 |
| Marc Cheverie |
 |
| (above) Boone pimps his @DU_Boone Twitter account during the Root Sports broadcast on Saturday night |
 |
| (above) Dakota Mermis left DU last weekend for the Ontario Hockey League |
US Born Players Under 6' who appeared in at least 1 NHL Game last season
[NCAA FRESHMAN SEASON STATS]
John-Michael Liles - MSU [8 goals, 20 assists] 4 years of college
Keith Ballard - MN [10 goals, 13 assists] 3 years of college
Alex Goligoski - MN [5 goals, 15 assists] 3 years of college
Francis Bouillon - CHL
Andy Greene - MIA(OH) [4 goals, 19 assists] 4 years of college
Kevin Shattenkirk - BU [4 goals, 17 assists] 3 years of college
Brett Lebda - ND [7 goals, 19 assists] 4 years of college
Matt Hunwick - MI [1 goal, 14 assists] 4 years of college
Jack Hillen - CC [2 goals, 9 assists] 4 years of college
Nick Leddy - MN [3 goals, 8 assists] 1 year of college
Steven Kampfer - MI [1 goal, 3 assists] 4 years of college
Matt Taormina - Providence [1 goal, 10 assists] 4 years of college
Cade Fairchild - MN [2 goals, 13 assists] 4 years of college
Torey Krug - MSU [3 goals, 18 assists] 3 years of college
Aaron Ness - MN [2 goals, 15 assists] 3 years of college
 |
| (above) Jussi Olkinuora leads the WCHA in GAA & Save % |
 |
| (above) A DU hockey fan poses with Coach Gwozdecky and several players yesterday at Colorado Children's Hospital |
 |
| (above) DU kicks off the hockey season this weekend at Magness Arena |
 |
| (above) DU's 2011-12 captains are Dustin Jackson, Drew Shore, John Lee & Paul Phillips |
 |
| (above) Drew Shore, Paul Phillips, John Lee and Dustin Jackson will be Alternate Captains during the 2011-12 season |
Mike Chambers Blog has a detailed posting on William Wrenn's departure from DU. The big beneficiary of Wrenn's exit is Sophomore Paul Phillips who will undoubtedly receive more shifts on the blueline.
(above) Great Brittain was an immovable object in the nets for the Pioneers in the first half of the seasonMidseason MVP - Drew Shore: Tied for the team team in goals, plus/minus & tied for second on the team in assists. Most impressive stat; scoring on 26% of his shots on goal.
MVP Contenders - Sam Brittain, Jason Zucker & Matt Donovan.----------Midseason Defensive Player - Matt Donovan: Tied for second on the team in assists and second on the team in plus minus. Established himself as one of the elite WCHA defensemen.
Defensive Contenders - David Makowski & John Lee---------Midseason Freshman - Jason Zucker: Tied for the team lead in goals. Easily one of the two best Freshman in college hockey.
Freshman Contenders - Sam Brittain, David Makowski----------Most Under-rated Player - John Ryder: Four assists and plus 8 in the first half of the season. NHL scouts are taking notice of Ryder's big hitting game, while he quietly is fourth on the team in plus/minus.
Under-rated Contenders - Dustin Jackson, Chris Nutini, Luke Salazar & Paul Phillips----------Most Inspirational Player - Jesse Martin: DU has gone 10-2-1 since Jesse's serious neck fracture.
Inspirational Contenders - Kyle Ostrow.----------Most Improved Player - Drew Shore: Made the adjustment from role player to elite forward look easy.
Improvement Contenders - Luke Salazar, Dustin Jackson, Chris Knowlton
Mike Chamber's Blog has updates on three of DU's four injured players. Jesse Martin wasn't mentioned, but Chambers has reports on Dusty Jackson, John Lee and Paul Phillips.So, Mr. Gwozdecky, is Mr. Jackson ready to play?
“No,” Coach George said. “When you’re not practicing and you haven’t played in a year and a third, and then all of a sudden you finally get cleared to practice full, and then you say, ‘Is he ready to play?’ No.”
Um, OK, so … will Jackson be in the lineup Friday?
“There’s a good chance,” Gwoz said.
I was glad to get that settled.
(above) DU Hockey is back1). Goaltending - Will the coaches rotate Adam Murray and Sam Brittain for half a game or will each goaltender play one entire game this weekend? Either way, these two DU players will be under the microscope this weekend.
2). Freshman - Three early NHL Draft picks will take the ice and Nick Shore is sure to be selected by an NHL team next season. Throw in David Makowski, who was the best defenseman in the USHL last season and three other Freshmen and you have a stellar recruiting class. DU's best recruiting class ever? We shall see.
3). Power Play - In recent seasons Coach Gwozdecky has gone with four forwards on the first power play unit. With Freshman Beau Bennett emerging as a power play specialist in the BCHL last season, DU may be temped to try it again.
4). Lineup - In recent seasons, the exhibition game lineup was a fairly accurate representation of how DU started the season. Its always interesting to see how the Freshman players are sprinkled through the lines. Will they play together like Rakhshani, Ruegsegger and Trotter did in 2006 or interspersed with experienced veteran players?
5). Development - As players get older and bigger, they assume more leadership and playing time responsibilities. What DU player has improved the most in the offseason? Candidates include Adam Murray, Paul Phillips, Drew Shore, Nate Dewhurst, Chris Knowlton and William Wrenn. Its no coincidence that all of these players were 18 years old when they enrolled at DU. Generally the younger you enter college, the bigger upside potential you have.
6). Forwards - DU legends Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger and Joe Colborne have moved on. With vacancies come opportunities. Who will seize the day and see the biggest improvement in points? Drew Shore is going to see more ice time, more power play opportunities and have slicker wingers this season. Senior Anthony Maiani may have shot to become an elite college player this season and burst on the scene nationally.
7). Defense - DU has seven defensmen who could start for virtually any other college program. Matt Donovan may only be a Sophomore, but the New York Islanders are hot on his heels. Look for him to turn pro after the season.
8). Special Teams - We talked about the power play, but juggling the lineup and creating mismatches is an art form. Coach Gwozdecky is one of the best in-game coaches in college hockey. With the TV timeouts and the imbalance in recruiting among various programs, mismatches on the ice win or lose more games than most realize.
9). DU Recruits - Its pretty rare that college hockey fans get to see two future players play for an opponent. Tonight forward Zac Larraza and defenseman Matt Van Voorhis will suit up for the USNDT. It should be a fun opportunity to see how these future Pioneers handle themselves on the ice.
10). Future NHLers - Of all the teams that DU plays this season, in all likelihood, no opponent will feature as many future NHL players as the USNDT. Sure they may be five years away from playing in the NHL, but fans will be given an opportunity to see some of the best young talent in the United States. Enjoy.
(above) Goaltender Adam Murray talks to trainer Aaron Leu
(above) A very controversial penalty shot was the turning point Saturday night
(above) Mind if I have this dance?
The exhibition game on Sunday night should clear up some of the offseason questions about DU's lineup. There certainly hasn't been a lot of scuttlebutt coming out of the Captain's practices and with only a couple of practices under the watchful eyes of the full coaching staff, nobody may have all the answers yet. DU has four front-line centers that figure to play on the Top three lines. Does incoming Freshman Drew Shore move to wing, to play on Colborne's line?
Who grabs the elusive sixth defenseman spot between Ryder, Nutini and incoming Freshman Paul Phillips? Traditionally Gwozdecky has gone with the scholarship athlete early in the season, in this case Phillips, but Nutini & Ryder are experienced WCHA performers. It will probably be by committee until further notice.
Can Nate Dewhurst supplant Brandon Vossberg in the lineup? Vossberg has proven to be the ultimate warrior for DU and won't go quietly into the night. Dewhurst brings speed and ability, Vossberg brings heart and determination.
How effective and how many starts will incoming Freshman Adam Murray get in goal? A clue might be the playing time on Sunday night. If Chevy & Murray get close to 30 minutes each, Murray might be in line to get 10 starts as a Freshman. If it goes 40-20 to Cheverie, Gwozdecky may be planning on riding the Chevy most of the season.
Who will be the biggest surprise this season? The candidates appear to be Shawn Ostrow, Adam Murray, Nate Dewhurst, Paul Phillips and perhaps Brian Gifford or Matt Glasser having a "breakout season." We'll go with Shawn Ostrow, but we picked Lars Paulgaard last season and he only appeared in a couple of games.
