(above) Patrick Wiercioch signed a three year deal with OttawaFrom: NHL.com
Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray announced today that the club has signed defenceman Patrick Wiercioch to a three-year entry-level contract.
Wiercioch, 19, was the Senators’ second-round pick (42nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Burnaby, B.C., he concluded his second season at the Western Collegiate Athletic Conference’s University of Denver on March 26 when the Pioneers fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology in the National Collegiate Athletic Association East Regional semifinals. In 39 games with Denver this season, the 6-4, 190-pound Wiercioch scored six goals and 21 assists while adding 34 penalty minutes.
In his rookie season at Denver, Wiercioch scored 12 goals and added 23 assists for 35 points in 36 games. For his efforts he was named to the all-WCHA second team and all-WCHA rookie team. His 12 goals led all NCAA rookie defencemen and ranked third among all NCAA defencemen.
Prior to his arrival in Denver, Wiercioch played one season for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, where he scored three goals and 18 assists in 40 games. In the 2006-07 season he scored nine goals and added 16 assists for the Burnaby Express of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he was recognized as the league’s rookie of the year.
Wiercioch, 19, was the Senators’ second-round pick (42nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Burnaby, B.C., he concluded his second season at the Western Collegiate Athletic Conference’s University of Denver on March 26 when the Pioneers fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology in the National Collegiate Athletic Association East Regional semifinals. In 39 games with Denver this season, the 6-4, 190-pound Wiercioch scored six goals and 21 assists while adding 34 penalty minutes.
In his rookie season at Denver, Wiercioch scored 12 goals and added 23 assists for 35 points in 36 games. For his efforts he was named to the all-WCHA second team and all-WCHA rookie team. His 12 goals led all NCAA rookie defencemen and ranked third among all NCAA defencemen.
Prior to his arrival in Denver, Wiercioch played one season for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, where he scored three goals and 18 assists in 40 games. In the 2006-07 season he scored nine goals and added 16 assists for the Burnaby Express of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he was recognized as the league’s rookie of the year.
30 comments:
I feel like the NHL is coming into our house and stealing all the China and silverware.
Good luck to Patrick as he develops in the AHL. He's a special player and has an unreal skill set. Loved watching him on the power play at DU.
We got two very good years from Patty, and wish him the best at the next level. Good player, good person, good student and good teammate.
There is no doubt that he has the overall talent to play pro hockey, but his developing body, his seemingly constant injury status and his defensive skills will need to make some more progress before he's an NHL regular.
I wish the best to Patty, Joe and Rhett as they pursue their NHL dreams. I do wonder if it is true what someone wrote on the Blog the other day. Perhaps Patty and Joe were looking at the NHL rather than the task at hand, namely making it to the final four. I will take RIT grit, and determination any day over high round draft picks.
I wish all of them luck; however, if Joe isn't ready (as I mentioned previously), Patty is definitely not ready to play in the NHL. Patty didn't impress me as much as he did the previous season and even so he wasn't ready then.
Sorry for the double post.
@ msbdu
I completely agree. I hope we get more hardworking, gritty players this upcoming season, who aren't so focused on NHL contracts.
Good luck to ya, Wiercioch!
Looks like Chevy will be the next to go:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2010/03/30/dus-cheverie-likely-to-sign-with-panthers/
Noooooooooooooooooooooo :(
Oh well -- I have faith in Murr, this past rough year is bound to benefit him in the future. I bet he's hungry to kick some ass.
Did someone leave the door open?
Let's try this again. DG, I don't think Wiercioch is going to spend much time in the AHL he is an elite player and I will probably see him playing with the Senators next season. I would say he was one of the better d-men in the WCHA this year if not college hockey.
Best of luck to Patrick. He was sure a pleasure to watch quarterbacking the PP and as a puck carrying defenseman.
He definitely needs to improve his defensive zone play, but he sure has a lot of potential.
@ Goon
Patty will definitely spend more time in the minors than Joe (which I estimated 2-4 yrs) unless he really improves. Maybe he'll be more motivated and surprise me but that's a MAYBE.
well gee, who will you all bash now that he's gone?
i wouldn't expect wiercoch to be in the minors longer than 2-4 years. My guess would be the end of this season and next season, then he'll start to get some nhl time. once that happens its all about how well he plays when he gets the chance
Goon.
if you think patrick was one of the best defensemen in college hockey you should stop drinking gin straight out of the bottle. About half the time Chev was left hanging, patrick was on the ice. He was a suparb offenseive defensman but not close to that on defense. We lost to RIT because of our poor defense. He needs to markedly improve his puck handling in traffic in his own end. Much work is needed. He should have stayed at D.U. for one more year to concentrate on that aspect of his game.
Yeah, he should have stayed and finished his career with DU... WTF do the professionals of hockey know?! They only work hockey for a living, right?!
Wake up you dopes... nobody would be offering him money to play pro if he wasn't good enough. If Ottawa thought he needed more time to develop they would have told him to stay for another year.
Someone please give me some info on who we might sign up to replace these guys. Who do we have on our radar? Who are the best kids out there yet to commit? If we could get two great players for next season to go along with what we already have coming in then the future could be very bright. I need some names....talk to me boys, talk to me?
I'm not surprised. I agree with PS--he has lots of work to do before he's ready for the big time. It will be interesting to see if he stays a D man. I thought he was one of the biggest holes in our D this season.
I feel that we are BU from this past year. It will be a year of rebuilding and not getting much credit with the PW
"Who replaces Wiercioch & Colborne"
On the blueline DU should be fine with who they have. DU has six returning D-men who all logged major minutes in 2009-10 and the top scoring D-man in the USHL coming in as a Freshman.
Figure that Wrenn, Donovan & Phillips will all be significantly improved with a year under their belts. Donovan will see major minutes and will anchor the PP.
Ryder, Nutini & Lee are rock solid defensive defensemen. Incoming Freshman David Makowski was the #1 goal scoring defenseman in the USHL this season (51 games - 18 g, 23 a).
2010 Recruiting Class
F Jason Zucker (U.S. Under-18)
D David Makowski (Green Bay, USHL)
F Nick Shore (U.S. Under-18)
F Beau Bennett (Penticton, BCHL)
F Dan Olszewski (St. Louis, NAHL)
F Jarrod Mermis (Lincoln, USHL)
2011 Recruiting Class
D Scott Mayfield (Youngstown, USHL)
F Zac Larraza (U.S. Under-17)
G Sam Brittain (Canmore, AJHL)
F Garrett Allen (Fargo, USHL)
D Matt Van Voorhis (U.S. Under-17)
D Daniel Doremus (Colorado Thunderbirds, AAA)
2012 Recruiting Class
F Tyler Pham (Team Illinios)
D Dakota Mermis (St. Louis Jr. Blues, AAA)
Pat will be in the minors for at least 2 years. Not because of skill but because of size (weight, muscle)and defensive ability. He has all the skill he needs to make it, now he just has to polish it. Sadly, he had his eye on the NHL contract b4 this season, his "family advisor" told me before the season started, that this would be his last. If I was Gwoz I would have sent to him awat to juniors
I think he made the rit choice.
clever...
Any word on where Patrick was assigned to following his pro cract signing?
I read this morning that Wiercioch will be in Ottawa practicing with the team and may get into an NHL game or two. He will not be eligible for Ottawa's playoff roster.
Ottawa cliched a playoff berth this week.
Both Colborne & Paddy will spend the summer working to make their team's NHL roster's next Fall.
The Bruins need scoring and the Sens need defense. Both Patrick and Joe can help fill in the voids, but realistically I see them in the AHL for the next year or two. Elite players whose skills need to be refined and improved upon for the NHL.
My question is about who else can we bring in now that we have two new openings in our roster. I assume we could take two more kids and it would be great if they were both the real deal. What about Zarnik and Grimaldi although I think Grimaldi had another year with USA? What other players are on the radar? Are there any rockstar players out there that we could bring in to the fold for next year? Im looking for a list of names!
Check out Hiesenberg's site, but doubtful there are many if any great players available.
David Makowski is Wiercioch's replacement.
Sam Brittain will be Chevy's replacement if needed.
There may be a chance that DU could replace Colborne's schollie if needed, but there are a lot of factors at play. One possibility would be a "Wiercioch Situation" where a forward who wanted to come to DU but committed elsewhere called DU's coaches.
The player in question could not of signed a "Letter of Intent" or would need a "release."
Czarnik & Grimaldi are 2011 recruits and Juniors in high school. So they are out for next season.
The worst thing that DU could do is offer a schollie to a player that wasn't ready and doesn't develop and DU is stuck with an under-preforming scholarship for four years. See Gophers, Minnesota University of.
This has been an entertaining thread to read. "They aren't ready" "family advisers" -- are you really worried that they won't make it at the next level or or you more concerned about the potential National Championship the team you pulls for may not get without their help? What does it do to your life if they do not make it to the NHL? Who takes care of these kids if they crush their knee or get a career ending injury at DU and never get the chance to do what they wanted to do? Not all schools let kids finish out their scholarships. I agree that pro sports have hurt college athletics. Draft rules and free agency make it hard for college programs in any sport compete with the pros. I would like to see the draft age rules change in the NHL and the NBA for that matter. What these young men have decided was their own future and that is their right. Everyone asks other people for advice and some even pay others for that advice. Get rid of "family advisers" and a new parasitic life form will emerge to suck blood and money of athletes. I think all sides on this issue are correct but ultimately it comes down to people following their dreams and who can fault that chase? To say they are not ready, well, the pro teams disagree and it is their money they are spending. One answer for DU is to get a few draft choices (like someone else pointed out) but get more kids that were not drafted and have passed the draft age limit - Vossberg, Nutini and others that came to the school after their draft age passed. Work hard, play hockey hard, and good students.
Post a Comment