nascar99

Bold move considering he probably needed another year of junior and going to the O to play for Kitchener would have been a good challenge for him

As expected, Sam Pandolfo (2009, NTDP, Winchester MA) commits to Boston University.

Mild deviation from what I expected. Would have thought Sears would have gone to Boston University with Meyer and Pandolfo. Now we await to see if Rocco Pelosi ends up at Boston College as most expect.

The problem with NCAA Hockey not being super popular nationally is that all the newbies who dive in to cover something NCAA related are coming from a very NHL biased/slanted perspective, so you get lists like these that don't make a ton of sense, especially considering that older veterans are quite often more impactful than 18 or 19 year old freshmen.

Braden Horton (2009, NTDP, Souderton PA) commits to Penn State

You just knew as time went on that he was less & less likely to commit to North Dakota and more & more likely to commit to somewhere like Denver. Agh

He'll probably sign his ELC, recover, and go back to the Q and stat pad when he gets healthy

Will Zellers on Bruins Beat to talk about his hockey journey:

Isn't Harper's brother still committed to Michigan (for now)? Would think that's where he'd be leaning

Michael Tang (2009, dual citizen, Toronto Ontario, Madison Capitols, USHL) commits to Harvard. Interested to see how he does in junior this year

He's said on multiple occasions that St Cloud State University was in bad shape financially & enrollment had gone down, putting their hockey program in a much worse state, but he hasn't brought it up in a year or year plus.

Sluys and Cowan are the only freshmen that I expect to have big time impact right off the bat for the Broncos

Thibodeau is essentially Canadian, only born in Charleston South Carolina, grew up entirely in Kitchener Ontario where he played his minor hockey, basically using the same loophole that Emery did to play for the NTDP. I think Notre Dame will be a bigger player in recruiting Ontario, battling with Michigan, Michigan State, Boston University, Penn State, and sometimes Boston College. Sheahan is Canadian, from Lethbridge Alberta, so would imagine he has far more minor & junior hockey connections throughout the country than a lot coaches.

Jackson had a very specific niche of players he had recruited, didn't land the high end 4 stars and 5 stars often if ever. Sheahan, with his experience with the Chicago Steel when they turned into a wagon, is likely a much more aggressive & persistent recruiter who appeals to younger guys. Would think their budget helps some.

2025-26 U17 NTDP Commits as of 8/11: Cannon Thibodeau - Notre Dame Nate Chizik - Notre Dame Diego Gutierrez - Notre Dame Jake Boguniecki - Boston College Carter Meyer - Boston University

Williams is a borderline 1st rounder at current moment. Carels, Lin, DuPont, Preston, Rudolph, or a high end OHLer or QMJHLer out of nowhere would be nice to add too.

To use a simplified analogy, the blue chippers that commit early, but are only around for 1-2 years are the Corvette, Mustang, Porsche types of the hockey world: incredibly sexy, worth the hype, fun to have for a period of time, but aren't all weather, all situation type of vehicles. The 3-4 year culture guys who have talent are the F-150 and Silverado types of the hockey world: not super sexy & don't always get early attention, but durable, all situation/weather type vehicles & get the job done. To win National Championships, you need those F-150s and Silverados in your lineup, which the NCHC typically has more of compared to the B1G & Hockey East. I do think the dynamic will shift a bit, who knows how much, with CHLers now NCAA eligible.

Hayden Harsanyi (2007, WHL, Saskatoon Blades) commits to Colorado College. Tigers really doing work in the Dub, really interested to see how their build turns out in a few years.

"Generational run" lmfao. He's picked up some nice recruits after the previous 12 months which was the worst calendar year of recruiting in Minnesota Men's Hockey history. While every fanbase is guilty of overreacting to commits and overhyping said commits, I do find it pretty hilarious that Goofers fans don't put more pressure on Motzko & co to actually win a National Title, the only thing that matters, which they haven't won since 2003.

Brooks Cullen is a nothing burger, he's just depth guy they needed to get to get Wyatt & maybe Joey down the road. Conboy and Jarvis are low end 4 stars, we'll see what they do in junior this year, Wyatt Cullen is a high end 4 star, he has legitimate low end 5 star upside.

Mood this morning

Correct, still unlikely they win a National Championship with their current roster formula of 90%+ Minnesotans. But they're getting some solid recruits in this cycle plus Carter Casey from the end of the previous cycle.

Luca Jarvis (2008, Stillwater MN, USHL, Youngstown Phantoms) commits to Minnesota. Motzko & the Gophers are back in terms of recruiting

And 3 still uncommitted from the 2008s: Dayne Beuker (serious UND target), Luke Carrithers, and Brady Knowling