What the heck is going on with the Badgers?

I found this article over at the Badger Beat and the Wisconsin Badgers have lost another recruit. I suppose you will see charges of over recruitment by college hockey fans. It will be interesting to see where this kid ends up.

Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey: State recruit decommits
By Andy Baggot --- 11/19/2008
Brock Montpetit, an 18-year-old winger from Somerset, was expected to join the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team during the NCAA early signing period that ends Wednesday.

Instead, Montpetit decided not to sign a national letter of intent that was sent to him last week, informing UW coach Mike Eaves that would not play for the Badgers.

That makes four recruits that have de-commited from Wisconsin. Travis Erstad, Nick Prior, Patrick Wiercioch, and Brock Montpetit...

14 year old commits to the Badgers.

I think this is a must read, I mean really; most 14 year old kids are not even usually playing high school hockey yet, well in most cases. If the are on the varsity they are freshman. I think the NCAA needs to start looking into what age is TOO young to commit to a scholarship. So what if this kid doesn't develop? Does Wisconsin still have to honor their commitment and still give him a scholarship if he stops developing as a hockey players? I would imagine not. There are going to be other question if it still hands off for other colleges to make a pitch to recruit him? Don Lucia has been on record as saying he would like to see the gentleman's agreement go away. These are legitimate questions.

Q & A with 14-year-old hockey recruit
By Mark Stewart
Thursday, Aug 21 2008, 09:07 AM

Madison - Last night, I spoke with Jordn Schmaltz, the 14-year-old hockey player who created a buzz by committing to the Badgers before he started high school. It was a brief conversation, but he came across as a solid, mature kid. He didn't give a lot of long answers but seemed comfortable talking to a reporter. I don't know what I would have said if someone interviewed me when I was 14.

Does that make him ready to choose a college? Time will tell. Here is what he and his father, Mike, had to say.

Jordan Schmaltz

Q: It's not often that a 14-year-old commits to a college. Why now? What made you decide that this was the right time to get your college choice out of the way?

A: I just felt I really liked the campus and I really liked the coaches as well. I thought this would be a perfect fit for me to go to college.

Q: Being from Verona, are you a fan of the program? Do you follow them closely?

A: I have season tickets.

Q: How long has Wisconsin shown interest in you?

A: (Since) the national camp for players. It's supposed to be the best 200 kids go to this camp and at the Central District tryout is when I think they started to look at me. That was early May.

Q: Did you commit to UW after making an unofficial visit?

A: Yeah on Friday, August 15.

Q: Describe your playing style and strengths.

A: I'm an offensive defenseman. I like to join the play. I can quarterback a power play. I'm a pretty good skater. That is how I'd describe myself.

Q: Did the way this whole process unfolded surprise you? What were your thoughts when UW offered you a scholarship?

A: After the season where we actually got second in nationals, I didn't think I would be committing to a college before I started high school, but I guess it happened. I was pretty surprised.

Q: What has been people's reaction to your decision to play for UW and deciding so early?

A: I guess they were kind of shocked. They didn't know what committed means. Are you actually going to play? Does it really mean anything? Kind of shocked is what I'd put it as.

Q: Considering there is so much time between now and the time you'd sign at UW, how committed is your commitment? Some times players commit and then have a change of heart or they give what is called a soft commitment. How strong is your commitment?

A: This is where I want to go and I don't think I'd ever back out of it.

Q: Had you any other scholarship offers at this point?

A: I took a visit to North Dakota. Notre Dame I was actually going to go on a visit until Wisconsin had offered me a scholarship. So I was just going to see how every campus was but I toured UW. I just felt this was the place that I want to go

Sioux recruits and their draft rankings

The NHL draft is on the 20th and 21st of June. Here is some info on the Sioux recruits and their draft rankings from TSN and NHL.com.

39. DANNY KRISTO
Comparable: Maxim Afinogenov

From TSN: One of the better skates in the draft, scouts like the young American's effort and rate him as a solid second-rounder.

From NHL Central Scouting: Danny is a strong kid, but not a very big, physical kid. He has very quick feet and he's very smart. He's clever with the puck, he can set people up and he can finish. Sometimes he can take himself away from his best assets - thinking and skating and using his hands – and he tries to knock big guys down and he physically can't, but he's got that bite to his game.

NHL.COM RANKINGS

Cory Fienhage North American Skater. Final Ranking: 36 Mid-term Ranking: 61 Eastview High,High-MN

Danny Kristo North American Skater. Final Ranking: 37 Mid-term Ranking: 40 USA U-18,USDP

David Toews North American Skater. Final Ranking: 79 Mid-term Ranking: 71

Here is the Central Scouting Releases Final Rankings

36. Cory Fienhage D Eastview (Minn.) H.S. North Dakota
37. Danny Kristo F U.S. NTDP North Dakota
79. David Toews F Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn) North Dakota
147. Andrew MacWilliam D Camrose (AJHL) North Dakota
178. Joe Gleason D Edina (Minn.) H.S. North Dakota

Whew...

For the two people that haven't seen this; it appears that both our players are going no where and a case of the Halifax Mooseheads having them on their roster because they are both draft choices. Also the article posted on the Hockey News is wrong as well.

From BES: Both Malone and Cichy are draft picks of the Mooseheads, so apparently, by default they are putting them on the camp roster. Neither will be attending.

Posted by: Schlossman on Monday, June 16 12:17 PM

Update on Mike Cichy

Herald beat writer Brad Elliott Schlossman is reporting that Mike Cichy is still coming to UND in 2009. Sounds like the Halifax Moose might have a case of wishful thinking.

Q&A with Mike Cichy

Despite being the youngest player on his team, Mike Cichy led Tri-City in scoring with 16 goals, 29 assists and 45 points during his USHL rookie season. The 5-foot-11, 193-pound forward from New Hartford, Conn., scored two power-play goals, two shorthanded goals and a pair of game-winning goals.

He will come to UND in 2009.

Q. The Halifax Mooseheads have you on their training camp roster and another report says you are going there next season. Is that the case?
MIKE CICHY: No, I'm not going there. I think that is a bit of wishful thinking on their part. I already talked to Cary Eades, too, and told him that.

Did the Sioux lose a couple of recruits?

According to a few things that were posted on siouxsports.com this morning it appears that UND could have lost three recruits in one week. Starting with the Garrett Clarke Saga which was covered extensively to now hearing about these two new developments.

Mike Cichy, C, Tri-City Storm (USHL)
One of the best college-commits in the US, Cichy instead will be heading to the QMJHL for 2009-10. A dazzling puck-handler and playmaker, he could have an offensive explosion like Edmonton's Sam Gagner experienced. Doesn't turn 18 until after the draft.

Here is a roster that has Brad Malone on the Mooseheads, Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.


<----Update---->
Both Malone and Cichy are listed on the Moose Heads roster. I am sure we will soon find out if UND is losing both these palyers. Apparently it isn't a big deal for a player to be on a training camp roster and recently happned with a Gopher recruit Sam Lofquist ended up being on the OHL team London Knights roster last fall.

Here is one of the problems with recruiting verbals

Hey all of us were young and know how kids change their minds, this is one of the down falls of excepting a verbal commitment from a kid that is 14, 15 or 16 a lot can happen between the verbal and his arrival to campus. This is also one of the pitfalls of being a top program and recruiting young blue chip talent; these recruits will and do change their mind. It also appears taht he is being badgered hard by the major junior teams from Canada. I don't blame them, a verbal to a college team means nothing. I would predict this kid will never play for the Irish and would be a one to two year player at best in college anyways.

Could Irish lose recruit?
STEVE WOZNIAK
Losing committed recruits is usually reserved for teams that have just had a woeful season or dismissed a coach, not teams that have just played for a national championship.

But that may be the case with Notre Dame hockey and the strange saga of Cam Fowler.

Fowler, a defenseman who was recently pegged by The Hockey News as the likely No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, committed to the Irish back in the fall of 2006, when he just 14 years old. At the time, Fowler spoke glowingly of Irish coach Jeff Jackson and his staff, and the potential for greatness that there was for the Windsor, Ontario, native on the South Bend campus.

Now 16 and playing with the U.S. National Team Development Program — Fowler has dual citizenship — the defensive wunderkind has been pulled in a number of directions, most recently by Canadian junior teams convinced they could steal his services for a year or two.

Last year, it was the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League that took aim at Fowler, picking him in the first round of that league’s draft. For a year, Fowler held steadfast, restating his commitments both to the USNTDP and Notre Dame.

Kitchener last week returned Fowler to the draft pool in exchange for a compensatory pick. Then Fowler’s hometown Windsor Spitfires took Fowler, confident that they could convince Fowler to abandon the NCAA for an NHL-bound trek through Canadian juniors.

So far, no go. Fowler is staying in Ann Arbor with the USNTDP for next season. Beyond that, though, his camp has refused to say what will happen.

RECRUITMENT: When is a verbal a verbal?

Check out Brad Elliott Schlossman's article in today's Grand Forks Herald. The article address the verbal commitment and the gentleman's agreement that the WCHA has in place.

Apparently Don Lucia is not happy with the idea that once a team get a verbal from a recruit they are basically hands off for the other coaches to recruit them. I think it is a great idea Denver's Coach George Gwozdecky does as well. It think the gist of it is that Lucia has lost some great recruits from the MPLS/St Paul area that committed early that he would love to have another crack at. I know UND has a few of those coveted recruits. I has said this before, I am not sure that Lucia wants to go there. I like the staus quo; I could also see a few of his prized recruits possibly changing their mind and deciding to go some where else.

While it appears that the gentlemen’s agreement will remain in place this year, it might not stay that way for long.

“It’s kind of a mess right now,” Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod said. “It’s a highly debated topic. Emotions are pretty strong about it.”

Minnesota’s Don Lucia is one coach who has publicly stated that he wants to do away with verbal commitments.

“And he’s got a few allies,” McLeod said. “It’s not a majority. But the problem is that the three or four guys talking about (recruiting committed players) are the leaders, the more veteran coaches. That’s what has caused a commotion more than anything.”

Lucia said that some Hockey East schools pushed a new gentleman’s agreement that would allow schools to contact verbally committed players until May 1 of their junior year. The thinking is that the recruiting age would go back up under this type of system.

“The whole issue here is ninth- and 10th-graders,” Lucia said. “What’s going on right now is not good for the players, colleges or anybody. It shouldn’t be a race to see who can first discover and get a ninth-grader.”

Gwozdecky, the most veteran coach in the WCHA, is on the other side of the issue. He says he’d hate to see the day when coaches are recruiting committed players.

C.C. Lands Colten St. Clair for 2010

Earlier this fall Brad Schlossman had a great story on how the ages of the recruits in college hockey keep getting younger and younger. Not to be out done, C.C. recently picked up a really good young hockey recruit. Did I mention the kid is only 15 years old (1992) and will come to Colorado College during the 2010 season.

I suppose there is a lot of pressure for these kids to commit to a college when they are young so they can concentrate on playing hockey, however, I think 15-16 years old is just too young to be committing to a school. Don't get me wrong, I have seen this kid play when he was in Grand Forks playing for the Junior Sioux two summers ago. From watching Colton play you can tell that he is definitely a top end talent for his age group, however, what happens if he doesn't get any better or get hurt? Is C.C. committed to him, do they have to honor the verbal. Should other teams honor the verbal?

COLTEN ST. CLAIR COMMITS TO COLORADO COLLEGE

PF Chang’s U18AAA forward Colten St. Clair gave a verbal commitment this past weekend to Head Coach Scott Owens to attend Colorado College and become a Tiger for the 2010 hockey season. While in Colorado Springs, Colorado for a tournament, St. Clair was extremely impressed with the Colorado College hockey program, the coaching staff and the academic environment.

Colten St.Clair said “Playing for the PF Chang’s U18 Midget Major Program has provided me with a great opportunity to compete and further my skill development at an elite level. It has been a dream of mine to play in the WCHA and ever since I was ten years old I wanted to be a Colorado College Tiger. Colorado College will provide me with an outstanding education while playing collegiate hockey at one of the finest programs in the country”.

The Director of the PF Chang’s Hockey Program and Head Coach Jim Johnson said that St. Clair has been the top rated 1992 forward from the State of Arizona and the Rocky Mountain District for the past year and is considered one of the top 1992 born players in the country. In addition this past summer at the USA Hockey 15 Select Festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota, St. Clair finished second in scoring amongst the top 1992 born prospects in the country. Coach Johnson said that after coaching many of elite players in North America over the past 10 years, he feels that Colten is an extremely gifted and skilled player that exemplifies the character, attitude and work ethic needed to be successful as a collegiate athlete.

Sioux Sign Monster Forward

The Fighting Sioux signed Brent Davidson, a 6'4" 225 pound 20-year-old forward from the Neepawa Natives of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, to play for the Sioux during the 2007-2008 season. Davidson scored 36 goals and added 43 assists for 79 points in 59 games for the Neepawa Natives last season. With the age of Davidson I would imagine Sioux fans will again hear about the 25 year old Canadians on the UND roster, but wait? Didn't the Gophers just sign a 20 year old forward as well?

You gotta to love the Neepa Natives logo:


quote from Dave McIntosh:

Davidson, a 20-year-old forward for the Neepawa Natives in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, is described as a late bloomer like Penner, who was cut from the MJHL three times, played two seasons at Minot State University-Bottineau and wound up winning the Stanley Cup with Anaheim this summer.

“Are you familiar with Dustin Penner?” asked Neepawa executive board member Dave McIntosh. “Yeah, Brent is 20 years old, which is older than most players North Dakota gets. But I want you to call me back in two years. He's a diamond in the rough. He's going to make North Dakota's coaches look real good.”

Ben Blood Video

I found this video of Sioux recruit Ben Blood on line. To say that I am excited about him being a Fighting Sioux is an understatement. The Senator's fans are rightfully excited as well...

Ben Blood Video

Linkorama: Western College Hockey is reporting Gregoire to The Fighting Sioux

Western College Hockey: Gregoire to UND

Essentially this started out as a rumor from an unidentified anonymous poster on Damian Goddard's Lets Go DU blog
that highly regarded recruit Jason Gregoire has pulled his verbal commitment to DU and then committed to UND. Finally to this story is probably actually be true.

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Anonymous said...
Here's a bombshell that you can take to the bank as fact. Jason Gregoire re nigged on his verbal and instead because of a pushy father has signed with North Dakota since it is closer to home. This from a reliable source is true as you will see in the coming days...

Friday, May 18, 2007 4:53:00 PM CDT
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There are going to be some people pontificating and blaming Hakstol for recruiting a kid after he committed to another college program. From everything I have heard and seen I don't think Hakstol would actively recruit a player after he had verballed.

Future Sioux?

This is the team that competed and won in the Ice Palace Cup last weekend. Kids from Grand Forks, ND are as follows; goalie Seth Lang wearing the RBK goalie pads, (hint good chance he will be Central High School's starting goalie soon), next to him Brock Dahl. Second row Casey Purpur (Grand Kid of Cliff Fido Purpur, future Central Star) Jordan Aamot is next to him. Also on the team are Paul LaDue and Aaron Hatt. It's possible these kids could be future Stars for the Fighting Sioux.