UW recruiting: And the sign said non-blue chippahs need not apply!

[aktick]

Originally posted by solovsfett
RJ Anderson Centennial Jr D 25 24-47-71 Wow, maybe his buddy RJ will come with. 71 pts in 25 games...as a Dman?!?

[Eric Hybert]

Originally posted by KariB
I heard on WIBA-AM tonight that Gorowsky has verbally commited for the 05-06 season.

I guess he can officially kiss Mr. Hockey goodbye. Should've won the award THEN committed to the Badgers!

As we've mentioned a few times already, his Uncle Dan played at Wisconsin. He was the first ever winner of the 7th Man Award and won a national title in '81 by beating the Gophers in the title game (of which he scored the games first goal). Obviously, the family has a bit of Badger history so it's probably no surprise that they plucked one of the best kids out of MN.

Back to Tom. He was drafted by Waterloo last year so he will likely continue the UW/Waterloo pipeline (Carlson-Pavelski-Gorowsky) and play for the Black Hawks next season. We should remember that being a "great" player in MN HS hockey isn't exactly what it was 10 years ago. We've seen some kids go from putting up huge numbers in HS to struggling to adjust to the USHL. Borgen and Gordon are two recent examples of this for the Gophers.

Nontheless, it sounds like another good pickup for the Badgers who apparently will have a roster of 206 players for the '05 season!:-))

I've known a Tri-City fan for a number of years and this is what he had to say about Christian Hanson, FWIW:

"Yeah, nothing like Dad! Well, except for really good size. He got those genes. And a decent head of Hanson hair.

Solid, Strong skater. Not afraid to bang around the net at all. Pretty good scoring touch, too. He's been on Tri-City's technically fourth line this year, but the team is so deep with 15 Div. 1 recruits so far, that the fourth line has more or less served as an "energy line"...."

I guess he's got something like a 4.10 GPA and some insanely high SAT so education will likely be a factor. Remember when Mike Richter picked Wisconsin over Harvard?:-))

Wisconsin Hockey: Mr. Hockey to Madison???

[con1977]

Thats great to hear about Gorowsky. Of course, I will take this to some extent with a grain of salt after the Hagemo incident. I have to agree that one must wonder just how many eggs we can fit in our basket without it overflowing. Its great that we are adding a lot of upper talent and that we will have a lot of depth going into the 05 season, but how are these kids gonna feel when maybe they dont get much PT, or if some vets get benched in favor of them. We nabbed a bunch of decent walk-ons this past year, but with all the skill(and skille:D ) coming in, where do guys like Rowe and Heatley fit into the scheme of things? Will they be okay with being around for a great team or want ice time? Of course, I know better than to question Eaves on this since he has proven himself that he knows exactly what he is doing, and continues to nab quality kids on partials. Also, why are we going for more and more forwards when we dont lose much in the forward dept in the next two years? Dont we need more D?

Wisconsin Hockey: Have we grabbed too many cookies from the cookie jar . . .

[markwojo]

Did I miss the announcement?? We'll be a little thin at goalie to field two full squads, but I'm sure Eaves is working on it as we speak.

Here's my stab at trying to list who we'll have next season:
Seniors:
G Buckler
D Julka
F Talafous

Juniors:
F Burish
F Licari
F Dengenhardt
F Funk
F Gibson
D Gilbert
G Kohtala
F MacMurchy
F McElroy
D Sawatske

Sophmores:
D Suter ??
D Likens
D Olinger
F Rowe
F Joudrey
F Heatley
G Elliot
F Earl
F Carlson
F Dowell
F Brandt

Freshman:
F Auffrey
F Pavelski
F Ford
D Klubertanz
D Drewiske
D Engel ?? (If Suter goes pro??)

Freshman in waiting:
F Skille
F Gorowsky
G ???? (Hopefully a verbal from Pearce soon)

Did I miss anyone? Will Eaves add more? Anyone leaving?

[aktick]

Maybe we should start redshirting players :D

[con1977]

I dont see any obvious omissions there, mark. If that is in fact right, we will have 14 front men IF you dont included Talafous, McElroy, Gibson and Funk, 18 if you include them. Thats 18 kids for 12 roster spots. How is Eaves gonna keep them all happy with that situation. 05 doesnt really get any better since we only lose one F (Talafous who I dont see getting much play time) and gain two. So then we have 16 kids that could all legitimately get a roster spot, some portion of which are too good to have sit. Let's break this down. At center we have Joudrey, Dowell, Talafous, Ford, Pavelski, Burish, and Funk. That is 7 centers, 5 of which if the freshman are as good as advertised could feasibly get a nightly spot on most teams. Of our remaining forwards heres who I dont see us sitting in 04: Mac, Earl, Carlson and Auffrey. That leaves 4 spots. I love the chemistry and energy of the PITA line, and I get the impression that Eaves wont break that line up (maybe keep as a 4th on a very deep team), so now you have two. To fill those spots we have: Gibson, Rowe, Heatley, Brandt, plus the three centers that get snubbed from the position. 7 guys for 2 spots. Hmmmm, may be a prob. Realistically, Gibson will hopefully take leave of the team and give us his schollie, so now we are at 6, but still a bit of a problem

05 doesnt get any better since you can add Skille and probably Gorowsky to the cant pass up crew and the PITA line will be seniors, so that is something that will be hard to break up or keep out of the lineup. The only thing I see Eaves doing to solve all that mess is giving Gorowsky and Skille somewhat limited ice time while basically promising them that the next year they will log major time when we lose 4 full time forwards and a few that may rotate.

Question that to those that watched these kids: Can any of my 6 or 7 play some D? We are a little thin at D, and if someone goes down or leaves for the WJC, can some of these kids step in a be competant and effective at D?

[Hammy]

The problem with reading too much into Centennial's stats is they have played some very weak competition. They have had games in which they have scored 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20 goals on their opponent. Centennial is good but not THAT good. So take their stats with a grain of salt when you look at any specific player.

Gorowsky has talent but skating is what could hold him back. But other players have overcome that so he may too. He may win Mr. Hockey because of his numbers. Some people think CC recruit Hillen is a better candidate and will win it.

Frankly, it is a pretty down year for HS seniors in MN (it is one of those years a Gopher fan thanks God that Woog isn't coaching since he wouldn't ever look out of the HS senior ranks for recruits). To put it into perspective, the Gophers have only recruited one MN kid from this senior class.

The best talent from Minnesota right now is in the sophomore and junior classes. Some very good players in those groups. If all age groups were eligible for Mr. Hockey, Blake Wheeler of Breck would win it hands down this year.

[LuckyPuck]

Originally posted by con1977
If that is in fact right, we will have 14 front men IF you dont included Talafous, McElroy, Gibson and Funk, 18 if you include them.

McElroy left the team right after the holidays.

[blockski]

Originally posted by LuckyPuck
McElroy left the team right after the holidays.

There was a mention in the paper of Julka graduating early next year and forgoing his senior year of eligibility.

[laker guy]

Originally posted by Hammy
The problem with reading too much into Centennial's stats is they have played some very weak competition. They have had games in which they have scored 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20 goals on their opponent. Centennial is good but not THAT good. So take their stats with a grain of salt when you look at any specific player.

Are you for real??:rolleyes: Centennial has beaten #2 Moorhead, #3 White Bear Lake, #5 Holy Angels (twice), #6 Wayzata, #9 Duluth East, #10 Hill Murray, #11 Elk River and their only loss coming to #8 Edina. Every team has cupcakes on their schedule, but when you imply they've had a weak schedule, thats just not accurate. Dope.

[blockski]

Originally posted by laker guy
Are you for real??:rolleyes: Centennial has beaten #2 Moorhead, #3 White Bear Lake, #5 Holy Angels (twice), #6 Wayzata, #9 Duluth East, #10 Hill Murray, #11 Elk River and their only loss coming to #8 Edina. Every team has cupcakes on their schedule, but when you imply they've had a weak schedule, thats just not accurate. Dope.

I think he meant weak comeption in terms of padding their stats, not as a knock on how good the team actually is, but as a word of warning as to how accurate those stats are.

[solovsfett]

Eaves wants to win an NCAA Title like now. So I can see players like Funk, Tally, Gibson, McElroy (though he's gone, at least according to the info below) not cutting it. Let's face it, if those players were on Minny, UND, or BC they wouldn't even be on the 4th line so.....

Also, there seems to be a good possibility one of the forwards switches to D. I think Bjornlie, Rothering, Boeser(?), were all forwards until they arrived at UW. I could be wrong on Boeser.

[Hammy]

Originally posted by laker guy
Are you for real??:rolleyes: Centennial has beaten #2 Moorhead, #3 White Bear Lake, #5 Holy Angels (twice), #6 Wayzata, #9 Duluth East, #10 Hill Murray, #11 Elk River and their only loss coming to #8 Edina. Every team has cupcakes on their schedule, but when you imply they've had a weak schedule, thats just not accurate. Dope.

I didn't say that they hadn't played any good teams, now did I?

Nor did I say anything about other teams not having some weak teams on the schedule (hell, Moorhead put up 27 goals on some poor team in Sectional play last night).

But Centennial plays in a joke conference (North Suburban is hardly filled with heavyweights). Fortunately for them that will change next year. But if you even try to dispute that they haven't had a good number of weak opponents you are blind. When you put up 20 goals on a HS that just opened up THIS YEAR, I'd say you are going to have some inflated numbers.

Like I said, they are good but they aren't THAT good.

[Badgers1]

Originally posted by solovsfett
Eaves wants to win an NCAA Title like now. So I can see players like Funk, Tally, Gibson, McElroy (though he's gone, at least according to the info below) not cutting it. Let's face it, if those players were on Minny, UND, or BC they wouldn't even be on the 4th line so.....

Also, there seems to be a good possibility one of the forwards switches to D. I think Bjornlie, Rothering, Boeser(?), were all forwards until they arrived at UW. I could be wrong on Boeser.

I could be wrong, but didn't Degenhardt used to play some Defense in juniors? As long as Suter stays we shouldn't need to move anyone around next year at least.

I'm guessing some of these partials, Gorowoski probably included that they will recieve very little in their first year or 2 and full rides at the end. Much like Dowell and Olinger, it should help break the scholarships up more evenly then having about 9 current Freshman in one group. Plus I'd think it would have to be this way, as Eaves knows he needs at least 1 scholarship for a Defenseman and Goalie for 2005, plus mentions of other forwards that we;ve been involved with.

[BadgerFan]

Originally posted by KariB
I heard on WIBA-AM tonight that Gorowsky has verbally commited for the 05-06 season.

Paper confirmed it this morning. One question I have is why did he choose the Badgers over the Gophers? Another question is what does this commitment means in the Badgers pursuit of the likes of Bertram and Bradford?

[BadgerFan]

Originally posted by laker guy
Are you for real??:rolleyes: Centennial has beaten #2 Moorhead, #3 White Bear Lake, #5 Holy Angels (twice), #6 Wayzata, #9 Duluth East, #10 Hill Murray, #11 Elk River and their only loss coming to #8 Edina. Every team has cupcakes on their schedule, but when you imply they've had a weak schedule, thats just not accurate. Dope.

Laker Guy,

Keep in mind that Gorowsky, a Minnesotan no less, commited to the Badgers, a team that Hammy hates. Therefore all of us on this board expected something negative from him. Bottom line is all HS teams play some weak opponents that will help pad their stats. Hammy prefers to emphacize things like that when discussing UW recruits.

Badger fans are excited about this kid, but we're under no delusions that he'll be any kind of savior. He is just another solid pickup by Eaves.

[Hammy]

Originally posted by BadgerFan
Laker Guy,

Keep in mind that Gorowsky, a Minnesotan no less, commited to the Badgers, a team that Hammy hates. Therefore all of us on this board expected something negative from him. Bottom line is all HS teams play some weak opponents that will help pad their stats. Hammy prefers to emphacize things like that when discussing UW recruits.


Have you seen him play? If not, how the hell would you know if I am being fair or not?

I even said the kid has talent. Are you PMSing and jumping at any little thing or what? :rolleyes:

My comment on stats was more aimed at somebody remarking on RJ Anderson's (the defenseman) stats than anything. Feel free to interpret that in regards to other players all you want.

[Timothy A]

Looks like players like Funk, Heatley, Rowe, Gibson and maybe even a guy like Brandt will be on the outsdie looking out in a couple years. Below is a list of the forwards who I think need to play the most minutes in 2 years:

sr
MacMurchy
jr
Earl
Carlson
Dowell
Joudrey
so
Auffrey
Pavelski
Ford
fr
Skille
Gorowsky

That's 10 players who can put the puck in the net who you need to have on the ice. That leaves 2 spots for the entire Pita line, plus Funk, Heatley, Rowe, Brandt, Gibson to compete for. Maybe the Pita line will play ahead of the 2 fr, but if they are as talented as advertised, they, the fr, have to play ahead of the pita line.

We have to remember this team is still not very talented offensively and it's very clear Eaves wants a high octane offense along with a stingy defence and isn't going to just ride the players he has as far as he can, he's going to find better players and play them instead. Imagine a team that can roll through 3 legit scoring lines. The days of 2-1 wins will be long gone. I very much admire the nearly cut-throat rebuild he is doing. This is a way more aggessive and comprehensive rebuild than I ever imagined.

Wisconsin Hockey: A little talent and a lot effort wins games, a lot talent and a lot of effort wins championships.

[Badgers1]

No way would I put Gorowsky as a Freshman over any of the PITA guys as Seniors. He has alot to prove before he can be put ahead of those guys. All of our recruits aren't likily to pan out as well as we hope they do, so having this depth is a very good thing.

[blockski]

well, I think this is a good problem to have. One thing that I've gather about Eaves is that under him, the best players will play. I think everybody understands that, and certainly the players he's recruiting ought to be quite aware of that.

I'm just really impressed with the attitude and the reputation that Eaves has with recruits. The praises from the WJC team, that Parise comment on Eaves being the best coach he's ever had, all of this kind of stuff has me feeling great about this program. It's clear to me kids want to come here not just play at Wisconsin for its history, arena, fans, education, etc, but they want to play for Eaves, because Eaves is taking this team places. Too soon to say where exactly, but this is an absolutely great feeling.

With that said, I think this was an inevitable problem. My freshamn year, Sauer's last, we had something like 9 seniors, that's why we're so unbalanced to the youth. There's nothing that can be done about that, somebody's gonna have to get the shaft. At the same time, I think Eaves has the respect of most of the players, save maybe a few Sauer holdouts who don't play much, and they all will understand the system.

Wisconsin Hockey: Skills to pay the Bills