Good Knight

The disappointing side of recruiting has reared its ugly head again. 2010 commitment Jared Knight--long thought to be Michigan-bound despite overtures from the OHL--has decided to sign with the London Knights.

The good news is that he made this decision now and didn't go play for the NTDP for a year or two first. We were still two years away from seeing him set foot on campus, so there is plenty of time to keep on recruiting and fill that spot. He didn't bail on Michigan at the last second.

I'm disappointed, because by all accounts he's a very good player, but there's no ill will here. When you recruit the best players in the country, some of them are going to end up deciding that a different path is right for them. Good luck to Jared in the future. And don't give Moffatt any ideas about going to the CHL.

I apologize for the lack of content lately. Real life has gotten in the way. Here are a few other links I've come across in the past week:

DJ Powers from HockeysFuture reviewed the 2008 Draft from the NCAA perspective. There are a couple of quotes from Robbie Czarnik, including this one about his college choice:

As far as his choice of Michigan went, he said, "I committed when I was 15. I didn't really look at anyone else because that's where I wanted to go my whole life. I just can't wait to get there. I'm going to come in this year, see what happens and do my best.”

Fire and Ice, a New Jersey Devils blog, got some quotes from Brandon Burlon. Here's what he had to say about how long he might be in Ann Arbor:

"It depends on how it goes. If New Jersey says even after one year and I feel I'm ready, then so be it. But, if it's two, three, four years, it's not going to hurt anybody that goes to Michigan."

INCH also dug up some quotes from Burlon and had an amusing anecdote about Robbie Czarnik being drafted.

Four Wolverines Drafted

For the first time since 2000, the Wolverines did not have a player taken in the first round of the NHL Draft, but Michigan did have four incoming freshmen selected when the draft resumed this morning.

Brandon Burlon was the first of the quartet to go, being selected by the New Jersey Devils in the second round (#52 overall). Robbie Czarnik was taken at the top of the third round by the LA Kings (so look for him to be gone before his eligibility is exhausted). Greg Pateryn was taken in the fifth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and David Wohlberg was New Jersey's sixth round selection.

Certain teams are in love with taken Michigan players, and New Jersey and Los Angeles are two of them. The Devils have now selected eleven Michigan players and the Kings have drafted five.

Tristin Llewellyn, Scooter Vaughan, and 2009 recruit Lee Moffie were not chosen.

I'm pressed for time today, but I will have more later.

Last Minute Draft Articles

The NHL Draft kicks off tonight at 7 pm on Versus. By the end of the night, there's a good chance we'll know which NHL team will hold the rights to Brandon Burlon. Robbie Czarnik should be selected early tomorrow morning.

The New England Hockey Journal mentioned 2009 recruit Lee Moffie in their "Best of the Rest" section about potential draftees from the New England area. They said that Moffie has nice size and shoots the puck well, but there are questions about his vision and hockey sense.

DJ Powers from Hockey's Future has a list of the top 10 players in the draft who already have collegiate experience. Everyone's favorite Rink Rat vouched for her credibility in picking players that end up getting drafted despite not getting a lot of love in the draft rankings. Why do I bring that up? Tristin Llewellyn made the list at #8. Powers is very complimentary of his play, particularly late in the season. I have to admit, I smile every time I hear the story about Llewellyn taking power-skating lessons on the side in an effort to improve.

The newspaper I won't link to anymore had an article stating that the Wolverines have gotten calls from scouts about both Llewellyn and Vaughan. Amazingly, the article didn't mention either player's GPA or find a way to crack on their education and/or intelligence.

Lastly, the Arizona Republic discussed some of the young talent in the Phoenix Coyotes organization. Porter and Kolarik were both profiled. (HT: Bluevox at USCHO)

Schedule Released, Possible GLI Defections

The 2008-09 Michigan Hockey schedule has been released! The non-conference slate is kind of disappointing after seeing the teams we faced last year. It's kind of weird that Michigan is making the trip all the way to Boston to play one game (Harvard and UMass were rumored opponents, but obviously neither one went through). Even more strange is the fact that two days before they're in Boston to take on the Terriers, the Wolverines will face Niagara at Yost in a rematch of their first-round NCAA Tournament game.

The schedule can be divided into three distinct sections. The first and third sections aren't all that difficult, while the middle is absolutely brutal.

It will be important to get out of the gate in a hurry. Even with games at BU and Alaska, I'd argue that the first twelve games of the season all fall into the "should win" category. I'd say it's probably a disappointment if Michigan doesn't take at least 19 points out of 24 in the first six weeks.

Then comes a hellacious two months of games. From late November through the end of January, the Wolverines go: at Miami, at Miami, at Minnesota, at Wisconsin, MSU, at MSU, Michigan Tech, MSU/North Dakota, Miami, Miami. They then get a weekend against Bowling Green before playing MSU in a home-and-Joe and then a home-and-home against the national runners-up, Notre Dame. There are no gimmees in college hockey (see losing to OSU at home last year) but 13 of those 16 games look especially tough. Only the pair against BGSU and the GLI opener against Tech look to be "easier" games. That's a brutal stretch.

If Michigan ends up facing Michigan State on the second day of the Great Lakes Invitational, the Wolverines and Spartans will play each other five times in a ten-game span from December 5 to January 24. I actually really like that. The games with MSU are usually hard-hitting and entertaining as long as the Wolverines show up (MSU always seems to bring it). It won't be quite as fun as a best-of-seven would be, but there should be a little extra nastiness in there by the end of that stretch.

While the middle section of the schedule is fairly difficult, the end of the season looks to be pretty easy (on paper, of course). Michigan closes the season by playing LSSU and UNO in series at Yost, Ohio State on the road, and the usual season-ending home-and-home with Ferris.

The western regionals this year are in Minneapolis (Mariucci, not XCel) and Grand Rapids.

The roster for the USA World Junior Championships try-out camp has been released (Word document) and there are--fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint--a lot of familiar faces on the list. Amongst the 18 defensemen and 30 forwards attending the camp are: Scooter Vaughan, Robbie Czarnik, David Wohlberg, Matt Rust, and Aaron Palushaj. If I had to bet right now, I'd say Rust and Palushaj will be our only losses for the GLI. I didn't realize Pacioretty was too old, but that definitely is a plus for the Wolverines.

Draft Stuff:
USA Today has Brandon Burlon going 19th overall to Columbus.

TSN isn't quite as high on Burlon, ranking him 42nd overall. They compare him to Adrian Aucoin. The CSB ranked him #41, ISS has him 52nd, Red Line 21st, Bob McKenzie has him 59th and THN ranks him 58th.

Robbie Czarnik is listed as an Honourable (sic) Mention on TSN's page, which puts him in the 61-75 range. His rankings (in the same order as listed above for Burlon) are: 88, 32, 80, 97, 57. Seems like people are all over the board on him.

Luke Glendening to Walk-On at Michigan

The 2008 recruiting class has a fifth member: Hotchkiss Prep's Luke Glendening. Per MGoBlue.com, he had eight goals and 20 assists in 24 games this season. He had both goals for the Bearcats in their championship win in the Flood-Marr Tournament.

There are two Michigan connections here: Glendening is from East Grand Rapids and was on Michigan Hockey Online's Division III Second Team in 2007. Also, his Hotchkiss teammate, Mac Bennett, is slated to become a Wolverine in 2010. Speaking of Bennett, Gatineau took a flier on him in the 12th round of the QMJHL Draft.

Assistant Coach Billy Powers called Glendening "an intelligent centerman who is strong physically and plays with an edge." He is 5'10", 185.

Pateryn's In...Who's Out?

Nice find--or horrible find, depending on how you look at it--by mgoblog. In an interview with WDAY, Dean Blais, coach of Fargo's USHL team, said that Greg Pateryn will not be joining the Force next year because he is headed to the University of Michigan. Apparently as of three weeks ago, the plan was for Pateryn to head to Fargo, but Red Berenson called him last week and said one of his players "got in trouble academically," opening the door for Pateryn to come in.

Now the waiting game begins. Who won't be coming back? I guess it wouldn't be the off-season without a random defection...

Update: It sounds as if bringing Pateryn in is more precautionary than anything. I would imagine that with Mitera, Kampfer, Vaughan, Llewellyn, Langlais, Burlon and Pateryn in the fold, Chris Summers will be playing forward more often than not. I'm excited about the idea of seeing #4 streaking down the wing again.

NHL Draft Profiles of Burlon and Czarnik

The NHL's official draft site is slowly but surely releasing profiles of the players that will be available in this month's NHL Draft. They've added profiles and scouting reports for Brandon Burlon and Robbie Czarnik.

Highlights:
-Czarnik patterns his game after Ales Hemsky and his nickname is "Bob Z" which I think is pretty funny.
-Czarnik's best friend is his future Michigan teammate, David Wohlberg.
-Central Scouting said the following about Czarnik:

“Robbie competes hard, plays with a lot of energy and back checks with authority. Has a tendency to be too aggressive on the puck which puts him out of position. He skates well, has a good wrist shot, but needs to improve on his puckhandling ability.”

-Burlon likes to be the last player to put his helmet on, leave the locker room, and leave the ice.
-Central Scouting said the following:

“He’s not an overly big defenseman, but he has really good mobility and a good shot from the point. He jumps up into the rush well, but needs to improve on his defensive reliability. He played in a really small rink this year and was still able to move the puck quickly and well. Puck-skill wise, he’s good, and as he moves up, his decision-making will improve.”

-Burlon's coach chimed in as well:

“Brandon is a highly mobile defenseman with deceptive speed. His strengths include a pro shot and the ability to get it off quickly, especially one-timers. He has good vision on the ice and plays a controlled and composed game. Areas of improvement and growth include his physical play and decision-making of when to join the rush. He battles hard, is a fierce competitor and is extremely good at running a power-play.”

I usually get a kick out of reading the draft profiles because I like seeing who these kids idolized growing up and sometimes there's some goofy stuff in there.
-The best signature shootout move was Drew Doughty's: "Backhand, forehand, cheese"
-Tyler Ennis's "first career goal" was scored into his own net. Ditto for Patrick Wiercioch.
-Jared Staal's best advice comes from his older brothers: "Seriously dude, [Screw] the police." I'm surprised they printed that.
-Kelsey Tessier patterns his game after ex-Wolverine Michael Cammalleri. Mathieu Brodeur patterns his after Mike Komisarek.
-Future Terrier Corey Trivino wears #10 because of Diego Maradona. That's gotta be a first in hockey.
-Mike Fisher isn't just popular amongst kids coming to Michigan.
-Alright, I made up that one about Jared Staal.
-Nick Larson patterns his game after Mike Modano and Tomas Holmstrom. Hopefully he patterns his skating after the former.
-It amazes me how many players still list Steve Yzerman as their idol or wear #19 because of him. Pretty cool.