Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

[Almington]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Weren't we complaining about Eaves over recruiting at this point last year. Count me as one of us that weren't for the record. The future looks good.

The problem was that UW was looking at having somewhere in the area of 20 forwards on the roster for this season (but that problem seems to have worked itself out). It's clear that Eaves had over-recruited for this season, but that was more a function of players not leaving early as expected (Mitchell, Geoffrion) and Street getting a medical redshirt.

It is very hard to predict when players will leave early and Eaves was over-reacting to what happened after the 05-06 season and not wanting to be caught unprepared for what might happen.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

the new Rivals.com recruiting site College Hockey 247 was in the process of revealing its top 50 recruits for the upcoming 2010 hockey season.

First, they released the top 10 list which featured Badger incoming forward recruit Mark Zengerle at #6 overall, who was very honored to be included.

Recently they released the full list of 50 which includes another Badger, incoming forward recruit Michael Mersch from the USA NTDP U-18 squad. Mersch checks in at #40 overall.

[Gandalf the Red]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

I think the only thing Eaves is lacked looking forward, are forwards in the 2011 class.

I'm hopeful that Tyler Lapic, Matt Paape and Cody Strang turn out pretty well, but Gavin Hartzog (while he still has great size) appears to have taken a step back.

I think this class is an example of Eaves jumping the gun, because it is hard for me not to believe that someone will bloom next season or be uncommitted and would be a better addition than one or more of this group. John Ramage and Jason Clark rings bells in my head on what appears to be late recruiting success stories.

Hopefully I'll be proven wrong by all of them, though they will be replacing a very underwhelming class of forwards in Patrick Johnson, Sean Dolan and Josh Turnbull.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

I think the only thing Eaves is lacked looking forward, are forwards in the 2011 class.

I'm hopeful that Tyler Lapic, Matt Paape and Cody Strang turn out pretty well, but Gavin Hartzog (while he still has great size) appears to have taken a step back.

I think this class is an example of Eaves jumping the gun, because it is hard for me not to believe that someone will bloom next season or be uncommitted and would be a better addition than one or more of this group. John Ramage and Jason Clark rings bells in my head on what appears to be late recruiting success stories.

Hopefully I'll be proven wrong by all of them, though they will be replacing a very underwhelming class of forwards in Patrick Johnson, Sean Dolan and Josh Turnbull.

I think we'll see a bigger name forward added to that 2011 class. Maybe a Vilardo or something.

[VarsityWisconsin]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

The problem was that UW was looking at having somewhere in the area of 20 forwards on the roster for this season (but that problem seems to have worked itself out). It's clear that Eaves had over-recruited for this season, but that was more a function of players not leaving early as expected (Mitchell, Geoffrion) and Street getting a medical redshirt.

It is very hard to predict when players will leave early and Eaves was over-reacting to what happened after the 05-06 season and not wanting to be caught unprepared for what might happen.

It's hard to blame Eaves for mitigating the risk of those 3 players all being gone for this year which was a very possible scenario. So it might have looked like over recruiting, but he was doing what every smart investor does in their portfolio: hedge risk.

And yes, it did end up working out because he got some of the recruits to stay in the USHL for one more year so he had a bit of luck on his side as well that those guys didn't decommit.

All in all, we have little to complain about Eaves and his recruiting in my opinion. We were a Kyle Turris away from being a Frozen Four contender last year, and we all know he made the wrong decision to go pro. Some things are out of his control and he tries to mitigate the risk of players going pro after learning from experience.

[Scottyp]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

In terms of McGuire, he's a big time get. Smallish, but lightning quick, highly skilled, and comes from a nice program. You can bet this kid will come in and contribute right away. All indications are that Kerdiles is an elite recruit, although I must admit I have not gotten a great deal of feedback on the kid and have never seen him play.

Matt Paape and Jordan Schmaltz (in particularl) appear to be progressing very nicely. I'm encouraged when these younger signees are discussed in terms of being leaders and these kids are doing very well.

Mark Zengerle reminds me a lot of Tyler Bozak in terms of his development. He's going to come in as a 20 year old, has several seasons under his belt in the BCHL, and will likely have a certain maturity that a true 17-18 year old frosh doesn't have. (e.g. Ross Carlson, Dave Hukalo, Craig Smith, Matt Thurber, Andy Bohmbach et al). However, I'd tell you that Zengerle has had two huge seasons in the BCHL, whereas Bozak really did not sparkle until his last year. Needless to say, Zengerle has got first line skills and a kid who can come in and replace some of the scoring punch that is departing next season. The same can be said of Tyler Barnes, who has been patient, and like Craig Smith, I think he's goint to reap the rewards of that extra USHL season as compared to languishing on the bench this season getting spotty ice time.

In terms of Rumpel (how can you NOT like that name?), I have been told this kid has been hands down dominating since he was thrown into the #1 goaltending spot. He's got a **** good team around him to be sure.

Sleeper is Jefferson Dahl in my estimation. He's quietly put together a nice season in the USHL, and he's one of those kids like Craig Smith who will likely spend several seasons in the USHL and really make a nice contribution when he comes in at UW. Tyler Lapic, Cody Strang, and Gavin Hartzog need much more seasoning before they are ready. I'm a little disappointed in Lapic's development up to this point...but I also said that about Smith as well at a similar stage in his USHL career.

Additionally, Mike Mersch (a Geoffrion type player), Frankie Simonelli (reminds me a bit of Cody Golobeuf...not flashy but smart, steady, and skilled), and Troy Hesketh (another Minnesota kid the Gophers are going to be sorry they didn't recruit harder...see Gardiner and McDonagh) seem to be doing very well with their respective teams (Mersch and Simonellie NTDP and Hesketh-Minnetonka).

Jake McCabe is going to be a fantastic college hockey player. He's got all the tools and we have to be patient and not rush this kid into UW.

UW really has not had a "whiff" in the last two classes. They've gotten MOST of the kids they've wanted.

With respect to the development of last year's guys...you certainly cannot argue with Justin Schultz's play (he's had a great frosh season...with a few gaffes here and there), John Ramage has exceeded my expectations by far (I like his physical edge and he has shown decent skill as well at times), and Craig Smith has had a great frosh season (despite his propensity for ill timed and STUPID penalties late in games), and Derek Lee has shown some ability (although he's currently buried on the bench) this season as well.

All in all, as a Badger fan, I cannot express an great deal of disappointment with the recruiting trail so far.

Big series this weekend. Looking forward to a playoff-type atmosphere.

Wisconsin Hockey: Futurama.

I agree, great analysis. Watching the game last night I couldn't help noticing how well Schultz is playing on the PP. He keeps the puck moving, watches the defense and then attacks their weak points. He kept going to Smith until he scored and SCSU moved to take that pass away. Next PP, with that option taken away, he started directing to Stepan or stepping into gap to get a pretty good shot on net with a couple of shielders/deflectors in front. Pretty impressive for a kid thats a freshman. We should have a pretty good power play over the next few years. Bodes extremely well for the future.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

It's hard to blame Eaves for mitigating the risk of those 3 players all being gone for this year which was a very possible scenario. So it might have looked like over recruiting, but he was doing what every smart investor does in their portfolio: hedge risk.

And yes, it did end up working out because he got some of the recruits to stay in the USHL for one more year so he had a bit of luck on his side as well that those guys didn't decommit.

All in all, we have little to complain about Eaves and his recruiting in my opinion. We were a Kyle Turris away from being a Frozen Four contender last year, and we all know he made the wrong decision to go pro. Some things are out of his control and he tries to mitigate the risk of players going pro after learning from experience.

Frozen Four contender? We didn't make the tournament dude.

[Almington]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Frozen Four contender? We didn't make the tournament dude.

"Forget it. He's rolling."

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Last year, with Turris @ UW, they make the tourney, especially with the focus on less obstruction.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Last year, with Turris @ UW, they make the tourney, especially with the focus on less obstruction.

Agreed, but it doesn't make us a Frozen Four contender. At least not in this guys opinion. We were not a good hockey club last season.

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Agreed, but it doesn't make us a Frozen Four contender. At least not in this guys opinion. We were not a good hockey club last season.

I agree. There is a serious difference between getting into the NCAAs and being a Frozen Four contender. Turris may have made the difference in one or two games, but I feel it is easy to forget how ****ty we played in several games last year. We were such a bipolar team last year which makes for a bad playoff. Think about the talk this year when we play like crap. We are much...MUCH better this year and I still think we are only a boarderline FF contender because of shaky(at least at this time) goaltending and moreso...in my opinion...poor full game defense. We tend to have too many defensive breakdowns to consistently win games.

I think the Saturday night SCSU was indicative of this. We saw way to many two goal leads disappear. Granted, SCSU is a very good team this year but I am just not comfortable with our defense at this point to have a lot of confidence in a playoff situation. If we tie up our loose ends...FF contender for sure, but until then, I am not going to blindly jump on that bandwagon.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Agreed, but it doesn't make us a Frozen Four contender. At least not in this guys opinion. We were not a good hockey club last season.

It's hard to say how large an impact an additional 40+ pt guy on the roster would have been. I think in terms of offense, they could have been a FF contender. How that would have affected the other phases of the game we'll never know.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

What's happening with the Wausau USHL team? I see that there will be new franchises in Dubuque, IA and Muskegon, MI next season, but nothing in Wausau.

(Technically, the Dubuque team isn't exactly new, but you get the idea)

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

What's happening with the Wausau USHL team? I see that there will be new franchises in Dubuque, IA and Muskegon, MI next season, but nothing in Wausau.

(Technically, the Dubuque team isn't exactly new, but you get the idea)

Probably nothing for a while. The USHL has talked about going to a 16 team league for a while now, and as you point out, next season there will be 16 teams. I think the sticking point on the Wausau team was that a rink would get built. I don't know that this has happened yet.

There will be opportunities for Wausau to start a franchise, there will be turnover and teams moving and folding every few years, its the business.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: What are you going to do, when NHL-U, comes calling for you?

Woods has clear favorite following weekend visit (College Hockey 247)
Tuesday Recruiting: Badgers Leaders For Woods (Sixty Minutes)

I'd put the odds at higher than 80% we land this kid.