Good for him. This article was over on
Goal Gophers, one thing that stuck out was if the CHL is such a superior development league to the NCAA, how is Josh Birkholz a top 6 forward? That makes a person go hum. Seriously; what line was Birkholz projected to be on with the Golden Gophers this season? If I am not mistaken; wasn't Birkholz a top 9-12 forward last season with the Gophers (third or fourth line player). With the talent they have coming in this season I would imagine he would have been about the same this season.
Shortly after the Silvertips signed Birkholz, Doug Soetaert, the team's vice president and general manager talked about him. "Obviously we look for Josh to come in and be a top six forward for us during the coming year," Soetaert said.
"We develop these players. They all have aspirations to move on to the NHL as fast as they can. If they are here one year, that's great. If two, so be it. But that's our sole purpose, to develop players as fast as we can."
Birkholz will be on a team with only two other Americans. Eighteen of his teammates on the major junior hockey team are Canadians, two are Finns.
"With Josh, he wants to continue his education online at the University of Minnesota and we respect all that," Soetaert said. "But he will have the opportunity to play a lot and develop to a high level."
Birkholz was taken in the third round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers.
The Silvertip Vice President Doug Soetaert's statement sounds like a recruitment advertisement for the CHL...
