LetsGoDU

Hey (Insert WCHA School Here), DU is Stealing Your Recruits

This imflammatory battle cry, first muttered by the ever caustic Mannino Saves is starting to have a certain ring to it. There was a time, a decade or so ago, when UND & Minnesota recruiters ran roughshod over the prime hockey prospects, then CC & Wisconsin took their turn at the trough and when the smoke cleared DU, UMD, SCSU and MSU-M and the other WCHA schools sifted through the leftovers. Those days are apparently over, as DU has two outstanding recruiting classes enrolling in 2006 & 2007.

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Will these new recruits match DU's 2004 class, which may become DU's best recruiting class ever? Perhaps, but Denver has had eight other recruiting classes win two National Championships. The recruiting classes of 1957, '58, '66, '67, '01, '02 & '03 all won back-to-backs. The 1956 class won two championships in 1958 & 1960. It wasn't until the early 1970's that Freshmen were allowed to play varsity college athletics or else the guys recruited in 1957 might have picked up three rings at DU.

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The 2004 class of Peter Mannino, Paul Stastny, Andrew Thomas, Ryan Dingle, Geoff Paukovich, Tom May and Zach Blom all played a large role in bringing home the National Championship for the Pioneers last season. Mannino won the Most Outstanding Player award at the Frozen Four and Stastny was Rookie of the Year in the WCHA.

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At the time DU's '04 class was rated at the 8th best by Inside College Hockey. North Dakota was #1 followed by BC, MN, BU, MSU, WI & UNH. However, there was a quiet air of confidence around the Pioneer program about this class. All of the '04 recruits had committed to Denver before DU had won the improbable NC in Boston. Of course a recruiting class can't be fully judged until all the players graduate or leave school early (gulp!) for the pros, but DU might want to ask INCH for a recount.

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Of course many recent Denver graduates might point to DU's famous "Loosey Goosey" recruiting class of 2000, which brought home the hardware from Boston. They were lead by Connor James from Alberta, future Captain Ryan Caldwell, Czech sensation Lukas Dora, everybody's favorite GM Dealer Greg Keith, Super Scott McConnell, the "Warrior" Matt Laatsch, "UND Slayer" Max Bull and a skinny goalie from Minnesota named Adam Berkhoel.

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There will need to be some big wins for DU's 2006 & '07 classes to match those past accomplishments. It has been reported that the '06 incoming class will include highly regarded forwards Brian Gifford (Indiana, USHL), Matt Glasser (Alberta) and Rhett Rakhshani (USDT), and defenseman Cody Brookwell (B.C.).

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Heisenberg's Site lists Denver's 2007 incoming class very highly. Lakewood, Colorado native Tyler Ruegsegger, a senior at Shattuck St. Mary's High School leads the way. Ruegsegger wore the "A" for the USA under-17 and under-18 select teams. Kyle Ostrow of Calgary and Jesse Martin of Edmonton are also both considered outstanding recruits. Ostrow and Martin are considered by Heisenberg to be two of the top players in Alberta. Last night DU got a pleasant surprise when http://www.ushr.com/ reported that goaltender Marc Cheverie has verbally commited to the Pioneers for 2007. He is listed at 6'2" and his final choices were DU, Cornell, North Dakota and Michigan State. According to Western College Hockey he attended the DU-UND game in Grand Forks before selecting Denver. Heisenberg's Site has the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native at the top of its BCHL goaltender list.

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The past, the present and the future Pioneer recruiting classes. Full of hope, optimisim and hopefully championships.

GO DU