Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Badgers Land Penticton Vees Power Forward Jedd Soleway--LINK

"Footspeed issues....a bull in a china shop mentality....won't be the guy offensively." Hmm, I want to be positive, it's hard. He is playing on the top line with a Rodent and a Whoiux, and is on a better team now, we'll have to see how it develops. Of course if he racks up a bunch of pts, how much will that be attributed to having 2 excellent linemates? Hey, at least he's from Canada, eh?

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

"Footspeed issues....a bull in a china shop mentality....won't be the guy offensively." Hmm, I want to be positive, it's hard. He is playing on the top line with a Rodent and a Whoiux, and is on a better team now, we'll have to see how it develops. Of course if he racks up a bunch of pts, how much will that be attributed to having 2 excellent linemates? Hey, at least he's from Canada, eh?

Kid had offers from Notre Dame and North Dakota and 20 other plus schools, and Badger fans don't want him?

 

[Badgerice]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

I think some of you guys are a joke! Soleway will be a player that Wisconsin hasn't seen since the likes of Brad Winchester. A powerful forward that can score and play tough. He's one of the guys that will smack around the likes of Rau and other rodent players for years. The best part of reading these blogs is some of you guys really think you're hockey minds but in fact have no idea how the game is played. How do you know how Eaves treats his players? If you think he is whacked out then guys wouldn't be coming here and the talk around the leagues is Eaves can't coach.

 

[Gandalf the Red]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Kid had offers from Notre Dame and North Dakota and 20 other plus schools, and Badger fans don't want him?

I want him and I'm a Badger fan.

I will say though that just because everyone else wanted him doesn't mean he is going to be a world killer on the ice. Derek Lee is a prime example of that, and while he has had injury issues and didn't have much of a role on the 2009/10 team due to depth, he hasn't produced like I thought he would.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

I think some of you guys are a joke! Soleway will be a player that Wisconsin hasn't seen since the likes of Brad Winchester. A powerful forward that can score and play tough. He's one of the guys that will smack around the likes of Rau and other rodent players for years. The best part of reading these blogs is some of you guys really think you're hockey minds but in fact have no idea how the game is played. How do you know how Eaves treats his players? If you think he is whacked out then guys wouldn't be coming here and the talk around the leagues is Eaves can't coach.

I personally am a fan of the Soleway pickup. Due to the un-even classes, the coaching staff is going to have to bring in 6-7 forwards for the 2014 class and Soleway is a good start. He'll also be able to come in early if Wisconsin loses Mersch, Zengerle, or a surprise departure up front.

 

[bucky15]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

I personally am a fan of the Soleway pickup. Due to the un-even classes, the coaching staff is going to have to bring in 6-7 forwards for the 2014 class and Soleway is a good start. He'll also be able to come in early if Wisconsin loses Mersch, Zengerle, or a surprise departure up front.

Chuck, was he on UW's radar for a while? Anyone else close to signing for 2014?

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Kid had offers from Notre Dame and North Dakota and 20 other plus schools, and Badger fans don't want him?

I was simply stating what the radio guy of the team he formally played for said about him. As I said, we'll have to see how he develops. I do feel a bit better knowing that he had some offers from other bigtime schools. He's to hoping for a 120 pt career @ UW.

 

[DPlaya]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

I personally am a fan of the Soleway pickup. Due to the un-even classes, the coaching staff is going to have to bring in 6-7 forwards for the 2014 class and Soleway is a good start. He'll also be able to come in early if Wisconsin loses Mersch, Zengerle, or a surprise departure up front.

I had the same thoughts. He's completing his second year in the BCHL this season and could come in next year if needed and already has a good deal of experience at the Junior level.

Another thought for the thread...I think Eaves was trying to keep all or most Wisconsin Division I players in-state in the past and that didn't work out all that well. Over the past two years he's let a bunch of Wisconsin players commit elsewhere that he didn't feel were good enough to help UW, so I think he's learned a lesson. I also think having Soleway in line to potentially bring in next year shows the staff has learned to be better prepared for early defections rather than have to bring in a player directly from Wisconsin high school like they did with Navin.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Another thought for the thread...I think Eaves was trying to keep all or most Wisconsin Division I players in-state in the past and that didn't work out all that well. Over the past two years he's let a bunch of Wisconsin players commit elsewhere that he didn't feel were good enough to help UW, so I think he's learned a lesson.

I personally don't think he's changed his recruiting on in-state players. As you all know, he only gets 18 scholarships to work with. Some kids that didn't end up at UW were in consideration, but Wisconsin couldn't offer them enough $. Eaves strategy has always been to try and offset his full scholarships with in-state kids on partial scholarships since obviously in-state tuition (including Minnesota) is cheaper than out-of-state. It's just a matter of getting the right in-state players in. I did a (very) rough estimation of who's on what scholarship right now. Draw your own conclusions.

ROUGH estimate of what the scholarships might look like:
Full: Kerdiles, Zengerle, LaBate, Lee, Mersch, Zulinick, Woods, Ramage, McCabe, Simonelli, Rumpel.
3/4: Wittchow, Barnes, Navin, Faust
1/2: R. Little, S. Little, Dahl, Schulze, Paape, Drake, Peterson?
1/4: Hartzog, Meuer
Walk-on: Bell, Miller

In-state kid in bold.

edited to add: Eaves has four Wisconsinites in the pipeline committed. Linhart (14), Ford (14), Berkovitz (14 or 15), and Davison (13). All defensemen, ironically.

 

[DPlaya]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

I personally don't think he's changed his recruiting on in-state players. As you all know, he only gets 18 scholarships to work with. Some kids that didn't end up at UW were in consideration, but Wisconsin couldn't offer them enough $. Eaves strategy has always been to try and offset his full scholarships with in-state kids on partial scholarships since obviously in-state tuition (including Minnesota) is cheaper than out-of-state. It's just a matter of getting the right in-state players in. I did a (very) rough estimation of who's on what scholarship right now. Draw your own conclusions.

ROUGH estimate of what the scholarships might look like:
Full: Kerdiles, Zengerle, LaBate, Lee, Mersch, Zulinick, Woods, Ramage, McCabe, Simonelli, Rumpel.
3/4: Wittchow, Barnes, Navin, Faust
1/2: R. Little, S. Little, Dahl, Schulze, Paape, Drake, Peterson?
1/4: Hartzog, Meuer
Walk-on: Bell, Miller

In-state kid in bold.

edited to add: Eaves has four Wisconsinites in the pipeline committed. Linhart (14), Ford (14), Berkovitz (14 or 15), and Davison (13). All defensemen, ironically.

In the past he stated he was going to put a fence around Wisconsin and not let kids commit elsewhere. Off the top of my head Michael Kapla, Ryan Dau, Garrett Clemment, Jason Ford, Tristan Rostagno and Joe Fiala have all committed elsewhere in the past couple years (I'm guessing Rostagno's commitment happened way before they thought it would happen). I think in the past they would have tried to bring many of those guys in. I think they've learned they can't keep them all here, they have to keep the right ones here.

Also, I don't think it's ironic that all the Wisconsin commits are defensemen. For reasons I haven't been able to figure out, we really don't produce a whole lot of offensively dynamic forwards in this state, and quite honestly there will be a dearth of decent forwards for at least a few more years. On the other hand, we do tend to produce some decent defensemen and that trend seems to be continuing.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

In the past he stated he was going to put a fence around Wisconsin and not let kids commit elsewhere. Off the top of my head Michael Kapla, Ryan Dau, Garrett Clemment, Jason Ford, Tristan Rostagno and Joe Fiala have all committed elsewhere in the past couple years (I'm guessing Rostagno's commitment happened way before they thought it would happen). I think in the past they would have tried to bring many of those guys in. I think they've learned they can't keep them all here, they have to keep the right ones here.

Also, I don't think it's ironic that all the Wisconsin commits are defensemen. For reasons I haven't been able to figure out, we really don't produce a whole lot of offensively dynamic forwards in this state, and quite honestly there will be a dearth of decent forwards for at least a few more years. On the other hand, we do tend to produce some decent defensemen and that trend seems to be continuing.

No offense to any of those kids, but with the exception of maybe Rostagno...none would, or should have been pursued by Wisconsin. All d-1 worthy players obviously, but I don't see any misses here. Time will tell.

 

[DPlaya]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

No offense to any of those kids, but with the exception of maybe Rostagno...none would, or should have been pursued by Wisconsin. All d-1 worthy players obviously, but I don't see any misses here. Time will tell.

I'm not saying they are misses, I'm saying UW has done the right thing recently by not pursuing every Wisconsin kid. In the past it seemed like they tried to get every single one of them to commit.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

They did miss on Rostagno. A big, physical defensemen that can skate and score. Their incoming D-group in 2015 could use that skill set.

They didn't miss, the kid jumped on an early offer from Tech. I liked him when I saw him play.

The difference between Tech and Wisconsin is that Tech has to make that offer when they did for a chance at a kid like that. Could he turn out to be great? Yes. Could he be a bust? Yes. Wisconsin doesn't (and shouldn't) offer in-state players that they aren't 100% are going to be elite college players while they're still in high school.

If Rostagno continues to progress, maybe Wisconsin would have offered. We'll never know.

I've written editorials in the past noting that I hate how early players make commitments to schools. Unless it's your dream school, there's no reason why you should limit your options so early. There are kids all the time who regret their original commitment when they do it so young. There's so much that can change.

If I had my way, there would be no gentleman's agreement. You recruit a player until he's signed a letter of intent. I honestly believe that we wouldn't be seeing as many early offers. Right now it's just a race to see who can get the kid first. If you know it's going to be a long haul, you might not be offering willy nilly to 14, or 15 year olds. I know for a fact the bigger schools won't be offering kids as young anymore.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

is UW 100% confident with their "smallish" D recruits? I've seen most of them play, and for the life of me, I can't understand how they could be. At least take a gamble on upside (once in awhile)! We need some strength and toughness on the blue line.

Apparently you haven't seen Peter Tischke (6'1, 190 pound 16 year old). Described as a man-strong defenseman. Keegan Ford may be short, but he's not small. His legs are like tree trunks. His lower half is built. He's physical, and willing to lay his body on the line. Linhart may not be big or physical, but his potential is through the roof. Berkivotz is more in the Linhart mold in terms of playing style, but he's another one with big upside who can grow into his frame. He's a thin 6'1, 170. What's he going to look like in 2-3 years when he's 18-19 in college?

These guys all have big upside. Linhart and Berkovitz are the play-making, skill guys. Tischke is the rock-solid guy. And Ford is a combination, all-around guy.

I have said here that I like Rostagno a lot, and I do think he eventually would have gotten an offer. He took what's on the table at Tech, that's his call.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Benilde (Grant Besse) is playing in the championship of their holiday tournament tonight at 7:30 vs #3 Wayzata. Should be a great match up. I believe it's going to be webcast on the http://www.mnhockeycenter.com/ for those who are interested in watching at least one future Badger, and possibly a few more.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Went to see Besse tonight, Benilde got throttled 7-1 (Besse had the only goal).

New recruit Jedd Soleway had 2 goals tonight for Penticton. 4-4-8 in 6 since his trade from Vernon.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Went to see Besse tonight, Benilde got throttled 7-1 (Besse had the only goal).

New recruit Jedd Soleway had 2 goals tonight for Penticton. 4-4-8 in 6 since his trade from Vernon.

How did he look?

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

How did he look?

He's got an incredible shot. Not only is it one of the hardest I've seen at this level, he gets it off quicker than most I've seen as well. He only had one goal, but hit two pipes on shots that he got off quick and almost beat the goaltender from a bad angle.

He is left handed but plays right wing on Benilde's top line and really likes burning down the right wing wide and cutting in towards the middle for a shot. He also really likes to camp out down on at the bottom of the faceoff circle on the PP where he can use his quick shot.

The one thing that impressed me seeing him this year as compared to when I went to go watch him last year is that he looks a little thicker this year. I wouldn't say I was worried about his size but he looks to be stronger and that will help ease his transition to college hockey next year. I also think he's improved his skills protecting the puck.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

He's got an incredible shot. Not only is it one of the hardest I've seen at this level, he gets it off quicker than most I've seen as well. He only had one goal, but hit two pipes on shots that he got off quick and almost beat the goaltender from a bad angle.

He is left handed but plays right wing on Benilde's top line and really likes burning down the right wing wide and cutting in towards the middle for a shot. He also really likes to camp out down on at the bottom of the faceoff circle on the PP where he can use his quick shot.

The one thing that impressed me seeing him this year as compared to when I went to go watch him last year is that he looks a little thicker this year. I wouldn't say I was worried about his size but he looks to be stronger and that will help ease his transition to college hockey next year. I also think he's improved his skills protecting the puck.

Excellent, thanks for the report.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Recruiting: Filling the foundation with 5 stars

Two blue-chip Canadian kids to keep an eye on: Tanner MacMaster (Camrose, AJHL), & Ryan Gropp (Penticton, BCHL). Both were first round picks in the WHL draft but appear to possibly be headed NCAA.