2012 DU Recruit Daniel Doremus On Fire In USHL

(left) Daniel Doremus has 17 goals and 12 assists in 44 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede

Daniel Doremus' Stats

The most improved player in the USHL this season may be University of Denver 2012 recruit Daniel Doremus (6'1 192 lbs) from Aspen, Colorado.  That's not to say that big things weren't expected from Doremus by the Sioux Falls Stampede.  The Stampede selected the 18 year-old forward with their first round selection in the USHL Draft last year.   

Before deciding to play junior hockey in South Dakota, Doremus received overtures from Canadian teams in AJHL & BCHL.  Playing midget hockey for the Colorado Thunderbirds under DU alums Angelo Ricci and Shawn Kurulak, Doremus became one of the brightest prospects in Colorado youth hockey.

A week ago Friday, Doremus scored a game winner with 4.8 seconds remaining in a game against Cedar Rapids.  A week later he scored another game winner with 41 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Stampede to a 4-3 win over Tri-City Friday night in Kearney, Nebraska.  On Sunday he scored a goal and an assist against the Lincoln Stars to propel Sioux City to their 7th straight win.

Doremus had 9 goals and 10 assists in his first 36 USHL games.  In his last 8 games, he has 6 goals and two assists.  Needless to say, he has played a major role in the recent success of Sioux Ciry.

The hottest player on the hottest team in the USHL may be a Pioneer earlier than 2012, if he continues at this rate.  He will be 19 years-old in October, so perhaps DU will bring him in a year early as was the case with Tyler Ruegsegger in 2006.

2011 Recruiting Class

D Scott Mayfield (Youngstown, USHL)
F Zac Larraza (U.S. Under-18)
F Garrett Allen (Fargo, USHL)
D Joey LaLeggia (Penticton Vees, BCHL)
F Larkin Jacobson (Janesville Jets, NAHL)
D Wade Bennett (Wichita Falls, NAHL)
F Matt Tabrum (Omaha, USHL)

2012 Recruiting Class
D Matt Van Voorhis (U.S. Under-18)
F Tyler Pham (Colorado Thunderbirds-U18)
D Dakota Mermis (U.S. Under-17)
D Josiah Didier (Cedar Rapids, USHL)
F Daniel Doremus (Sioux Falls, USHL)

2013 Recruiting Class
F Brad Hawkinson (Colorado Thunderbirds-U18)

Daniel Doremus Commits To DU

(above) Dan Doremus is from Aspen, Colorado

Heisenberg's Recruiting Website is reporting that Daniel Doremus (6'1 180 lbs) from Steamboat Springs and Aspen, will attend the University of Denver in either 2011 or 2012. He is currently playing for the Colorado Thunderbirds where he has 23 goals and 20 assists in 39 games, while attending high school in Denver.

Before playing for the Thunderbirds, he played youth hockey for the Aspen Leafs. His older brother Tyler is a Sophomore hockey player at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and is having a nice season with 10 goals & 4 assists in 25 games.

Next season Doremus has several opportunities to play in various junior leagues around North America. The NAHL Wenatchee Wild have "tendered" or offered him contract, announcing his intentions to play for them. Once a player signs a tender with a team, his NAHL playing rights belong to that team.

He is also expected to be drafted in the USHL Draft on May 19, 2010 and reportedly there are teams in the BCHL and AJHL up in Canada that are hot on his heels as well.

Gwozdecky and Miller mined gold in the Rockies in recent years with J.P. Testwuide and Ryan Dingle, so DU's unlikely but very successful recruiting pipeline in the heart of Colorado ski country remains open.

Doremus' coaches on the Thunderbirds this season are a couple former Pioneer players, Shawn Kurulak and Angelo Ricci.

Mike Chambers of the Denver Post has additional news on the Doremus signing as well as several hot prospects that might be future Pioneers in 2012-14.

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)

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)
F Daniel Doremus (CO. Thunderbirds, Tier I)

2012 Recruiting Class
F Tyler Pham (Team Illinios)

DU Alum Leaving RPI To Return To Denver

(left) Shawn Kurulak played at DU from 1996-99

From: Troy Record
by Ed Weaver

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s hockey family has lost a key member, as assistant coach Shawn Kurulak has resigned.

The former University of Denver defenseman and assistant coach is returning to the Denver area to spend more time with his family.

While that clichéd phrase is often a catch-all excuse to cover the true reason(s) a coach or player leaves a program, it’s totally accurate for Kurulak.

“It’s strictly a family decision,” he said on Wednesday. “I need to be with them more than I have been. I love this place and it’s been a great three years of my life but this is just something I need to do for my family.”

“Our profession keeps us away from home a lot,” RPI head coach and former DU assistant coach Seth Appert said. “Shawn wants to put his young family first.

“We will miss him,” Appert said of Kurulak. “He’s done a very good job here and I appreciate everything he’s done for RPI hockey.”

Appert said RPI players will miss Kurulak a great deal.

“He had a good balance of being tough on them and still being their buddy,” he said.

“Obviously, it was very difficult to tell the guys,” he said. “It was very emotional.”

Rensselaer has not officially announced Kurulak’s resignation and Appert said there are dozens of applicants for the vacated position.

“We wanted to tell all our upperclassmen, all our incoming freshman and all our recruits personally before it was on the internet,” Appert said.

And coaching changes, even among assistants, can often cause players currently being recruited to feel uneasy.

Kurulak and fellow assistant Jim Montgomery played big parts in RPI’s recruitment of players in all four current classes.

Kurulak’s immediate plans include hockey only at the youth level in the Denver area.

“I don’t want to say I’m out of (college) hockey for good,” he said. “I just need to do something else right now.”

A four-year letterwinner on the blueline for the Pioneers, Kurulak wore the alternate captain's "A" for three seasons. A three-time WCHA All-Academic selection, he helped the team to the league championship as a senior. In 131 career games, he had 41 points (7 goals, 34 assists) and 268 penalty minutes. He also represented the WCHA on an all-star team that traveled to Switzerland for an international tournament in 1998.

News & Notes From Around Pioneer Nation

Former DU announcer Norm Jones will no longer call Colorado Avalanche radio broadcasts.

Former DU Captain Brian Vines is leaving the Miami University Redhawks to join former DU assistant Seth Appert at RPI. Vines a former defenseman for the University of Denver served as a volunteer assistant coach for the RedHawk staff for the 2008-09 season. Vines will replace another former Pioneer, Shawn Kurulak who resigned as an RPI assistant coach in order to move back to Denver and pursue business interests not related to hockey.

Former DU star Tyler Bozak will have to battle Christian Hanson and Andre Deveaux for fourth line duties on the Toronto Maple Leafs this preseason.

Hockey's Future ripped incoming Freshman Drew Shore in this scouting analysis.

Appert & Blasi Talk On Radio About Their DU Days

(left) Seth Appert

Former DU assistants Seth Appert & Enrico Blasi had a conversation on Fox Radio AM 980 in the Albany area today. Appert now coaches RPI and Blasi is the head banana at #2 ranked Miami, Ohio.

They had some funny stories about being roommates in Denver, their low pay at DU and talking Coach Gwozdecky into changing the Pioneers style of play in the 1999 WCHA Championship game against North Dakota (DU won 4-3). Its a good listen.

RPI Assistant Coach Shawn Kurulak played at DU from 1996-99 and was the captain of the team that won the WCHA Final Five in 1999.