U men’s hockey: Schroeder proving special
Posted on November 11th, 2008 – 10:14 PMBy Roman Augustoviz
Gophers coach Don Lucia like to refer to Jordan Schroeder as a special freshman. That he is. The first line center this week was named the WCHA’s Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row.
Schroeder had Minnesota’s first goal on Friday in a 2-2 tie with New Hampshire — it went in off a Wildcats defenseman’s skate. Then on Saturday, Schroeder had assists on the Gophers’ two first-period goals in a 6-2 rout of N.H.
He leads all rookies in Division I hockey in scoring with three goals and eight assists for 11 points. He is a plus-nine in even-strength situations and has won 60.1 percent of his faceoffs, 95 of 158. This info is courtesy of Jim Strick, the Gophers’ hard-working SID for men’s hockey.
Schroeder is the team’s second leading scorer behind junior captain Ryan Stoa (7-6-13) who is one of his wings.
RARE TIMES, DATES
No, that’s not a misprint. The Gophers really are playing Michigan Tech at 1:07 p.m. Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Why? Seems there is a men’s basketball tournament Friday and Saturday night and U officials wanted to avoid congestion around Williams and Mariucci.
OTHER WEEKLY AWARDS
Right wing Eric Walsky is the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. He had four goals as CC beat North Dakota 7-4 on Saturday. He has seven goals and five assists in 10 games. Walsky is from Anchorage.
Also nominated for this award was Stoa.
The Defensive POTW is sophomore goalie Marc Cheverie of Denver. The 6-3, 180-pound Cheverie stopped 61 of 63 shots as DU swept Minnesota-Duluth 5-1 and 2-1. He is 6-2-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
Gophers goalie Alex Kangas also was nominated for this honor.
This info is courtesy of Doug Spencer, the WCHA’s publix relations commish or guru.
TALKING RECRUITS
Two of the players expects to sign with the Gophers within the next week play for the expansion Fargo Force of the USHL. A familiar name is that team’s head coach and GM, Dean Blais. He, of course, coaches at Roseau H.S. and North Dakota.
He knows a little about hockey, so what are his impressions of these two players — remember Don Lucia can’t talk about them until they sign:
“Josh is a right wing, a power forward,” Blais said. “He has a great shot. He kills penalties and gets a lot of ice time. He got off to a real good start and continues to play well.
“Nate is playing on our top line and doing real well after a slow start. He has the ability to take the puck to the net. He can play wing or center.”
Condon is playing center for the Force.
Jack Youso, a forward for the USHL’s Des Moines team, also should sign with the Gophers soon. His father, Brian, said this is Jack’s first full year in the USHL. He played in 14 games last season before and after playing for International Falls in high school.
“He is playing every game, working hard on improving his skills,” Brian Youso said. “He is having fun.”
* The hockey blogs out there have been mentioning writing recently that Max Gardiner of Minnetonka has committed to the U. They are usually pretty reliable, but I never use them as source.
I had a little trouble connecting with Skippers coach Brian Urick until Tuesday when I finally had a chance to talk to him on the phone.
Max, indeed, is going to be a Gopher someday. He is a 6-3, 175 or 180 junior, so the earliest he could join the U team is 2010-11.
“His size is a real attribute,” Urick said referring to Gardiner, whose brother Jake is a freshman defenseman at Wisconsin. “‘Max] has good hands and is becoming a better skater. He has improved so much.
“He is an intelligent hockey player, a hard-working kid who loves the game.”
Max Gardiner was the Skippers’ second-line center as a sophomore and had nine goals and 12 assists in 27 games. He was a plus-14 player.
“He had a great year as a sophomore,” Urick said. “he is farther along than his brother was at the same time.”
Jake Gardiner, of course, was the Strib’s Metro Player of the Year so that is high praise.
