central Scouting rankings, but his 0.80 goals against, 96.55% save percentage, has to help get him drafted.
