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

[milzie]

Matt Ford was named USHL Rookie of the year. He was also named First team all USHL and Kluby made second team.

[BuckyforPrez]

Ok, so as someone who doesn't really have the know-how to keep up on our hockey recruiting (it isn't exaclty the easiest info to find in the internet, at least for free). Can any of you experts out there fill me in on the names of players that we can expect to play signifigant minutes next year and at what position? Should I be excited about any player(s) in particular. Drop some knowledge on me.

[aktick]

Bucky-start by going back a few pages in this thread, there is a lot of good info. Especially make sure to read posts by Eric Hybert.

I don't profess to know nearly as much as most here, but what I've picked up from other's posts, all incoming freshmen will see a lot of playing time, some probably on top lines. Matt Ford is a forward (winger I think) who led the USHL in goals this year, should help a lot in that department. Joe Pavelski, another forward, also from the USHL, I think led the league last year, and will also help a lot. Davis Drewiske is a Hudson native from the USHL who should log plenty of minutes at D. Matt Auffrey is a wing playing for the NTDP team and will also play a lot, I think. Kyle Klubertanz is a defensman from GB of the USHL, was on the all USHL 2nd team, and should help a lot. I'm sure I'm missing some, that's all I can think of now w/o reading back.

Obviously, losing two D-men from an already thin corps means incoming D will be getting a lot of playing time, much like Likens and Suter this year.

And of course our biggest question is whether Bruckler and Suter will be back.

[BuckyforPrez]

Thanks, I try and keep up on the past posts, but it's just a pain in the butt because their's so many, I just wanted a quick overview.

As far as Bruckler goes, all indications are that he's gonna come back, you never know until next year but apparantly it looks good.

As far as Suter goes, I gotta think that if he was gonna go pro, he would have by now. The Preds are in the playoffs and if they wanted him, he'd be there by now. You'd think that he wouldn't go pro unless he was gonna actually play and if he was gonna play, he'd be there by now. Just my thoughts. Besides, he isn't ready for the pros, he needs another year and I'm sure he doesn' have a great taste in his mouth after being on of the main reasons Maine got that last goal (along with friggin' Woz.)

[Eric Hybert]

Originally posted by BuckyforPrez
Ok, so as someone who doesn't really have the know-how to keep up on our hockey recruiting (it isn't exaclty the easiest info to find in the internet, at least for free). Can any of you experts out there fill me in on the names of players that we can expect to play signifigant minutes next year and at what position? Should I be excited about any player(s) in particular. Drop some knowledge on me.

Hmm..where to start...

I think Pavelski, Ford, Auffrey, Klubertanz and Drewiske will all play significant minutes next season. It should be another season in which we see the younger guys "stealing" more and more minutes from the older guys.

I guess if I had to narrow it down to just one guy that I'm most excited about, I think it'd be Klubertanz. The kid can flat-out fly, has a very good shot and should go a long way in replacing our 3 departing senior defensemen. Mark Osiecki compared him to former Badger star Sean Hill. All 6 of Kluby's goals this season came on the PP. His 160 SOG was 2nd highest amongst USHL blueliners.

In Pavelski and Ford you have the last two USHL scoring champions and last two ROY winners. Both should provide the Badgers with some much-needed scoring.

Matt Ford played with the legendary Shattuck team prior to moving on to Sioux Falls this season. While at Shattuck, he finished 3rd in scoring behind Sidney Crosby and Drew Stafford. At Shattuck, he was a winger but the Sioux Falls staff decided to move him to center where he played all season. That should make him fairly versatile by the time he gets to Madison. Sioux Falls (the worst team in the USHL) scored just 148 goals this season..Ford was in on 68 of them!

Joe Pavelski had a pretty disappointing year in terms of stats. After lighting it up his rookie year, he AND his Waterloo team really struggled for much of the season. Hopefully he'll be back when he's surrounded by a better supporting cast here at the UW. Pavelski did have 240 SOG this season, though, so at least he was still getting the shots. Probably the best bet to fill one of the vacant center spots left by Eichelberger.

Auffrey sounds like the classic power forward. I've heard the comparison made to a more-talented version of Jake Dowell before. He also brings a lot of versatility to the Badgers as he's played all 3 forward positions with the NTDP. Can he play the off-wing and try to fill the void left at LW? Earl will likely take Bourque's spot but somebody will need to take that 2nd line LW spot. Chose the UW over Michigan and BC..how bad can he be?

Davis Drewiske is the former Mr. Hockey in Wisconsin. He was the highest scoring defenseman for Des Moines in his rookie season. Would be the only lefty dmen (besides Piskula, the walk-on) on the team next season if Suter elects to leave. While Klubertanz had 160 SOG, Drewiske was right behind him with 144 which ranked them 2nd and 3rd in the USHL in that category.

Piskula is the lefty walk-on who also played with Des Moines. I understand that he's a good skater but not the best puck handler..and I guess he can't hit the broad side of a barn with his shot from what I'm told so he probably won't be much of a factor next season.

The Badgers essentially got Drewiske and Ford to replace Hagemo's scholarship. It'll be interesting to see how that looks a few years down the road. The staff at least did a good job of turning an ugly situation into something positive so late in the recruiting game.

All-in-all, it seems like another talented class for Coach Eaves...on paper. If the 3 forwards can create enough depth to give the Badgers a consistent scoring 3rd line and Klubertanz and Drewiske contribute immediately as Suter and Likens did this past year, the Badgers should be a pretty **** good team..with as much depth as they've had in many years.

Hope that helps some...

Wisconsin Hockey: Fresh Meat!

[con1977]

Hybs, I think its not a bad add on in place of Hagemo. I see Hagemo as a one or two year player and he will be gone. Id be surprised if we lost Ford and Drewiske early. Im not saying defensively Drewiske stacks up to Hagemo(my guess is no, but its a guess) but will fill in nicely. Id much rather have two seniors that will be solid players for 4 years than one blue chippah for one or two.

Id hope that Earl sticks around with Dowell and Carlson unless we can get some guys with speed near his that can play at his tempo to surround him. That was probably our most consistent line in the back half of the season and they had great chemistry.

A buddy of mine chatted with Auffrey's dad in Albany, and he said his son will add a lot to the power play and has a killer shot. It will be nice to have a few more natural scorers.

[Eric Hybert]

con-
Personally, I'd rather have a great player like Hagemo over adding a couple good players BUT the Badgers desparately need some scoring help at forward and it allowed them to go out and get the highest scoring USHL forward for a partial scholarship in addition to Drewiske so it'll probably work out for both teams.

The Badgers are also to the point where they're playing for a title every year again so you'd be more than happy to take a "great" player for a year or two in the hopes that he'll put you over the top. Senior leadership is nice but last years team showed how overrated it can be.

In looking at the roster and a potential lineup, I basically see TWO spots that are up for grabs IF Suter returns. Here's one possibility:

Earl-Joudrey-Mac
Auffrey-Dowell-Carlson
Funk/Heatley/Brandt-Pavelski-Ford
Licari-Burish-Degenhardt

Suter-Gilbert
Drewiske-Likens
Olinger/Sawatske-Klubertanz

It's nice to look ahead even further to '05 when all those forwards will (hopefully) be back and you add Gorowsky and Skille so far!!!!!

Wisconsin Hockey: Makin' you an Auffrey you can refuse!

[Hammy]

Originally posted by con1977
Hybs, I think its not a bad add on in place of Hagemo. I see Hagemo as a one or two year player and he will be gone.

You are likely going to end up wrong on your prediction on Hagemo leaving after two years.

First of all, the kid accelerated school. If he moved on after one year of college, that would be like a HS senior going pro. While not absolutely unheard of, its not likely in his case. After all, why accelerate school to leave after one year of college? He may as well play major junior right now if he was thinking along those lines and was gung ho on going pro early.

Second, Hagemo doesn't have the frame of a prototypical NHL defenseman that most NHL teams love. So that will likely work against him going pro too early as well.

Put it this way, if Paul Martin needed three years of college hockey before he was ready to step directly into an NHL lineup, Hagemo is likely going to take at least the same amount of time.

As a younger player, Hagemo should be plenty challenged by the NCAA/WCHA level in the coming years so I doubt he'll leave early.

[markwojo]

While Carlson-Dowell-Earl played well together and may be better kept together, I do like the idea of Jourdney & Mac with Earl (acouple of guys that can keep up with Earl a little better). I would not mind seeing Earl stay with Dowell and Carlson with Auffrey on the top line.

Eric, by putting Olinger/Sawatske as a slash, is it the opinion that Drewiske is a little better than both? I would have thought that Drewiske would be the slash assuming Suter comes back.

Wow, who sits next year from the forwards when we add 2 more pretty highly recruited forwards (or more IF we can convince Kessel to come home for college and he accelerates)?? I think Hagehomo is not as big a loss if Suter stays another season and we can add a bluechip Dman recruit for '05 (Morin???)

[tb2]

It was interesting to see that 2 of the awards in the USHL went to Calif. born players (Ford and the Defenseman). Is this the so called Gretzky influence at work (Hockey/Roller Hockey instead of Baseball)?

With offseason workouts starting, has anyone noticed or heard if all of the scholarship players are taking part (Gibson?)?

With all of the talk that Engel will be a Badger does that mean that Morin may be headed elsewhere or is there still enough money leftover?

[aktick]

I'm sure it's some of the Gretzky influence, but I know a lot of the California guys in college hockey are Canadian transplants.

[Hobey]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hammy
[B]You are likely going to end up wrong on your prediction on Hagemo leaving after two years.


Agreed.
Ability wise, I can't see him leaving after 2 years. He is not setting the world on fire for the under 18's, allthough he is having a nice year. I think you could see him having a rookie season comparable to Thelen out at michigan state. As with other Gopher blue chip d-men, 3 years has been the bare minimum (crowley, p-mart, ballard???), and I would expect this case to be no different.

[aktick]

Did Leapold stay four years?

[siouxhockey]

Originally posted by aktick
Did Leapold stay four years?


yes

[kghof]

Originally posted by aktick
I'm sure it's some of the Gretzky influence, but I know a lot of the California guys in college hockey are Canadian transplants.

Actually they're not. Many Californians go to the BCHL rather than the USHL or NAHL. Probably because they're exposed to the BCHL more than the US leagues, but they start in California. You'll see more and more Californians playing D1 in the coming years.

[aktick]

Originally posted by kghof
Actually they're not. Many Californians go to the BCHL rather than the USHL or NAHL. Probably because they're exposed to the BCHL more than the US leagues, but they start in California. You'll see more and more Californians playing D1 in the coming years. I'm sure you're right, I just got that idea from hearing commentators talking about CA guys, and it seemed like a lot had moved to CA from Canada as youngsters. You're from CA, I won't dispute that you're right :) .

[Badgers1]

Originally posted by kghof
Actually they're not. Many Californians go to the BCHL rather than the USHL or NAHL. Probably because they're exposed to the BCHL more than the US leagues, but they start in California. You'll see more and more Californians playing D1 in the coming years.

I believe what he meant was a guy like Gauthier for Denver was actually born in Canada I believe but grew up in California. But I agree we'll continue to see a good numbers of kids coming from the West Coast.

[Hammy]

Originally posted by Hobey
Agreed.
Ability wise, I can't see him leaving after 2 years. He is not setting the world on fire for the under 18's, allthough he is having a nice year. I think you could see him having a rookie season comparable to Thelen out at michigan state. As with other Gopher blue chip d-men, 3 years has been the bare minimum (crowley, p-mart, ballard???), and I would expect this case to be no different. [/B]

Abilitywise.... he is arguably the top defenseman in the USA for his birth year (at least, that is how the Gopher coaches feel). Not many defenseman statistically set the world on fire on the under-18 team so you can only judge so much on that.

If he does what Thelen did, I'll be one very happy camper. Thelen played great this year for a kid who accelerated a grade for college.

[irbbkid]

US U18 Team defeats Czech Republic in nailbiter, 3-2.

Phil Kessel scored the Game Winning Goal from '05 Jack Skille, and Matt Auffrey. That has a nice ring to it. Run with the thought!

[tb2]

What an awesome College Hockey line that would make.
Have they been paired as a line the whole tournament?