News & Notes From Around PioNation

The Denver Post has two blurbs today about DU hockey.  One talks about the "Shore Line" and the other mentions Jason Zucker returning to his new adopted hometown of St. Paul.  Zucker has become quite a fan favorite of the Minnesota Wild supporters.
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Mike Chambers Blog mentions Terry Martin's article about hockey safety and the horrific injuries sustained by players traveling faster and faster.  Of note in Chambers piece is that Jesse Martin is meeting with doctors about returning to the ice at DU in 2011 or 2012.  Check it out.
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The Denver Boone Facebook Page has 2,934 friends.  Sign up today to push him over 3,000.  Lots of cool photos on the site, updates on his upcoming appearances and a great way to stay in touch with DU.
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DU's club baseball team defeated "The School that wants to be Denver State" twice over the weekend 4-1 & 8-7.  Metro will be punished on the athletic fields if they continue with this nonsense.
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12 comments:

miller said...

I would be surprised to see Jesse play again. I would love to see it, but I would imagine the chances are very slim.

Any bets on Zucker turning pro in April?

dggoddard said...

I'm sure the Minnesota Wild would love to have him either in AHL Houston or perhaps on the big club. They'll be dangling the carrot.

Call it 50-50.

Anonymous said...

Educate me. If he graduates and gets his degree, other than for logging additional ice time under his belt with a top tier NCAA school, why should Jesse return to DU to play? Couldn't Atlanta just bring him into thier farm program to play if they wanted to/if he's able to? Or do the rules state that he has to play 4 years?? I'm not familiar with all the rules. I could understand if he hadn't been attending classes and needed another acedemic year and wanted to play..... but I don't get why he'd come back just to play - - but don't get me wrong.... it would be awesome to see

puck swami said...

Zucker has the skating and puck skills for the next level but his young body just isn't ready for pro hockey. He already takes a serious pounding at the college level due to his in-your-face playing style. At the 170 or 175 pounds he is now, he'd get tossed around in the pros and he needs to be stronger if he wants to be effective at the pro level. Another year of college would do him good to get stronger.

I hope the Wild leaves him in school for another year.

puck swami said...

Jesse's rights are held by Atlanta and he could sign with them at any time during his college career if Atlanta wished to sign him.

However, even before the injury, Jesse was a late round pick and given his college play to date, a probable minor league player, rather than a sure-fire NHL player.

After the injury, his hockey career still seems like a longshot at this point, as besides the broken neck, he has nerve damage in his arms/hands, and we don't know if that will return to normal through rehab or not. Fine motor control of the hands is vital for hockey players, and we just just don't know if Jesse will be a viable player or not at this point.

We need to wait and see. He will surely get at least one red shirt year from the NCAA if he wants it. and if he wants to try and come back, his rehab results would likely determine if that happens next year or the year after.

Amy said...

vilThe only reason the Wild would tempt Zucker to leave for the pros this year is because they've lacked good offensive talent for the past few seasons. Though its hard to say how well Zucker would do on their current team. They lack some good setup guys and offensive chemistry on the majority of their lines. It would do Zucker good to stay in college at least one more year since his body is not ready to take that kind of punishment yet...as mentioned by swami.

Aluuum said...

As skilled as he is ,Zuck is not ready for NFL contact. Not even close. He needs at least another year to develop his body.

Anonymous said...

I agree with swami and the other posters. He wouldn't be able to play his current style in the NHL or AHL. He would probably be dealing with injuries on a very regular basis.
If he waits a year or two then he could make the jump from college to pro much easier. I would hate to see him be one of those guys that gets knocked around so much in his first few years that he loses his edge.
Being a 2nd round pick, there might not be as much pressure to sign. Developing guys like Zucker and Colborne is supposed to be DU's specialty, right? Let them do it.

Anonymous said...

I agree! Zuck would get killed going over the middle by an NFL safety. He most definitely needs to add muscle for the rigors of the NFL...







That's a joke son

Elitist said...

I think Zucker could surprise all as a kick returner personally.

harumph!

Anonymous said...

You guys are crazy. Zucker could play in NFL next season but only in a 4-3 scheme. If Favre doesn't come back, Minnesota will call Jay Z up to take snaps with Tavaris Jackson.

vizoroo said...

Not sure a team of Zambonis could get the ice ready at the Metrodome. LOL