UNDhockey22

The NAHL has taken a complete 180 in the last two years. Don't expect to see 10 players names on WCHA teams from the NAHL next year. Because like any transition, it takes time. The point I am making is that the NAHL and USHL leagues gap is narrowing. Not that it has narrowed, and that recruiting from both leagues is equal at this point in time. If you look at the USHL college commitment list you see many players going to the same colleges that NAHL players sign to (Quinnipiac, Bemdji, Ferris State, Bowling Green, UConn, Niagra, Holy Cross, Merrimack). What does this mean? It means many players in the NAHL and USHL could cross over leagues and have similar success. For now, (and maybe forever, I cannot predict the future) the blue chip prospects play in the USHL. Those are the players that separate the USHL and NAHL. When highly I hear that highly recruited D-1 players are taking there game to the NAHL, that leads me to believe that some players in the future will follow suit (Robby Phillip, Kai Kantola (also on NHL central scouting), Justin Johnson, Nick Biondo, Jacob Cepis, Kurt Kivisto, Patrick Shafer, Matt Jolly all playing for "top notch" d-1 schools.). Those players listed previously are only a portion of the players either recruited, or playing for big name d-1 schools. I only used players from the 2005-2006 season and 2006-2007 season (that recruiting season is not over) and the number of players going to traditionally strong hockey schools is nearly four times that of the previous season. If Minnesota was not comfortable recruiting Brian Shack from Southern Minnesota, they would not have done so. If UND did not feel Robby Phillip would develop as well in the NAHL as he would in the USHL they would have advised him to play for the team that drafted him.

Very interesting. Does anyone know if he will be eligible to play varsity this season? Or will he have to wait until next year? 35-2 in favor of Red River. Just kidding. I think it will be a two goal game. I just don't know who's going to win.

Thank you skateshattrick.

Matt Moreland who had a roster spot on UND this year had it not been for academic reasons was told to play in Fargo of the NAHL. Robby Phillip who is recruited by UND was told to play in Fargo of the NAHL. Brian Shack of the University of Minnesota played in the NAHL. Obviously, at this point in time not as many NAHL players have commited to high quality college programs as the USHL. When you say "Will it improve? maybe, but no for sures on that." you are anything but on the mark. If you have ever watched an NAHL game today, compared to one in previous years it is very apparent that the quality of player has gone up dramatically. The quality of play has improved so much that division one powerhouses like Minnesota and UND feel comfortable taking players from that league. A practice that would not have been done a couple years ago. Why would Phil Fox who is from Stillwater, MN leave the USHL and come back to the NAHL. Is he homesick? No he is from Stillwater, not Fargo. In any case at that age many of ones friends move away for college, so moving back to your hometown (if there was a NAHL team there) would not help you if you missed your friends. Not everyones hometown has a USHL team or an NAHL team so the theory of players moving back to the NAHL because they are homesick does not really stick. Besides many of these players are very committed to development and want to do whats best for that, despite being homesick or missing friends.

I have said two or three times that Danny Wurden is being recruited by UND. Maybe if you would read my posts rather than critique what you disagree with you would learn something. SportsDoc- The NAHL is known for being a league for older players, while the USHL is for younger players, with more potential. The NAHL is narrowing the gap in the two leagues because the USHL is taking players younger and younger. The older, maybe stronger players in the NAHL will be able to combat the skill of the younger USHL guys in some cases. Politics does play a role in Jr. A hockey. But in the case of the players from North Dakota making NAHL teams because of the team is trying to draw fans (I think that is the point you are trying to make) does not stick. Marc Mihulka is having a great season as far as a rookie goes with 8 goals and 7 assists. He has played in 32 games. Marc Harrie was having a very good start to his Jr. career before being injured, he has 6 points in 8 games this season. Grant Larson is the only player who did not produce to expectation although he was good enough to appear in 21 games this year. The fact of the matter is that NAHL players and the NAHL in general is increasing its talent level dramatically. Many players who are in the NAHL are good enough to play in the USHL but are passed over for a player who is younger, with the same talent level. Kai Kantola of the FM Jets was placed on the NHL central scouting list last season, the only player in the NAHL on that list. I believe this is a sign of things to come. With more and more NAHL players recruited to play at the division one level I believe it is only reasonable to consider that league "top notch hockey". The difference between many USHL players and NAHL players is minimal. I could go on and on naming players who started in the NAHL and moved on to the USHL or started in the USHL and came back to NAHL. Phil Fox of the FM Jets started last year in the USHL notching 5 points in 5 games, and still with that success he decided to come back and play with Fargo of the NAHL.

Common knowledge is what I use. How many players are recruited to play Division one hockey while they are still in high school in North Dakota? Not very many. This year I have only heard of two. Last year, I do not believe any players were highly recruited to play D-1 while still in high school. Maybe Paul Weisgarber and Erick Galt were, but I have not heard of such things. The point is, if I have heard from multiple sources there is a player in North Dakota being recruited to play for one of the best college hockey teams in the nation, it is going to lead me to believe that there are no other players in the state who are on his level at this point in time. I was told in a previous post that Herbel has played on various select teams in the past. If that is the case, that is another reason for me to believe he is not on the same level of the best player in the state. Why you ask? Because to my knowledge he was never chosen to attend the National Select festival. It would be just like if three years ago someone associated with the Rimouski Oceanic were to say that Sidney Crosby is better than Jake Marto, without yet seeing Marto play (This was never said, just an example). Although they have not seen Marto play, the play of Crosby was so spectacular and he was so highly regarded by scouts that it was apparent that Crosby is in fact the better player. Many of the conclusions I draw are because of the intensity a player is being scouted. There are many players who are recruited to play in the NAHL and never make it or do not crack the roster. This is still not an attack on Herbel, just a fact. Andrew Peterson and Nick Klenow were both recruited to play in the NAHL and neither player was able to prove themselves. Not a knock on them either. But when a player is recruited by various teams, in various leagues it is usually obvious that they will have some sort of success at the next level.

I never implied Herbel was a bad player. That was not the case at all. I implied he is not near the same level as the best player in the state, which was the post that I replied to. Had the post said Eric Herbel may be one of the best players in the state, I would have nothing to say at all. The USHL has been the dominant Jr. league in the United States for a long time. However, when it comes to comparing the two leagues I think you're still living in 1990's and early 2000's. Recently the FM Jets played the NTDP to a score of 5-1 with an empty net goal being scored on them in the final seconds of the game. So I'm going to assume USA would not have scored again if not for the empty net. The score of the game was 4-1 then. The night before that NTDP lost to UND by a score of 5-4 in overtime. A game that was mostly dominated by the USA. Team USA beat Lake Superior State to a similar score of that of the Jets as it was 3-1. My point is the NAHL is not as far off the USHL as you may think. More and more players from the NAHL are being recruited to play for bigger name D-1 schools. Matt Moreland apparently had a roster spot with UND but was ineligible due to academic reasons (too many credits, something of that nature). Robby Phillip of the FM Jets is actively recruited to play for UND, and I believe was told it was best for him to play with the Jets instead of the USHL team that drafted him and gaurenteed him a spot on the second line. Brian Shack who plays for arguably the best team in college hockey today played for Southern Minnesota in the NAHL last season. For now, the USHL is still the most elite Jr. league in America. That is why I listed the players in the NAHL along with those in the USHL, because sometimes a player may transfer from the NAHL to the USHL after a season of NAHL play (Rody Selk, Ryan Cramer).

If you would search this site for everyone of my posts, rarely, if ever have I said a player is bad. Also, by reading some of those posts I have written you would understand that everything you have said in your previous post are things that I have actually already stated myself, or it would be apparent that there are things I already know. I believe Fargo South and Red River have multiple good players on their team. However, there are good players around the state. Other players I have mentioned in other posts include Michael Hillman, Zach Welding, Kyle Everson, Tanner Bombenger, Tyler Klein, Alex Simonson, Nathan Stremick and maybe others. I believe the best player in the state is probably Danny Wurden. Not because he plays for Fargo South. But because he had a great Elite League campaign, attended National Select festivals, and is recruited by USHL, NAHL, and WCHA teams. I believe the post about Herbel said "I believe Herbel is as good as any player in the state". Not that he should be considered one of the top players in the state (which may be true). You claim that I said Mr. Herbel was bad because he is on a bad team. If you can find in anyone of my posts where I said that you can write me a personal message with your name and address and I will send you $500 cash. I never said Herbel was a bad player. I said it was unrealistic to believe he is an equal player to the best player in the state. The gap between the USHL and NAHL is narrowing because players in the NAHL are generally older than those in the USHL. The theory there is a stronger maybe more matured NAHL team would be able to keep up with they younger more skilled USHL guys. Is this true? Maybe. The reason for that is I'm going to include NAHL players in the "I would be surprised if the number is greater than 5" statement you made. Jordan Willert (Tri-City Storm USHL) Mario Lamoureux (Tri-City Storm USHL) Paul Weisgarber (Waterloo Blackhawks USHL) Andy Dittus (Green Bay USHL) Tyler Jundt (Green Bay USHL) Grant Larson (FM Jets NAHL) Marc Mihulka (FM Jets NAHL) Marc Harrie (FM Jets NAHL) Alex Olson (Bismarck NAHL) Parker Metz (Senior in high school, plays before and after with FM Jets NAHL) That's ten players who played High School hockey in North Dakota last year, or were eligible to play High School hockey in North Dakota but opted to play elsewhere. Surprised? Next time you want to debate things I did or in this case did not say do some research on things I have actually said in this message board.

I posted as I saw fit. However, just for the sake of being a team player I'll rephrase it for you. "Until you can make a claim that is anywhere near realistic, please consider keeping it to yourself, that way people won't question your thought process.

If that was the case then what you are saying is either that Eric Meland is so much more superior to Tyler that by playing hockey in the summer Tyler was unable to catch the skill level of Meland (ridiculous), or that Tyler has surpassed the skill level of Eric Meland because he played more hockey in the summer and the reason Meland has more points than Tyler now is because of the strength of his team. Because if your theory was true, then once the Elite league started neither player would significantly improve more than one another and the gap between the two would stay the same. If Eric Meland was in fact a superior player to Tyler Klein you would think in a 10 week long season he would have been able to shake off the dust after maybe two weeks at the most and prove to everyone that he was in fact a better player than Klein. The point I'm trying to make is not that Tyler Klein is a better hockey player than Eric Meland. My point is that maybe he is. Because when both players, placed on the same team, did not perform on similar levels.

The extent of which you are taking playing other sports to improve your game is ridiculous. It is a fact that any sports specific hockey trainer will tell you that playing another sport will help improve your overall athleticism which will in turn improve parts of your game. Obviously, playing baseball will not increase your on ice vision. But, it may increase your shot power, as baseball requires wrist strength to snap the bat at the end of your swing. Playing soccer may not make you a better puckhandler, but it may improve your first step quickness because almost all battles in soccer are won and lost in a short sprint. Also what playing another sport does is gives you time away from the rink and to realize how much you miss being on the ice. It makes you hungry. If there was any credible data that suggested playing only one sport was the best for your development we all would have heard of it by now. But we have not heard that, because that is not the case. NDPride has posted on here long enough to where it should be apparent that he isn't going to pull this kind of ideology from the clear blue sky. Growing up Wayne Gretzky was a multi-sport athlete himself. He played hockey, football, baseball, lacrosse, and also ran track. Maybe it was because of his participation in other sports that limited his development and was detrimental to his improvement...

Having the speed is one thing. But the ability to handle the puck with the speed, thats another thing entirely.

If you've ever played hockey at a competitive level, or even played close attention to how great players handle the puck and the way at moves on the blade the way this young man handles the puck is very impressive. Although a few of those moves are simply for show and would be unreliable in the game, it is still a good testimony to the capabilities of the kid. Very impressive.

Haha out of all people I wouldn't have expected that to slip from his mouth. Oh well, he's young and you can certainly tell he was overcome with emotion. I think the look on his face when he realizes what he said is priceless.

Tyler Klein also plays baseball but not legion baseball. To my knowledge he only participated in two hockey camps, one which was only 3 days long held at Bowling Green University, and the other the camp which is run by the Fargo North High School coach's. I find it hard to believe Tyler gained a significant advantage over Eric by participating in those events. Also, the Elite 1 schedule is a fairly long schedule. Definitly long enough for a player to shake off any dust he may have had from time off in the summer. Maybe if Eric played soccer or football during the Elite 1 season and had his mind on those things at the same time I would find your point credible. You're main point to support that Meland is better than Klein is that Meland has more points this year. The difficulty with that is, Meland plays on a stronger team (If you read my previous posts you can see how the strength of one's teams can correlate to more scoring opportunity). When Meland and Klein played on the same team, Klein outscored Meland 21-7. Now if you want to provide a reasonable argument to why Tyler had more points than Eric in that season you could say that maybe Tyler played with stronger players. Which could be true. However, in many instances teams top lines are composed of the top players. So if Tyler was in fact playing with better players than Eric, it was because the coaching staff believed that Tyler was a superior player to Eric. Now if you want to take up an argument with them, be my guest.

Why is it so difficult for people on this message board to keep their vision from clouding because they are friends with or tied to a certain player or team in this state. If Eric Herbel was in fact as good as any player in the state he would have been recruited to play for high school elite team, scouted by college division one hockey teams and various jr. leagues throughout the Nation. If that is in fact the case, provide such information. But until you can make a claim that is anywhere near credible, please, keep it to yourself.

Maybe I should have put it in bold where I said the coaches in the High School elite league chose Tyler Klein over Eric Meland. Klein had a 21 points in his campaign while Meland netted 7. To say placing Klein over Meland is a joke is a gross misrepresentation of the skill level of this young man. Eric Meland is a great hockey player, don't get me wrong. But too many people on this message board are so high and mighty on certain players that they consider everyone else unworthy of carrying there jockstrap.

Eric Meland has 24 points, Danny Wurden has 21 points, Zach Miller has 24 points; If you add 21 and 24 the total is 43. I believe 43 is greater than 24 but there is a small possibility I am wrong. Eric Herbel has 31 points which is also a greater total than that of Meland. It would be great if the statements you posted on this board were fact and not something created in imagination. I have pulled all my information from Bob Gillens site so I am assuming those are fairly close to the correct totals. I'm not sure what button you hit on your calculator that told when you add 21 and 24 you get a number less than 24... Danny Wurden is a defensman not a forward. He is highly recruited by the WCHA, the USHL, and the FM Jets. There is also talk of him being drafted into the NHL (how true this is, I'm not sure). When Eric Meland has success on that kind of level, we will compare him to Wurden. Apparently you are a hockey guru. If that statement holds true, tell Coach Malm to put two JV players on Melands line. The depth of the team will then increase and the success of the team should actually increase too. Because if what you are saying is true two JV players could actually outscore Meland (24 points) if they were put on his line (30 points as stated above). I'm suprised Coach Malm has yet to think of that. Maybe you should have a sit down with the athletic director at Red River and express your feelings of superiority to them...

I agree. Although the quality of high school hockey in North Dakota may be down, there are still other players that deserve recognition. At this point in time I am not really cheering for any team so I feel I can fairly compare these players without my vision being clouded by personal feelings. I believe Tyler Klein and Danny Wurden were the two North Dakota players chosen to play in the All-Star team composed of players from every team in the Elite league. Parker Metz of Fargo South began the season with the FM Jets and was familiar face in the line-up. Michael Hillman was highly recruited by the Bismarck Bobcats, and Kyle Everson of DL has turned heads proving that he should at least be mentioned when this topic arises. Ian Powers finished 7th in scoring on the Elite 1 team above Eric Meland who finished 16th. Tyler Swanson has also proven to be a great player having success with various select teams and at the National festival.

I'll address one issue at a time because I was a little lost in your post. How do teams score goals? Well obviously, they put shots on goal. Almost every goal scored in every league in the world comes from inside the blue line. Now you're probably ask well what does this have to do with point production of certain players on certain teams? Everything. I think everyone will agree with me that the best teams in the state have a pretty solid core of defensemen. If a team only has one or two defenseman who are skilled enough to keep the puck in the zone, and do something productive with the puck at that, scoring opportunities will greatly decrease, obviously, because the puck will leave the offensive zone and the attacking team will have to leave the zone and completely re-group. With an offense like this you are relying solely on the ability of the three forwards on the ice to create a mismatch opportunity where they can expose a weakness in a team and create an oddman rush. If you want to believe that having players like Erick Galt, Danny Wurden, Ryan Ladaucer (sp), Tyler Jundt, Tyler Swanson on your blue line are not going to help increase the point production of your forwards, your view of the game of hockey is extremely eschew. With that said, the higher quality of players you have on your roster, the easier it will be for you to keep the puck in the offensive zone, therefore you will score more goals. In theory, the more time you have on the ice, the more opportunities to score you will have. Which in some cases may be true. But if you have only one other player around you that is quality enough to help generate offense, it does not many how many minutes of playing time you are given. Because every minute you are on the ice you will essentially be shorthanded as far as creating goal scoring opportunities goes. I don't think in all honesty that you believe had Paul Weisgarber played with Zach Flaig and Alex Kaiser of Jamestown last season he would have still led the state in scoring. My point was not what players would make what teams had they tried out for those teams. Again, it seems like your over-zealous pride of you alma mater clouded your vision to see a relevant point rather than your belief that I was saying many players from other teams were good enough to play for Red River or South. I used Red River and South as an example because they were clearly the top two teams in the state last season and had certain players on those teams not had the privilege of playing with such quality players their point production would have almost certainly decreased. This is not a hit to those players or anyone, just a matter of fact, and how the game of hockey works.

Devils Lake may not be a contender to take 1st or 2nd in the EDC race. We can all agree on that. But come the time in the EDC or state tournements any team can win on any given day (exception to maybe Wahpeton and Shanley this year). With that being said, I highly doubt come tournement time that either South or Red River will overlook Devils Lake, so I don't think it's very reasonable for anyone else to overlook them.

Before everyone counts Devils Lake out I would like to remind you that Grafton lost to Jamestown in Jamestown last year. Grafton was top four in the East last year. There is no definite top four this year in the EDC and it is very irrational to judge the success of the first half of a teams season on one game against a team that is known for knocking off teams that have more quality players than they do. 1. South 1. Red River 3. Grafton 4. DL 4. North 5. Central?

You make a very good point. Why waste a game of your high school season on someone like Dillon Kraft? Unfortunatly, many high school kids do not think that rationally, as shown by the actions of Dillon Kraft. That is the reason why many believe in certain situations even in high school hockey providing the right atmosphere something could have escalated after that celebration into a penalty worthy of a game ejection. The following statement may or may not be true but it is logical reasoning to why some may believe hockey in the East is more physical to that of hockey in the West... The first thing you need to do is look at what are the characteristics that make it such that we can consider them a "physical" team. Well, first I'll tell you that my definition as a physical team does not include teams that violate the rules of the game in trying to play a physical game. So put all your views of slashes and hits after the whistle away. With that said, how is a player able to play an effective physical game without violating the rules of the game. To play physical you have to have good balance, strength, body control, and good core strength. At the same time, you have to be fast enough to keep up with the player you will be making contact with and/or to finish your checks in the alotted time period after a pass is made or the puck is dumped into the zone. A physical team is able to do these things and has the discipline to do them legally. On that note, when a team from the West plays a team from the East it may appear as though the team from the East is far more physical. Why do you ask? Because the teams in the East are stronger skaters than most in the West, a fact that is proven by the success in the state tournement by Eastern teams. So the opportunity for a player from the West to make contact to someone from the East is largely decreased because of the difference in speed.

According to the stats posted on Bob Gillens website, Dillon Kraft has 1 goal and 1 assist in 8 games. In the event those stats are incorrect and he actually does have 2 goals in 8 games, it would still be a very fortunate coincidence on Mr. Krafts behalf that he score a goal on the game he brings along his sharpie. I'm glad we can all move on from this point now that we know the situation was handled by the coach.

I find it very hard to believe the one game he has a sharpie hidden in his breezers he scores his only goal of the year. That just doesn't add up.