Showing posts with label Lincoln. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln. Show all posts

Saturday, April 12, 2014

An Early, Basic, Brief, and Very Amateur look at the incoming Freshmen for next year (Redwing77)

Ok, one thing I have been able to do even with grad school, is to keep up with the local USHL scene in Omaha, Nebraska.  I've gotten to see a few of UND's future recruits in action, but I'm going to limit this article to ONLY those I've seen AND those who are listed per Heisenberg and Schlossman's blog as being 2014 recruits.  I want to be VERY VERY clear:  I'm only speaking of these players from a fan/viewer point of view.  If you want a coach's perspective or one more like a scout, then read no further.  This report is VERY amateur.

Right now, per Heisenberg, the following players are incoming:

Goaltenders:
Cam Johnson - Fargo/Waterloo (USHL)

Defensemen:
Hayden Shaw - Waterloo (USHL)
Tucker Poolman - Omaha (USHL)

Forwards:
Nick Schmaltz - Green Bay (USHL)
Trevor Olson - Sioux City (USHL)
John Simonson - Lincoln (USHL)

First, those I've only seen in limited capacity:

Hayden Shaw and Nick Schmaltz.  I'm no scout.  I've seen Waterloo play, but Shaw did not stand out.  That's fine, as he's a defenseman.  From what little I've seen of him thus far, he looks to be a shut down defenseman.  What he actually turns out to be is unknown.  Truthfully, he's a 1996 birthday.  With only four slots opening, and assuming no one bolts, I'm curious to know if Hakstol asks Shaw to wait a year.  Then again, I do not know how Coach Hakstol will work it.

Nick Schmaltz is the most limited of viewership of the list.  I've only seen him play once and it was on a lousy webcast game between Green Bay and Omaha.  He seemed fast but he didn't stand out much.  The commentators certainly raved a lot about him, though.

Trevor Olson -  He's done alright this year for Sioux City.  He wears the 'C' for Sioux City.  Likes to hang out in front of the net.  However, at least tonight, he did quite a bit of whining to the refs (though I can't really blame them.  We had two of the worst officials I've ever witnessed).  He's a pretty tall dude at 6'1" tall.  I think at the NCAA level he'll be another Rodwell or perhaps a Gaarder type.

Most Viewership:

John Simonson -  He was Lincoln's leading scorer and scholarship winner.  He wore the 'A' for Lincoln this year (future Alaska Nanook hack Zach Frye wore the C).  He played for a rather poor team racked with disappointing defensive performances, suspensions, injuries, and tragedy this year.  He has a lot of pep to his game and loves to rush the net.  I think he reminds me of a Mark McMillan type player.... Maybe O'Donnell even.

Cam Johnson - Ok, most of my viewership came before he was traded to Waterloo.  He started the year as Fargo's starting goaltender and was traded while still in that capacity.  In my opinion, he really was the ONLY veteran player on Fargo that was playing well consistently, but it was never enough.  Fargo has the worst team D in the USHL and their record shows it.  That being said, Johnson had his fair share of consistency issues.  I'm not too concerned about Johnson at UND unless he's expected to jump right in and start right off the bat (say, if Gothberg bolts).  He can steal games, but he's not as talented as Gothberg yet.  He does have tremendous potential though.

Tucker Poolman - This is the fellow I have the MOST exposure to.  I'm not sure if it is the coach's strategy or not, but he's the most aggressive defenseman in the offensive zone I've ever seen.  He's OFTEN deep in the zone and many of his USHL leading goals (among defensemen) came from below the faceoff circles.  He's on the ice in every situation and logs a ton of minutes.  He's NOT physical at all.  Don't look for him to make any really big hits.  He has fought at least once this year in the USHL but even the fans were wondering what the heck was going on to force him to fight.  If I were to describe Poolman, he'd be a combination between Mattson and perhaps LaDue.  I do NOT project him to continue this style of play at UND and I likewise do not expect him to be a world beater offensively at the NCAA level.  However, what he COULD be is the next Dillon Simpson in terms of on and off ice leadership.  He is far and away the best defenseman on Omaha and, imo, one of the top 3 defenseman in the USHL this year.

Who knows how it is going to turn out.  Who knows if who I compared these players to (if I did at all) is even close.  Maybe I'll be wrong and Olson will light it up.  Maybe there's another Trevor Hammer or Wes Dorey in this mix.  I don't know.  All I do know is that there's a LOT of good coming our way in the next few years (Christian Evers is going to grow into a stud, imo).
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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Good Day for UND at the Draft (RW77)

North Dakota was well represented today at the draft with all highlighted players drafted and one off the board being drafted.

Here's the breakdown:

Adam Tambellini was drafted in the 3rd round (65th overall) to the NY Rangers.
Keaton Thompson was drafted in the 3rd round (87th overall) to the Anaheim Ducks.
Tucker Poolman was drafted in the 5th round (127th overall) to the Winnipeg Jets.
Luke Johnson was drafted in the 5th round (134th overall) to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Gage Ausmus was drafted in the 5th round (151st overall) to the San Jose Sharks.
Wade Murphy was drafted in the 7th round (185th overall) to the Nashville Predators.

Undrafted UND Draft eligible players were:  Drake Caggiula, Cam Johnson (incoming 2014), Trevor Olson, Troy Stetcher, Colton St. Clair, Luke Voltin, Charlie Pelnik, and Jack Rowe.

Surprises

In my opinion, I have no surprises to say because I'm terrible at predicting who will and will not get drafted.  I still have memories of thinking Kyle Radke would be a end 4th to mid 5th draft pick and watching him fall straight off the board.

So UND has 6 drafted players from various rounds incoming.

I think this is pretty good considering that this was, according to several "experts" a "down" year for NCAA and NCAA-inbound players in terms of high end talent.  Only one player (current WMU recruit Michael McCarron went in the first round.  His MJ rights are owned by London of the OHL, btw, so it will be interesting to see if he actually goes to WMU in the fall (my bet is that he won't).

There weren't as many trades as they expected but here are a few interesting ones:

NJ Devils trade the 9th pick overall to Vancouver for Cory Schneider - This pick makes a lot of sense for NJ and absolutely NO sense for Vancouver.  Luongo wanted out.  Vancouver front office wanted Luongo out.  So they trade Schneider.  Definitely a head scratcher.

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Wild trade Cal Clutterbuck to the Isles for Nino Neitereider and a pick.  This is an interesting trade because you have a tried and true gritty forward being traded for a former first rounder whose offense has been suspect.  In other words, it's Risebrough-esque.  I've seen Nino play and he's pretty good if you give him space.  If you crowd him, he disappears.  At best, Nino is another Pierre Marc Bouchard.  At worst, he's a nobody.

But probably the worst trade by the Wild had to be Justin Falk for the rights to Benn Ferriero and a 2014 6th rounder.  Sorry Wild fans, but Ferriero is another Veillieux in terms of offensive talent.  22 points in 92 NHL games.  The Wild do not need defensive forwards... well maybe they do now that Clutterbuck is gone?  So they ship away a decent young defenseman for the RFA rights to Ferriero?  Yuck.  If that pick was a 2013 mid rounder (say 4th-6th round) then I'd say "Ok."  But blech.

In wrapping up:  Boston College and UND had 6 players drafted last count.  That tops them out for NCAA schools.  Not too shabby.
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
Luke Voltin (Lincoln), F Jack Rowe (Cedar Rapids), D Charlie Pelnik (Fargo) - See more at: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/#sthash.dIBFIQKe.dpuf
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Monday, April 22, 2013

UND Recruit: Paul Ladue's goal against Sioux Falls



The Lincoln Stars and the Sioux Falls Stampede are currently tied 2-2 in their USHL quarterfinal series. Lincoln is the team that future UND defenseman Paul Ladue currently plays for, and this past season, Paul became the highest scoring defenseman in Lincoln Stars history.

In the loss on Saturday night, Paul scored the only Stars goal and they face the Stampede in a deciding game five tomorrow night in Sioux Falls. The Stampede are coached by former Fighting Sioux associate head coach Carey Eades.

You can see the Ladue goal on the video include, it's the third goal on the video at about the 1:20 mark of the video.



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