Hockey East - The Off Season

[slurpees]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

In other news, Brodie Reid is leaving. We lose without a doubt our most talented freshman. I feel like I just got punched in the gut....

sucks to bu. really, that is a tough loss.

[Chickens@NU]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

sucks to bu. really, that is a tough loss.

As I stated in the NU thread.. 57 of 108 goals scored gone (53%) and 138 of 288 total points gone (48%)... We're screwed on offense.

[Bumbles]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

Reid leaving is really unfortunate. Man, this conference might be worse than the EZAC next year.

[NUMcNeely]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

2011-2012 NU = 2010-2011 UVM, the over under for goals we score next year is 10. Start placing your bets.

[SkinsFan09]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

In other news, Brodie Reid is leaving. We lose without a doubt our most talented freshman. I feel like I just got punched in the gut....

Jamie Oleksiak

[Cat lover]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

What's the best line up you can put together from your teams past/current rosters?

Vermont
Olympian / Stanley Cup Winner

F - Martin St. Louis *****http://www.thehockeynews.com/imgs/dynamique/photos/300/article_30669_2.jpg******


Olympian and Stanley Cup Winner
F - John Leclair *****http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/files/cache/5f9/john-leclair-team-usa-signed-8x10-olympic-photo_5f97acb6aab412b5358600836d69cf48.jpg******



Stanley Cup Champion
F - Patrick Sharp *****http://pauldarrow.com/sports/sports20.jpg******


D - Jamie Sifers *****http://farm3.static.flickr.com
/2697/4440845658_2f9d953860.jpg******



Olympian and almost Stanley Cup Champion
D - Aaron Miller *****http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/2216796727_53eee0268a.jpg******



Olympian / Vezina Winner
G - Tim Thomas *****http://tenderslounge.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/usa-tim-thomas.jpg******

Nice idea for a seperate thread

[snwbrdr]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

I know nothing about any teams incoming Freshman classes except UVM. But I will make a few comments on who I believe will be their impact players in the class. I'm also shocked that the flamers did not blow up the poster that suggested that UVM had far and away the best incoming class in HE this fall.

Forwards.

Girgensons. From Latvia. Played for Green mountain glades at Gutterson when he came over to the states. Seems like a great character kid. Compared to Peter Forsberg by some scounts. Being considered a first rounder by scouts (draft eligible 2012 I beleive). Put up a point per game at Dubuque this season as one of the youngest players in the USHL. Trying to accelerate one year academically to get into UVM early (which we like because while he will be VERY young and have less impact it probably means we get two or three years instead of one of his services). His father is an international businessman and wants him to go the college route for an education (good call).

Reynolds - about 1.5 pooints per game in the AJHL. The league is fine but he is 20 years old (compared to 16 for Girgensons) so he is on the older side end of the age range in that league which obviously helps performance. But he is an offensive force and a finisher - something that UVM needs. He's likely to be a difference maker with his age/maturity.

Colin Markinson and Forgione are both point per game USHL forwards. I don't know a lot about either of them except that they were both part of the "young commitments" that the program has been using.

Anthione was about .75/game this past season. He was heavily recruited by major junior but decided to stick with the college route. He should be very solid. He was also an early commitment.

Mike Montagna was another early commitment and I believe I heard was a prolific scorer as a youngster but his numbers show significant drop off and his arrival has been delayed. I believe he had seerious injury problems in recent years that slowed his development and led to the drop off and delay.

Kyle Mountain - I don't know much at all but around .5 points/game. He probably has difficulty breaking into the lineup originally but probably competitive with some of the 2010 freshmen for ice time.

so - I think the frosh forwards likely to make the biggest impacts are Girgensons, Reynolds, Markinson, and Forgione with the first two being the most likely to really be difference makers. One thing for certain though, with only losing 2 forwards (Stacey and Downing) from the past season - the team will have a LOT more depth at forward. This past seasons third line will be fourth line next season. I think we can also expect significantly more production from Brickley and White this coming season as the depth and an offseason weight program will help their games. Brickley looked better than V. Stalberg did as a freshman IMHO and I suspect we will see strong improvement. White also has upside.

Defense.

As much as I liked Millar as a freshman, Medvec his last three years, and Lawson in the playoffs as a junior, I think this may be addition by subtraction.

The incoming D are simply more mobile.

Pailiotta is ranked #32 in North American skaters in the mid term rankings. he should be a fairly high draft pick (2nd or 3rd round I would guess).

Lukko was drafted last season - although by the Flyers where his father is employed. He should also be an impact Dman.

Doerring was an early commitment and I don't know much about him but it's a cool name for a Dman.

I think UVM is the sleeper this coming season in HE and they get even better the following season if they can replace Madore effectively in the net. They only have 4 seniors this coming season with two being important contributors (Madore and Mackenzie).

Despite the debacle of this past season the future is very encouraging with all this incoming talent.

[GoNU5]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

As I stated in the NU thread.. 57 of 108 goals scored gone (53%) and 138 of 288 total points gone (48%)... We're screwed on offense.

If you look at this year though, we really only returned 41% of our offense with departures and players dropping off in production (J. Daniels). We'll be fine as long as players step up their game and our recruits are as good as they look.

[NUMcNeely]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

Really like the idea of posting info about your team's recruits, here is the scoop on NU's incoming class:

DEFENSEMEN


Ryan Renz 6'2 210: Highly touted recruit, NoDak and Miami were on him, very big, young and talented. A defensive defensemen, he didn't do much offensively in the two teams he played for this year in the BCHL, but he is highly regarded and should be drafted this summer, ranked as one of the top 10 defensemen from western juniors leagues (LINK: http://www.nhl.com/ice/post.htm?id=582 ). Should step right in on our blueline, replacing Hewkin or knocking out Ellement. He is ranked as the 208th best NA skater for this year's draft.

Ben Oskroba 6'5 215: Really tall, really big defenseman who racked up all sorts of penalty minutes in Lincoln this year. Originally the Q was going to bring him in, then we got on him and he decided to join NU. Seems like more of a project, not expecting him to get much playing time, he does have size but doesn't seem to know how to use it effectively given all the time in the sin bin. No draft ranking, not expecting much from him this year.

Garret Haar 6'0 180: Highly regarded defenseman who had a very respectable year with Fargo, coming in this year because of the $ freed up from Jake Newton leaving after 2009-2010. He was listed as one of the USHL's top 10 draft prospects for the coming draft (LINK: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article...pects_for2011/). Arguably our best defensive recruit, him and Renz should step right in and contribute right away. Looking for him to have a year similar to Eibler this year, shaky beginning, then demonstrating solid defensive skills and offensive contributions as he acclimates to HE. One of our best in coming recruits.

FORWARDS

John Gaudreau 5'6 141: The best guy on paper coming in, lit up the USHL second in the league in goals, 6th overall in points, all at the tender age of 17. Line mates with former bu and all world singing sensation vinny saponari, had an incredible year and with Brodie leaving scholarship money open to accelerate John. Many NU fans who were aware of him and the season he had at Dubuque because we were afraid he'd go the major junior route and we'd lose him. He's small and I'm a bit worried he's going to get crunched, but he's super talented super young and very very promising. I'm very anxious to watch him this year and hopefully for a few more after that.

Ludwig Karlsson 6'2 200: Big forward who had an OK year with the Green Bay Gamblers, his size and skill has him on some draft boards late, he will probably fill in our 3rd or 4th line, not too much offensive production but with his size he should find time. Not one of the top forwards on the team, hard to find much recent scouting info on the guy, scouts a few years ago said he tried to play more of a finesse game but didnt have the puck handling ability, hopefully he has started playing like a power forward.

Adam Reid 6'3 185: Another big forward, battled injuries on the USA U18 team this year. Many feel that he hasn't reached his full potential yet and is still trying to play within his frame, although he is considered a strong skater, hopefully he bosoms at NU but seems to be more of a project, should see playing time though. Considered a high character guy, he should fight for ice time and hopefully start to contribute in the latter part of the season. He is ranked as the 59th best NA skater in this year's draft.

Justin Covacs 5'10 173: Small point per game player in the USHL, late addition as the year previous to this one he didn't do much, but this year he has become a play making center (42 A) for cedar rapids, he's going to come in as a 20 year old freshman (birthday in Oct 1991), hopefully he will be the play making center that we really haven't had since Vitale, we have a lot of talented forwards who if they had a play maker in the middle could really excel. One of the top scorers on a very good Cedar Rapids team, will be interesting to see if he was the product of the talent around him or if he is the play maker his stats say he is.


In conclusion, we have good defensemen coming in who should sure up our blueline with some big forwards and hopefully a play making center, Cronin usually gets a freshman to get to 20-25 points, hopefully that trend continues as it looks like there is a good amount of talent coming to Huntington Ave next year.


If anyone has any more insight to NU recruits, post below and I'll add, just posted some tid bits on the recruits, also John Gaudreau (STUD) might be coming in next year with Brodie Reid bouncing, once that is confirmed I'll add him, he would be our best guy coming in next year.

Edited to include skater rankings

Edited to include John Gaudreau

[snwbrdr]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

Really like the idea of posting info about your team's recruits, here is the scoop on NU's incoming class:

DEFENSEMEN


Ryan Renz 6'2 210: Highly touted recruit, NoDak and Miami were on him, very big, young and talented. A defensive defensemen, he didn't do much offensively in the two teams he played for this year in the BCHL, but he is highly regarded and should be drafted this summer, ranked as one of the top 10 defensemen from western juniors leagues (LINK: http://www.nhl.com/ice/post.htm?id=582 ). Should step right in on our blueline, replacing Hewkin or knocking out Ellement.

Ben Oskroba 6'5 215: Really tall, really big defenseman who racked up all sorts of penalty minutes in Lincoln this year. Originally the Q was going to bring him in, then we got on him and he decided to join NU. Seems like more of a project, not expecting him to get much playing time, he does have size but doesn't seem to know how to use it effectively given all the time in the sin bin. No draft ranking, not expecting much from him this year.

Garret Haar 6'0 180: Highly regarded defenseman who had a very respectable year with Fargo, coming in this year because of the $ freed up from Jake Newton leaving after 2009-2010. He was listed as one of the USHL's top 10 draft prospects for the coming draft (LINK: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article...pects_for2011/). Arguably our best defensive recruit, him and Renz should step right in and contribute right away. Looking for him to have a year similar to Eibler this year, shaky beginning, then demonstrating solid defensive skills and offensive contributions as he acclimates to HE. One of our best in coming recruits.

FORWARDS

Ludwig Karlsson 6'2 200: Big forward who had an OK year with the Green Bay Gamblers, his size and skill has him on some draft boards late, he will probably fill in our 3rd or 4th line, not too much offensive production but with his size he should find time. Not one of the top forwards on the team, hard to find much recent scouting info on the guy, scouts a few years ago said he tried to play more of a finesse game but didnt have the puck handling ability, hopefully he has started playing like a power forward.

Adam Reid 6'3 185: Another big forward, battled injuries on the USA U18 team this year. Many feel that he hasn't reached his full potential yet and is still trying to play within his frame, although he is considered a strong skater, hopefully he bosoms at NU but seems to be more of a project, should see playing time though. Considered a high character guy, he should fight for ice time and hopefully start to contribute in the latter part of the season.

Justin Covacs 5'10 173: Small point per game player in the USHL, late addition as the year previous to this one he didn't do much, but this year he has become a play making center (42 A) for cedar rapids, he's going to come in as a 20 year old freshman (birthday in Oct 1991), hopefully he will be the play making center that we really haven't had since Vitale, we have a lot of talented forwards who if they had a play maker in the middle could really excel. One of the top scorers on a very good Cedar Rapids team, will be interesting to see if he was the product of the talent around him or if he is the play maker his stats say he is.


In conclusion, we have good defensemen coming in who should sure up our blueline with some big forwards and hopefully a play making center, Cronin usually gets a freshman to get to 20-25 points, hopefully that trend continues as it looks like there is a good amount of talent coming to Huntington Ave next year.


If anyone has any more insight to NU recruits, post below and I'll add, just posted some tid bits on the recruits, also John Gaudreau (STUD) might be coming in next year with Brodie Reid bouncing, once that is confirmed I'll add him, he would be our best guy coming in next year.

That is a nice recruiting class.

The latest rankings for NA skaters puts your guys at the followings slots:

Adam Reid #59
Renz #208

I may have missed some, not sure.


Other Notes - Oleksiak is ranked #27 but in a mock draft I saw was projected 16th.

Gaudreau is #209. He is tiny which is probably why his NHL draft rank is that low. He put up huge numbers for Dubuque. I am guessing he probably was on a line with V. Saporini (formerly of BU) and S. Girgensens who is heading to UVM but not draft eligible for another year.

[NUMcNeely]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

edited to include Gaudreau, bumped because I want to keep talking about HE hockey

[unh_hockey]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

1. You're aware that both of BC's recent title wins were blowouts, where the officiating was irrelevant, right?
2. You're aware that you're in no position to be making comments to any other fan about national titles, or lack thereof, right?

why? did you win one? Do you even play?
break out the bubbly! Slurpees won a few national title rings and has a right to beak more than someone who didnt win!

But agreed on point #1. reffing in both of those games had zero influence on the outcome. BC was that much better.

[alnike]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

A midwest perspective (CCHA follower) on the 2011-12 Hockey East season...

1. BU
2. BC
3. UNH
4. Merrimack
5. Vermont
6. Maine
7. Northeastern
8. UMass
9. UML
10. Providence

I think BU will take a big jump this year, could be a preseason NCAA top 5 with its returning group of players.

BC - I see them competing for a #2 seed in the NCAA's. Need to replace some scoring and find the next goalie. Kreider needs to be a force.

UNH - each year, its upperclassmen step up and provide the offense to make the NCAA's. I think this team will be an NCAA bubble team, going after a #4 seed to maintain its NCAA streak.

Seems like a below average year for Hockey East in terms of talent. I think the top three teams will make the NCAA tournament, with Merrimack missing out on the bubble with its large senior class.

Vermont is an interesting team with its recruits and ability to compete at its talent level after falling off in 10-11.

Maine - life after Nyquist, still have some impactful seniors there, but goaltending is the key.

Northeastern has a significant amount of scoring to replace.

[slurpees]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

why? did you win one? Do you even play?
break out the bubbly! Slurpees won a few national title rings and has a right to beak more than someone who didnt win!

But agreed on point #1. reffing in both of those games had zero influence on the outcome. BC was that much better.

uhh, i was making a comment to a fan of team A, who's sniffed a chance at a title once, 25 years or so ago, making fun of a fan of team B who has won three titles in the last 11 years and was a post and 60 seconds away from two more, while being far and away the most accomplished program during that time. where did i talk about playing for the team or winning titles myself? in fact, i even referred to him as a fan. are you one of those guys like the the moron columnist in bumfu$k PA who wrote that article about the giants fan who was beaten by the dodger fans, claiming it was the beaten fan's fault because he wore a jersey to the game, which is wrong because he doesn't play for the team?

[unh_hockey]

Re: Hockey East - The Off Season

uhh, i was making a comment to a fan of team A, who's sniffed a chance at a title once, 25 years or so ago, making fun of a fan of team B who has won three titles in the last 11 years and was a post and 60 seconds away from two more, while being far and away the most accomplished program during that time. where did i talk about playing for the team or winning titles myself? in fact, i even referred to him as a fan. are you one of those guys like the the moron columnist in bumfu$k PA who wrote that article about the giants fan who was beaten by the dodger fans, claiming it was the beaten fan's fault because he wore a jersey to the game, which is wrong because he doesn't play for the team?

It happens. Fans will rip on other fans, regardless of what they won or lost. To me, its irrelavent. A sign of novice debate is to argue against the person, not the issue. Now if the issue was that BC sucks ( I assume your a BC fan), that would just be laughble given that BC has been the best team in the past decade. But beyond that, you gotta take a few knocks.

Speaking of which, if UNH ever wins a national title, I expect this forum to get a heck of a lot more interesting. For now, we shall be relegated to being punching bags for our team's post season flops ( which as of late have not been that bad).

Unrelated note: a few of my friends in undergrad from essex VT knew A. Miller from back in his playing days. supposedly a nice guy.