Thursday, January 10, 2013

Having a Seat Over There: One Buzzer In, One Buzzer Out

Yesterday the St. Michael's Buzzers pipeline to Ann Arbor was tapped once again, with 2014 defenseman Jared Walsh offering up his commitment to the Maize and Blue. Today, however, a former Buzzer is out. Daniel Milne, a freshman forward, left the hockey team to sign with Owen Sound of the OHL.

Walsh, a 5'11", 175 blueliner from Toronto, has a goal and 15 assists in 34 games for the Buzzers. He's also got 20 PIMs and six points on the power play. That's good for a tie for 34th in the league amongst defensemen, but 3rd amongst 1996-birthdays. At least 20 of the guys in front of him are either 92s or 93s.

The Buzzers' Head Coach and GM said the following about Walsh (this link has a little more detail than the previous version that was cycling around yesterday):
He has developed into a very high end defenceman early in his rookie year. He has become a force on special teams and brings a unique bag of speed, smarts, toughness and a very heavy shot. He's becoming a quiet leader and is very deserving of the attention and accolades.

Walsh played for Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge where he had a pair of assists in five games. Last season he played for the Toronto Marlboros and scored 4-11--15 in 35 games.

You can follow him on Twitter at @3jwalsh. He was a second-round pick of Missassauga of the OHL. So there's that.

While one Buzzer pledged his commitment, another decided to head back to Ontario. It was announced today that Milne had left the hockey team. He had played in just seven games this season and had not tallied a point.

From the linked article in The Daily, Red voiced his disappointment but noted that Milne was in good academic standing. He'll be playing for the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL. He picked Michigan over Notre Dame (and Owen Sound). Michigan had liked (PDF link) his skating ability as well as his ability to play at both ends of the ice. I'm not a fan of players bailing midseason, but given Michigan's struggles up front and the fact that he wasn't playing very often, some frustration is certainly understandable (assuming this move is for more playing time). But seriously, F the O.

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