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Prospective Recruits


dagies

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I thought the poster over there that made the claim that UNO and UMD are better at producing NHL defensemen was funny. :D

UMD has put out 3 NHL defenseman in the past 5 years or so, before that not much but its not like they aren't producing any. I can't think of anyone for UNO.

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:)

A heck of a lot warmer than GF, unfortunately. Although it rains a lot there...that would be annoying.

I was looking at the Everett roster...they have a kid named Josh Birkholz. He played for the Gophers for one season before being kicked off the team for smoking weed or something like that. ;)

To put in perspective the level of competition in the WHL, he had 6pts in 36 games for the Gophers, 29pts in 68 games last year with Everett, and 43pts in 49 games this year. Must be nice for him to play against 17 year old kids instead of 20-23 year olds. :lol:

I remember Birkholz going to the WHL, didn't know it was Everett. It will be really interesting to see what Jones elects to do.

Regardless of what he decides, I commend him on how he's handled the process. He's yet to make a college commitment because, well, he has yet to commit to the college route. A undeniable talent who also seems like a really smart kid.

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I'm not trying to argue, I just don't really think we have put out that money good NHL defenseman compared to some other programs. In the last ten years just off the top of my head we have David Hale, Brian Lee, Mike Commodore, Taylor Chorney, Matt Greene, Matt Smaby, Matt Jones, and recently Joe Finley, all solid players, but no one is really a star at all. Minnesota has Jordan Leopold, Paul Martin, Keith Ballard, Alex Goligoski, Nick Leddy, Erik Johnson among many others. I would say every single one of the Minnesota player's with the exception of maybe Leddy, is a better NHL player than all of the UND player's except maybe Commodore or Greene. Wisconsin might not have as many d-men as UND or UM but they have some top-end talent in Tom Gilbert, Jamie McBain, and easily the best d-man from any of the 3 schools in Ryan Suter.

I think you'll be able to add Gardiner and possibly McDonough to that group in a couple years as well. The Sioux seem to develop defensive defenseman better than offensive defensemen like Minnesota.
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I've heard that UND is in the mix for Vernon's Adam Tambellini (dad Steve, brother Jeff). Anyone else hear anything on him/his potential recruitment?

Well, I guess my question has been answered! Tambellini is a very nice addition to the recruiting class of 2012 or 2013, as is Chyzyk.

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I think you'll be able to add Gardiner and possibly McDonough to that group in a couple years as well. The Sioux seem to develop defensive defenseman better than offensive defensemen like Minnesota.

My bad, I totally blanked on those two. I totally agree on Gardiner, and you could add Brendan Smith to that list too. If he was on any other team but the Red Wings he would probably be a full-time NHLer right now. McDonagh is probably considered better than McBain right now, granted he plays on a better team but is getting big time minutes, has almost 20 points, and is a +17. Pretty good numbers for a second year player.

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I'm not trying to argue, I just don't really think we have put out that money good NHL defenseman compared to some other programs. In the last ten years just off the top of my head we have David Hale, Brian Lee, Mike Commodore, Taylor Chorney, Matt Greene, Matt Smaby, Matt Jones, and recently Joe Finley, all solid players, but no one is really a star at all. Minnesota has Jordan Leopold, Paul Martin, Keith Ballard, Alex Goligoski, Nick Leddy, Erik Johnson among many others. I would say every single one of the Minnesota player's with the exception of maybe Leddy, is a better NHL player than all of the UND player's except maybe Commodore or Greene. Wisconsin might not have as many d-men as UND or UM but they have some top-end talent in Tom Gilbert, Jamie McBain, and easily the best d-man from any of the 3 schools in Ryan Suter.

The funny thing with Leddy is, even though I thought he was a huge let down in college (Just my opinion), he's doing exceptionally well with the Craphawks (Sorry, I hate Chicago). Most nights he's in the starting D-pair or else the 2nd D-pair and he's in the top 20 in scoring for NHL defensemen right now. I never thought he'd do this well, especially in his 2nd season.

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The funny thing with Leddy is, even though I thought he was a huge let down in college (Just my opinion), he's doing exceptionally well with the Craphawks (Sorry, I hate Chicago). Most nights he's in the starting D-pair or else the 2nd D-pair and he's in the top 20 in scoring for NHL defensemen right now. I never thought he'd do this well, especially in his 2nd season.

Craphawks, I like it. Big Chicago fan here, I watch them every night. Leddy started the season really hot, leading the team in d-man scoring for the first third of the year, then he really cooled off. Offensive zone, and neutral zone he is amazing. Great skater and never seems to get a shot blocked. His defensive game still leaves something to be desired, but that is understandable for an undersized, 20-year old defenseman. He will be a great player and in my opinion, will be the best NHL d-man the Gophers have produced in ten years, yes better than Erik Johnson, who I am not a very big fan of. I think Leddy has a chance at the Olympics in 2014.

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Craphawks, I like it. Big Chicago fan here, I watch them every night. Leddy started the season really hot, leading the team in d-man scoring for the first third of the year, then he really cooled off. Offensive zone, and neutral zone he is amazing. Great skater and never seems to get a shot blocked. His defensive game still leaves something to be desired, but that is understandable for an undersized, 20-year old defenseman. He will be a great player and in my opinion, will be the best NHL d-man the Gophers have produced in ten years, yes better than Erik Johnson, who I am not a very big fan of. I think Leddy has a chance at the Olympics in 2014.

Fully agree with this. He'll be right up there with Leopold who is wanted by many teams. Erik Johnson was a let down at Minnesota and in the NHL I thought. Leddy will just continue to get better and I agree he has a legitimate shot at the 2014 Olympics.

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Minnesota hasn't had Mike Guentzel, and Wisconsin had Osiecki. Those tables will turn.

yes, he certainly had a run with Goligoski, Leopold, Ballard, Martin, etc...

I don't get all the talk on GPL about how Seth Jones won't go to UND because they don't turn out defensemen. fact is, if Jones is playing in the NCAA, North Dakota is his choice, he's stated that. not that i think he will, but it just seemed like the bashing was just because there is talk of the highly touted defensemen going to a rival. Both programs put out quality NHL players.

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Personally, I could care less if any of our players play in the NHL. I just want them to win titles at UND.

It's a little bit selfish, but that's what counts in my book.

With that said, I think it's great when our guys go on to have great pro careers, and it's not as easy as it sounds to win a championship, so sometimes you have to settle for what you get. Am I disappointed we haven't won a Championship recently with some of our teams...of course. Is it nice to have as many teams with the chance at a title as we have, even if you don't win one...definitely.

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Wisconsin has turned out more defensemen in the last 5 years than anybody

I'd like to add that they turned out "offensive" defensemen. There's a correlation on why over the last 4-5 years Wisconsin's team with deep, talented D, don't end up reaching the frozen four or end result, a national tittle as well as other variables that factor in. Too many quality offensive Defensemen on one team... When the trophy is on the line, you need complete defensive D to win championships in the NCAA.

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I'd like to add that they turned out "offensive" defensemen. There's a correlation on why over the last 4-5 years Wisconsin's team with deep, talented D, don't end up reaching the frozen four or end result, a national tittle as well as other variables that factor in. Too many quality offensive Defensemen on one team... When the trophy is on the line, you need complete defensive D to win championships in the NCAA.

Keith Ballard, Jordan Leopold, Paul Martin and Chris Harrington beg to differ. :D

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Fully agree with this. He'll be right up there with Leopold who is wanted by many teams. Erik Johnson was a let down at Minnesota and in the NHL I thought. Leddy will just continue to get better and I agree he has a legitimate shot at the 2014 Olympics.

Minnesota hasn't had Mike Guentzel, and Wisconsin had Osiecki. Those tables will turn.

I'm a Blackhawks fan (diehard) and I'm sorry that I don't think Leddy has a shot at the 2014 Olympics. He'd have to do some climbing if you ask me. I think he's in the starting D-pair because if he makes mistakes Duncan Keith is there to help.

And there's no guarantee that the tables are going to turn in regards to the whole Minny vs Wisco debate. Wisco and Minny play different styles, and are going to attract different players based on the styles they play. I'm interested to see how the Gophers do next year without Patterson in net because I think that's when you're really going to see what they have in their d-men.

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. I'm interested to see how the Gophers do next year without Patterson in net because I think that's when you're really going to see what they have in their d-men.

You mean the same defensive core that just allowed 25 shots on goal for an ENTIRE weekend? Patterson has a save% of .918. Thats good but it's hardlly elite. He's not even in the top 20 in the nation in save% yet the Gophers team defense is 4th nationally.

Sioux fans will laugh at this comment, but the Gophers 6 starting defenseman is the best group in the nation this year. If you told me that in September I would have died laughing, but this season I dont think there's a group that has played better. They have given up 2 goals or less for 6 straight games.

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You mean the same defensive core that just allowed 25 shots on goal for an ENTIRE weekend? Patterson has a save% of .918. Thats good but it's hardlly elite. He's not even in the top 20 in the nation in save% yet the Gophers team defense is 4th nationally.

Sioux fans will laugh at this comment, but the Gophers 6 starting defenseman is the best group in the nation this year. If you told me that in September I would have died laughing, but this season I dont think there's a group that has played better. They have given up 2 goals or less for 6 straight games.

... or your offense had the puck in the St. Cloud zone the entire weekend.

low SOG = great defensemen is a lazy analysis.

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... or your offense had the puck in the St. Cloud zone the entire weekend.

low SOG = great defensemen is a lazy analysis.

And part of the reason we had it in St. Cloud's zone all weekend is because our d-men did a great job of dominating in our own end and got the puck out quickly to our forwards.

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I'm all for bad mouthing the Goofs. But 2 goals against per game is pretty darn good and he is right that Patterson's save percentage is not out of this world. Putting the two together, you have to figure their team defense has been pretty good.

Certainly puck possession plays a role too but I haven't seen our puck possession abilities in past seasons stop us from being proud of our defensive performance under Hak.

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...He will be a great player and in my opinion, will be the best NHL d-man the Gophers have produced in ten years, yes better than Erik Johnson...

I don't understand how you can use the word "produced" when referring to EJ's one year wearing a Gopher sweater. He was just passing through town.

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I don't understand how you can use the word "produced" when referring to EJ's one year wearing a Gopher sweater. He was just passing through town.

The word "produced" is misleading. Lets face it, UND didnt produce Toews and Parise. Those two would still be NHL all stars today regardless of where they went to school.

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You mean the same defensive core that just allowed 25 shots on goal for an ENTIRE weekend? Patterson has a save% of .918. Thats good but it's hardlly elite. He's not even in the top 20 in the nation in save% yet the Gophers team defense is 4th nationally.

Sioux fans will laugh at this comment, but the Gophers 6 starting defenseman is the best group in the nation this year. If you told me that in September I would have died laughing, but this season I dont think there's a group that has played better. They have given up 2 goals or less for 6 straight games.

No more Hill. Enough said.
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