Yup. They were spot on and super vigilant...until about the end of the 4th round. Then, it seemed like they either hit technical difficulties or they stopped caring. Then, at the end of the 5th round, they waited until ESPN had basically posted half of the 6th round to continue updating. In the end, I just sat and watched ESPN's website and hit reload a bunch of times. Nice work by ESPN.com covering a sport they care little about. Awful work by a website whose sole business is the NHL.
In any case, here are the results for all UND incoming recruits eligible for this year's draft:
1st Round, 15th Overall - Derek Forbort - to the LA Kings
1st Round, 30th Overall - Brock Nelson - to the NY Islanders
4th Round, 113th Overall - Mark MacMillan - to the Montreal Canadiens
5th Round, 149th Overall - Michael Parks - to the Philadelphia Flyers
6th Round, 156th Overall - Brendan O'Donnell - to the TB Lightning
6th Round, 165th Overall - Zane Gothberg - to the Boston Bruins
6th Round, 180th Overall - Nick Mattson - to the Chicago Blackhawks
Undrafted (eligible players): Danny Mattson
Ineligible Players: Dylan Simpson and Colton St. Clair (2011 Draft eligible)
Reaction:
First off, WOW hath Cam Fowler fallen. He and Gormley fell like stones.
Second, I'm amazed at where UND's recruits ended up. Forbort and Nelson were the only two that went right about where I thought they would. Gothberg and Mattson fell like rocks off a cliff.
However, I must say this regarding Zane's draft placement: I saw it coming. When I noticed all those European and MJ goaltenders going (some of them out of left field before Calvin Pickard even got drafted) I know Gothberg's stock was falling. I didn't know when he'd get drafted but I still had hopes he'd get picked in the 5th round. I'm not all that concerned really about Gothberg's draft position overall. I think this will take the heat off of him to be "better than Eidsness" (which has already been batted about at certain message boards) and I think it is rather risky to draft goaltenders before the 4th round anyways. I mean... Jeff Frazee, anyone?
In unrelated news: Sam Brittain is a big kid. 6'3 215. WOW. Minnesota will have to watch out when they inevitably "crash the net" (aka run the goaltender).
Mark MacMillan went a LOT higher than I thought. His stats and videos aside, I thought, if he got drafted at all, he'd be taken in the 6th or 7th round. Same with O'Donnell (which I was right). In my mind, however, I didn't have Parks getting drafted at all. And he goes higher than Mattson and Gothberg.
All in all, only Mattson, St. Clair, and Simpson are listed as UND recruits that have not been drafted. Simpson and St. Clair aren't eligible yet. Both St. Clair and Simpson have big years ahead of them regarding drafting.
Here's the WCHA breakdown of players drafted:
UND: 7 (highest: 1st rd. 15th overall)
UMN: 6 (highest: 1st rd. 19th overall)
UMD: 3 (highest: 2nd rd. 37th overall)
SCSU: 1 (5th rd. 148th overall)
UNO: 1 (7th rd. 196th overall)
MSUM: 1* (3rd rd. 88th overall)
UW: 2 (highest: 3rd rd. 82nd overall)
CC: 2 (highest: 1st rd. 14th overall**)
DU: 3 (highest: 1st rd. 20th overall)
UAA, BSU, MTU each had no recruits selected
* - Didn't count Pitlick. The guy is MJ property now so he's an MJ pick.
** - Jaden Schwartz was the top college-bound player picked
UND leads the way with 7 recruits. Minnesota on their heels (Lucia's totally lost all interest in the Gopher program based on his ineptitude, right? Please).
I remember when UMD didn't get that many draft picks. Don't you? Oh, and former UMD recruit Mac Carruth got drafted too.
How's them apples?
