Tuesday, July 31, 2007

2007-2008 Team Wisconsin U18 Named

The 2007-2008 Team Wisconsin U18 roster has been released and can be found here. It is incorrectly labeled 2006-2007.

The Boys Team Wisconsin U16 and Girls Team Wisconsin U16 & U19 rosters have not yet been released.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Boys Select 15 National Development Camp Underway

The games at the Boys Select 15 National Development Camp got underway today. Here's the list of players from Wisconsin in attendance:

D-Nolan Kirley-Hayward-Red
F Garrett Allen-Delafield-Green
F-Danny Scherer-Nashotah-Grey
F-Dillon Mershawn-Deer Park-Purple
F-Shayne McLaughlin-Eau Claire-Orange
F-Ryan Belonger-Ashwaubenon-Navy
F-Noah Nelson-Oconomowoc-White

This link will get you to team rosters, this one will get you to the leading scorers and click here for the schedule and results.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Badgers have Archibald in for visit

According to this internet article, Wisconsin will be bringing in Honeybaked defenseman Brandon Archibald for a visit this weekend.

Last season Archibald played for the prestigious Honeybaked AAA Bantam team. Starting Sunday he will be showcasing his talents for USA Hockey at the select 15 festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Archibald is already 6'3 and 180 Lbs. He's hoping a good showing will get him an offer for the NTDP. "I think (my chances) are pretty good," Archibald said. "I've talked to a couple scouts from the team already, and they want me to have a good showing there."

Ps...thanks for the heads up by Iceburg on GPL for the article.

Jordan George Signs NAHL Tender

Jordan George has signed a Tender with the Topeka Roadrunners of the NAHL. George put up 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points for Madison Edgewood in 2005-2006, and then moved on to the Russell Stover Midget Minor team last season. This offseason he was in the Tryout Camp for the Tri-City Storm, but did not make the All-Star Game.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Thursday Linkorama

Jamie McBain gets some love on nhl.com. (thanks to wchablog for pointing this one out)

Derrick LaPoint was recently interviewed by Brad Schlossman. (thanks to Western College Hockey for leading me to this)

Info continues to trickle out about the practice facility/UW women's hockey arena.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Girls Select 14 & Girls Select 15 Underway

Both the Girls Select 14 National Development Camp and the Girls Select 15 National Development Camp are currently underway. Representing Wisconsin at the Girls Select 15 Camp are defensemen Kelly Jaminski and Madison Kolls, along with goaltender Alex Rigsby. Here's the top scorer page for the Select 15's and here's the goaltending stats page.

Representing Wisconsin at the Select 14 Camp are defensemen Gabrielle Grandin and Jordyn Tremain, along with forward Morgan Pope. The top scorer page for the camp can be found here.

Brendan Smith Highlight Video

I just found this 2006-2007 Brendan Smith highlight video and thought I'd pass along the link so everyone could take a look. The thing I like the most about the video is that it shows he is not afraid to mix it up in front of the net or in the corners.

One for Team Wisconsin U-18

Team Wisconsin has not yet released their rosters for either the U-16 or U-18 teams, but it appears that Beloit Memorial Junior Kyle Popovics has made the U-18 team. He was a member of the U-16 team last season.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

McDonagh Video Clips

Here's some video clips of Ryan McDonagh at Montreal's Prospect Camp. He's number 55:

This is McDonagh doing the 4-corner drill.

McDonagh scores in this clip during 3 on 3's.

Here Ryan avoids the goalie's poke check by dropping his stick and puck through his legs behind him and scoring. Sweet move....

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Eight Wisconsinites or UW Women's Players in Chowder Cup

The Women's Chowder Cup Tournament is underway, with three different teams carrying UW players or Wisconsinites. The most interesting is probably the Minnesota Ice Cats Elite. Forward & Wisconsinite Emily Kranz, who will be a Sophomore this season, is on the team along with incoming defensive recruit Amile Windmeier. Most players on this team are 1988 birthdates, with some 1989 birthdates. The lone exception is forward & Wisconsinite Brianna Decker who is a 1991 birthdate. Decker is fresh off of dominating the Girls Select 16 National Development Camp. It's very telling that a group of players who are all returning or incoming Division I hockey players made an exception for a player who is going to be a Junior in high school.

The other teams in the tournament featuring UW players are the East Coast Wizards and Junior Bruins Black. Returning forward Meggan Duggan and returning forward Erika Lawler are playing for the Wizards while incoming Forward Hilary Knight and returning forward Kyla Sanders are playing for the Junior Bruins Black.

In the first day of action, the Minnesota Ice Cats Elite faced off against the East Coast Wizards, as they are in the same bracket. The Ice Cats prevailed by a score of 4-3. Meghan Duggan had a goal for the Wizards, while Brianna Decker had a goal for the Ice Cats. The Junior Bruins dismantled their first day opponent 10-0 with Hilary Knight scoring 3 goals and tallying 3 assists, and Kyla Sanders scored 2 goals.

The Women's Chowder Cup AA bracket, which features all of the aforementioned teams, can be found here.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Select 14's Finish Up

Today was the final day of games for the Boys Select 14's. Unfortunately their website is currently down and I can't link to any of their information. At any rate, here's some other information about the Select 14's:

Someone had posted the question about where the Wisconsin players were from. My man on the ground at the Select 14's reports that Morbeck & Platz are from Wisconsin AAA in Milwaukee. Racino is from Merrill and plays for the Capitols. King is from Fond du Lac and played for WI AAA last year, but may play in Chicago next year. Schmaltz played for the Mission in Chicago last year.

Here's another report I received via e-mail from my source, which is likely his last report:

#14 Orange Colin Jacobs and #8 white Zac Larreza are two other forwards who stood out at camp. Alex Raccino went home on Thursday. This really hurts him as he was having a good camp. He missed his last two games. The USNTDP has liked #2 Jokim Ryan.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Select 17 Scouting Report Surfaces

The US Hockey Report's scouting report from the Select 17 has been posted over at gopher puck live tonight. They published the defensemen and forwards that they gave A, A- or B+ rankings to at the Select 17's. A lot of Wisconsinites, Wisconsin recruits and potential Wisconsin recruits were mentioned. It's a pretty good read and generally favorable to most of the players readers of this blog would be interested in. Players of interest include:

Jake Gardiner-recent UW recruit
Corey Fienhage-potential UW recruit
Ross Henry-Wisconsinite; plays for Lincoln Stars
Vinny Saponari-potential UW recruit
Jordy Murray-UW recruit; plays for Shattuck
Derek Stepan-UW recruit; plays for Shattuck
Brock Montpetit-Wisconsinite & UW recruit; plays for Shattuck

Select 14's

My contact at the Select 14's indicates that Shane McColgan is far and away the best forward at the Select 14's. He played last season for the LA Hockey Club. My contact also got to see goaltender Tyler Platz from Wisconsin play last night. Platz stopped all 10 shots he faced in 25 minutes played, and several were quality chances according to my source.

No games were played today, but each team will play both tomorrow and Friday.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

More Select 14's

My man on the ground at the Select 14's indicates that the University of Notre Dame came yesterday and indicated they were there to mark the best 10 players. Other college coaches will likely be showing up today. The OHL had a scout at every practice, and as you might expect, the USNTDP Coaches are there also.

As far as the Wisconsin contingent goes, #16 Gold-Alex Racino played well last night in a 2-1 victory over Teal, even though he did not dent the stat sheet.

Here are the Wisconsin players at the Select 14 National Development Camp:

Tyler Platz - Goaltender-save percentage of 93% currently
Jacob McCabe - Defenseman
Jordan Schmaltz - Defenseman
Alex Racino - Forward-1 goal and 1 assist currently
Trevor Morbeck - Forward-1 goal and 1 assist currently
Lane King - Forward-3 assists currently

Here are the stats for the leading scorers, and the goaltender stats can be found here.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Select 14 National Development Camp

Here are the Wisconsin players at the Select 14 National Development Camp:

Tyler Platz - Goaltender
Jacob McCabe - Defenseman
Jordan Schmaltz - Defenseman
Alex Racino - Forward
Trevor Morbeck - Forward
Lane King - Forward

Here are the stats for the leading scorers, and the goaltender stats can be found here.

Hockey in Wisconsin is fortunate to have a "spy" on the ground at the Select 14 Tournament. I had asked him what scouts were at a camp for players of this age and he indicates that there are prep schools, Tier 1 AAA teams and CHL scouts there. There also is a contingent of agents, although they are instructed not to speak to the players. The players that have jumped out at our spy so far are #9 Grey-Shane McColgan and #9 Royal-Dominik Shine. He also reports that the Wisconsin players fit in very well in terms of their ability.

Select 17 National Development Camp Wrap-Up

Western College Hockey has some notes from attending the Boys Select 17 National Development Camp. There's notes on UW recruits Brock Montpetit, Jordy Murray, Nick Pryor, Jake Gardiner and Derek Stepan. Western College Hockey also talks about potential UW recruits Vinny Saponari and Corey Fienhage as well as Wisconsinites Nate Condon and Ross Henry.

The roster for the U-18 Ivan Hlinka tournament in Slovakia and the Czech Republic has been announced. The team was selected at the Select 17 National Development Camp. Future UW players Jordy Murray and recent verbal Jake Gardiner were selected and will play on the team.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sunday Linkorama

Ryan McDonagh is showing leadership skills at the Habs Prospect Camp.

Plans for an on-campus hockey practice facility at UW continue to grind forward.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Boys Select 17 National Development Camp

The Boys Select 17 National Development Camp is complete, and of all the players we were keeping an eye on, new UW defensive recruit Jake Gardiner ended up with the highest point total. Potential UW goaltending recruit Garrett Beckwith struggled throughout the camp and finished with an .84 save percentage. I've had several comments on the blog saying he has a leg or hip injury he sustained at the Gamblers Training Camp, which could potentially help explain his poor showing.

Girls Select 16 National Development Camp

Brianna Decker finished the Girls Select 16 National Development Camp tied for first in scoring with 11 goals and no assists for 11 points. Jamie Kenyon finished fifth in points with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points.

Former Fondy Players Head to Juniors & College

The Fond du Lac Reporter had an article yesterday on five former players and the paths they are taking to continue playing hockey. One error in the article is that it lists Ryan Smet as a defenseman, while he was First Team All-State as a forward (he had played defense out of team necessity his Sophomore & Junior year).

Edit: The link has been fixed.

Ryan McDonagh is Busy This Summer

Just like Kyle Turris, Ryan McDonagh is traveling all across North American this summer playing hockey against the best players in the world. The Montreal Gazette gave a nice run down of the remainder of McDonagh's summer schedule, including some time at UW.

Confirmation-Turris to Miss First Week of Semester

Andy Baggot yesterday confirmed what I had reported on June 20th, namely that Kyle Turris is indeed going to miss the beginning of classes to play in the Canada/Russia Super Series.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Eaves on the Tiebreaker

Mike Eaves apparently is not a fan of any of the options to eliminate ties in college hockey.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Wisconsin Representatives for National Select 14 Development Camp

The following players have been selected to participate in the USA Hockey U14 National Development Camp:

Tyler Platz - Goaltender
Jacob McCabe - Defenseman
Jordan Schmaltz - Defenseman
Alex Racino - Forward
Trevor Morbeck - Forward
Lane King - Forward

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Marquette Rangers Final Camp includes Wisconsinites

The Marquette Rangers are preparing for their final camp where Wisconsinites Nic Weight and Nick Condon hope to earn their way back onto the roster for their second season and Ian Andrews attempts to make the team for the first time.

The Brianna Decker Show/Girls Select 16 National Development Camp

Brianna Decker has been lighting up the Girls Select 16 National Development Camp. She currently leads all scorers after 3 games with 9 points....all of which are goals. Jamie Kenyon is tied for seventh in scoring at the camp with 4 points, while Lauren Unser has 3 points.

The top scorers can be found here, the goaltender numbers at this link and the results from all the games here.

Here's the list of Wisconsin players at this camp:

D Ashley Hietpas-Gold
D Corinne Imobersteg-Green
F Brianna Decker-White
F Jamie Kenyon-Royal
F Lauren Unser-Green

I've been high on Decker for a long time, and I hope UW can get her on board for the 2009-2010 season.

Boys Select 17 National Development Camp

Tthe Boys Select 17 National Development Camp has completed three of their five games per team. The current top scorers can be found here, the goaltending information at this link, and the game results here. New UW recruit Jake Gardiner is the highest placed player in the scoring race with two goals and three assists for five points. Potential UW recruit Garrett Beckwith, who is currently on the Green Bay Gamblers Affiliated List is really struggling with an 83.67% save percentage. My first thought was that maybe his team is not playing very good defense, but that theory was quickly blown out of the water when I found the other goaltender on his team leading the pack with a 98% save percentage.

Here's the list of players of interest at this camp:


Wisconsin Players

D Ross Henry-Purple
D Tim Smith-Grey
F Brock Montpetit-Purple
F Nate Condon-Gold
F Charlie Strauss-Orange
F Andy Singerhouse-Royal
F Brett Bower-Black

Non-Wisconsin UW Recruits

D Nick Pryor-Black
F Jordan Murray-Gold
F Derek Stepan-Grey
D Jake Gardiner-Purple

Potential UW Recruits

D Corey Fienhage-Royal
F Vinny Saponari-Real
G Garrett Beckwith-White

Other Players of Interest

F Brice Geoffrion-Red

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Turris Video

Here's the video highlights from the NHL Draft coverage on Kyle Turris.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Turris at Coyotes Prospect Camp Update

Kyle Turris looked good in the second day of Coyotes' Prospect Camp. It probably does not bode well for a long stay at Wisconsin when they mention he held his own in front of the net despite giving up 30 pounds to most players, although doing it over an entire season is very different than doing it over a short training camp.

Edit: Link has been fixed...thanks 60 min....

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Boys Select 17 National Development Camp

The Boys Select 17 National Development Camp is underway. The scores from today's games are not posted yet, so I 'm just going to start by putting out a list of the players of interest to Wisconsinites:

Wisconsin Players

D Ross Henry-Purple
D Tim Smith-Grey
F Brock Montpetit-Purple
F Nate Condon-Gold
F Charlie Strauss-Orange
F Andy Singerhouse-Royal
F Brett Bower-Black


Non-Wisconsin UW Recruits

D Nick Pryor-Black
F Jordan Murray-Gold
F Derek Stepan-Grey
D Jake Gardiner-Purple


Potential UW Recruits

D Corey Fienhage-Royal
F Vinny Saponari-Real
G Garrett Beckwith-White


Other Players of Interest

F Brice Geoffrion-Red

Girls Select 16 National Development Camp

The Girls Select 16 National Development Camp is underway. There are no scores for today's games posted yet, so here are the Wisconsin players participating:

D Ashley Hietpas-Gold
D Corinne Imobersteg-Green
F Brianna Decker-White
F Jamie Kenyon-Royal
F Lauren Unser-Green

McDonagh & Smith Articles

Ryan McDonagh gets ready for the Habs' Prospect Camp.

Brendan Smith is underway at the Red Wings Prospect Camp. He talks about how long he might be at UW, with 2-3 years being the least amount of time he thinks he might be around.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Badger Linkorama

Brian Elliott played well at the Senators' Prospect Camp.

Josh Turnbull and Travis Erstad got blurbs in the Kings and Blues draft reviews.

This article is a little bit dated but I thought the fact that they laid out Kyle Turris' summer schedule was interesting. Looks like he'll only be in Wisconsin for five days over the summer months.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

More Updates and Linkorama

Sean Wiles is not on Tri-City's 25-man protected list as he recently accepted a scholarship to play for Alaska Anchorage this season. Another Wisconsinite, Nathan Lawrence, is heading to Alaska as well, and will be joining the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks for this season.

Eric Springer, a forward from DePere who played for Team Illinois is currently on the Sioux Falls Stampede affiliated list. I missed him in my update yesterday.

Josh Turnbull talks about training in Madison recently with his teammates, and the fact that he is going to participate in the LA Kings Prospect Camp.

Brendan Smith is just getting underway at the Detroit Red Wings Prospect Camp. Here's the recently released Red Wings draft review from Hockey's Future.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Updates

I'm just back from vacation and thought I'd put out these updates first:

The July 1st cutdown of rosters from 30 players to 25 players took a pretty big toll on Wisconsin players. Here's the players whose status changed:

Jefferson Dahl-Des Moines-Was on protected list, now on affiliated list
Seth Soley-Green Bay-Was on protected list, now on affiliated list
Nick Graves-Green Bay-Was on protected list, now not listed
Niko Kapetanovic-Ohio-Was on protected list, now not listed
Jake Drewiske-Sioux Falls-Was not on their protected list and now is
Tedd Falk-Sioux Falls-Was on protected list, now not listed
Sean Wiles-Tri-City-Was on protected list, now not listed


Matt Ford scored a goal at Prospects Camp off an assist from Patrick Kane. Kane was playing on a line with Jonathan Toews, so I can just imagine how many chances Ford would have gotten if he was on a line with those two....


At the Boys Select 16 Camp, Nick Widing and Sean Little had the best numbers of the Wisconsin forwards, while Kyle Miller finished about 2/3 of the way down the goaltender list.


Brookley Rogers ended up as the top Wisconsin forward in terms of numbers of points at the Girls Select 17/18 Camp. Rachel Weber and Barb Bilko both finished around the end of the top 1/3 players or so for goaltenders.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Jake Gardiner picks UW

Minnetonka (Minn.) defenseman Jake Gardiner has commited to the University of Wisconsin.

A converted forward, he has told the Wisconsin State Journal that he will finish his senior season for Minnetonka who plays in the Lake Conference. After that his future is up in the air. The Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL drafted him this past season and currently own his rights should he decide to take that route after next season. Wisconsin is pretty thin on defense with only Ryan Little (Green Bay, USHL) committed as a defenseman in the 2008 class.

Gardiner recently participated in the prestigious Minnesota Model Camp for team black. This past season as a forward for Minnetonka he finished with 10 goals and 22 assists. This July Jake will be participating in the USA Hockey, Advanced 17 National Festival in St. Cloud. Committed forwards Derek Stepan and Jordy Murray were also selected from the Minnesota region along with potential recruit, defenseman Corey Fienhage from Eastview HS.

Gardiner is also pretty good on the Golf Course. He helped Minnetonka to the Minnesota AA State Golf Title June 5-6, 2007 with a combined 2 day score of 160. Minnetonka beat Forest Lake by 6 strokes. In the summer of 2005 Gardiner aced #4 at the Wayzata Country Club.