(left) Mario Lucia, the top-rated recruit in Minnesota, is considering DU, Colorado College and Notre DameFrom: Star-Tribune Blog
by Roman Augustoviz
The top-rated, Minnesota high school prospect for the 2011 NHL draft is Mario Lucia, according to the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau. He is expected to be a 1st Round Draft choice in June.
That's right, he's the son of University of Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. The junior forward at Wayzata has a knack for scoring goals. He often stations himself around the net and is hard to move.
Mario, his father said, has not made a college decision yet. The Gophers might not be his choice.
"There is a lot to that," Don Lucia said on Wednesday. "Part of me wants to be his dad, not his coach. For him a lot goes into [his decision]. He is a different type of player. There are a lot of dynamics that go into your locker room. It is one thing if you are a coach’s son killing penalties, it is another issue if you are the coach’s son on the power play."
Mario will play on the power play wherever he goes. He is bigger already than his older brother, Tony, was. Mario is listed at 6-2.
"So what is best for him? There is more that goes into it because he is a different player than Tony," Don Lucia said.
Mario has said that he is looking at Colorado College, where his father once coached, and Denver as other WCHA options. Notre Dame, his father's alma mater, is probably another option outside the conference.
11 comments:
Anybody named Mario--we gotta have him .D.G. get up there to Minn. and convinxce him . bring Boon.
I would be EXTREMELY shocked to see a Lucia play for Gwoz. I would think that CC and Notre Dame would easily have the advantage. But strange things can happen, so we will see...maybe this kid will be overwhelmed by DU's recruiting prowess.
Lucia and Gwoz. are good friends
Yep, ever since the Adam Berkhoel situation, Gwoz and Lucia became ohhh so close.
Overheard at a 4th of July family bar-b-que in a Minneapolis suburb: "Mom, Dad.... I've decided to go to Denver Colorado for college". LMAO LOL.... let me tell you something, Young boy.... people don't "decide" to go to Denver..... Denver "decides" who comes here. On the other hand, we are in the market for a 3rd goalie. Got any leg pads, kid?
This is about as likely as... the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup this spring
sounds like could be kind of a big deal. a national title could definitely be a dealbreaker with this kid
We will see if he considers playing in the WCHA or CCHA over the Big Ten Hockey Conference. More importantly what will his NHL team say where he should really look into. It will be interesting.
D.G just for the Record it's the Mpls Tribune a much better newspaper than the St Paul Pioneer Press...
This is a very interesting recruiting situation on so many levels.
Despite what the article says, until Mario signs a letter of intent, I'd still consider Minnesota to be the destination, especially if Papa Lucia signs the extension. Still Gopher fans acted like chumps regarding the Tony Lucia situation, until he turned out to be one of the grittiest players on the team.
Don Lucia visited Jesse Martin in the hospital, so that's all you need to know where the relationship is between the two schools. Combined of course with their mutual distgain of all things Sioux.
Likely odds of signing Super Mario:
Minnesota 27%
Notre Dame 26%
Colorado College 24%
DU 23%
Still its funny to think about tDon calling Gwozdecky as a parent and saying, "Hey Mario needs to be on the Power Play unit with Bennett & Nick Shore."
I would put it more like:
Minnesota 31%
CC 31%
Notre Dame 31%
DU 7%
I wouldn't hold my breath on this one.
Just because Don visited Jesse Martin does not mean that Gwoz and Lucia are all of a sudden good buddies. About the only person I could imagine being a weirder match to play for Gwoz would be if Todd Anderson had a son being recruited.
Not that you can believe everything you read, but (from nhl.com):
"Mario remains uncertain where he'll attend college in the fall of 2012, but he's narrowed his choices to Notre Dame, Colorado College and Minnesota."
Most likely he was the bait for UM that enabled tDon to get his contract extension.
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