Hockey in Wisconsin

Hockey in Wisconsin is Moving to a New Home

2008-02-18T15:25:00.003-06:00

After months of consideration, I've decided to move Hockey in Wisconsin over to the Wisconsin Sports Network. You will still be able to follow the blog here. Wisconsin Sports Network is continuing to expand their hockey coverage, while they have already built an incredible network to cover Wisconsin high school basketball and football. Their resources will undoubtedly bring a lot of features to Wisconsin hockey coverage that I could never have done as an independent blogger, and the best news of all is that Hockey in Wisconsin readers will get the benefits of those resources!

I'd like to thank 60 min. and Chuck Schwartz for all of their work here at Hockey in Wisconsin. They've both been fantastic to work with, and I wish them both nothing but the best.

-DPlaya

A Few Random Badger Links

2008-02-15T14:33:00.002-06:00

USA Hockey Magazine has had some interesting articles lately, including an article about Badger alum Ryan Suter, and article about current Badger Jessie Vetter, and an interview with Badger alum Jim Johannson.

HF has a brief blurb about Zach Bearson in their Panthers NCAA prospects update.

I'm easily amused, and for some reason I really like Andy Brandt's profile for the Gwinnett Gladiators.

I hate to say it, but Tom Gilbert has been struggling a bit lately. Being who I am, I'm sure things will turn around soon.

Let's Go Cow Tippin' Linkorama

2008-02-15T13:38:00.002-06:00

The Badger Men take on the Mavericks at the Kohl Center this weekend, and as usual, I have some links for you. I'm having computer issues, so this will be a short linkorama today. Hopefully I'll get some more links up (including women's hockey!) later this weekend.

CHN: Tale of the Tape

Milewski: UW's Eaves anticipated a bumpy road, Thursday notes, Engel adapts

Baggot: Tiny freshman playing like heavyweight

WCHA weekly notebooks: USCHO, INCH

UW Recruits Playing in Madison This Weekend

2008-02-13T22:56:00.003-06:00

Shattuck St. Mary's Prep team will be playing in the Madison Capitols' Gold Medal Classic this weekend at Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton. That means future Badgers Derek Stepan and Jordan Murray will be displaying their skills against some of the best Midget Major talent in the country.

News & Notes

2008-02-12T22:20:00.003-06:00

Fox Lake native Nick Sirota turned in a hat trick to lead Northern Michigan over Michigan State 3-1.

Shane Connelly was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the WCHA with Peter Mannino sharing the award.

Blake Kessel is the Defensive Player of the Week in the USHL.

Tuesday Linkorama

2008-02-12T12:09:00.001-06:00

Both UW recruits currently playing in the Minnesota High School ranks are among the 10 finalists for Minnesota's Mr. Hockey Award. They are, of course, Burnsville forward Tyler Barnes and Minnetonka defenseman Jake Gardiner. (Page down once you click through the link).

Kyle Turris makes another appearance on the Hockey News Hot List at #3.

UW recruit Derek Lee is the oddball in his family as all his other siblings play basketball.

In the polls the UW Men climbed to #10 from #11, the UW Women remain at #5, St. Norbert maintains their status at #1 in Division III while UW-River Falls and UW-Stout are numbers 10 & 11 respectively. The UW-Superior Women did what nobody else has done all season, namely knock off UW-Stevens Point...and they did it twice this weekend. The UW-Stevens Point Women dropped from #3 to #4 as a result while the UW-Superior Women remain at #8.

Saturday & Sunday in the USHL & BCHL

2008-02-10T21:48:00.000-06:00

Indiana beat down Green Bay 5-1. Brent Gwidt had an assist and was +1 for Indiana. For Green Bay, Kyle Ensign had an assist and was -2, Ryan Little was -3 and Aaron Crandall let in 5 of 26 shots.

Chicago doubled up Sioux City 6-3. Defenseman Aaron Schmit had an assist and was even for Chicago.

Ohio edged Des Moines 3-2. Justin Cseter was even for Ohio.

Cedar Rapids manhandled Tri-City 5-1. UW forward recruit Chris Hickey was -2 for Tri-City.

Sioux Falls drubbed Lincoln 6-1. Jake Drewiske had two assists and finished +1 for Sioux Falls and was named Second Star of the Game. Also for Sioux Falls, Eric Springer had an assist and finished even while Sam Zabkowicz also was even. For Lincoln, Taylor Kuypers was -2, while both Ross Henry and Travis Erstad were -1.

Omaha claimed a seesaw battle over Waterloo 6-5. Wisconsinite Jake Hauswirth had a goal and an assist while finishing +2 for Omaha. Teammate Matt Thurber also finished +2 and had two assists. Thurber is now tied for 10th in scoring in the USHL with 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points in 40 games. UW recruit Patrick Wiercioch continued his impressive play for Omaha following a long injury with a goal and finishing even. Teammate Seth Soley finished -1. For Waterloo, Blake Kessel was named Third Star of the Game with a goal and an assist while finishing even. Brett Olson had two assists but finished -2 and received a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials. Brock Montpetit had an assist and finished +1 while Craig Smith and Scott Pavelski were even and Keegan Meuer was -1.

In the only Sunday contest, Des Moines took care of Ohio 4-2. Justin Cseter was -1 for Ohio.

UW forward recruit Derek Lee notched an assist as Salmon Arm defeated Langley 6-3 Saturday.

Westside dropped the hammer on Alberni Valley 5-2 on Saturday. UW defensive recruit Justin Schultz put up 2 assists in the game.

Despite two assists by Derek Lee, Burnaby handled Salmon Arm 5-2 Sunday.

Westside put away Cowichan Valley 4-1, and Justin Schultz was held off the scoresheet.

From Girls Hockey to Women's Hockey

2008-02-10T21:34:00.000-06:00

The LaCrosse Tribune had a couple of nice hockey articles today, both on girls and women's hockey. The first article is on forward Ashley Paulson who played for Onalaska High School prior to playing at Culver Academy. She now plays for the University of North Dakota.

The second article talks about the growth of both girls hockey in Wisconsin and the growth of women's hockey nationally. It also talks about the road Rachel Bible, Ashley Paulson, Kelsea Martalock and Sandra Felten took to get to college hockey. I will take dispute with the statement that girls cannot go directly from Wisconsin girls high school hockey to college hockey as I can name more than a handful without even searching who are playing and thriving early in their careers in Division III. There also is a current Badger, Jinelle Zaugg, who went directly from boys high school hockey to Division I hockey. Finally, I know of a Wisconsin girls high school hockey player who walked on to a Division I team and made the roster. It will take some time for growth and improvement in Wisconsin girls hockey before there are players regularly able to make the jump to Division I schools, but with the meteoric growth currently underway, it may not take as long as some think.

Badger Updates

2008-02-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

The Badger Men claimed a 4-1 victory over Michigan Tech Saturday night to earn 3 of 4 points on the weekend. Shane Connelly got the extra bonus of getting to kiss the Winter Carnival Queen as he was named MVP of the series.

The Badger Women lost 3-2 Saturday against Minnesota Duluth, and thus splitting the series. While they were in Minnesota, the Badger Women apparently picked up a verbal commitment for next season from goaltender Nikkie Kaasa from St. Cloud.

Another "Turris to Turn Pro at End of Season" Article

2008-02-09T11:36:00.001-06:00

Ken Campbell from the Sporting News writes that multiple sources in the Phoenix organization are pushing hard to have Turris leave the Badgers at the end of their season to join the Coyotes and help them chase a playoff spot. I'm not sure how much stock I put in the report since the guy doesn't seem to have a clue the Badgers are "on the bubble" for the NCAA's and he mentions they play in the WCAC instead of WCHA. Also, the fact that Phoenix is on the edge for a playoff spot seems to be the reason everyone may be looking for him to join the team, rather than his development which is completely backwards.

I think Maloney should and will consider Turris' development, not the position of the Coyotes in the NHL playoff race or how much they may need him. Why risk a potential star's development over a short-term playoff push IF it is not right for his development? The sources Campbell quotes are probably some of the geniuses who specialize in the short-term thinking that has helped lead the Coyotes to their place as doormats over the past several years.

Bottom line, Turris' development should be all that is considered and not where the team stands now or where they could be if he joined them. If they lose sight of that everyone will know they haven't changed at all and wish to remain a perennial cellar dweller. Maloney has been very consistent in what he has said since Turris was drafted, and how he has handled these situations with other players. I don't think he is going to do something that is not in the best interest of the player and the team's long-term future for a short-term gain, IF that is how they see Turris' development.

IF Turris' development would be helped by joining the Coyotes after his college season is over, then best wishes to him. I just think it is tough for some people to look past the potential short-term gain and only consider the player's development.

Saturday Morning Badger Report & Thoughts

2008-02-09T08:34:00.001-06:00

On the whole, the UW hockey report is fairly favorable this morning. The men's team managed a 1-1 tie and one point against Michigan Tech, although they had a lot of chances to score goals. The Badger women secured a 3-2 victory over Minnesota Duluth and two points.

For some reason I thought Kyle Turris might start to carry the UW men last night, but it has not happened yet. It's not that he isn't playing well, just that I thought he might literally pick the team up and put them on his back for the stretch as he has proven to be such a clutch player. Before the season began I was thinking that it is kind of a shame that UW doesn't have some great forward playmakers to compliment Turris, and I continue to agonize about that every weekend. It's too bad that the Badgers big infusion of forward talent is likely coming in 2009, when Turris is assured of being in the NHL. I'd love to see Turris stay another year and be able to play with the likes of Brock Montpetit, Derek Stepan, Jordy Murray and Derek Lee, but most if not all of them will not be at UW until 2009. Oh well, I am excited that UW has finally been able to recruit multiple forwards who have the ability to score in bunches. It's been crazy the last two years with such a lack of scoring threats.

Wisconsinites & UW Recruits BCHL/USHL Scores

2008-02-09T07:47:00.000-06:00

BCHL
Salmon Arm beat Quesnel 4-1, but new UW recruit forward Derek Lee was held off the scoresheet and finished even.

Westside took down Powell River 7-4. The newest UW recruit, defenseman Justin Schultz, did not dent the scoresheet and finished even.

USHL
Cedar Rapids handled Tri-City 4-1. UW recruit Chris Hickey did not score and finished -1 in the game.

Omaha got the best of Chicago 5-2. In his first game back after a roughly two month absence, UW recruit Patrick Wiercioch was named First Star of the Game, while teammate Seth Soley was named Third Star of the Game. Wiercioch had two assists and finished +1 while Soley had a goal and was +1. Teammate Matt Thurber had a goal and an assist and finished +1 for Omaha, while Jake Hauswirth was held off the scoresheet and finished even. Defenseman Aaron Schmit finished even for Chicago. Here's an article on Wiercioch's return from yesterday.

Indiana slipped past Green Bay 4-3 in overtime. Wisconsinite Kyle Ensign had a goal and was +1 for Green Bay while teammate Ryan Little was even. UW recruit Aaron Crandall was not in the net for this game. Brent Gwidt was held off the scoresheet and finished even for Indiana.

Waterloo took care of Sioux Falls 5-2. Scott Pavelski was named First Star of the Game and teammate Blake Kessel was named Second Star of the Game. Pavelski had a goal and was +1, while Kessel had a goal and an assist and was +1. Teammate Keegan Meuer had an assist and was +2 while Brock Montpetit also had an assist and was even. Craig Smith and Brett Olson finished even for Waterloo. On the Sioux Falls side of the ledger, Eric Springer, Jake Drewiske and Sam Zabkowicz all finished even.

Lincoln shut out Sioux City 4-0. Wisconsinites Taylor Kuypers, Ross Henry and Travis Erstad all finished even.

It's Friday, I'm in Love

2008-02-08T15:44:00.000-06:00

Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday Wednesday break my heart
Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love
-- The Cure

That's right kids; my "Friday I'm in love" posts have returned. I would've had something up earlier today, but the wireless internet in the dump I'm staying in wasn't working, and Mr 60 came back early from snowmobiling because he broke his snowmobile. But you're not really intererested in that; let's move onto the good stuff.

Todd's got the lines, as well as some pictures (here and here) -- which is good, because we forgot the camera when we walked down to campus, and my mom's going to be mad if I don't have some pictures for her. So I'll probably "steal" Todd's to show her. (Thanks, Todd!) I've already forgotten half of the statues, but I liked the Ghost Busters, Frankenstein's laboratory, and the one where monsters were destroying buildings on campus (including the ChemMet building where I spent a LOT of time as an undergrad.)

Paul Capobianco has some pictures, too, as well as a little bit on the team's in Houghton and a description of Carnival. I gotta tell ya, though, the broomball games were pretty tame so far. Although after consultation with Mr 60, I now recall that the WC broomball games always were quite a bit tamer than the dorm leagues that played at night.

Anyway, moving on to some actual hockey talk . . . Todd gives us a weekend preview and talks about how Tech is tough to play during Carnival, and Andy Baggot has a nice article about the Mitchell/Dolan/Grotting line. And of course both campus papers have weekend previews: The Badger Herald talks about the smaller ice sheet the Badgers will be playing on this weekend, and The Daily Cardinal discusses the importance of this series in the WCHA standings.

And finally, the usual suspects have their weekly WCHA notebooks: USCHO, INCH.

Moving along to the Badger Women . . . It's hard to find as much coverage, but the campus papers both have weekend previews, and I'm more than happy to pass along the links: The Badger Herald says that Badgers are looking for another championship, and The Daily Cardinal says the Badgers are looking for revenge against Duluth. All I have to say is this: Why can't we do both?

High School Hockey Game Stories

2008-02-08T05:36:00.000-06:00

#8 Wausau West boys blanked Merrill 6-0.

DC Everest boys handled Wausau East 4-1.

#5 Onalaska boys keep their perfect season intact with a 5-2 victory over Holmen.

The Badger Thunder girls defeated the South Central Freeze 5-3. These teams face each other in a week in the opening round of Sectional play.

Baraboo/Reedsburg boys downed Dells/Mauston 4-1, and will face off against them again Tuesday, this time in the first round of the state hockey playoffs.

Here's a story on the Onalaska girls Sectional bracket.

The Arrowhead boys slipped past Pius 3-2 to claim the Classic 8 Conference hockey championship.

Player of the Year Finalists

2008-02-07T22:17:00.002-06:00

Here are the finalists for the boys Player of the Year:

Ted Behrend, Oregon
Nate Condon, Wausau West
Jefferson Dahl, Eau Claire Memorial
Chase Drake, Mosinee
Cody Lettau, Fond du Lac
Tim Smith, Superior
Tyler Sorensen, Madison Edgewood
Charlie Strauss, Northland Pines

This was the list of potential candidates I came up with for the award back on November 29, 2007. It turns out I had 75% of the finalists on my list, but missed Drake and Strauss:

F-Jefferson Dahl-Eau Claire Memorial
F-Nate Condon-Wausau West
F-Cody Lettau-Fond du Lac
D-Tim Smith-Superior
D-Ted Behrend-Oregon
G-Brady Sand-Eau Claire Memorial
D-Brady Keegan-Eau Claire Memorial
D-David Donellan-Eau Claire Memorial
F-Casey Kirley-Hayward
F-Trent Frey-River Falls
D-Tyler Sorenson-Edgewood
D-Ryan Tess Wanat-Fond du Lac

Links to Justin Schultz Videos

2008-02-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

Here are the links to the other Justin Schultz videos I found:

Schultz 1

Schultz 2

Schultz 3

New UW recruit Justin Schultz

2008-02-07T22:09:00.001-06:00

I found a bunch of clips of new UW recruit Justin Schultz. This is the only one that shows his skating ability.

This clip, and the other clips that I found, all show that Schultz seems to prefer his wrist shot which is quick, hard and accurate.

I'll provide links to the other videos in another post.

Goin' to Houghton Link-o-Rama

2008-02-07T11:08:00.000-06:00

I'm goin' up to Houghton to watch my two alma maters face off during Winter Carnival, but don't worry, you know I'll be wearing Cardinal and White. Before I go, I thought I'd better do a little linkorama regarding this weekend's series, recent recruiting news, and some miscellaneous items that I have been delinquent in posting.

CHN has the Tale of the Tape, Todd writes about the Badgers' road strategy, and the Badger Herald and the Daily Cardinal both write about the Badgers moving on from last weekend's split. No TV this weekend, of course; radio coverage only. I'd expect Todd will have game-night updates in his blog, and Paul Capobianco will also be blogging live on uwbadgers.com.

According to Todd's blog, Justin Schultz, the Badgers most recent recruit, loved everything about his visit to Madison. Baggot also has more in today's WSJ.

Todd also had some recruiting and alumni updates in his blog yesterday. Badger recruit Patrick Wiercioch has been removed from IR, Badger alum Joe Piskula has returned to the lineup for Manchester after being injured for a month and a half (so that's why he wasn't playing -- I had wondered but hadn't looked very hard), and Badger alum Matt Hussey has left the Lake Erie Monsters. Todd also has updated stats for Badger recruits and Badger alumni.

The Badger Women travel to Duluth this weekend, and uwbadgers.com takes a look at the rivalry between the Badgers and the Bulldogs.

Badger freshman Hilary Knight had a 5-point weekend, including a hat-trick, and she was rewarded for her efforts by being named WCHA Rookie of the Week. And in case you missed it (DPlaya posted it the other day), the Daily Cardinal had a nice article about Hilary.

I've been delinquent in posting these, but the Badger Herald has had some nice articles recently about a number of the Badger Women: Mikka Nordby, Jinelle Zaugg, the freshmen defensemen, and Erika Lawler. (The last article is a few months old, but I couldn't remember if I had posted it previously.)

Also, before last weekend's series, Todd Milewski had a blog entry on the Badger women, but I neglected to mention it here at the time. I hope we'll continue to see coverage of the Badger Women in Todd's blog!

Figuring out this recruiting mess

2008-02-06T23:39:00.000-06:00

Well, there have been a whirlwind of recruits committing to Wisconsin lately so I thought I would do my best to try and put together some sort guess as to when each recruit will be entering school. To do this, I first had to take a guess at when the current players will be leaving. This is based strictly off my own opinions, not the opinions of others. Here is a table I put together.

Another One Bites the Dust...

2008-02-06T21:32:00.000-06:00

Another one bites the dust...BCHL recruiting targets of the Wisconsin Badgers just keep rolling in with verbals over the past two weeks. First it was defenseman Patrick Wiercioch who formerly played in the BCHL and is now with Omaha in the USHL. Then forward Derek Lee of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks joined the fold a few days ago. Now word is out that defenseman Justin Schultz from Westside in the BCHL has committed to the Badgers and will join the team in 2009.

Schultz is ranked #56 on the NHL Central Scouting Service mid-term rankings of north american skaters for the 2008 entry draft, while Wiercioch is #119.

Snowy Wednesday News & Notes

2008-02-06T06:03:00.000-06:00

The Baraboo News Republic recounts Baraboo/Reedsburg's OT win over Pacelli.

The Badger Women's Freshmen defenders are stepping up in a big way. Speaking of Freshmen on the Women's team, forward Hillary Knight has been clutch.

The Toronto Sun has another article on Wayne Gretzky's influence on Robbie Earl.

The Fond du Lac boys defeated Wisconsin Rapids in overtime by a score of 4-3.

Monday Mania Linkorama

2008-02-05T21:52:00.000-06:00

The Derek Lee articles are flowing today including pieces from the Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal.

Superior native Mike Sislo, who played a couple of years with the Green Bay Gamblers, has played in every game this season for the University of New Hampshire. After 24 games, he just notched his first goal.

The Badgers' Ben Street is the nation's leading scorer at even strength.

Wayne Gretzky gets some of the credit for helping Robbie Earl find his passion for hockey as a child.

Wisconsin native Sam Zabkowicz was named Defensive Player of the Week in the USHL.

Hockey's Future indicates Wisconsin native Derrick LaPoint, who is a defenseman for North Dakota, is currently out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury.

High School Sectional Brackets Set

2008-02-04T23:37:00.000-06:00

The Sectional brackets are set for the WIAA State Hockey Tournament for both boys and girls.

To view the boys brackets, click here: Tournament Series Bracket & Results

To view the girls brackets, click here: Tournament Bracket & Results

Badgers Nab Lee from BCHL; Still After Schultz

2008-02-04T21:47:00.000-06:00

Andy Baggot indicates that forward Derek Lee from Salmon Arm of the BCHL has given a verbal commitment to play for the Badgers, probably beginning in the 2009 season. From what I've read Lee was also considering Michigan, Boston University and New Hampshire.

The Badgers are still pursuing defenseman Justin Schultz of Westside in the BCHL who has an estimated 20 scholarship offers from NCAA schools. Schultz was ranked #56 in the recent NHL Central Scouting North American mid-term rankings.

Here's a little more on Lee from Todd Milewski.

Monday Morning Notes

2008-02-04T05:39:00.000-06:00

The Wisconsin Women's Hockey Team swept North Dakota 6-1 & 5-2 to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games.

The Badger Men split with Minnesota Duluth on the weekend, winning by a score of 3-1 on Friday and suffering a loss in overtime by the score of 2-1 on Saturday.

The Antigo boys beat Rhinelander 5-1.

Seventh ranked Appleton United downed sixth ranked Fond du Lac 5-2 to claim the Badgerland Conference title. As a result of the win, Appleton United is the top seed in their Sectional.

Hockey's Future has a piece on the Red Wings' NCAA prospects including UW defenseman Brendan Smith. They accurately state that decision making and holding onto the puck too long are the things Smith needs to correct. They also noted that he is now back to exercising following his injury.

Saturday in the USHL

2008-02-02T21:50:00.000-06:00

Over the past two to three weeks, I've noticed that 3 UW recruits have really picked up their games a notch. Matt Thurber for Omaha (4 goals and 3 assists in last 4 games) and Chris Hickey (4 goals and 2 assists in last 5 games) for Tri-City have really been racking up offensive points, while Ryan Little's +/- has been great over that same time period (even in last 6 regular season games & +3 at USHL All-Star Game), even though the Gamblers have lost five of those last 6 games.

Ohio doubled up Cedar Rapids 6-3. Justin Cseter finished +2 for Ohio.

Sioux Falls took out Sioux City 5-3. Sam Zabkowicz had two assists and finished +1 for Sioux Falls, while teammate Jake Drewiske had an assist and finished even and Eric Springer finished +1.

Omaha crushed Des Moines 6-2. Matt Thurber was named Second Star of the Game. He scored two goals, had an assist and fought Andrew Panzarella. One of his goals was shorthanded, which is his sixth this year and leads the league (he has twice as many as the next players). Jake Hauswirth was -1 for Omaha and Seth Soley was even. UW recruit Patrick Wiercioch still has not returned to the lineup.

The Gamblers did the unthinkable and won a game, defeating Tri-City 4-3. Kyle Ensign had an assist and was -1 for Green Bay while teammate Ryan Little finished +1. UW recruit Aaron Crandall was not in net for Green Bay. UW recruit Chris Hickey had a goal and an assist for Tri-City and finished even.

Lincoln handled Waterloo 5-3. Taylor Kuypers, Ross Henry and Travis Erstad all finished even for Lincoln. For Waterloo, Brett Olson had two assists and was even, Blake Kessel had an assist and was -1, Brock Monpetit was +1 and both Keegan Meuer and Craig Smith were even. Scott Pavelski did not play in the game.

Indiana and Chicago played to a one all tie. For Chicago, Aaron Scmit was -1 while Brent Gwidt was not active for Indiana.

Robbie Earl Making NHL Debut Tonight

2008-02-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

Robbie Earl has been called up to the Toronto Maple Leafs roster for tonight's game against Ottawa. It will be Earl's first NHL game.

Friday in the USHL

2008-02-02T11:07:00.000-06:00

Indiana edged Chicago 2-1. Aaron Schmit was +1 for Chicago, while Brent Gwidt was not active for Indiana.

Justin Cseter was named First Star of the Game as Ohio slipped past Cedar Rapids 4-3. Cseter had a goal and an assist and finished +1 for Ohio.

Sioux Falls blanked Des Moines 3-0. Sam Zabkowicz had an assist and finished +1 for Sioux Falls, while teammates Eric Springer and Jake Drewiske finished even.

Tri-City got the best of Green Bay by the score of 3-2. UW recruit Chris Hickey scored a goal for Tri-City. UW recruit and Gambler goaltender Aaron Crandall was named Third Star of the Game stopping 29 of 32 shots. Fellow teammate and UW recruit Ryan Little was even for the game, while Wisconsinite Kyle Ensign was -2.

In another tight contest, Omaha narrowly beat Lincoln 2-1. For Omaha, Matt Thurber, Seth Soley and Jake Hauswirth all had an assist and finished +1. UW recruit Patrick Wiercioch still has not returned to the lineup for Omaha. For Lincoln, Ross Henry was -1 and Travis Erstad was even. Taylor Kuypers did not play in the game for Lincoln.

Sioux City downed Waterloo 4-1. Brock Montpetit had the lone goal for Waterloo but finished -1. Teammates Blake Kessel, Keegan Meuer and Craig Smith were also -1, while Brett Olson was -2 and Scott Pavelski was even.

Jake Hauswirth Article

2008-02-02T07:49:00.000-06:00

The Omaha World Herald has a feature on Jake Hauswirth from Merrill, Wisconsin. Hauswirth is a forward for Omaha in the USHL and has committed to Michigan Tech for next season.

High School Hockey Linkorama

2008-02-02T07:15:00.000-06:00

The Wausau Daily Herald has a nice feature on Mosinee High School and Team Wisconsin Major defenseman Chase Drake. Drake was recently ranked #123 among North American hockey players by the NHL Central Scouting Service mid-term rankings for the 2008 entry draft.

Wausau West defeated Wisconsin Rapids 7-2 to claim the Wisconsin Valley Conference Championship.

Stevens Point snuck past Wausau East 1-0 on Senior Night.

The Holmen Courier recaps the Holmen Coop's victory over conference foe La Crescent, MN.

After an appeal, the WIAA decides that Janesville athletes, including hockey players, did not violate WIAA rules in 2007. The result is that the Bluebird hockey team does not have to forfeit games, and is now in first place in conference rather than second.

Honorable Mention Stoughton blasted previously unbeaten #2 Madison Edgewood by the score of 6-0.

Near the bottom of this piece in the Appleton Post Crescent it shows the #10 Appleton United girls hockey team got a big win over #6 Milwaukee North Shore. The win also has implications for Sectional seeding as both teams were fighting to be the second seed behind Fondy/Waupun.

Two Badger Women Claim WCHA Weekly Awards

2008-01-30T22:28:00.000-06:00

UW Women's forward Jinelle Zaugg was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after notching 3 goals and an assist on the weekend against St. Cloud. For the second straight week, goaltender Jesse Vetter claimed WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors stopping all but one of the 43 shots she faced this past weekend.

High School Games to be Rescheduled Due to Weather

2008-01-30T06:55:00.000-06:00

The nasty weather last night caused plenty of high school hockey games to be rescheduled at later dates.

Monday Night Linkorama

2008-01-29T22:24:00.000-06:00

*Freshman forward Patrick Johnson was named WCHA Rookie of the Week.

*The Hockey News lists Wisconsin defensive recruit Jake Gardiner on their Hotlist this week. The list is for players who are "taking it to the next level".

USHL All-Star Game

2008-01-29T22:17:00.000-06:00

Team East defeated Team West 6-5 in a shootout to claim victory in the USHL All-Star Game. Wisconsinites Eric Springer and Ross Henry both played defense for Team West. Springer ended the game +3 while Henry was even.

Team East had 4 Wisconsinites on the roster including forwards Brock Montpetit and Brett Olson, as well as defensemen Ryan Little and Blake Kessel. Montpetit scored the first goal of the game and finished -1, while Kessel had the second goal of the game and finished even. Olson finished -2 while Little was +3.

Brett Olson was one of 2 players to score for Team East in the shootout, helping them claim the victory.

Here's a link to the story on the game from the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Note: Edited Wednesday, January 30th at 6 AM due to the scoresheet being altered since the original post was written.

Eric Springer Profile

2008-01-29T12:47:00.000-06:00

The Green Bay Press Gazette has a nice story on Wisconsin native and Sioux Falls Stampede defenseman Eric Springer today.

Monday's Hockey Happenings

2008-01-28T12:21:00.000-06:00

*Here's another article and blog post about defenseman Patrick Wiercioch's commitment to Wisconsin for 2008 or 2009.

*The Green Bay Press Gazette spoke with UW recruit Ryan Little about the USHL All-Star Game which will take place Tuesday.

Badger Update

2008-01-27T22:12:00.000-06:00

The Badger Men secured a 3-1 victory Friday and came from behind for a 2-2 tie on Saturday to earn 3 of 4 points available on the weekend. I was able to catch most of both games via television and thought the team looked pretty good this weekend. Friday the Badgers dominated the game physically and they certainly did not back down Saturday when the Gophers came out and played about as well as they can play, according to Don Lucia. I think the forward lines may finally be settled. The first two lines have the ability to put the puck in the net, while the third and fourth line will notch a goal here and there. It was nice to see offensive contributions coming from a lot of different players and different lines on the weekend, including the defensemen.

News of defenseman Patrick Wiercioch's verbal is great news for the Badgers. Landing Derek Lee for next season would also be an even bigger boost as UW has had far more trouble landing elite forwards than defensemen. That being said, I think the group coming in at forward over the next few years should help the offense continue to improve. It won't take the offense to elite status, but I think it will keep the offense on an "upward trajectory".

The Badger Women had a great weekend defeating St. Cloud 4-1 on Friday, 4-0 on Saturday and they set a new NCAA Women's Hockey attendance record with 5,377 fans in attendance.

Saturday in the USHL

2008-01-27T21:38:00.000-06:00

Indiana squeaked past Des Moines in overtime 4-3. Brent Gwidt finished -1 for Indiana.

Sioux City handled Tri City 5-2. UW recruit Chris Hickey has been finishing better offensively of late, and notched a goal in this game. He finished -1 for the game.

Ohio held off Cedar Rapids 4-3 after having a 4-1 lead. Justin Cseter was even for Ohio and had an assist.

Waterloo downed Lincoln 4-3. Brett Olson from Waterloo was named First Star of the Game. He had a goal and finished even. Craig Smith had an assist as did Blake Kessel for Waterloo. Smith was even on the game and Kessel was +1. Brock Montpetit and Scott Pavelski both finished even for Waterloo, while Keegan Meuer was not active. For Lincoln, Taylor Kuypers was not active, and both Travis Erstad and Ross Henry finished even.

Omaha got the best of Sioux Falls 3-1. Matt Thurber had a goal and was +1 for Omaha, while Seth Soley was -1 and Jake Hauswirth finished even. For Sioux Falls, Sam Zabkowicz had an assist and was +1, Eric Springer was even and Jake Drewiske was -1.

Chicago edged Green Bay 4-3. Aaron Schmit had a goal and was +1 for Chicago. For Green Bay both Ryan Little and Kyle Ensign were -2. Aaron Crandall was not in net for Green Bay.

Wiercioch Commits

2008-01-27T21:06:00.000-06:00

Per Milewski and Baggot, defenseman Patrick Wiercioch has verbally committed to Wisconsin and will don the Cardinal and White in either '08 or '09. Nice!

Friday in the USHL

2008-01-26T07:28:00.000-06:00

Indiana edged Des Moines in a shootout 5-4. Brent Gwidt had an assist and finished +1 for Indiana.

Lincoln claimed a 4-1 victory over Ohio. Travis Erstad, Ross Henry and Taylor Kuypers were all even for the Stars in the game. Justin Cseter finished even for Ohio.

Wisconsinite and UW recruit Matt Thurber was named First Star of the Game as Omaha took out Waterloo 3-1. Thurber had a goal and an assist and finished +1. Teammates Seth Soley and Jake Hauswirth also finished +1. For Waterloo, Wisconsinite and UW recruit Brock Montpetit had an assist and finished +1. Craig Smith and Brett Olson finished even, Keegan Meuer was -1, and Blake Kessel was a team-worst -3 for Waterloo. Scott Pavelski was not in the lineup for Waterloo.

Tri-City defeated Sioux Falls 3-2 in overtime. Wisconsin recruit Chris Hickey had a goal for Tri-City and was named Third Star of the Game. For Sioux Falls, Eric Springer, Sam Zabkowicz and Jake Drewiske all finished even.

Cedar Rapids handled Sioux City 4-1. UW recruit Ryan Little was even for Green Bay, while fellow UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 28 shots in the loss. Kyle Ensign was -1. Aaron Schmit was not in the lineup for Chicago.

Green Bay continued it's tailspin as Chicago blanked the Gamblers 4-0. UW recruit Ryan Little was even on the night, while fellow UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 28 shots in the loss. Kyle Ensign was -1 for Green Bay. Aaron Schmit was not in the lineup for Chicago.

Catchin' Up Linkorama

2008-01-24T21:08:00.001-06:00

Will he stay or will he go? Maybe Terry Frei has the answer to this question about Kyle Turris. Or could it be that Andy Baggot does?

The Janesville Gazette has a bunch of stories on the Bluebirds boys hockey team. Despite some trouble for rules violations at the beginning of the season, they're undefeated. Unfortunately, another rules violation has recently reared it's head.

I happened upon a nice article on former Badger Mike Richter. The piece focuses on the relationship between Richter and Brian Leetch.

Here's a great article from the San Jose Mercury News. It starts out, "Although the Chicago Badgers outscored Joe Pavelski 2-1, the San Jose center got more help and ended up with bragging rights over his Wisconsin college buddies."

Michael Davies was named the WCHA's Offensive Player of the Week.

Western College Hockey is reporting that UW forward recruit Derek Stepan will be asked by USA Hockey to join he USNTDP U-17's for the Vlad Dzurilla Four Nations tournament in Slovakia

Monday Linkorama

2008-01-21T22:07:00.000-06:00

*Chase Drake, a Senior Defenseman for Mosinee, was added last week to the Green Bay Gambler's active roster but has not yet played a game for them.

*UW forward Blake Geoffrion will participate in the CSTV chat tomorrow at noon. You can submit your questions and follow along here.

*Hockey's Future discusses the Carolina Hurricanes prospects playing in the NCAA's including Jamie McBain. McBain is currently fifth on their prospects list, and the top defenseman on the list.

*Hockey's Future also has an extremely long and thorough analysis of UW defenseman Cody Goloubef.

*In the latest rankings, the UW Men moved up from #17 to #16. The UW Women remain ranked #5. In the Division III Men's poll, St. Norbert remains #1, River Falls moved up from fifth to fourth and Stout dropped one spot to #10. In the Division III Women's poll, Stevens Point remains #3.

*The Superior Daily Telegram has some coverage of the UW-Superior Women's weekend.

*The Waukesha Freeman has a blurb about Arrowhead defeating Homestead (scroll down a bit).

*The Beloit Daily News has a piece on Beloit Memorial's victory over Madison LaFollette/East.

*Cedar Creek, which is near Wausau, is planning a 4,000 seat ice arena with the intent of having a USHL franchise as a tenant. Thanks to Ryan at the USHL Blog for the "head's up" on this.

Bits and Blurbs

2008-01-20T23:57:00.000-06:00

The Badger men narrowly defeated Alaska Anchorage Friday by a score of 2-1 and had to settle for a come from behind 4-4 tie on Saturday.

Andy Baggot writes that Red Line Report has UW's 2008-2009 recruiting class ranked #5. Having a class ranked #5 is great, but I don't even think the coaches know which recruits will step foot on campus next year, besides Matt Thurber and Ryan Little, as well as transfer Tom Bardis.

Terry Frei from the Denver Post had a chat with Kyle Turris last weekend, as well as Coyotes general manager Don Maloney. Frei's impression of how long Turris will be at UW might surprise you....he believes Turris will stay for his Sophomore season.

The Badger women completed their sweep of Ohio State with a 4-1 victory.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald has a piece on former UW Assistant Troy Ward. Luke Strand, a former coach for the Green Bay Gamblers and the Head Coach at UW-Eau Claire is also mentioned in the article as he is on the Houston Aeros staff with Ward.

The #3 ranked UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team won both Friday and Saturday over UW Eau Claire to remain unbeaten this season at 13-0-1. Their 15 game unbeaten streak is currently the longest in all of college hockey.

I stumbled onto the website for Bela Hockey about 3-4 weeks ago and have been meaning to mention it. They claim to be the first hockey brand just for girls, and the company is owned and operated by a couple of hockey moms (Anna Cloutier & Justine Carlisle) as well as Cammi Granato.

Travis Erstad vs. Rody Selk

2008-01-20T23:53:00.001-06:00

I guess Erstad had so much fun fighting Ryan Peltoma on January 5th he decided to square off against Rody Selk 10 days later. Erstad is the player whose jersey gets pulled up during the fight.

USHL USA 1992 & 1993 Draft Lists Released

2008-01-19T11:07:00.000-06:00

The USHL has released their 1992 & 1993 draft lists. Here's the Wisconsin players that made the lists:

USA 1992's

Shayne McLaughlin RW Eau Claire Memorial High & Team Wisconsin Minor
Tony Kujava G Green Bay Gamblers U18
CJ Eick LW Green Bay Gamblers U18
Tyler Menucci LD Green Bay Gamblers U18
Ryan Belonger RW Green Bay Gamblers U18
Nolan Kirley RD Hayward High & Team Wisconsin Minor
Danny Bartkowiak RC Madison Capitols U16
Tyler Jacobson RD Madison Capitols U16
Kyle Komplin LW Madison Capitols U16
Matt Lennon LW Madison Capitols U16
Gage Maurer LC Madison Edgewood
Dean Shaughn LD Madison Memorial High & WHSEL Region 4
Allen Garrett LW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Lawrence Cornellier RW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Jose Delgadillo RD Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Jared Rabey LW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Kamen Klasinski LD Stevens Point High
Chris Bishop RD Superior High
David Chapin G Waukesha Catholic Memorial High & Team Wisconsin Minor
*Max Gardiner LW Minnetonka High

*Max Gardiner is the brother of Jake Gardiner, who is a Badger recruit. He plays for Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, MN

USA 1993's

Nate Bubacy RD Chicago Young Americans U14
Dylan Cleerman D Green Bay High
Evan Janssen C Green Bay High
Garrett Patrick RF Hudson High
Tyler Platz G Madison Capitols U16
Alex Racino LW Madison Capitols U14
Joseph Fiala LD Verona High
Trevor Morbeck RW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals
Taylor Fleming RD Wisconsin Fire
Derek Frawley RC Wisconsin Fire
Matt Kroska RF Wisconsin Fire
Mike Reilly RF Wisconsin Fire
Eric Schurhamer F Wisconsin Fire
Jack Storo LW Wisconsin Fire

Starting the Weekend Right Linkorama

2008-01-18T21:39:00.000-06:00

#5 ranked Onalaska boys crushed LaCrescent, Minnesota 10-0.

Former UW goaltender Brian Elliott continues to improve at Binghamton.

Honorable Mention Arrowhead boys defeated #8 Appleton United 4-3.

#7 Wausau West boys stay perfect in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with a 3-1 victory at Stevens Point.

Senior UW wing Matt Ford believes hard work will get him over the scoring hump.

Todd Milewski had a few musings today in his blog.

In a big in-state college Division III men's matchup this weekend, #5 UW-River Falls travels to #9 UW-Stout.

The Badger Women claimed a win tonight by a score of 3-2 over Ohio State. It's kind of strange to think both the Badger men & women play tonight and yet the women are done with their game over an hour before the men start.

High School Hockey Game Stories Linkorama

2008-01-17T22:05:00.001-06:00

St. Croix Valley Fusion girls downed Chippewa Falls 4-3.

Onalaska girls split a pair of games defeating South Central Freeze and losing to Menomonie.

River Falls boys defeated both Eau Claire North and Chippewa Falls.

The DC Everest boys edged Stevens Point.

Appleton United shut out Beaver Dam.

UW's Protest Over Denver Game Denied

2008-01-17T21:51:00.000-06:00

The WCHA has denied Wisconsin's protest over the Friday night Denver game dispute.

Cody Strang out for Season

2008-01-17T12:47:00.000-06:00

A reader was nice enough to let Hockey in Wisconsin know that undefeated and #2 ranked Madison Edgewood has lost their leading scorer for the season. Cody Strang apparently suffered a broken leg in their game against Arrowhead.

Girl Power

2008-01-17T12:24:00.000-06:00

Alright, so this is pretty late, but congratulations to Team USA U18 which claimed a 5-2 victory over Team Canada in the championship game of the inaugural IIHF World Womens U18 Championship this past weekend.

Many players with ties to Wisconsin competed in the event. Wisconsinites Brianna Decker, who is a Junior at Shattuck St. Mary's and Sophomore Brianna Kessel who also plays at Shattuck played for Team USA. Several Wisconsin recruits were also involved including Brooke Ammerman for Team USA and Brittany Haverstock and Caroline Prevost for Team Canada.

Amanda Kessel lead Team USA and finished tied for third in scoring for the tournament, with 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points and was +10. Brooke Ammerman tied for fifth in scoring with 6 goals and 4 assists for 10 points and was +8. Carolyne Prevost had 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points which was good for an eight place tie. She was also +8 for the tournament. Brianna Decker was tied for 14th in scoring with 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points and was +9. Brittany Haverstock is the only defenseman of this group, and she finished +10 with 2 assists for the tournament. Prevost, Ammerman and Decker all had a goal and an assist in the Championship Game, while Kessel scored a goal. Brooke Ammerman was named Player of the Game in the Championship Game as well.

I've mentioned several times that both Decker and Kessel are must get recruits for the UW Women's team, and they continue to display why.

Here's the link to the tournament website. The individual pages for scoring leaders and game results don't have their own URL (they're Adobe documents) so if you want to peruse them you'll have to find the proper link of the tournament's website.

Badger Men's Hockey Update

2008-01-15T22:32:00.001-06:00

*Fan voting for the Hobey Baker is now open at hobeybaker.com. You can vote for Jamie McBain, Kyle Turris or Ben Street from the Badgers.

*Former Badger Brian Elliott is touted as the goaltender of the future for the Ottawa Senators in the latest Senators AHL prospects update on Hockey's Future.

*Todd Milewski reports that Brendan Smith's back injury will prevent him from traveling to Alaska for this weekend's series against Alaska Anchorage.

Here are the lines for this weekend, per Milewski:

Josh Engel-Ben Street-Matthew Ford
Blake Geoffrion-Kyle Turris-Patrick Johnson
Michael Davies-Aaron Bendickson-Podge Turnbull
John Mitchell-Sean Dolan-Ben Grotting

Davis Drewiske-Kyle Klubertanz
Ryan McDonagh-Jamie McBain
Craig Johnson-Cody Goloubef

Shane Connelly
Scott Gudmandson

Tom Gorowsky and Andy Bohmbach are also making the trip.

Tuesday Linkorama

2008-01-15T13:46:00.001-06:00

The Badger Men's hockey team is protesting their Friday night loss to Denver. The article also mentions that Brendan Smith is having some back trouble and missed practice Monday in addition to not having played on Saturday.

Here's a story on Wisconsin Rapids defeating Wausau East.

This short piece is on Wausau West's shutout of Marshfield.

USA Hockey has an article on Milwaukee's Phoenix Force Program.

Weekend USHL Highlights

2008-01-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

Here's the highlights for UW recruits and Wisconsin players in the USHL:

*Wisconsinite & UW recruit Matt Thurber scored a shorthanded goal in both Friday and Saturday's games. On the season, he has 8 goals. Of the 8 total goals, 5 have been short-handed.

*UW recruit Chris Hickey had two goals Friday night against Chicago in a 5-4 shootout win. Hickey was named Second Star of the Game. Hickey also drew a 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Saturday.

*UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 27 shots Friday but the Gamblers lost 3-1 to Cedar Rapids.

*Wisconsinite Eric Springer had 18 penalty minutes Saturday as Sioux Falls dropped a 5-2 game to Ohio. Making it even more amazing is that none of the penalty minutes were for fighting.

*Wisconsinite and UW recruit Craig Smith has been pretty quiet offensively this season, but notched a goal Saturday against Indiana.

Feature on Connor McBride

2008-01-14T20:38:00.001-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a feature yesterday on Arrowhead forward Connor McBride.

2010 Recruit Chooses UND Over Wisconsin

2008-01-14T18:28:00.000-06:00

Garrett Clarke, a 2010 "offensive" defenseman who currently plays for Russell Stover, has chosen UND out of a field of 13 Division 1 programs. He had apparently narrowed his field of suitors down to North Dakota and Wisconsin prior to making his final decision.

Jake Gardiner Piece & Video

2008-01-13T22:08:00.000-06:00

WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul recently did a piece on UW recruit Jake Gardiner, who plays for Minnetonka. The video can be seen here.

Rumblings...

2008-01-13T14:54:00.000-06:00

I hear Junior forward Sean Little from Fond du Lac has joined the Madison Capitols, which will mean he cannot return to the Cardinals this season. Little had been leading the state in scoring prior to his departure.

Badgers Split

2008-01-13T14:37:00.000-06:00

The Badger Men split with Denver this weekend. Friday night's game was a complete fiasco that seems should have gone into overtime due to a incorrect call, AND an incorrect video replay interpretation. Denver won 3-2. Todd Milewski actually has four blog posts about it...1....2...3...4.

UW came out with a vengeance last night and put a touchdown up on the scoreboard complete with extra point, winning 7-2.

Erstad Vs. Peltoma

2008-01-09T22:22:00.001-06:00

This clip is former Stevens Point forward and current Lincoln Stars forward Travis Erstad (white jersey) squaring off against the Tri-City Storm's Ryan Peltoma (dark jersey) this past weekend.

NHL Scouting Service Mid-Term Rankings

2008-01-09T12:56:00.000-06:00

The NHL Scouting Service has released their mid-term rankings for North American Skaters, and as the article I linked to yesterday from the Minneapolis Star Tribune suggests, defenseman Jake Gardiner from Minnetonka high school has made a surge up the rankings to #22. Gardiner has committed to play for Wisconsin.

UW defenseman Cody Goloubef is currently ranked at #48. Former Eau Claire Memorial standout Seth Soley, who now plays for Omaha in the USHL is ranked #67. Soley has committed to Michigan Tech. His former linemate on Team Wisconsin Major, Nate Condon from Wausau West is ranked just behind him at #70. Condon has committed to the University of Minnesota. University of Wisconsin recruit Derek Stepan, who currently plays for Shattuck St. Mary's is ranked #72. Fellow UW recruit Tyler Barnes from Burnsville High School is ranked #112.

Canadian defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, who left the BCHL to play for Omaha of the USHL, but has been hurt much of the season is #119. He is a potential UW recruit that was supposed to decide on his college choice this month. The next player on the list was a complete surprise for me. Defenseman Chase Drake of Mosinee, who also played for Team Wisconsin Major, is ranked #123.

Somerset native Brock Montpetit is ranked #154. He is a forward and is currently playing for Waterloo of the USHL after spending last season at Shattuck St. Mary's, and is a University of Wisconsin recruit. Montpetit was named to the USHL All-Star Game yesterday. Rounding out the list is Montpetit's former teammate at Shattuck St. Mary's and future teammate at UW, forward Jordan Murray at #191.

University of Wisconsin recruit Aaron Crandall, who plays for Green Bay in the USHL, is ranked #17 among North American goaltenders.

Wednesday Morning Linkorama

2008-01-09T07:23:00.000-06:00

Here's an article on Appleton's girls goaltender Danielle Dahl, and the Appleton United girls' 3-0 victory over the Central Wisconsin girls.

The Central Wisconsin girls bounced back quickly, defeating Point/Rapids for a second time this season.

The Arizona Republic has a story on former Badger Steve Reinprecht.

Here's a little more info on the USHL All-Star Game and Banquet, which will take place in Green Bay.

Tuesday Linkorama

2008-01-08T22:16:00.000-06:00

*UW defenseman recruit Jake Gardiner's star continues to rise, much like Ryan McDonagh's did last year.

*Wisconsinite Ross Henry is the USHL's Defensive Player of the Week.

*I stumbled onto the bio of Katie Coyne today. She plays for Bowdoin and seems like an impressive player and person. Katie is from Madison.

*I found this article about UW Women's Hockey recruit Brittany Haverstock last week, but just haven't gotten around to posting it.

Six Wisconsinites Make USHL All-Star Rosters

2008-01-08T21:28:00.000-06:00

The USHL All-Star rosters were announced today, with 6 Wisconsinites being named to the squads. Here are the teams, with Wisconsin players in Bold:

East Division All-Stars (Team RBK)

Goaltenders
Brady Hjelle - Cedar Rapids
Matt DiGirolamo - Waterloo

Defense
Matt Tomassoni - Cedar Rapids
Tim Buttery - Chicago
Ryan Little - Green Bay
John Carlson - Indiana
Greg Pateryn - Ohio
Blake Kessel - Waterloo

Forwards
David Boehm - Cedar Rapids
Doug Jones - Cedar Rapids
Tyler Thompson - Cedar Rapids
Drew LeBlanc - Chicago
Brian O'Neill - Chicago
Joe Schiller - Green Bay
John Kemp - Indiana
Greg Squires - Indiana
Paul Carey - Indiana
Nick Larson - Waterloo
Brett Olson - Waterloo
Brock Montpetit - Waterloo

West Division All-Stars (Team CCM)

Goaltenders
Drew Palmisano - Omaha
Josh Robinson - Sioux City

Defense
Austin Handley - Des Moines
Matt Bartkowski - Lincoln
Ross Henry - Lincoln
Chris Hepp - Omaha
Matt Crandell - Sioux City
Eric Springer - Sioux Falls

Forwards
Jared Festler - Lincoln
Jason Gregoire - Lincoln
Barry Almeida - Omaha
Chris Connolly - Omaha
Andrew Conboy - Omaha
Spencer Heichman - Sioux City
Steve Quailer - Sioux City
Alex Tuckerman - Sioux City
Nick Dineen - Sioux Falls
Jake Hansen - Sioux Falls
Jack Connolly - Sioux Falls
Alex Hudson - Tri-City

Playing Big

2008-01-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Wisconsinite JJ Koehler is making his presence felt anyway he can at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, even though he's just 5'6".

Thanks to Ryan at the USHL Blog for the heads up on this article.

Turris Update

2008-01-07T12:50:00.001-06:00

World Junior Championship gold medalist Kyle Turris has apparently made his way back to British Columbia, and plans to join the Badgers for their series in Denver without coming back to Wisconsin first.

It's Official-Gwidt to UNO

2008-01-06T07:40:00.000-06:00

Chris Heisenberg has confirmed that Brent Gwidt from Lakeland High School in Minocqua, who currently plays for the Indiana Ice of the USHL, has committed to the University of Nebraska Omaha. Hockey In Wisconsin had reported this on Friday

Suicide Watch Needed?

2008-01-06T07:25:00.000-06:00

I hope Barry Alvarez will assign someone to keep Mike Eaves, Kevin Patrick and Mark Osiecki away from tall buildings and sharp objects after Saturday night's game. If I was coaching that team I would not have even addressed the team after the game. I would have immediately left to check myself into a Psych Ward so I wouldn't hurt myself or others.

If you missed it, it was just like most other games this season. Chad Rau got a short-handed goal (he's had one in each of 4 games against the Badgers this season) compliments of UW's defense, the forwards couldn't solve the opposing goaltender, and the power play continued to be brutal.

Saturday's Wacky USHL Scores

2008-01-05T22:36:00.000-06:00

There were some blowouts tonight in the USHL, and also some very ugly stat sheets. Here's the specifics:

Sioux City blasted Indiana 7-1. Brent Gwidt did not scratch the scoresheet for Indiana, other than a penalty.

Green Bay was blanked 4-0 by Cedar Rapids. After trading their second-leading scorer for defenseman Kyle Ensign you would have expected the Gamblers to struggle offensively, but at this point their defense does not seem improved. Kyle Ensign was even in the contest, Ryan Little was -1 and Aaron Crandall did not play.

Lincoln smoked Tri-City 7-1. Ross Henry had a goal and was +2, Travis Erstad had a goal and was +1 for Lincoln. Taylor Kuypers was in the lineup for Lincoln. I had noticed the other night they had activated him again, but am not sure if it is temporary or for good this time. Kuypers was even in the game.

Ohio got the best of Waterloo 2-1. Brett Olson had a goal for Waterloo and was-1, while Blake Kessel assisted on the goal and was +1. Wisconsinite and current Junior Blue Jacket Justin Cseter was called for a 5-minute major and 10-minute misconduct for a facemask. This apparently sparked a couple of different fights as 4 players (2 for each team) also got 5 & 10 minute penalties for fighting, including Waterloo's Keegan Meuer. Somehow, Scott Pavelski managed to be called for kneeing at the same time all of this other stuff was going on! Cseter and Meuer both finished even. Craig Smith was -2, while Scott Pavelski and Brock Montpetit both finished even.

Sioux Falls doubled up Omaha 4-2. Seth Soley finished even for Omaha, while teammates Jake Hauswirth and Matt Thurber were both -1. Erick Springer had an assist and was +1 for Sioux Falls. Teammates Jake Drewiske and Sam Zabkowicz both finished even.

Chicago took out Des Moines 3-1. Defenseman Aaron Schmit was +2 for Chicago.

Turris & Team Canada Strike Gold...Team USA Fails to Medal

2008-01-05T22:23:00.000-06:00

Kyle Turris and Team Canada claimed the title of World Junior Champions today in the Czech Republic by defeating Sweden in overtime, by a score of 3-2. Turris had an assist in the game and finished as Canada's leading scorer with 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points.

Blake Geoffrion, Jamie McBain and Team USA failed to medal and finished in fourth place after being defeated by Russia 4-2.

Friday in the USHL

2008-01-04T22:34:00.000-06:00

Indiana edged Sioux City 5-4. Wisconsinite Brent Gwidt finished -1 for Indiana.

Cedar Rapids handled Waterloo 5-3. For Waterloo, Brett Olson had a goal and finished -1, while Blake Kessel had an assist and finished -2. Teammates Keegan Meuer and Craig Smith finished even, Scott Pavelski finished -1 and Brock Montpetit was -3.

Green Bay got spanked 5-1 by Ohio. UW recruit Aaron Crandall let in 5 goals on 17 shots in the loss. Teammate and UW recruit Ryan Little finished -1. Wisconsinite and former Gambler Justin Cseter laughed all the way to the scoresheet with a goal and an assist, as well as a +2 rating for the game. Wisconsinite and new Gambler Kyle Ensign was -2.

Lincoln took care of Omaha 5-2. Ross Henry had an assist and was +2 for Lincoln, while Travis Erstad did not play in the game. For Omaha, Jake Hauswirth was -2, Matt Thurber and Seth Soley both were -1.

Tri-City edged Sioux Falls. Sam Zabkowicz was even for Sioux Falls, while teammate Eric Springer was -2 and teammate Jake Drewiske was -3. UW recruit Chris Hickey did not manage to dent the score sheet for Tri-City.

Chicago doubled up Des Moines 2-1. Wisconsinite and Chicago defenseman Arron Schmit was -2.

Random Topics Linkorama

2008-01-04T21:57:00.000-06:00

*A reader left a message that Wisconsinite forward Brent Gwidt of the Indiana Ice has accepted a scholarship to the University of Nebraska Omaha. I have not yet been able to find any kind of verification of that via Internet, but congratulations to Brent if true.

*Somebody with Blake Geoffrion's hockey pedigree ought to know enough not to wake a sleeping giant. Why poke Canada with a stick when the United States record against them in the World Junior Championship is 5-26-3? Geoffrion decided it was a good idea to "talk some smack" via e-mail to UW teammate Kyle Turris, who is playing with Team Canada, prior to the semi-final game today. The result of the game? Canada again claimed victory over the U.S. by a score of 4-1 with Turris having an assist.

*Colorado College claimed their third victory over the Badgers this season by a score of 2-0 tonight.

*The Badger Women downed Minnesota State 4-1 behind two goals from Emily Kranz, and one each from Kyla Sanders and Erika Lawler.

New Richmond Product Traded to Gamblers

2008-01-03T21:30:00.000-06:00

The Green Bay Gamblers have traded forward and second-leading scorer Phil Ginand to Tri-City for New Richmond native Kyle Ensign, who is a defenseman. Thanks to Ryan from the Unofficial USHL Hockey Blog for the "heads up" on this trade.

Ensign played in only 25 games last season due to injuries, and has played 20 games this season recording a goal and four assists for five points. His +/- is even for the season. Ensign is committed to play for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

DC Everest vs. Wausau West Pictorial

2008-01-02T22:46:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share some pictures of DC Everest vs. Wausau West as they are pretty good shots, even though they are from December 20th. West won the game 3-1.

Thanks to Ricky Bassman for the photos.

U20 World Championships

2008-01-02T22:05:00.000-06:00

Since my last update, both Team USA and Team Canada won their final games in pool play. Team USA defeated Finland 5-3 with Jamie McBain notching an assist. Team Canada rolled over Denmark 4-1 with Kyle Turris finding the back of the net twice.

Team Canada today doubled up Finland 4-2 in the quarterfinal round. Kyle Turris had an assist in the contest.

Team Canada will now face Team USA on Friday in the semi-final round.

Kyle Turris is tied for third in scoring for the tournament with 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points in 5 games. He is also +1 and has won 65.31% of his faceoffs (6th best in the tournament).

Blake Geoffrion has won a whopping 71.43% of his faceoffs, which is third best in the tournament. His +/- is even for the tournament, and he has one assist.

Jamie McBain is +5 for the tournament, tied for the best +/- on Team USA and tied for second for all players in the tournament. He also has one assist for the tournament.

Catchin' Up With the USHL

2008-01-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend there was a ton of USHL action, as well as Monday night. I'm going to cover some highlights from those three days.

Friday night found Blake Kessel flexing his muscles on the power play, scoring two goals and an assist for Waterloo against Lincoln in a 3-2 victory in which Kessel was named First Star of the Game. Brett Olson had a goal and an assist on the power play as well, earning him Second Star of the Game honors. Kessel, Keegan Meuer, Craig Smith and Brock Montpetit finished -1. Brett Olson and Scott Pavelski finished even.

On Saturday, 6'4" Travis Erstad had an assist and a fight against 5'9" Nielsson Arcibal that earned him 15 penalty minutes. Also of interest is that Erstad had the first assist on the first goal, yet was off the ice according to the stat sheet when the goal was scored. I realize that is not impossible, but fairly improbable.

Monday night found Blake Kessel and other Wisconsinites filling the stat sheet during their game against Cedar Rapids which Waterloo won 4-1. Kessel had a goal and two assists, Brett Olson had two goals and Keegan Meuer had an assist. Olson was named First Star of the Game while Kessel was Second Star of the Game.

Badgers at the World Championships

2007-12-30T22:43:00.000-06:00

Team Canada lost their third game to Sweden 4-3. Kyle Turris had an assist in the game. Team Canada is now 2-1. Team USA has moved to 3-0. In game #2 they downed Switzerland 4-2 and in game #3 they got past Russia 3-2. Blake Geoffrion had an assist in the third game. Team USA has sealed a bye into the Semi-Final round, even though they have one game remaining in pool play.

Thursday Linkorama

2007-12-28T14:09:00.000-06:00

Girls Hockey

Kasson-Mantorville, MN over Wausau 3-0

International Falls, MN over Fondy/Waupun 7-3 & this article

Point/Rapids over Marshall, MN 3-2

Bloomington Kennedy, MN over Menomonie 4-2

Fondy/Waupun over New Richmond 3-2 (no link yet...but was given this score for today's game)

Boys Hockey

Superior over Simley, MN 8-0

Fond du Lac over Monona Grove 5-2

Fond du Lac over Antigo 5-3

Eau Claire Memorial over Northland Pines 8-0

Badger Men's Hockey Team

Matt Ford to return article

Kyle Turris article & Turris article #2

Several Wisconsin football players are UW hockey fans

Special Teams work dominates practice

McDonagh has new motivation

Geoffrion Featured in USA Today

2007-12-28T10:32:00.000-06:00

UW's Blake Geoffrion is under the spotlight in today's edition of the USA Today. Geoffrion is having a breakout season offensively for UW, but is known for his defense and penalty killing, which differs greatly from his family's hockey lineage.

Badgers at the World Junior Championships

2007-12-27T19:27:00.000-06:00

Team USA and Team Canada remain undefeated at the 2008 IIHF World Championships. Team USA defeated Kazachstan 5-1 yesterday. Neither Jamie McBain nor Blake Geoffrion figured in the scoring. Team Canada defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 with Kyle Turris held off the score sheet. Today Turris made up for lost time scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over Slovakia.

Badger Showdown Primer

2007-12-25T17:53:00.001-06:00

The Badger Showdown will take over the Kohl Center December 28th and 29th. In the first round, Wisconsin will face Colgate, while Bowling Green and Northeastern will also square off against one another.

Wisconsin's game notes indicate the Badger defensemen lead the nation in points, 3 ahead of Michigan State. Another interesting stat is that the Badgers are tied for second in the nation for goals scored in the third period with 27, showing the overall fitness level of the team is excellent. Three of the Badgers top five scorers are in Slovakia representing their country at the World Junior Championships. Kyle Turris is playing for Team Canada, while Blake Geoffrion and Jamie McBain are representing the United States. The Capital Times has the latest piece on what it means for these young men to represent their country in international play.

Looking at Colgate's (7-7-2; tied for last in the ECAC at 1-3-2) game notes from their last series, the only common opponents between the Raiders and the Badgers are Michigan State (6-3 & 2-1 losses for Colgate; a 4-4 tie for UW) and Robert Morris (4-3 & 5-0 wins for Colgate; 7-2 & 8-2 wins for UW). One of the "little things" the Badgers are going to need to do well is to win faceoffs. Colgate has won more faceoffs than their opponent in every game this season, while the Badgers are without their top two centers for the showdown as they are playing at the World Junior Championship.

Northeastern (7-4-2; Tied for first in Hockey East at 6-3-1) already has their game notes posted for the Badger Showdown and their first round matchup with Northeastern. Northeastern has very balanced scoring and Elliot Olshansky of CSTV is impressed with their goaltender, Brad Thiessen. Northeastern is currently #11 in the national rankings, two spots in front of UW. The only common opponent between the two teams is North Dakota (3-0 loss for Northeastern; 4-0 win & 3-1 loss for UW).

Bowling Green State University (8-6-0; 5-5-0 in the CCHA) returns 20 letterwinners and 78% of their points from last season according to their game notes for the series. The common opponents between UW & BGSU are Notre Dame (4-2 & 2-1 losses for BGSU; 4-1 win for UW) and Michigan (4-2 & 3-2 losses for BGSU; 3-2 loss for UW). Senior forward Derrick Whitmore leads the team in goals with 13, which is more than twice as many as the next leading goalscorer. Junior defenseman Derrick Schmidt is their leading playmaker with eleven assists. Bowling Green has two Freshmen that hail from Wisconsin in David Solway of Green Bay and Patrick Tiesling of Rhinelander.

College Hockey News has a preview of the Badger Showdown, as well as other holiday tournaments around the country.

Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago....the Rodney Dangerfield of High School Hockey?

2007-12-24T07:36:00.001-06:00

Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago is playing the "no respect" card to motivate their players as they have jumped out to a 5-0 start. Bob Gosman has more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Development

2007-12-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has a good column on college hockey and the development of players. In the article, Tom Curvers who is a former Hobey Baker winner and currently Player Personnel Director for the Phoenix Coyotes talks about Jack Skille's decision to leave college hockey.

Kyle Turris Named Athlete of the Year/UW's Recruiting Process

2007-12-22T22:00:00.000-06:00

The Burnaby NOW and The Record have named UW forward Kyle Turris Athlete of the Year.

If you're interested in how UW's recruiting process works, find out here.

Eau Claire Memorial Downs Superior

2007-12-22T21:44:00.000-06:00

#1 Eau Claire Memorial today defended it's position at the top of high school hockey defeating Superior in their own rink by a final score of 6-5. Here's a copy of the scoresheet. Here's a write up from WEAU in Eau Claire. The Superior Telegram indicates the game lived up to it's billing.

USHL Update

2007-12-22T19:20:00.000-06:00

Wisconsin Forwards in the USHL

(+9) Matt Thurber-6 goals, 19 assists for 25 points in 24 games
(+5) Brock Montpetit-5 goals, 8 assists for 13 points in 20 games
(+9) Jake Hauswirth-8 goals and 4 assists for 12 points in 22 games
(+2) Brett Olson-3 goals and 9 assists for 12 points in 12 games
(-12)Travis Erstad-5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 25 games
(+9) Brent Gwidt-7 goals and 4 assists for 11 points in 23 games
(-2) Jacob Drewiske-5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in 23 games
(-2) Justin Cseter-2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points in 22 games
(+2) Seth Soley-4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points in 15 games
(-8) Craig Smith-4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points in 22 games
(-1) Keegan Meuer-1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points in 21 games
(-8) Scott Pavelski-2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points in 22 games

Wisconsin Defenseman in the USHL

(+2) Eric Springer-6 goals, 11 assists 17 points in 23 games
(-8) Blake Kessel-8 goals, 9 assists for 17 points in 22 games
(even) Sam Zabkowicz-2 goals, 13 assists for 15 points in 23 games
(-11) Ryan Little-1 goal, 6 assists for 7 points in 23 games
(-1) Kyle Ensign-1 goal, 4 assists for 5 points in 18 games
(+6) Aaron Schmit-0 goals, 4 assists for 4 points in 19 games
(+1) Ross Henry-0 goals, 1 assist for 1 point in 25 games
(-3) Taylor Kuypers-0 goals, 0 assists for 0 points in 2 games

UW Recruits in the USHL

(+9) Matt Thurber-6 goals, 19 assists for 25 points in 24 games
(+5) Brock Montpetit-5 goals, 8 assists for 13 points in 20 games
(-12) Travis Erstad-5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 25 games
(-10) Chris Hickey-5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in 18 games
(-11) Ryan Little-1 goal, 6 assists for 7 points in 23 games
(-8) Craig Smith-4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points in 22 games
(+2) Tyler Barnes-1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points in 1 game
Aaron Crandall 14 gp, 3.33 gaa and .888 save percentage

Friday Update

2007-12-21T07:02:00.000-06:00

Brian Elliott is making steady improvement as a pro for the Senators.

Here's the press release on the Badger Hockey Showdown.

Newspapers are really slow to get articles out on games. After searching through a lot of papers for articles about games that took place last night, this is all I've been able to uncover so far:

Neenah over Sheboygan 1-0
Fondy over Waupun 4-2

Prep Links

2007-12-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

The Green Bay Press Gazette has an article about the explosive growth of high school hockey in the Green Bay area.

I found some video from the Eau Claire Memorial-Eau Claire North game which Memorial won 7-2. In the game, Senior forward Jefferson Dahl needed one goal to claim the all-time scoring title in Eau Claire Memorial school history from Seth Soley. Dahl proceeded to score 4 goal and 3 assists. #1 Eau Claire Memorial will travel to #2 Superior on Saturday. There is also some video of the Chippewa Falls girls vs. Menomonie at the above link.

Late Night Linkorama

2007-12-19T23:59:00.000-06:00

Both Jamie McBain and Blake Geoffrion have been playing well for Team USA during their exhibition schedule prior to the World Juniors.

USA Hockey is having a holiday camp for 56 of the best female players in the country. This link will take you to the story where there are links for the team rosters the players will be divided up into. The story includes the fact that Hilary Knight is a late addition to the camp while Meghan Duggan is a late subtraction from the camp.

Why does the Canadian press think anyone who plays NCAA hockey gets a full ride? Read this story on UW-stout's Jesse Pischlar and you'll see what I mean. My guess for why it happens is that the Junior teams in Canada put out press releases to that effect, since they want to look good to recruits, but maybe there's another reason someone can offer....

Here's some high school hockey articles on:

Superior Boys vs. Duluth Denfeld
Central Wisconsin Storm vs. Point-Rapids Girls
Wausau West Boys vs. Wisconsin Rapids
Chippewa Falls Girls vs. Menomonie Girls

Tuesday Updates

2007-12-18T22:44:00.000-06:00

Kyle Turris scored twice in Team Canada's first tuneup for the World Juniors (look near the bottom of the piece).

Forward Badger Grace Hutchins has been playing in Russia.

Saturday in the USHL

2007-12-16T07:45:00.000-06:00

Sioux City snuck past Tri-City 3-2. UW recruit Chris Hickey was even while Wisconsinite Kyle Ensign was -1 for Tri-City.

Waterloo edged Indiana in overtime 5-4. For Waterloo, Brett Olson had a goal and was even, earning him Third Star of the Game honors. Craig Smith also scored and was +1 while Keegan Meuer had an assist and was +1 for Waterloo. Waterloo's Blake Kessel had an assist and was even, while Scott Pavelski was -1 and Brock Montpetit was +1. For Indiana, Brent Gwidt was even for the game.

Green Bay blanked Des Moines 2-0. UW goaltender recruit Aaron Crandall stopped all 25 shots he faced and was named First Star of the Game. Gambler teammate Ryan Little was +1.

Sioux Falls outlasted Cedar Rapids 4-3 in overtime. Wisconsinite Sam Zabkowicz had an assist and was even for Sioux Falls, as was Eric Springer. Jake Drewiske was even for Sioux Falls.

Omaha put the smack down on Ohio 7-3. Lancer Matt Thurber was back from his one game fighting suspension and made up for lost time notching a goal and two assists, finishing +2. Teammate and fellow Wisconsinite Jake Hauswirth had a goal and an assist and finished +3. Seth Soley was even for Omaha. For Ohio Justin Cseter finished -1.

Lincoln shut out Chicago 2-0. All the Wisconsin players in the game finished even with no points. They include defenseman Aaron Schmit for Chicago, as well as defenseman Taylor Kuypers (playing on an emergency basis this weekend for Lincoln), defenseman Ross Henry and Forward Travis Erstad.

Think You Rule at Pond Hockey?

2007-12-15T10:43:00.001-06:00

If you think you rule at pond hockey, you should probably sign up for the Third Annual Pond Hockey Championship in Eagle River. I'll even save you the trouble of figuring out how to apply...just click here.

Friday USHL Report

2007-12-15T07:40:00.000-06:00

Omaha edged Indiana 4-3 in overtime. Brent Gwidt had a goal and an assist for Indiana, and finished +1. For Waterloo, Brock Montpetit had a goal and an assist and finished a game high +3. He was also named Second Star of the Game. Blake Kessel had two assists and finished even for Waterloo. Keegan Meuer and Scott Pavelski finished even, while Craig Smith was -1 and Brett Olson was -2 for Waterloo.

Cedar Rapids handled Green Bay 4-1. Ryan Little was even in the game for the Gamblers. His current Gambler teammate and future Badger teammate Aaron Crandall did not play in the game.

Tri-City doubled up Des Moines 4-2. UW recruit Chris Hickey had an assist and finished even while Wisconsinite Kyle Ensign was +1 on the night for Tri-City.

Omaha took out Ohio 5-2. Seth Soley was named First Star of the Game with two goals (one was an empty net) and a +2 in the game for Omaha. Teammate Jake Hauswirth was +1 in the game while Matt Thurber did not play for Omaha. For Ohio, Justin Cseter was -3.

Sioux City defeated Sioux Falls 6-4. Sam Zabkowicz had two assists but finished -1 for Sioux Falls while teammates Eric Springer and Jake Drewiske were even.

Chicago downed Lincoln 6-3. Aaron Schmit had an assist and was +1 for Chicago. For Lincoln, Ross Henry was +1 and Travis Erstad was -1. Lincoln also must have had a need for another defenseman as Taylor Kuypers was active in this game. Unfortunately he did not fare very will finishing -3. Kuypers has been playing with the Madison Capitols. I'll keep an eye out to see whether he remains with Lincoln, or if it was just an emergency situation where they needed another defenseman for a weekend.

Saturday Stuff

2007-12-15T07:26:00.000-06:00

UW recruit Nick Pryor and his United States National Team Development Program teammates got their first victory against a WCHA team in the 11-year history of the program last night defeating Minnesota Duluth 2-1. Tonight the U-18's cross the border into Wisconsin where they will take on UW-Superior.

Adam Burish continues to demonstrate his leadership abilities in Chicago, and Head Coach Denis Savard loves it.

Wisconsinite Ross Henry is a player I have assumed for a while the Badgers are going to recruit. Here's why.

Badger Recruit Mega-Linkorama

2007-12-13T21:17:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd dig up some links on two of the Badger's newer recruits since their Minnesota High School seasons are now underway: Jake Gardiner of Minnetonka and Tyler Barnes of Burnsville.

Jake Gardiner
Jake Gardiner is off to a great start this season with 4 goals and 5 assists in 5 games from his new position as a defenseman. Let's Play Hockey just put out a new article on Jake today.

His goals have often been timely, like notching a goal just 2:30 into the Skippers' game against Cloquet. Other timely goals include the game winner against #7 ranked Duluth East to win 3-2, and a goal in the waning moments of the third period against #2 Duluth Marshall to help Minnetonka to another 3-2 victory.

Tyler Barnes
Tyler Barnes has 6 goals and 5 assists in just 4 games so far this season for the Burnsville Blaze. He and his linemates Jake Hendrickson and Adam Perisic put up 169 points last season and lead the Blaze to their first State Tournament berth last season, so there are pretty high expectations for Tyler to live up to. Of that total, Barnes had 28 goals and 26 assists for 54 points last season leading the team in goals and finishing with the second highest point total.

The Blaze got the season off to an exciting start with a 5-4 overtime victory against Bloomington Jefferson.

As it turns out, the Head Coach at Burnsville played his high school and college hockey in Superior.

Following two wins against Lakeville North and Lakeville South, Barnes and the Blaze lost a 3-2 overtime heart-breaker to #2 Edina giving up a late third period goal and another early in overtime. Since then, the Blaze crushed Apple Valley 8-2 and was shutout 4-0 by Eagan.

Brendan Smith Cut From Team Canada

2007-12-13T21:10:00.001-06:00

Brendan Smith was cut today from Canada's World Junior team, leaving Kyle Turris as the lone Badger representative for Team Canada. Blake Geoffrion and Jamie McBain will be representing Team USA at the event which begins December 26th in the Czech Republic.

More Odds and Ends

2007-12-12T18:40:00.000-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article today about Waukesha CMH junior Jeff Costello. Costello was also featured last week in the Journal Sentinel's Preps Plus video. The latter interview is really nice, so check it out. (Thanks to Timster96 for the links!!) Costello will play for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders next year and has verballed to Notre Dame for 2010.

Potential Badger recruit Patrick Wiercioch recently visited the University of Michigan. He is reportedly considering Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Denver, and New Hampshire. By the way, Wiercioch played last year for the BCJHL's Burnaby Express with current Badger Kyle Turris. (Props to Wojo for the heads-up on the article.)

USA Hockey has a nice article on Badger recruit Nick Pryor. Pryor is a defenseman for the USNTDP and has verballed to Wisconsin for 2009. (I stole this link from Todd Milewski; thanks Todd.)

Todd Milewski has updated stats for Badger alumni and recruits, as well as a brief update on Badgers Kyle Turris and Brendan Smith at Team Canada's WJC evaluation camp. Todd's trying to gauge reader interest in the WJC, so stop by his blog and leave him a note expressing your interest. The more coverage the better, right?

Badger alum and current Chicago Blackhawk Jake Dowell played 3 games on a broken foot (which, he said "kept swelling up and turning different colors") so that his parents could see him play in Chicago. He said, "I knew where they were sitting. As exciting as it was for them, it was twice as exciting for me to have them there."

Oilers blogger extraordinaire Lowetide profiles the Oilers' top prospects and gives some love to Badger alum Tom Gilbert.

And speaking of Tom Gilbert, this video is good for a laugh or two, as Gene Principe visits the house where Gilbert, Andrew Cogliano, and Sam Gagner live.

And finally, for those Badger fans who don't keep up with the rest of the WCHA as well as they'd like, Eric Levine has a nice little summary of the current state of the WCHA.

Oh, and I almost forgot (so much for my previous "finally"), I'd like to say "hi" to Brian and Linda Brandt, who I hear recently stumled upon (and apparently liked!) our humble blog. Their son Andy currently plays for the ECHL's Gwinnett Gladiators, where he has 10 pts (4G, 6A) and a +4 rating. (By the way, Mr. and Mrs. Brandt, if you have any updates or links regarding Andy that you'd like us to post, feel free to send them to me at sixtymin@iwon.com.)

Odds & Ends

2007-12-11T23:15:00.000-06:00

There's a new article out on Superior native and current Waterloo Blackhawk Brett Olson.

Waterloo handled Chicago tonight in the USHL, winning 3-1. For Chicago, Aaron Schmit was -1. For Waterloo, Scott Pavelski had two assists and finished +2 and was voted Third Star of the Game. Blake Kessel had an assist and finished even for Waterloo. Teammates Craig Smith, Brett Olson and Brock Montpetit all finished even while Keegan Meuer was +1.

On Sunday, Tri-City got the best of Ohio 5-2 in the USHL. For Tri-City, Chris Hickey had an assist and finished even, while teammate Kyle Ensign also finished even. Justin Cseter was +1 in the game and drew a 10-minute abuse of officials penalty.

The Admirals are preparing to host the High School Hockey Showdown on December 27th and 28th at the Bradley Center featuring four Milwaukee area high school teams. Homestead, University School, Arrowhead and Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago will all be participating.

The Appleton Post Crescent has an article on Mark Johnson being the Guest Speaker for the USHL All-Star Banquet that will be held in Green Bay in conjunction with the USHL All-Star Game.

The only female (or male for that matter) Vietnamese hockey player I've ever heard of has aspirations to play for UW-Stevens Point.

The Superior Daily Telegram has a piece on both the Superior boys and Superior girls victories over New Richmond this past weekend.

Monday College Hockey Linkorama

2007-12-10T12:02:00.000-06:00

Special teams caused the Badgers to drop their Friday night game 3-1 to Mankato. On Saturday, Mike Eaves shuffled the top three lines and Shane Connelly played pretty well, but the Badgers were only able to salvage a 1-1 tie.

The Badger Men's season so far has been consistenly inconsistent.

The Badger Women needed two late goals to defeat North Dakota Friday 3-2, while able to secure a shutout for the sweep on Saturday by a score of 3-2.

The Badger Women's Mallory Deluce has been named to the Canadian National Women's U-22 Team for the European Air Canada Cup in Germany January 2nd-6th.

The Badger Men fell in the polls today from 10th down to 13th, while the Badger Women remain at #7. In the Division III Men's Poll St. Norbert's is #1 (up from #3), River Falls #6 (down from #4) and Stout is #7 (down from #4). In the Division III Women's Poll Stevens Point is #2 (up from #3) and Superior remains at #9.

Nate Condon Pictorial

2007-12-09T18:52:00.000-06:00

Condon accelerates, shoots, scores and celebrates against Antigo Thursday night.

Thanks to Ricky Bassman for his generosity in sharing these photos. Find Ricky's site here, and the page for the Antigo vs. Wausau West photos here.

Wausau West vs. Antigo Photo Highlights

2007-12-09T18:32:00.000-06:00

Wausau West knocked off Antigo on Thursday night last week 5-3. As you can see there was plenty of physical play along the boards, but the difference in the game was Nate Condon who topped off his hat trick with an empty net goal at the end of the game (pictured) to score 4 of Wausau West's 5 goals.

Photos compliments of Ricky Bassman. Other game photos for this game can be found here.