News & Notes From Around PioNation

DU incoming recruit Beau Bennett is expected to be selected in the top two rounds of the NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Bennett's BCHL playoff stats weren't as impressive as the regular season, but it turns out Beau was playing through a wrist injury during the playoffs.
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DU recruits Nick Shore and Jason Zucker will play for the U.S.A. in the Under 18-World Championships in Belarus in two weeks. Both players will be Freshmen at DU next season and are expected to play major roles in the Pioneer offensive attack.
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Patrick Wiercioch will report to the Senators and practice with the team. He likely won’t play this season because the Senators don’t want to burn a year on his contract, but the 19-year-old was on the ice for practice at Scotiabank Place Friday and will travel with the team on its final road trip of the season to give him a taste of life in the NHL.
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Joe Colborne – young, talented, eager and now under contract to the Boston Bruins – said Wednesday that he hoped a scheduled six-game stint in the American Hockey League would help “set myself up to take a good shot at an NHL roster spot with the Boston Bruins at next year's training camp.”
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The NHL Florida Panthers have Jacob Markstrom, who was selected No. 31 in 2008, was awarded the Honken Trophy as the Swedish Elite League's top netminder this season, as well as the league's rookie of the year. He posted a 20-10-10 mark with a 2.01 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 43 games for Byrnas IF Gavle this season. "Jacob Markstrom's contract in Sweden is up at the end of this year and the plan is to sign him and bring him to North America next year," Sexton told NHL.com. "We also have a young goalie named Marc Cheverie (a junior) at Denver University, who we'll move forward and sign as well. We think that combined with the other young guys we have in the organization, the future looks good for goaltending."

29 comments:

Mike B said...

"We also have a young goalie named Marc Cheverie (a junior) at Denver University, who we'll move forward and sign as well. We think that combined with the other young guys we have in the organization, the future looks good for goaltending."

What in the heck does this quote mean? It almost sounds like the Panther's GM has made up Marc's mind for him. Don't both parties have to agree to made it final? Does this mean that Chevy has already committed? I have a bad feeling that too many "family advisors" and NHL scouts got to our boys a few weeks ago and made offers to these "amateurs" before the season was officially over. "Great regular season, sign this contract, forget about the NCAAs. They don't matter." Nice.

I truly feel that Marc would be making a huge mistake by signing that contract this off-season. Florida is already pretty deep as is. Vokoun is the starter, Clemmensen is the back up. Then they are going to sign Markstrom, for sure. He is the best young Swedish goalies in the Elite league. Do the math. Where does Chevy fit in? Of course the GM of FL wants to get him signed and in. He will be cheap. If Marc waits till this time next year and has a great season, it will be more expensive to sign him.

Whatever about Wiercoich and Colborne, we knew that they were not for long on the roster. Whoever is surprised about both of them signing hasn't been watching for the last two seasons. Chevy would be a Dingle and Pauko and Skinner-like signing. He will go to the A and play for three seasons then go play in Germany.

He should do the smart thing, regardless of what an egotistical General Manager of a sub-par organization thinks.

Aluuum said...

My favorite team was the 04 guys. All four year grinders,not looking to leave after two years. Ulanski, Bull, Dora etc.. (I loved to watch lucas Dora fly around). Something is missing when i am watching one of our lads and know that he is only here for two years.It's like I'm rooting for a developmental team instead of my Alma Mater college team. Not as good but good enough. I'm still rooting for them but some of the passion is gone.

Anonymous said...

So, looks like The Fury and The King (Brittain) will be between the pipes for us next year.

Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

don't forget the Nightmare!

puck swami said...

My guess is that Florida has probably told Chevy that's he will play a lot in AHL next year, or Chevy probably wouldn't sign.

Chevy has some leverage here by waiting - Florida will lose him and Chevy will be a UFA and can sign with anyone he wants.

I can't imagine Chevy would sign to play in the ECHL...But then again, Richard Bachman signed with Dallas and played most of this year in the ECHL...Who knows?

Anonymous said...

Boy; from what I see, If Lalonde's new little seedling Sammy B. continues to grow - he may very well blossom into Jack's friggin beanstalk someday. Impressive numbers for him so far

Anonymous said...

Yeah, tKing has some nice size for a goalie. Isn't he like 6'4 220 -- or something like that?

Anonymous said...

Yes D.G understand, but how many of these 2010 recruits already have a 2012 departure mentally on their calander.
The effort I saw in the springs and then Boston in 04 to win it all I didn't see in Albany this year. I think the "two years and i'm gone" mentality has something to do with that.

dggoddard said...

James, Caldwell, Berkhoel, Bull, Dora, Laatsch, Keith & McConnell are all DU Legends thanks to the 2004 NC.

thanks to these guys, DU will never be underdogs again. We need to learn to win as hated favorites.

Aluuum said...

Anon 2:28 is me . i miss clicked

msbdu said...

How about we try this for a couple of years, recruit players with the grit and determination exhibited by the majority of the RIT players. No player drafted by the NHL. They focused on the task at hand not what their "family advisor" was telling them. This is getting old, two and out. I give it to Rhett and Tyler, they wanted that championship more than an NHL career. I wonder if after the WCHA championship games, they still had that same hunger. Just a thought

Anonymous said...

Chevy is smart. He will leave on top his game. If you think he can put up numbers again next yr.like this yr, your kidding yourselves.
He is not going to stay and take a chance on getting pummeled next yr.
Theses guys dreams are to play in the NHL. He has nothing to prove by staying at du.
The posse left, so will he, get over it.

Anonymous said...

Msbdu,

You don't get it. Colborne and weircioch are in a different class than rhett and Tyler.

Players like rock and Ruggs are a dime a dozen. You can flip a coin on their success in the NHL.
This is obvious by which round they were drafted.
If rhett could of landed a 3 yr contract as a soph, he would of been long gone

These guys dreams are to play in the NHL, not for the pioneers.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:50
It's you that doesn't get it not msbdu.In fact you stated it quite clearly "their dream is to play in the NHL not D.U." That says it all.

The 4 yr. RIT grinders kicked our all stars ass last week. We don't need sothmores playing for D.U. while their agents and family are alreaDY holding discussions with an NHL team about next years salary. That definitly takes some of the fire and determination out of the player even if he doesn't admit it .

Trev said...

Dora is a legend without the NC in 04. Anyone who has partied with him can attest to that. lol

msbdu said...

Anon 3:03 that is absolutely the point. I will take a group of guys that are over-achievers and have no family advisors. Watch Ostrow and Maiani out there busting their butts on every shift. Half of the time, Colburne looked like he was sleep walking through the game. Look the Goal Czar during his Freshman year. A walk on, undersized, but he gave it 100% every shift. Unfortunately, I think he must have lost some of that drive this year, that's why he sat out most games.

Anonymous said...

Another thought about these boys leaving early: They are Canadian. Obviously not every single player that has ever left DU early was Canadian, but these three are. Rhett and Tyler wanted to win a National Championship because that is what we preach in the US as the top level achievement. In Canada, the NHL is the very best achievement you can possibly have, and that is what these guys are going for. Brett Skinner explained it to me best when I asked him about taking the minimum amount of classes to stay eligible and not having the opportunity to graduate. He said that the reason that he came to school was to get the the NHL. That was his focus. Not winning NC's, not graduating with a degree, and certainly not making the alumni happy by staying all four years.
Simply put - all these kids grew up dreaming about playing in the NHL. DU helped them get better and get exposure. The Show is calling them, and they are not going to chance this by playing another few years of college hockey. Its as simple as that.

msbdu said...

Anon, I think you did a great job of explaining the mind set of these guys. Makes sense, though I don't particularly like it!

Anonymous said...

Patrick ~ Joe ~ Marc ~ Rhett ~ Tyler..... all these guys share one exact thing with all of us here on this blog.... they all say : CC SUCKS!

puck swami said...

It's not just the fact that they are Canadian, it's also where they were drafted.

Pettinger, Paukovich, Carle, Stastny, Skinner, Fast, Seabrook, Colborne, and Weircioch were all first to third round draft picks, and NHL teams have a vested interest in seeing that highly drafted guys get their pro shot. There is more money invested in these high picks, and if those guys don't get a sniff, it looks bad for the club as well as the player, so they are more likely to jump than other players.

When you get into the middle rounds, the NHL pressure to bolt is a little lessm becuase mid round picks are seen as bonuses if they make it to the NHL. Guys like Butler (4th) and Rycroft (4th) bolted becuase they were both told they were ready. Rakhshani (4th) and Ruegsegger (6th round) could have bolted early but didn't.

Then you have free agent jumpers. Bozak was more than ready to leave as he's tearing up the NHL right now and would be a great Calder trophy candidate if he hadn't been sidelined by injury and sickness at the start of the year. Dingle probably should have stayed at DU. And Trotter was more or less pushed out of DU by the school.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Trotter, did anyone ever find out why he left?

puck swami said...

DU is very good at keeping a lid on the specifics. I don't know exactly what happened but it was very likely a conduct issue that would have likely required a long University-imposed suspension or possible expulsion from school. The atheltic Department and the Hockey program handled it pretty deftly by making sure Trotter then signed with the NHL club of his choice, thereby absolving the school from having to announce the long punishment and not harming the Trotter's reputation further.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate the general idea that DU needs to recruit guys with more heart, passion for DU, 4 year guys,like RIT. I especially get it after the dissappointment of this year (and the last two to four years).

I get the point and think Gwoz might seriously consider changing the ingredients to the team (i.e. recruiting more 4 year guys like Vossberg than 2 year guys like Colborne). However, re-read what I just wrote and think about it.

Year-in, year-out, who's in the Frozen Four? UND, Wisc, Minn, BC, Maine, Mich, etc. Not RIT. DU is now battling these guys for the top recruits in teh country and winning those battles.

Winning the Championship takes some magic in a bottle and DU has fallen drastically short of expectations in recent memory. But don't lose sight of reality. THe more Colbornes, Weirciochs, Zuckers, and Bennetts we get, the better it is for DU.

Basketball sucks and it's not really comparable, but who goes deep in the college tournament every year? It's the same teams over and over. You can argue, ya, but what about the upsets? But that's exactly what they are, upsets. Would you rather be Kansas or N. Iowa?

Aluuum said...

This has been a great discussion. No clear answer with both sides making sense.I enjoyed reading and participating.

Anonymous said...

We've created a monster in some respects. Basically, DU Hockey has become a calling card. A Resume' entry for these kids.....and don't think the serious hockey-playing 14 year olds thruought the USA & Canada don't know that. No kid out there thinks "I want to go to Merrimack to play hockey, and maybe get a degree in Horticulture; because that's a sure-shot to the Dallas Stars". No! The ones in that "situation" want to go to DU, UW, UM, UND, etc.... they know what schools will get them where they want to be. If they didn't - you'd have Alums from RIT, Brown & Quinnipiac winning Stanley Cups

Anonymous said...

If you look at pre-college numbers - Murray/Brittian is a much more potent set that Mannino/ Cheverie.

Anonymous said...

Bla......bla...bla......

You guys are screwed next yr......;)

Anonymous said...

With Joe and Patrick gone and maybe Chevy we should have some spots to fill on the roster. Who the hell are we going to get? Who are we looking at? Who are the best available guys left out there? Anyone have any inside info on who Lalond has been talking to or looking at? Does anyone have a prospect wish list? We already have a stelar incoming class and if we can add a few more just imagine where we could be in a few years!

Chelsea said...

Chevy was drafted in the 7th round, what does that say about that theory anon?