Pat Rooney wrote an article in Mile High Sports about DU's recruiting guru Steve Miller and a pivotal event changed DU hockey recruiting forever [article begins on page 88].Its one of the best articles written about DU hockey in recent times. Read it to find out some good stories about DU's biggest recruits.
11 comments:
Excellent stuff.
The only issue I have with the article is that it makes it sound like players leaving early is recent thing. It isn't.
So many of DU's 60+ NHL players left early, even back in the 70s and 80s. Guys like Ed Beers,Peter McNab, Bruce Affleck, Glenn Anderson, Doug Berry, Craig Redmond, Ken Berry, Lyle Bradley, Mike Busniuk, Mike Christie, Ron Grahame, Mike Lampman, Pete Lo Presti, Tom Martin, Dwight Mathiasen, Derek Mayer, Paul Messier, Rob Palmer, and Rich Preston. That's nearly 20 guys...
How dare you leave off Kevin Dineen :-)
Kevin was the first guy I thought of for leaving early, and for some silly reason, I inadvertently erased his name from my list.
Good catch.
By the way, these are only the leave earlies who played in the NHL. It does not count the guys who left early and didn't make it, nor does it count the three year players from the days when freshmen were not eligible for NCAA play (1960s and before).
I think of those players that left early and have struggled to break through to the NHL. Ryan Dingle comes to mind along with Paukovich. I wonder if they would still depart early or remain in school?
Dingle shouldn'r have left. He was a marginal pro prospect at best, and would have benefitted with more time at school.
Paukovich, on the other hand, lilely needed a change of hockey scenery after the Bina incident. He was never the same level of player after that.
I hope both players either have or will finish their degrees, since it's likey they will need them.
Great article. There were a lot of outstanding hockey players mentioned.
Matt Carle was an incredible player. There were so many games in which he looked like a man among boys. He was smooth as silk.
Pauko definitely needed a change of scenery--he was not the same player after the unfortunate Bina incident. Doesn't mean I don't miss his bone crunching hits, though.
FYI - Just a bit of a correction. I graduated in 1973 - Ron Grahame, Mike Lampman and Mike Christie completed their 4 years of NCAA eligibilty at DU. (Ref: Legends of Hockey) Lo Presti was Grahame's backup in 72-73.
Timothy:
Thanks for the catch.
I was basing years of service based on HockeyDB.com, which shows those players at less than four years at DU.
Rich Preston also was 4-year player. Some of the early guys to leave were George Morrison, Vic Venasky, Tom Peluso and Lynn Powis (not by choice). Morrison was the first to turn pro early.
Who could forget Mark Rycroft? He left early and even played here for the Avs.
Re: Ron Grahame...I believe he is either first or second (with Steven Wagner holding the other spots) in total minutes, starts and saves in DU history for goalies. You don't get that in only 3 years, let me tell you...
Another dummy who left early is Brett Skinner. He bailed on a team which he was supposed to captain and has become a washed-up has been. Not sure which early signer was more stupid, Skinner or Dingle.
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