Chris

Forbort will definitely be a '10 recruit. Nelson is interesting because they may have to move him up to 2010 too if he ends up getting drafted high enough, and that probably takes a spot away from someone else.

Maybe George should have pointed out that Sioux fans struggle with self-awareness too.

I'm sure Hakstol did a wonderful job recruiting him during that five minute period between breaking it off with CC and committing to UND.

I can't say for sure, but I know he's really lacking in strength. I think he struggled with the more physical North American style of play even at the AAA level Shattuck plays at where there's not as much hitting. If he had gone undrafted, and then done well in Omaha next season, he probably would have gone higher in the draft. Kind of similar to Fallstrom, who put on a lot of muscle between his junior and senior seasons and ended up getting drafted the second time around. There was a shady trade between Toronto and Tampa at the deadline where a team was trying to buy cap space or something, and the league slapped Toronto's wrist by making them forfeit a pick. I talked with somebody today about why Mattson didn't get drafted and it wasn't a physical issue or anything. There were some bad habits he showed out on the ice that were enough to make them pass. Not that I necessarily agree with that, but if he has a better year next season, he'll probably get drafted. I think Forbort is the only one out of those guys that has first round potential. I really like the O'Donnell kid and think he has the talent to go pretty high. Mattson, I don't see being taken as high. I don't know anything about Parks. Matt White will probably get drafted too. But all of this is very contingent on how these guys play next year.

Next year's cutoff date is January 1, 1990, so Fink and Rodwell would be eligible and Rowney and Dell wouldn't.

It's not really a D-I recruiting ground. I think they send some players to the D-III ranks, but I don't think they've ever sent a player directly to D-I. Occasionally you'll get the young player that plays in the league due to proximity, but they go on to bigger and better things. Probably the most known player from that league would be Tyler Johnson, who had a breakout year for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL last year, and is one of the league's better players this year. A better prospect out of that league worth looking at would be Mitchell Fowler from Couer d'Alene. He's a '93 birthdate that is leading his team in scoring. He's not a very big kid, but knows how to put the puck in the net. Tanner Mort is another '93 on that team that is a pretty decent player. Travis Belohrad is a '91 that tried out for the Sioux Falls Stampede a couple times and is a decent player. I can't recognize too many other names other than Dave Liegakos, who was a good defenseman for Elk River HS last year, and Jayce Douskey, who was supposed to be one of the better '92 forwards in the US, but signed with the WHL last year, and obviously hasn't done much since.

http://hselite.pucksystems.com/page/show/46933-boys-league Rosters are on the sidebar.

Danny Mattson is in this summer's draft. Nick Mattson and Derek Forbort will be in the 2010 draft. It's way too early for any kind of reliable 2010 draft projections.

Stephen Hickey is the son of former NHLer Pat Hickey: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=2267 Pretty sure there is no relation to Thomas Hickey.

St. Croix signed with Edmonton today.

Even though these are the few high school games most fans watch, it's important to remember that it's just another game in the eyes of college coaches out of many, many games.

He's playing Midget hockey in the AYHL for the Valley Forge Minuteman, where he's been the top goalie in the league. I think it's just a matter of goalies being on a little different timetable than skaters. There's a few '90 goalies playing junior hockey this year, and (pretty much)no '91 birthdates. I'd imagine you'll see him playing junior hockey next year or the year after.

It's a really weak year for goalies in Minnesota. Phillippi might play somewhere in college, but he'll have to go to juniors for a couple years first.

Pat's brother, John, is J-P's father. John LaFontaine is a pretty good hockey coach, and he was hired at Shattuck this summer, which is why J-P is playing there now. He also has a daughter in the 8th grade at Shattuck. Jean-Paul is a talented player but it will probably be a while before you start hearing about him receiving really serious college interest.

One way or another he was going to end up with some older Canadiens.

That's Marshall Everson, a junior who committed to Harvard. His younger brother Max is a freshmen defenseman. I guess he's more of a stay-at-home type, so they've had success pairing him with Joe Gleason this year.

Anders Lee is going to play football next fall, and see what kinds of offers he gets before deciding between football and hockey. Edina has a lot of other kids that could be on the WCHA-radar, but are all still in 'wait-and-see' mode. Starting with the oldest, I've never been blown away by goalie Derek Caschetta, but it's a very weak year for goalies. Maybe he'll go to juniors and really impress somebody. Some people rave about Matt Leer, though he's never blown me away. He's a big power forward though that could have a future. Conor Gaarder will probably get an offer somewhere. I like the two junior D Brendan Baker and Patrick Regan. They're both good prospects. I've heard good things about sophomore Charlie Taft, but it's probably too early to tell. I also really like sophomore D David Jarrett. They've got a good freshman D in Max Everson too.

Yeah, I don't think you'll see him at a North Dakota or Minnesota, but if he wanted to come to Mankato for 2010, I'd take him in a heartbeat.

Skill-wise, Landman may not be the next big recruiting target, but I'd definitely take him on my team. You can't teach heart and character, and that kid has a ton of it. Oliver isn't flashy and thus I don't think he stands out as much at the high school level, but I think he'll look better as he moves up in the hockey world. He was great at Tri-City's camp last summer, and I'm pretty sure he was offered a spot on the team if he had wanted it. There's only like three or four '91 forwards playing in the USHL this year, so that's a high honor.

Yep, he definitely committed to UND.

I'm about 90% sure it's true.

He certainly doesn't shy away from taking the body, but I think his game is based more off of his skating ability. The age difference varies. Merrill was born in '92 and is a high school sophomore. There are some other '91 birthdates on his team, but there are also a few kids like Adam Wiesner, who was mentioned earlier, that have already graduated from high school. There's only a handful of '92 birthdates, most of them defenseman, playing Midget Major hockey this year. Most '92s are playing Midget Minor.

The Midget Major teams in the MWEHL aren't as strong. Most of the real college prospects are gone to the NTDP, USHL, or OHL by that age. Obviously Merrill is solid, but after that, I don't think there are any 'can't miss' types on the team. I like Ryan Misiak off of that team, as well as defenseman Alec Thieda, but they're more the type that would have to play junior hockey for a while.

That would be Garrett Clarke. He's among the top '92 defenseman in the world. I think he's already had some scholarship offers. He might end up in the QMJHL though. Is Adam Wiesner playing for Russell Stover now? I see he hasn't played for Kenai in a while, but I'm surprised he moved down there. He was a good high school player, but I doubt he's the type of kid that would be on the Sioux radar. I don't know much about the Canadian teams, but I think Shattuck should be the heavy favorite to win the tournament, followed by Russell Stover.

Still concussion related. He hasn't played since he got knocked out by Conboy.