Fetch Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 & CC I love beating a Gopher to Death as much as anyone but it seems these two other schools are / have been pretty dominate in recent yrs. Where did they find the recent batch that has brought them Back to Back Championships ? How many were Blue Chippers as high school or Junior players ? How about some of the other WCHA teams that seemed to be getting respectable last year ? Same with Bemidji ? Do Championship Teams just Gel or is it coaching or both ? Fish are really biting in the evening on Devils Lake (from shore) slip bobbers & leeches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Sertich and Sterling were very highly thought of coming in IIRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Sertich and Sterling were very highly thought of coming in IIRC <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think the big difference for both Colorado schools over the past decade has been the quality of the Goalies and the D-Men they have recruited, many of which they pluck from junior hockey in BC and the Canadian Prairies. Come to think of it the Sioux haven't done too bad in that department either with the likes of Commodore and Roche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 I think a couple of reasons that the Colorado schools get so many high quality recruites (besides location of course....I mean come on... ) is due to the coaching and facilities. You've got great coaching at both schools, and although their rinks aren't quite the Ralph, both schools have relatively new rinks. If you are a fast player who likes to play on a bigger rink then CC is the place for you (Hobey Baker winner-Sertich), if you are a player who likes the physicality of the game and likes to play the body (I'll use Paukovich for this example), then Denver would be a good place to play your college hockey. I think the coaches speak for themselves. Great hockey minds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skateshattrick Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Denver has has success in recent years with mobile defensemen and good goaltending. Aaron MacKenzie, Brett Skinner, Ryan Caldwell and Matt Carle are all very skilled and can jump into the play offensively. All were recruited hard by UND, and narrowed their final selections to UND, but chose DU. Skinner and MacKenzie played at Thunder Bay where UND used to land a lot of recruits (Hrkac, Greg Johnson, Hoogsteen's, etc.). However, Gwozdecky is from Thunder Bay and has been able to attract those players from Thunder Bay. Brett Skinner is from Brandon, MB and also was recruited hard by the Sioux but chose DU over UND. I'm not sure about Carle, but he was recruited by just about everyone. He is from Alaska, so why he chose DU may have something to do with location. DU has an edge in recruiting based upon its scenery and temperate climate. TJ Fast is going to DU next year, and narrowed his choices to UND and DU. He ultimately chose DU over UND (he loved the arena) because he is from Calgary and the mountains made him feel more at home. DU and CC have also been successful in landing California kids (Sterling, Gauthier) and if you look at the rosters, both DU and CC have many kids from Colorado, particularly Colorado Springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Denver has has success in recent years with mobile defensemen and good goaltending. Aaron MacKenzie, Brett Skinner, Ryan Caldwell and Matt Carle are all very skilled and can jump into the play offensively. All were recruited hard by UND, and narrowed their final selections to UND, but chose DU. Skinner and MacKenzie played at Thunder Bay where UND used to land a lot of recruits (Hrkac, Greg Johnson, Hoogsteen's, etc.). However, Gwozdecky is from Thunder Bay and has been able to attract those players from Thunder Bay. Brett Skinner is from Brandon, MB and also was recruited hard by the Sioux but chose DU over UND. I'm not sure about Carle, but he was recruited by just about everyone. He is from Alaska, so why he chose DU may have something to do with location. DU has an edge in recruiting based upon its scenery and temperate climate. TJ Fast is going to DU next year, and narrowed his choices to UND and DU. He ultimately chose DU over UND (he loved the arena) because he is from Calgary and the mountains made him feel more at home. DU and CC have also been successful in landing California kids (Sterling, Gauthier) and if you look at the rosters, both DU and CC have many kids from Colorado, particularly Colorado Springs. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I would also venture to say that playing in a big city w/all the goings on has a lot to do with recruits picking Denver over Grand Forks. I wonder how many kids pondering Minnesota gave a second look to Denver because of their recent years' performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puck swami Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Denver's recruiting philosophy seems to be similar to the Sioux, with the proviso that the Pioneers tend to get more players that will stick around for a while. There have only been two serious NHL defections in the 12 years for DU - Mark Rycroft and Matt Pettinger both left early, but Gwoz's recruiting classes tend to have more guys who are good college players but not necessarily headline grabbers or NHL bound stars. Gwoz has also had very good luck in terms of getting more guys with Colorado ties - there were 10 on last year's roster, and this emerging boomlet in local talent is mostly the result of the Avalanche moving here in 1996. Additionally, Denver has had success getting lots of role players to step up and develop. Look at last year's senior class -- Luke Fulghum, Jon Foster, Jeff Drummond, Kevin Ulanski, Matt Laatsch, Nick Larson and Jussi Halme. None of them were super highly recruited players (in fact Laatsch, Larson and Unanski were recruited walk-ons), yet all of them were key contributors in providing the kind of depth that Denver needed to reach the top. This year's DU recruiting class was not in anybody's top 5, but most would rank it somewhere in the 5-10 group. Fast, Marcuzzi, Butler and Testuide should all be competent WCHA caliber defensemen as they develop, and Brock Trotter and Patrick Mullen are both smallish forwards to help fill the scoring gap left by the graduating guys. With three all-Americans returning (Gauthier, Skinner and Carle), Paul Stastny's continued development and Peter Mannino returning in goal, hopes around here are optimistic. The two big questions are can these new defensemen step in and replace the three graduating defenders (Laatsch, Larson and Halme), and can the underclassmen produce a similar offensive output to replace what Ulanski, Drummond, Foster and Fulghum took with them after graduation. I think Denver will be in the mix once again for top 4 WCHA finish and an NCAA berth. After that, we'll just have to see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 With success comes attention. With attention comes the scouts with money. DU has just really raised the level of attention upon itself (2004, 2005). What comes next is inevitable. The Gophers denied it until Taffe, and Martin, and Vanek. It comes with success. It's a package deal. Don't be surprised by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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