(above) Colorado College still has no idea if its leading recruit will show up on campus next FallFrom: USCHO.com
by Jim McConnelly
During Thursday’s NHL Media Luncheon with the top prospects, Colorado College freshman-to-be John Moore was put on the spot by event host and TSN and NBC analyst Pierre Maguire.
Asked Maguire, “We don’t want you to go to college, we want you to play major junior. Would you do that?”
On the spot, Moore answered with little hesitation something that CC coach Scott Owens likely would cringe to hear.
“Sure,” said Moore. “My dream is to play in the NHL and whatever that takes, I’ll explore all avenues, talk it out with my family and determine what’s best for me.”
The difficult question scenario that Maguire posed could be realistic as teams often prefer players to play a full, 80-game major junior schedule as opposed to the shorter 30-plus-game college season.
But, according to Moore, college provides an advantage that is often overlooked but made his decision to head to Colorado College in the first place easier.
“You get the strength and conditioning piece with college,” said Moore. “You’re practicing five days a week, so you can make tremendous strides both on and off the ice.”
When asked if he’s broached the subject of almost inevitably abbreviating his college career with CC’s Owens, Moore said the subject has been discussed.
“[Owens] has said all along, ‘If we can get you for even a year, we’d feel really lucky,’” said Moore. “From my standpoint, that’s all I can ask for.”
Asked Maguire, “We don’t want you to go to college, we want you to play major junior. Would you do that?”
On the spot, Moore answered with little hesitation something that CC coach Scott Owens likely would cringe to hear.
“Sure,” said Moore. “My dream is to play in the NHL and whatever that takes, I’ll explore all avenues, talk it out with my family and determine what’s best for me.”
The difficult question scenario that Maguire posed could be realistic as teams often prefer players to play a full, 80-game major junior schedule as opposed to the shorter 30-plus-game college season.
But, according to Moore, college provides an advantage that is often overlooked but made his decision to head to Colorado College in the first place easier.
“You get the strength and conditioning piece with college,” said Moore. “You’re practicing five days a week, so you can make tremendous strides both on and off the ice.”
When asked if he’s broached the subject of almost inevitably abbreviating his college career with CC’s Owens, Moore said the subject has been discussed.
“[Owens] has said all along, ‘If we can get you for even a year, we’d feel really lucky,’” said Moore. “From my standpoint, that’s all I can ask for.”
8 comments:
Still on the fence - and CC still sucks.
This guy may be a stud, but what about the rest of the team, especially with Bachman gone?
CC will have a lot of experienced players coming back, despite the loss of about 65% of their scoring to graduation and early signings of Connelly and Bachman.
Yes - they may struggle, but experienced players can often bridge some of the talent gap that can keep a team competitive.
It would not surprise me at all to see CC finish 3-4 or 5 next year in the WCHA, but then again, 7th place is not out of the question either. They lost a lot of very good players in Rau, Connelly, Bachman, McCulloch, etc.
I'm sure CC will find a way to win, but Moore or no Moore, I see them on the road in the playoffs.
DU, UW, minnesota, NoDak and St Cloud are my top five.
Not important either way. C.C. is headed south and hiring a one year gun in a losing year is not the way to build a wining team for the next four.
Moore picked by Columbus
Jordan Schroeder goes to Vancouver
Probably good news for CC that Moore fell in the draft and eventually was signed by Columbus. An NHL team in a college town is about as good a situation as CC can expect.
I'm a firm believer that the most important position in college hockey is offensive defensemen. Good ones are so rare that they can have a huge impact on your season.
Moore could be worth a couple of spots in the standings if he can come to CC for two years.
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