Wiseman, Muckalt, Hyman, and More

Now that the AHL Playoffs are finally over, Michigan has officially announced Brian Wiseman as the new assistant to Red Berenson. He replaces Mel Pearson who took the Michigan Tech head coaching job after much debate.

Wiseman was most recently an assistant with the Houston Aeros of the AHL, who just fell to Binghamton Senators in the Calder Cup Finals. He played for four years under Red Berenson, racking up 248 points. He remains 3rd on Michigan's all-time scoring list.

He also has experience as an assistant with Princeton and was the video coordinator for the Dallas Stars. From 2005-10 he wasn't actually working in hockey, instead working as an account manager for an oil supplier. He said that he would have stayed in that job, but he didn't want Michigan State trying to hire him away to be their head coach after Anastos gets fired.*

When the job was originally open, Bill Muckalt was one of the names mentioned as a potential replacement for Pearson. As it turns out, he didn't replace Pearson. He joined him. Muckalt was named as an assistant at Michigan Tech, coaching under Pearson. Muckalt was a head coach in the NAHL and WSHL. He was also Head Coach of the Eastern Michigan club team. Can I make another Tom Anastos joke in the same article? No. Alright, fine.

In other news, Zach Hyman was honored with the BJ Monro award by the OHA. This award is given to the OHA's top professional prospect. Mike Cammalleri and Nathan Horton are previous winners of the award. Hyman's jersey will also be displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame during July.

Brandon Burlon has officially signed with the New Jersey Devils and won't be returning to school. I think the writing was probably on the wall after Mike Chiasson committed. Burlon denied that the decision to leave him as a scratch for the National Championship Game had anything to do with his decision. It sounds like he got "the speech" from Red about not leaving, but he indicated that he intends to finish his degree.

Best of luck to Brandon! I don't think it was unreasonable for him to head to the pros. I wish he had come back for his senior season, but this shouldn't be a shocker to anyone, and I don't think it's a head-scratcher either. He's a talented kid and I think he can probably play in the NHL. The Devils have struggled, so now is probably a good time to head that way. Just so long as he doesn't go trying to bring any of his teammates (Merrill, Wohlberg) along with him!

More stuff I haven't commented on!

Louie Caporusso did end up signing with Ottawa. While Caporusso never quite got back to the level (offensively) that he reached during his sophomore season, he did give us four very-good seasons and I think he became a much better all-around player by the end of his career. I mean, he ended up being a freaking penalty killer! He'll likely end up joining the Binghamton Senators, who just won the AHL Championship. Again, it would be great to see the Love Guru in the League someday. I'm really going to miss Louie.

Carl Hagelin was given the Big Ten's Medal of Honor for his success in the classroom and on the ice. The New York Rangers site just did a profile of him for their "20 Prospects in 20 Days" series.

"He's an elite skater," Jeff Gorton, the Rangers' Assistant Director, Player Personnel, said of Hagelin. "He's evolved from maybe what people thought of as a role-type player to a guy that's shown some skill and been very productive at the college level with speed and tenacity.”

It was a really great article (and a really LONG article!). There are quotes from Carl and all sorts of people in the Rangers organization. And it turns out we've been saying his name incorrectly all along. Whoops! Sorry about that, Carl. That kid is going to make everyone who loves Michigan hockey proud. What a find he was...

NHL.com has a feature about the two top-ranked goalies named Gibson. John is the top-ranked, and Chris is the second-ranked heading into the Draft, which is in a couple of weeks.

*He didn't actually say that.

Having a Seat Over There: Mike Chiasson

The Omaha Lancers announced that Mike Chiasson has committed to Michigan for next season. Chiasson, the son of former Red Wings defenseman Steve Chiasson (who was killed in a car wreck back in 1999), is a 5'11" 195 defenseman.

Chiasson put up 4-11--15 in 50 games this season. He was fourth on the team with a +10 rating and had 41 PIMs. He was named the most-improved player on the team last season and won the a leadership award this year. He was unanimously voted team captain this past season and Lancers coach Bliss Littler wasn't surprised:

“The kid reeks with character on and off the ice,” Littler said. “For a player to be selected that way (unanimously) really tells you a lot. That doesn't happen very often.”

This also means that Brandon Burlon will not be back. Mike Spath mentioned that he spoke with the Michigan coaches, and it sounds like both sides decided it was time to move on. 

Chiasson will be an older freshman (he's 20 right now) that brings 122 games of USHL experience. It's reasonable to expect that he'd be able to come in and play right away. In addition to Burlon, the Wolverines lost Langlais and kind-of Llewellyn. In addition to Chiasson, the Wolverines bring in the highly-regarded Brennan Serville and preferred-walk-on Michael Szuma, giving them 8 D. Once again, I fully expect some nice competition for the final spots on the blueline.

He another kid who is interested in education. The linked article is a nice story about how he got to this point. Here is a Q&A with him from two seasons ago.

He wears #3 just like his father. With Scooter Vaughan graduating, I'd imagine that Chiasson will have dibs on that number.

Having a Seat Over There: Spencer Hyman

Princeton's coach leaving for Penn State appears to be the gift that keeps on giving. Yesterday Zach Hyman committed to the Wolverines for next season, after decommitting from Princeton due to Guy Gadowsky moving on to the BTHC. Today, Mike Spath chatted with Zach and was told that his brother Spencer has also committed to the Wolverines for either 2012 or 2013.

 

He's a forward that was converted to defense a couple of years ago. Pointstreak lists him at 6'0", 210. DCNole mentioned that he is nicknamed "The Bus" and that he once one-punched Lucas Lessio (remember him?) in a fight. The Scouting News says that he "works like a beserker", which I didn't realize was a word, but it totally is and it's awesome.

 

Last season he had 4-16--20 in 49 games with 62 PIMs. So based on the limited info out there about it, it seems like this upshot is this: Big kid, maybe not as gifted as his brother but works his butt off every shift, can play a physical game.

A Little More on Hyman

For the season, Zach had 42-60--102 in 43 games played. He had just 24 PIMs, ten of which came in the last game of the season for "inciting an opponent", whatever that means. He had 27 points on the power play and five short-handed goals, along with three game-winners. In the playoffs, he had 3-5--8 in 7 games.

In the 43 games he played, he was held off the scoresheet on just four occasions. His season included a 27-game point streak, which contained five 5+ point games and four hat tricks. He had three 7-point games during the season.

He finished the year third in goals and second in points in the CJHL.

There are several clips of him on Youtube, and for that, we thank you.
Highlight video from Feb. 2010:



From the 3 Nations Tournament:



And an OT Game-Winner in the playoffs:



In other news, Mike Spath is hearing that there are three finalists for the vacant Assistant Coach position and that a decision could be made as soon as next week. The finalists are Matt Herr, Bill Muckalt, and Brian Wiseman. Muckalt is a head coach in the NAHL, Herr has been Kent's head coach in the prep ranks for quite some time, and Wiseman is an assistant in the AHL.

Having a Seat Over There: Zach Hyman

A week ago, I mentioned that the Canadian Junior A Player of the Year, Zach Hyman, was considering Michigan. Today, he decided to become a Wolverine.

As, I believe, first reported by Andy Strickland, then confirmed by Bob Miller, Hyman will play at Michigan next season. Bob says that he's signing on Friday.

It's hard to understate how large of a development this is. We just picked up the college-eligible player in all of Canada. And he's coming to Michigan for THIS COMING SEASON. This isn't getting all excited about the prospect of Max Domi. This isn't looking ahead to what could be a ridiculous class in 2013. This isn't Tristin Llewellyn being a top prospect as a 14 year-old. This is a five-star prospect for next season. Immediate impact. You could make the case that he's the top recruit in this class. (Edit: To clarify, that's based on him being the top junior player in Canada more than any awareness of the rest of the players out there.) This is potentially the offense that we could be lacking next season.

Let's take a look at some of the other players that have won the CJHL Player of the Year award, decided to play college, and how they did freshman year:

Player	Year	Team	GP	Line
Cody Kunyk	2010	Alaska	38	12-18--30
Eric Delong	2009	Sacred Heart	35	15-20--35
Joe Colborne	2008	Denver	40	10-21--31
Kyle Turris	2007	Wisconsin	36	11-24--35
Nick Johnson	2004	Darmouth	35	18-17--35
Mark Bomersback	2003	Ferris State	37	8-10--18
Jeff Tambellini	2002	Michigan	43	26-19--45
Tyler Brosz	2001	Minnesota-Duluth	40	5-6--11
Junior Lessard	2000	Minnesota-Duluth	36	4-8--12
Dany Heatley	1999	Wisconsin	38	28-28--56
Mike Comrie	1998	Michigan	42	19-25--44

So out of the last 11 guys that won CJHL Player of the Year and went on to play college hockey, 8 scored double-digit goals and 30+ points as a freshman. One of the three that didn't hit either of those plateaus (Lessard) ended up scoring 32-31--63 as a senior and won the Hobey. Brosz and Bomersback ended up with a 30/40 point season as well.

At the low-end, these guys ended up being fairly-productive college players with at least one great season. At the high-end, they put up really good numbers right out of the gate and ultimately became Hobey Baker-caliber players. Lessard and Kariya won the award. Comrie, Heatley, and Tambellini would have arguably been the favorite to win the award the next season had they not turned pro.

History says that you can pencil in Hyman for 10-15 goals and 30-35 points next season. This late in the game, to pull in someone who could potentially approach a point per game as a freshman is a huge, huge pickup.

Bob Miller linked out to a couple of GREAT articles. The first talks about how it seems like he's got his head on straight, actually backs it up when he talks about caring about academics, and is just a great kid. The second is a Q&A with him after he won the Player of the Year award.

There are many more links in the first article. Mark Seidel, the chief North American scout for CSS, wrote the following:

...along with being an impressive physical specimen, he showed that he could really play this year as well by putting up 75 points on a decent Tier 2 team while showing he understands the game as well as any in the draft. His dad owns my chief competitor, ISS, so it pains me to say, but this kid may become the steal of the draft

Hockey's Future (yeah, I know) mentioned that prior to juniors (when he played at a lower-level to maintain his college eligibility), Hyman was thought to be on the same level as Jeff Skinner and Tyler Seguin. If that's true, yikes.

Here's a really interesting article about his father's dealings in hockey. Baller.

Hyman was the captain of his team last season and put up 42-60--102.

Gotta love that Red Berenson snake-oil! 

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CJHL Player of the Year Considering Michigan for Next Year

The busy news day for Michigan hockey continues.

 

With Caporusso, Hagelin, Rust, and Scooter leaving, offense is a concern for the Wolverines heading into next season. While the incoming recruiting class has some solid players, more help may be on the way.

 

The Hamilton Morning News (HT: Chris Dilks) reports that Princeton recruit and Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year Zach Hyman has reopened his recruitment after Princeton Coach Guy Gadowsky took the Penn State job. Hyman mentioned that he'll be touring Boston University, Boston College, Minnesota-Duluth, and, yes, Michigan in the coming weeks.

 

Hyman had 42-60--102 this season for the Hamilton Red Wings team that he captained. For his career, he had 90-124--214.

 

He cited a desire to go to a school that combined a strong hockey program with a strong academic program.

 

Hyman was a 5th round draft pick of the Florida Panthers last season. It's a big deal to win CJHL Player of the Year. Past winners include Dany Heatley, Mike Comrie, and Paul Kariya.

Having a Seat Over There: Bryson Cianfrone

Question mark removed from subject line. Bob Miller confirms that he is a commit! The cynical part of me wants to follow that sentence with "...until he gets traded to an OHL team of his choosing." I'm listing him as a 2013 commit, but as MGoBlog pointed out, there's a site saying that he'll graduate in 2012, so I suppose he could end up at Michigan for the 2012-13 season as well.

It appears that may be what's on the table for Max Domi. The Pipeline Show is reporting that Domi will be dealt to London (of course) and speculates that unlikely the deal would happen if they didn't think Domi would come to play for them. That said, Norman James, one of the sports reporter from London is saying that one source has told him no, another has said yes.

Tyler King, Kingston's play-by-play man, just spoke with Doug Gilmour and said that the Domi rumors are "garbage". Time will tell.