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

[MadCityRich]

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

Interesting..props to the Green Bay area. Madison youth hockey is declining, the 2 east side high schools now co-op, the 2 west side high schools suck, (ex Edgewood is private), and Green Bay is flourishing.

Somebody should take notes around here. (Last fall I went to a local AA hockey club open meeting, what a joke!)

[aktick]

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

Interesting..props to the Green Bay area. Madison youth hockey is declining, the 2 east side high schools now co-op, the 2 west side high schools suck, (ex Edgewood is private), and Green Bay is flourishing.

Somebody should take notes around here. (Last fall I went to a local AA hockey club open meeting, what a joke!)

One of the reasons (not hockey, just the area in general) I moved up to Appleton last year from the Madison area. Lots of growth up here, from Oshkosh to GB. There are still crappy areas, but it's definitely a nice growing area. And the people are a little more down-to-earth.

[Punudski]

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

Interesting..props to the Green Bay area. Madison youth hockey is declining, the 2 east side high schools now co-op, the 2 west side high schools suck, (ex Edgewood is private), and Green Bay is flourishing.

Somebody should take notes around here. (Last fall I went to a local AA hockey club open meeting, what a joke!)

Chuck and many others on here know much more than me, but Eau Claire seems to be turning into somewhat of a DI hockey hotbed lately, with Dowel, LaPoint, Soley, Dahl, Donnellan, and the McCabe's all going D1 or committing in the past several years. Chuck, maybe you could share your thoughts on this when news is sparse (or you have a spare moment). Thanks.

[Pucky-Bucky Backer]

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

Interesting..props to the Green Bay area. Madison youth hockey is declining, the 2 east side high schools now co-op, the 2 west side high schools suck, (ex Edgewood is private), and Green Bay is flourishing.

Somebody should take notes around here. (Last fall I went to a local AA hockey club open meeting, what a joke!)

I am from GB but live in Madison. The Gamblers there are huge! They are the hockey version od the Madison Mallards: fun games for all.
Years ago when I was playing squirts hockey GB had the Bobcats, a semipro team that had a modest draw. With the Resch Center, hockey is now fun to watch because the old Brown County Arena was a real dump.


I hope UWGB steps up and forms a D-3 team. Maybe St. Norberts can move up in class to D-1? They would have natural rivals with NMU and MTU. The GB newspaper gives those two schools better press than they give to the UW.

[badgerhawk]

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

I am from GB but live in Madison. The Gamblers there are huge! They are the hockey version od the Madison Mallards: fun games for all.
Years ago when I was playing squirts hockey GB had the Bobcats, a semipro team that had a modest draw. With the Resch Center, hockey is now fun to watch because the old Brown County Arena was a real dump.


I hope UWGB steps up and forms a D-3 team. Maybe St. Norberts can move up in class to D-1? They would have natural rivals with NMU and MTU. The GB newspaper gives those two schools better press than they give to the UW.

Since you are from GB, wasn't Notre Dame formerly Premontre? In the early 80's I remember Premontre as having one of the premier private school hockey teams in the state.

[Pucky-Bucky Backer]

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

Since you are from GB, wasn't Notre Dame formerly Premontre? In the early 80's I remember Premontre as having one of the premier private school hockey teams in the state.

Yes, NDA is formerly known as Premontre. Three private schools merged and they had to change the name to avoid faculty staffing issues.
I went to Premontre in the early 80's and I don't remember much about the hockey program.IIRC the program was disbanded for a while. Being a premier school in the private school sector is kinda like saying that Michigan Tech is the premier college in the U.P. There was little interest for hockey in the WISAA conference.

[Chuck Schwartz]

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

Two recruiting posts this week:

Recruiting: Potential Recruits In Mad-Town This Weekend

Cap Ice in Middleton is hosting the WAHA Tier 1 playoffs this weekend. Going to be a ton of great players in attendance. Get over there to see some future WCHA players.

Recruiting: Hesketh at Minnesota State Tournament

2011 defense recruit Troy Hesketh has his Minnetonka Skippers in the State tounament at the Xcel center this weekend. They open up on Thursday night against Lakeville North.

[Chuck Schwartz]

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

Recruiting: Badgers Focusing On Chicago Talent

When USA Hockey released the names of the 47 players invited to the NTDP Tryout Camp a little over a week ago, there was one obvious trend. Chicago looks absolutely loaded at the 1994 level (2012 recruits).

Overall 11 players from the state of Illinois have been invited to the tryout which starts Friday and runs through Tuesday. 9 of those players are currently playing midget hockey in Chicago including 6 from the Chicago Mission program alone (2 from CYA, 1 from Fury).

With the proximity of the Wisconsin campus, the lack of a Division 1 program in the state of Illinois, and the tradition and prestige of the Wisconsin hockey, it's only natural for many of these players to have a strong interest in the Badger program. Looking through Rivals new site, CollegeHockey247.com, it becomes very apparent that Eaves and company are taking a good hard look at the boys from the windy City.

The first player is an interesting prospect. Alex Galchenyuk (pictured) from the Chicago Young Americans program was born in the states but his family is from Russia. Besides living in the states, he's also spent time living in Russia and Italy. He's an absolute stud but is a serious flight risk to the OHL. Galchenyuk absolutely obliterated the Tier 1 U-16 league in scoring this season. He recorded 87 points in 38 games, 33 points more than the second place finisher.

Galchenyuk, a 6'1, 184 pound forward has heard from Yale and Wisconsin and has been invited to the NTDP camp next weekend, but he's still undecided on his next team. I've seen projections that have Galchenyuk as high as a top 5 pick in the upcoming OHL draft. His coach mentions in the article linked above that it's going to depend on how high and what team drafts him. In the end this is a kid who is probably going to end up hearing "Oh Canada" before the start of his games next season.

The Chicago Mission program, which I mentioned earlier got 6 invites to the USA tryout, houses two potential Badger recruits at the U-16 level. Forward Ray Pigozzi, and defenseman Justin Wade.

Pigozzi is a smaller forward, but a very dynamic forward. He's listed at 5'11, 165 but has two and a half years before he would ever even step onto a college campus. In the CollegeHockey247.com article that I linked above, his coach talks about how strong his lower body is and how skilled he is with the puck. Pigozzi has already visited the campus according to CollegeHockey247.com during the football season. From the sounds of the article, Pigozzi loved everything about his visit. He is also currently considering New Hampshire, Michigan, and Minnesota-Duluth. I've seen projections as high as the second round in the upcoming OHL Priority Selection for Pigozzi. I think in the end Pigozzi ends up in college.

Chris from Western College Hockey has had some nice things to say about Pigozzi. He saw him this fall at the NAHL Showcase and said this, "Really impressive. Great offensive instincts, and isn't the biggest guy, but isn't afraid to throw his weight around."

Justin Wade is a shutdown defender in the Johnny Ramage mold. He's also not short on confidence, which I love in a player. In the article listed above his coach also talks about his high hockey IQ. Wade is already listed at 6'2, 197 pounds as a 15 year old. CollegeHockey247 says that he may be a high pick in the upcoming OHL Priority Selection, but from every indication, it sounds like he's committed to the college game. According to the article he's been getting a ton of interest but at this time he only lists Wisconsin as a possible destination.

I also wanted to remind you that 2012 committed forward recruit Nick Kerdiles who I interviewed after he committed in February will also be at the tryout camp. If you remember from the interview, he has already been offered and has accepted a spot in Ann Arbor with the USA NTDP U17's for next season. With Kerdiles, Corbin McGuire, and Jordan Schmaltz already lined up for 2012, adding 1 or 2 of the guys listed above would make this an absolutely sick class.

[bothman]

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

Recruiting: Badgers Focusing On Chicago Talent



I also wanted to remind you that 2012 committed forward recruit Nick Kerdiles who I interviewed after he committed in February will also be at the tryout camp. If you remember from the interview, he has already been offered and has accepted a spot in Ann Arbor with the USA NTDP U17's for next season. With Kerdiles, Corbin McGuire, and Jordan Schmaltz already lined up for 2012, adding 1 or 2 of the guys listed above would make this an absolutely sick class.

Is Corbin McGuire staying at Taft next season? From what I heard, he had a down year this season.

[Chuck Schwartz]

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

Is Corbin McGuire staying at Taft next season? From what I heard, he had a down year this season.

I haven't heard. I don't see why he wouldn't. He will probably play there next year and then one season in the USHL before Wisconsin in 2012. That would be my guess. I'll see what I can find out though.

[bothman]

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

I haven't heard. I don't see why he wouldn't. He will probably play there next year and then two seasons in the USHL before Wisconsin in 2012. That would be my guess. I'll see what I can find out though.

My thought was that Wisconsin may want him to get out of prep hockey and into the USHL or a better and deeper league asap.

[Chuck Schwartz]

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

My thought was that Wisconsin may want him to get out of prep hockey and into the USHL or a better and deeper league asap.

Need to keep in mind that he's still only a sophomore in high school. He's still at least a full two years away from contributing at the college level. I would assume that Wisconsin would like him to get a full USHL season in before coming to school, but I don't think they are going to request that he makes the move right now. If he does it on his own, you could assume they aren't going to be upset though.

Fargo drafted him last spring in the second round of the USHL futures draft. It wouldn't shock me for them to make a push for his services.

[GB Puck Fan]

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

I hope UWGB steps up and forms a D-3 team. Maybe St. Norberts can move up in class to D-1? They would have natural rivals with NMU and MTU. The GB newspaper gives those two schools better press than they give to the UW.

Neither will happen due to NCAA rules.

UWGB is a Division 1 institution and cannot offer a team at the D3 level. A push in the mid-80s to create a hockey team there was effectively killed by the basketball boosters. Budgets being what they are - and the lack of a facility to play (since PMI isn't going to rent out a bdg to competiton of the Gamblers) - this isn't going to happen, either.

St. Norbert did an extensive study, wanting to move men's hockey and women's soccer to D1. NCAA rules prohibit the school from offering scholarships and playing D1. It decided it couldn't be competitive without scholarships and dropped the idea. The schools which are D3 for all other sports but offer a D1 sport with scholarships (i.e. Colorado College for hockey and a few east coast lacrosse schools) are grandfathered in.

As for GB media coverage of the Badgers, they aren't local enough to be regularly featured and don't have the interest locally that the hoops or football teams do to demand coverage.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread topic...

[DPlaya]

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

Kevin Patrick flew back to Madison from Minneapolis Saturday night and drove up to Fond du Lac Sunday morning for the 8 AM game between Team Wisconsin Minor and the St. Louis Jr. Blues Midget Minor squad (at the Tier I Central District Championship). I assume his scouting will be beneficial for both his current employer and future employer .

Team Wisconsin Minor won the Central District and will play at Nationals in two weeks in Chicago.

[HighToTheGloveSide]

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

Thanks for the recruiting update Chuck!!!