Sunday, November 30, 2008

Wild say they aren't anti American.

Michale Russo from the Red Star and Sickle has an interesting story about why the Wild don't draft more American college hockey players. It think it is a good question and personally I would love to see more players with college hockey experience play for the Wild. Teams like the Devils and Bruins seem to be doing well using American born and or college hockey players. The Wild have one player on the current roster from the USA Erik Reitz and he played junior hockey in the OHL.

Meanwhile down on the farm the Wild's farm club the Houston Areos have a good number of former college hockey, however, many of these players don't have much of a chance of playing with the Wild.
Sunday Insider: Wild not anti-American
The fan was tired of, in part, "seeing box scores with names like Wheeler, Kessel, Parise, Ballard, Goligoski, Vanek, etc, all playing well and we have the Wild, whose GM ignores college players and Minnesotans."

I get a few e-mails a week from Minnesotans with the same frustrations, one recently noting "the leading scorers on a bunch of NHL teams have Minnesota ties (Vanek, Parise, Ballard, Kessel, Wheeler) or at least are U.S.-born (Kane, Gomez, Dubinsky)."

The reader made an interesting point, writing, "I'd just like little 'Jimmy from Eagan' to have someone to look up to."

As a point of fact, I wrote back that Thomas Vanek was taken fifth and New Jersey's Zach Parise 17th in 2003; the Wild picked 20th. Keith Ballard went 11th in 2002; the Wild chose Pierre-Marc Bouchard eighth (debate it if you want, but Bouchard was coming off a 140-point season in the Q). Phil Kessel went fifth in 2006; the Wild chose ninth. Blake Wheeler went fifth in 2004; the Wild chose 12th, and took a Minnesotan
(Read the rest of the story here)

6 comments:

  1. Did anyone else hear that gay song that the Wild always play during the Sioux game Saturday night? I almost shit myself. If they're gonna start takin after the Wild I might have to find a different team. I can handle them playing with no heart and crapping a season away but trying to be like the Mild?? Give me a break.

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  2. I think the Wild are a lot like the Sioux, only the Wild are beginning to score again.

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  3. 2004 Had a great talent pool to choose from instead of Thelen. Stafford 13th, Zajac 20th, heck Goligoski went 61st. J Franzen went 97th.

    2005 Osh, Statsny, Stoa, Anze Kopitar

    I know some aren't American.. I think the Wild just suffer from doing good enough to not have a chance at drafting the best.

    Off topic, but I was thinking of writing up a post about who has the most 1st round draft picks on their team?? (Mainly because some Blues Forum guys were debating that the other day, and it had me wondering, since the Blues manage to suck every year! lol)

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  4. At one point last year there were two Hobey Baker winners playing on the same team. Only it wasn't in the NHL. Marty Sertich and Junior Lessard were both on the Iowa Stars roster before Junior got traded. College hockey, fun as it is to watch, just might not be the best preparation for the NHL.

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  5. eeewww.. I'd have to disagree. Junior Lessard was undrafted, and had one great season. He then went on to sign with a team as a FA. A 1 year deal that didn't pan out. Marty Sertich, Peter Sejna, Ryan Duncan, heck Chris Connor,Brian Bonin all these guys have won the Hobey, or were a finalist, and won't be a factor in the NHL anytime soon if ever. (well Chris Connor just got sent up to Dallas from Peoria the other night) But these guys just prove that not everyone will make it to the NHL.

    Of the 213 players drafted in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, 75 of the draft picks played college.

    Here's the list of NCAA players who played in the NHL in 07-08:
    Anaheim
    Ryan Carter (Minnesota State)
    Joe DiPenta (Boston University)
    Andrew Ebbett (Michigan)
    Kent Huskins (Clarkson)
    Chris Kunitz (Ferris State)
    Todd Marchant (Clarkson)
    Drew Miller (Michigan State)
    Mark Mowers (New Hampshire)
    George Parros (Princeton)
    Doug Weight (Lake Superior State)


    Atlanta
    Kevin Doell (Denver
    Darren Haydar (New Hampshire)
    Ken Klee (Bowling Green)
    Eric Perrin (Vermont)
    Jim Slater (Michigan State)
    Brett Sterling (Colorado College)
    Colin Stuart (Colorado College)
    Todd White (Clarkson)


    Boston
    Andrew Alberts (Boston College)
    Bobby Allen (Boston College)
    Jeff Hoggan (Nebraska-Omaha)
    Matt Hunwick (Michigan)
    Phil Kessel (Minnesota)
    Chuck Kobasew (Boston College)
    Mark Stuart (Colorado College)
    Tim Thomas (Vermont)
    Aaron Ward (Michigan)


    Buffalo
    Ryan Miller (Michigan State)
    Michael Ryan (Northeastern)
    Drew Stafford (North Dakota)
    Thomas Vanek (Minnesota)


    Calgary
    Adrian Aucoin (Boston University)
    Craig Conroy (Clarkson)
    David Hale (North Dakota)
    Curtis Joseph (Wisconsin)
    Curtis McElhinney (Colorado College)
    David Moss (Michigan)
    Eric Nystrom (Michigan)


    Carolina
    Keith Aucoin (Norwich)
    Ryan Bayda (North Dakota)
    Casey Borer (St. Cloud State)
    Rod Brind'Amour (Michigan State)
    Erik Cole (Clarkson)
    Tim Conboy (St. Cloud State)
    Joe Corvo (Western Michigan)
    Matt Cullen (St. Cloud State)
    Patrick Eaves (Boston College)
    John Grahame (Lake Superior State)
    Jeff Hamilton (Yale)
    Bret Hedican (St. Cloud State)
    Joe Jensen (St. Cloud State)
    Joey Mormina (Colgate)
    David Tanabe (Wisconsin)


    Chicago
    Craig Adams (Harvard)
    Kevyn Adams (Miami)
    Rene Bourque (Wisconsin)
    Adam Burish (Wisconsin)
    Jake Dowell (Wisconsin)
    Jordan Hendry (Alaska)
    Duncan Keith (Michigan State)
    Danny Richmond (Michigan)
    Patrick Sharp (Vermont)
    Jack Skille (Wisconsin)
    Jonathan Toews (North Dakota)


    Colorado
    Tyler Arnason (St. Cloud State)
    Brett Clark (Maine)
    Jeff Finger (St. Cloud State)
    Ben Guite (Maine)
    T.J. Hensick (Michigan)
    David Jones (Dartmouth)
    Jordan Leopold (Minnesota)
    John-Michael Liles (Michigan State)
    Wyatt Smith (Minnesota)
    Paul Stastny (Denver)


    Columbus
    Ron Hainsey (UMass-Lowell)
    Andrew Murray (Bemidji State)
    Duvie Westcott (St. Cloud State)
    Clay Wilson (Michigan Tech)


    Dallas
    Chris Conner (Michigan Tech)
    Matt Niskanen (Minnesota Duluth)
    Toby Petersen (Colorado College)
    Marty Turco (Michigan)
    Brad Winchester (Wisconsin)


    Detroit
    Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State)
    Chris Chelios (Wisconsin)
    Dallas Drake (Northern Michigan)
    Mark Hartigan (St. Cloud State)
    Jim Howard (Maine)
    Brett Lebda (Notre Dame)
    Brian Rafalski (Wisconsin)
    Garrett Stafford (New Hampshire)


    Edmonton
    Andrew Cogliano (Michigan)
    Tom Gilbert (Wisconsin)
    Curtis Glencross (Alaska Anchorage)
    Matt Greene (North Dakota)
    Shawn Horcoff (Michigan State)
    Marty Reasoner (Boston College)
    Dustin Penner (Maine)
    Fernando Pisani (Providence)
    Dwayne Roloson (UMass-Lowell)


    Florida
    David Booth (Michigan State)
    Tanner Glass (Dartmouth)
    Rob Globke (Notre Dame)
    Cory Murphy (Colgate)
    Mike Van Ryn (Michigan)
    Noah Welch (Harvard)


    Los Angeles
    Rob Blake (Bowling Green)
    Brian Boyle (Boston College)
    Mike Cammalleri (Michigan)
    Gabe Gauthier (Denver)
    Jeff Giuliano (Boston College)
    Peter Harrold (Boston College)
    Jack Johnson (Michigan)
    Matt Moulson (Cornell)
    Brady Murray (North Dakota)
    Tom Preissing (Colorado College)
    Ted Purcell (Maine)
    Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts)
    John Zeiler (St. Lawrence)


    Minnesota
    Keith Carney (Maine)
    Matt Foy (Merrimack)
    Sean Hill (Wisconsin)
    Mark Parrish (St. Cloud State)
    Brian Rolston (Lake Superior State)
    Aaron Voros (Alaska)


    Montreal
    Chris Higgins (Yale)
    Mike Komisarek (Michigan)
    Ryan O'Byrne (Cornell)
    Bryan Smolinski (Michigan State)


    Nashville
    Brandon Bochenski (North Dakota)
    Greg De Vries (Bowling Green)
    Dan Ellis (Nebraska-Omaha)
    Josh Langfeld (Michigan)
    Jed Ortmeyer (Michigan)
    Rich Peverley (St. Lawrence)
    Ryan Suter (Wisconsin)
    Greg Zanon (Nebraska-Omaha)


    New Jersey
    Noah Clarke (Colorado College)
    Brian Gionta (Boston College)
    Andy Greene (Miami)
    John Madden (Michigan)
    Paul Martin (Minnesota)
    Mike Mottau (Boston College)
    Jay Pandolfo (Boston University)
    Zach Parise (North Dakota)
    Rod Pelley (Ohio State)
    Barry Tallackson (Minnesota)
    Travis Zajac (North Dakota)


    N.Y. Islanders
    Shawn Bates (Boston University)
    Mike Comrie (Michigan)
    Rick DiPietro (Boston University)
    Wade Dubielewicz (Denver)
    Bill Guerin (Boston College)
    Andy Hilbert (Michigan)
    Jack Hillen (Colorado College)
    Tim Jackman (Minnesota State)
    Freddy Meyer (Boston University)
    Kyle Okposo (Minnesota)
    Andy Sutton (Michigan Tech)
    Jeff Tambellini (Michigan)
    Ben Walter (UMass-Lowell)


    N.Y. Rangers
    Chris Drury (Boston University)
    Greg Moore (Maine)
    Thomas Pock (Massachusetts)


    Ottawa
    Mike Commodore (North Dakota)
    Brian Elliott (Wisconsin)
    Dany Heatley (Wisconsin)
    Brian Lee (North Dakota)
    Randy Robitaille (Miami)
    Jesse Winchester (Colgate)


    Philadelphia
    Jim Dowd (Lake Superior State)
    Kyle Greentree (Alaska)
    Nate Guenin (Ohio State)
    Randy Jones (Clarkson)
    Mike Knuble (Michigan)
    Ryan Potulny (Minnesota)
    R.J. Umberger (Ohio State)


    Phoenix
    Keith Ballard (Minnesota)
    Ryan Caldwell (Denver)
    Matt Jones (North Dakota)
    Matt Murley (RPI)
    Steve Reinprecht (Wisconsin)
    Bill Thomas (Nebraska-Omaha)
    Kyle Turris (Wisconsin)
    Craig Weller (Minnesota Duluth)
    Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire)
    Mike York (Michigan State)


    Pittsburgh
    Ty Conklin (New Hampshire)
    Mark Eaton (Notre Dame)
    Hal Gill (Providence)
    Alex Goligoski (Minnesota)
    Adam Hall (Michigan State)
    Connor James (Denver)
    Ryan Malone (St. Cloud State)
    Brooks Orpik (Boston College)
    Rob Scuderi (Boston College)
    Jeff Taffe (Minnesota)
    Ryan Whitney (Boston University)


    San Jose
    Matt Carle (Denver)
    Tom Cavanagh (Harvard)
    Mike Grier (Boston University)
    Mike Iggulden (Cornell)
    Torrey Mitchell (Vermont)
    Doug Murray (Cornell)
    Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin)
    Pat Rissmiller (Holy Cross)


    St. Louis
    David Backes (Minnesota State)
    Mike Glumac (Miami)
    Dan Hinote (Army)
    Erik Johnson (Minnesota)
    Mike Johnson (Bowling Green)
    Ryan Johnson (North Dakota)
    Paul Kariya (Maine)
    Jamal Mayers (Western Michigan)
    Andy McDonald (Colgate)
    Yan Stastny (Notre Dame)
    Lee Stempniak (Dartmouth)
    Keith Tkachuk (Boston University)
    Steve Wagner (Minnesota State)


    Tampa Bay
    Dan Boyle (Miami)
    Jeff Halpern (Princeton)
    Doug Janik (Maine)
    Jay Leach (Providence)
    Junior Lessard (Minnesota Duluth)
    Mike Lundin (Maine)
    Craig MacDonald (Harvard)
    Matt Smaby (North Dakota)
    Martin St. Louis (Vermont)


    Toronto
    Bates Battaglia (Lake Superior State)
    Jason Blake (North Dakota)
    Scott Clemmensen (Boston College)
    Robbie Earl (Wisconsin)
    Alex Foster (Bowling Green)
    Dominic Moore (Harvard)
    Johnny Pohl (Minnesota)
    Andy Wozniewski (Wisconsin)


    Vancouver
    Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green)
    Mike Brown (Michigan)
    Ryan Kesler (Ohio State)
    Aaron Miller (Vermont)
    Willie Mitchell (Clarkson)
    Brendan Morrison (Michigan)
    Matt Pettinger (Denver)
    Mason Raymond (Minnesota Duluth)
    Ryan Shannon (Boston College)
    Mike Weaver (Michigan State)


    Washington
    Chris Bourque (Boston University)
    Chris Clark (Clarkson)
    Joe Motzko (St. Cloud State)
    Bruan Pothier (RPI)
    Tom Poti (Boston University)
    Dave Steckel (Ohio State)

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