Two DU Recruits Move Up In CSS Rankings

From: NHL.com & DU Athletics Website

The final rankings were released today for the NHL's Central Scouting Service Listing of the top 210 North American prospects for the NHL Draft in June. Two DU recruits moved up nicely in the rankings from the Mid-Season Report. David Carle moved up from #74 to #60 and Joe Colborne moved up from #30 to #28. This is the first time in recent memory that DU has had two players ranked in the Top 60.

Carle helped Shattuck-St. Mary’s to the USA Hockey Tier I Under-18 national championship this season. The 6-1, 185-pound skilled defenseman tallied 45 points on 10 goals and 35 assists in 55 games for the Sabres, who defeated Team Illinois 5-1 in the championship game and finished the season 42-11-3. Carle tallied six points on three goals and three assists in the national tournament.

Colborne recently was named the 2008 playoff most valuable player of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The high-scoring forward led the Camrose Kodiaks to their second consecutive AJHL title by leading all playoff scorers with 16 points on eight goals and eight assists. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Colborne led the Kodiaks to the AJHL regular-season title by leading the league in scoring with 90 points on 33 goals and 57 assists in 55 games.

The Rankings were determined at the NHL Central Scouting meetings which took place in Toronto, tasked with deciding the final North American rankings for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Central Scouting called in its top scouts – 10 in all – and crammed them into the Conn Smythe Board Room at the League’s Toronto office to decide the order in which top draft-eligible talent.

It was a long and grueling process for the scouts, who have spent the entire season wandering across North America to assess these young men. But, for those that aren’t involved in the day-to-day grind that entails, these meetings are an eye-opening look into the names that will dominate the NHL Entry Draft discussions for the next three months.

Most often, scouts offer opinions on players – even those outside their area—without even consulting notes. Stats are provided and are usually spot-on. Heights and weights are thrown out without hesitation and college commitments, if applicable, are at the tip of the tongue.

Not impressive, you say? Well let’s remember almost 300 North American skaters are in play when the meeting opened up Wednesday morning. So, think again.

The other interesting thing that comes out of these meetings is the ability to gauge where players stand against their peers from other leagues. Each full-time Central Scouting scout is asked to see numerous games outside his region to be able to cross-check the opinions offered by the primary scouts.