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.

Boys High School Hockey Team Previews-Honorable Mention & Others

I'm going to put out a series of posts previewing boys high school hockey teams for the 2007-2008 season. I'm beginning today with teams that finished in the "Honorable Mention" category last season as well as any other teams that may have caught my eye during the process of doing research on this season.

I normally compile my own statistics when I put the previews together, but since Power Play from Wisconsin Prep Hockey had already done that part, I used his information as a starting point (thanks Power Play).


Unranked Teams From Last Season

Hayward-I haven't been able to locate a roster from last season to look through all of Hayward's losses to graduation, but their biggest loss was undoubtedly All-State goaltender Al Armour. Returning this season are two high octane forwards in Senior Casey Kirley and Junior Nik Van Vonderen, both of whom were Honorable Mention All-State last season. Also in the fold is Sophomore defenseman Nolan Kirley who is also a member of Team Wisconsin Minor and was selected for the Select 15 National Development Camp this summer.

River Falls-River Falls graduated six Seniors, all of which were forwards. The biggest loss at forward was Sam Pilney who contributed 28 goals and 14 assists for 42 points. Returning for the Wildcats is two-time State Honorable Mention forward and Team Wisconsin Major forward Senior Trent Frey. He'll have help on offense from Junior Levi Johnson who I am told is one of the fastest forwards in the state. Also back for his Senior campaign is goaltender Wes Kusilek who managed a save percentage of 90% last season and a 2.70 goals against average. In addition, Sophomore defenseman Luke Jenkins could make an impact after playing with Team Wisconsin Minor in the pre-season.


Honorable Mention Teams From Last Season

Appleton-Big graduation losses were sustained by Appleton this past offseason with 4 forwards, 5 defenseman and a goaltender having moved on. Remaining is Honorable Mention All-State senior goaltender Josh Lehr, as well as sophomore Matt Paape who is a member of Team Wisconsin Minor.

GF 116 - GA 41

Losing 10 Seniors

(F) Ryan Campbell
(F) Nathan Huntington
(F) Phil Laird
(F) Andy Miller
(D) Tyler Wanke
(D) Tom Parsons
(D) Nick Vanden Heuvel
(D) Mike Klinger
(D) Mike Lindeke
(G) Mike Turner


Waukesha Catholic Memorial-This team may be better than last season after graduating just two players, both of which were forwards. Junior forward Jeff Costello, who was Honorable Mention All-State and is playing for Team Wisconsin Major will be back, as will one of the Team Wisconsin Minor goaltenders, Sophomore David Chapin.

GF 97 - GA 62

Losing 2 Seniors

(F) Andrew Krueger
(F) TJ Waite


Madison Edgewood-This is another team with a small graduating loss, with just one forward and one defenseman to replace. The bigger offseason loss suffered by Edgewood though was losing Junior defenseman Taylor Kuypers to the Madison Capitols. Even so, Junior forward Cody Strang and Senior defenseman Tyler Sorenson both are members of Team Wisconsin Major, with both also having been Honorable Mention All-State last season and will be returning. Add in two Team Wisconsin Minor junior forwards in Patrick McCoshen and Chris Kanak, and Edgewood still has lots of firepower. One can only imagine this team if Jordan George had not left for Russell Stover last season (and is now with Topeka in the NAHL), and Taylor Kuypers had not left for the Capitols this season.

GF 85 - GA 48

Losing 2 Seniors

(F) Matt Kloppenburg
(D) Mark Stemrich


Mosinee-They top the list so far with 11 players having graduated, 8 forwards, one defenseman and a pair of goaltenders. Their graduation losses scored 33% of their goals last season, lead by Honorable Mention All-State forward Brody Zebro with 27. Even so, lots of firepower returns with Honorable Mention All-State Senior forward Kevin Radke returning, along with Honorable Mention All-State senior defenseman Chase Drake. Add in Junior forwards Parker Tomczyk and Ethan Nauman who are members of Team Wisconsin Minor, and you can see there's still some firepower left in Mosinee. The questions will likely be whether or not they can replace all of their losses and have quality depth.

GF 144 - GA 70

Losing 11 Seniors

(F) Brody Zebro: 27g-15a = 42 pts
(F) Vince Hagman: 10g-12a = 22 pts
(F) Jacob Pitt: 8g-10a = 18 pts
(F) Brogan Schantz: 1g-6a = 7 pts
(F) Jacob Stephany: 1g-3a = 4 pts
(F) Brian Dombrowski: 1g-0a = 1 pt
(F) Cale Charneski: 0g-0a - 0 pts
(F) Kyle Koprowski: 0g-0a - 0 pts
(D) Dan Gliniecki: 0g-0a = 0 pts
(G) Jordan McKellips: .897 Sv%
(G) Seth Cramer: .690 Sv%

USHL Futures Draft

Plenty of Wisconsinites were selected tonight in the USHL Futures Draft. The first was defenseman Eric "Moose" Johnson from the Madison Capitols who was selected in the second round, 19th overall by the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. Hockey in Wisconsin was seeing & hearing rumblings early in 2006 of his exceptional play.

Current Elite League leading scorer Nate Condon was selected by the new Fargo franchise with the first pick in the fifth round, 53rd overall. Tyler Barnes, who is rumored to have given a verbal commitment to UW, was selected by the Waterloo Blackhawks 58th overall. UW recruit Jake Gardiner was also selected in the fifth round, 61st overall by the Green Bay Gamblers. Fellow UW recruit Derek Stepan was selected in the 6th round, 68th overall by the Lincoln Stars.

Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Jeff Costello was selected by the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders 83rd overall, in the 7th round. Hockey in Wisconsin reported on how impressed we were with him on the first weekend of the Elite League this season. Fellow Team Wisconsin member defenseman Tim Smith from Superior was selected by Sioux Falls 89th overall in the 8th round. Finally, former Madison Edgewood and Russell Stover Midget Minor forward Jordan George, who is currently playing with Topeka in the NAHL, was selected 92nd by Fargo in the 8th round.

As with last year, there were five Wisconsin players taken in the USHL Futures Draft.

Wisconsinites in USHL Tryout Camps

In the Sioux Falls tryout camp, Jake Drewiske was not present. The Stampede had left him off their protected list. Tedd Falk from Homestead HS also was not present for the Stampede's Camp. I have to wonder if their camp conflicted with his high school graduation.

In the Rough Riders tryout camp, forward AJ Sheehan from the Madison Capitols did not make the All-Star Game at the end of camp.

In the Storm tryout camp, veterans Sean Wiles and Sam Zabkowicz both made the All-Star Game, as did UW recruit Chris Hickey. Jordan George, formerly of Madison Edgewood and currently of the Russell Stover Midget Minors was in camp but did not make the All-Star Game. Kyle Ensign did not participate in camp, likely due to the injury that put him on the shelf most of this past season.

I have already posted about the Gambler's tryout camp, but forgot to mention that one of the goaltenders that made the All-Star Game, Garrett Beckwith, is a potential UW recruit.

Boys High School Hockey Losses via Graduation-Top 15 Teams That Didn't Advance to State

The highest ranking team following the regular season that did not make the State Tournament was Northland Pines. Oddly enough, they were the only team that managed to beat the eventual State Champions, Milwaukee University School. Pines loses a heck of a forward in All-State selection Nic Weight, as well as starting goaltender and Honorable Mention All-State selection Parker Wilkins, and forward Mike Otto who contributed 20-23 for 43 points. Six Seniors total graduated leaving the slack to be picked up by the likes of Peter Nesper who will be a Junior defender for the Eagles, and was an Honorable Mention All-State selection last season.

Eau Claire Memorial finished the regular season ranked number four, but found themselves bounced from the Sectional Final by cross-town rival Eau Claire North. The Old Abes graduate 9 players including All-State Honorable Mention forward Andrew McCabe and starting goaltender Kent Shanley. The good news is with the return of All-State forward Seth Soley as well as forward Jefferson Dahl, there is still lots of firepower returning at forward.

Finishing the regular season ranked sixth was the New Richmond Tigers, who eventually fell to Superior in the Sectional Final. They graduate a whopping 12 players this season, including 4 All-State selections. The best of the graduates include All-State defenseman Kyle Ensign who was a USHL draft pick of Tri-City and has already committed to play Division 1 hockey for the University of Nebraska-Omaha beginning in 2008. Defenseman Brandon Larson and goaltender Matt Knutson were also All-State selections, and forward Nic Sicsik was Honorable Mention All-State.

Madison Edgewood finished the regular season ranked 8th and will graduate only four Seniors. The best of those four were forward Dan Longo and goaltender Tim Mergen who were both All-State Honorable Mention selections. Returning is a large nucleus of players including an incredible 8 Freshman that saw action last season led by Jordan George who recorded a line of 15-30-45 pts.

Ninth in the regular season was Homestead. The Highlanders graduate just 3 Seniors, with the loss of All-State forward Ryan Siehr the toughest to swallow, along with forward Scott Schieble. Key returning players for Homestead next season include Honorable Mention All-State selections Tedd Falk at forward and Chris Rausch at defense, and both goaltenders from last season-John Schroeder and Alex Hemke.

The Thunderbirds of Lakeland ended up tenth in the regular season rankings, but will have to overcome the graduation of nine Seniors. The best of the Senior losses is Brent Gwidt who piled up 41-23-64, was an All-State selection, and was taken early in the USHL draft by Indiana as well as defenseman Cody Litvinoff who was also an All-State selection. Seth Johnson and Josh Abraham are key returning forwards for the T-Birds.

Arrowhead ranked as Honorable Mention at the end of the regular season. They'll look to improve on that finish in 2006-2007 after graduating 6 Seniors. Starting goaltender Alex Koeppen will be a Senior, as will Honorable-Mention All-State forward Alex Niestrom.

Honorable Mention was also the finish for Janesville in the regular season rankings. The Bluebirds graduate eight players including starting goaltender Max Giese who was Honorable Mention All-State as well as forward Michael Jacobson who finished the season with 15-19-34. As if that is not enough to overcome, it is rumored Honorable Mention All-State forward Daniel Olszewski is headed to play for the Madison Capitols. At that point, returning Senior Brad Layton would be the best forward left on the roster, and he recorded a stat line of 19-15-34 last season and wouldn't get nearly as much help next season.

The final team to finish ranked in the regular season and not advance to the State Tournament is the Marquette Hilltoppers, who finished with the rank of Honorable Mention. Nine Seniors depart their roster, headlined by Honorable Mention All-State forward Matt McLaughlin.