I Ranger

I would guess this is more of a Panzarella replacement than anything else. Just a lower scholarship d-men to cover against potential early departures. It wouldn't surprise me if we are still after another top notch D recruit that could possible come in next year.

I would say switch out Sanderson for St Clair and I like the lineup. I was not impressed with Sanderson in the exhibition but I figured he would be in the lineup tonight based on the comments Hak made after the game. I like St Clair due to his intensity and PK abilities.

For Dish customers, the game is on Saturday.

I just thought his hands and feet looked a little clumsy but that is to be expected in your first college game. I think he will settle in nicely.

Fixed your post.

I agree with this lineup. I like St Clair as a 4th line center due to his aggressiveness and PK abilities. I agree with most that Poolman looked green last night and looked to have some troubles with his feet. He will no doubt get better but I think he is the odd man out at D after last night. I could see Olson sneaking in somewhere but it's hard for me to say since I have never seen the kid play. My guess would be with Pattyn and Gaarder. I don't see Sanderson staying in the lineup. I thought he seemed a step or two slow on most plays last night. There are just too many better options especially if it's between him and St. Clair.

I think these are pretty spot on all the way through. Lots are speculating LaDue jumping up to play with Schmaltz on that top pair but the way you have it here is the way I see it. This has a lefty/righty combo throughout the D-pairs which I would think is something the coaches would like to keep.

Just saw that Heisenberg had him off his list. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean its accurate though.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before or not but it looks like Charlie Pelnik isn't a commit anymore. Not a big surprise by any means. Another tale of an extremely early commit that didn't work out.

He's always been a guy I've wondered about whether or not we are interested in.

Zach Parise was the best college player I have seen live with my own eyes. I know lots of people always say Toews but I'm sorry from day one as a freshman Parise was the best player on the ice. It took Toews a while to adjust to the college game as a young (17 years old) freshman whereas Parise took the college game by storm from day 1. I think many people judge Toews based on what he is now which is one of, if not the best player in the world. For my money in college, I will take Parise.

He and Ausmus were alternating most weekends one playing Friday and the other Saturday but towards the end of the year Ausmus was dinged and Thompson made the most of his opportunity and ran with it. I am not saying Thompson wouldn't have played at all if it wasn't for the injury by any means as like I said they were rotating most of the season. I think Thompson may have come the farthest from start to finish as any freshman I have ever seen. He looked lost at the beginning of the year and even in the game against the US National Development Team. He made huge strides and I am hoping he can make another big jump this year.

We had 8 d-men on the roster last year and will so again this year. Don't forget about Panzarella. I agree though that injuries are the great equalizer. Thompson doesn't get his chance to run with the 6th d spot last year without Ausmus getting dinged up a bit.

Any rumors on the recruiting front? Been pretty slow around here. I seem to recall in previous years that a few commitments usually come right after the U16 and U17 championships which just finished this past weekend.

Sounds like Garrett Wait from Edina had a breakout week at the festival. I wonder if there is any interest in him? Or will he take the Edina route to Notre Dame like quite a few have recently?

I would like to see a line of Pattyn-St.Clair-Gaarder as a third line that can grind it out and be able to play against other teams top lines as a shut down line. I think we have missed having a solid experienced shut-down line recently that can eat up minutes against other teams top lines and conserve our top two scoring lines energy.

If that is the case, I agree with not making an offer. I never wanted them to offer him unless they got him for under market value anyway. I think someone is going to way overpay for him and be stuck with a bad long-term contract.

Niskanen was back in Virginia a couple weeks back and said he would like to play in Minnesota and would be willing to take less money to do so but money talks and I can see him taking the biggest offer as well.

And pounded BC in the NCAA's that year as well. The one time BC actually had to get on a plane.

I'm thinking the Gersich acceleration might just be the reason we haven't heard as of yet.

He should actually be lined up to play quite a bit I would imagine right away. We will lose Mattson and Panzarella for sure and probably Schmaltz. This would leave us with 5 D returning and Chartrand and himself coming in for sure. I think he would be pegged for that 6th D spot. If it was this coming year, than yes I don't think he would see much icetime. Shaw, Evers and Pelnik are also possibilities but I see them playing another year of juniors.

I believe it was actually the year prior to that when Porter wore the C and Fabian, Kaip and Toews wore the A's.

You could put one of these (*) by Pelnik as well.

I heard a while back after Spirko left that they wanted to get away from the European recruits(not like we've had many as Spirko is the only one I recall) even though Spirko was a good player here. I believe he got homesick and left after only two seasons. I am not sure exactly why but I would guess clearinghouse issues and other difficulties.

I really would like to know how much his knee injury and surgery causing him to miss almost all his true freshman year set him back. I think it has had a major effect. I had a friend who played at a hockey east school and they played against Rocco and the USDT and he said Rocco was far and away the best player on the ice as a 17 year old. He didn't live up to expectations here but I wish him the best going forward.