U men’s hockey: ‘09 class to be unveiled today
Posted on November 19th, 2008 – 12:18 PMBy Roman Augustoviz
Today is the last day of the early signing period in men’s hockey and this afternoon the Gophers are expected to release the names of who they signed.
Expect no surprises. The six names that have been out there have signed. They are forward Zach Budish of Edina and defenseman Nick Leddy of Eden Prairie. They are the two high school kids. Budish, unfortunately, is expected to miss this hockey season after ACL knee surgery last week.
The other signees, all playing in the USHL, are defenseman Seth Helgeson of Sioux City, forward Josh Birkholz and defenseman Nate Condon of Fargo and forward Jake Youso of Des Moines.
How good is this group? Pretty darn good. Budish, Leddy, Helgeson and Birkholz are all rated as “A” prospects by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau, meaning they could be taken in the first or second round of the NHL draft in June.
The Gophers also have several players already verbally committed for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
But Coach Don Lucia said, if it were up to him, players would not be able to make verbal commitments until July 1 after their junior year in high school.
“But I’ve lost that battle” at coaches’ meetings, Lucia said. “It is like that not only in our sport.”
Players are deciding on schools earlier than ever, Lucia said.
John Hill, one of Lucia’s assistants recently received a call from the father of a sophomore goalie who said several colleges were interested in his son.
“We are not going to decide on a goalie in 10th grade,” Lucia said. ” We will talk to you after the season is over and have you come in and be able to watch you this year.”
The Gophers, he said, can recruit from a position of strength. “We want to wait as long as we can,” Lucia said, “but if you are another school, you might want to get into a kid before Minnesota decides whether to recruit him or not.”
To address that concern, the Gophers try to make contact early. “We have to make sure we are on top of the elite younger players,” Lucia said. “If they are going to be making a decision, we want to make sure they know where we are at.”
Hockey, unlike most sports, generally honors verbal commitment. “We don’t get involved if somebody decides they are going to go somewhere,” Lucia said. “We don’t continue to recruit him.”
POWER PLAY STRONG
Lucia said he might try to develop a third power-play unit if referees keep calling so many penalties. It would be especially helpful when the Gophers get a five-minute power play after a major penalty.
“Last year the power play was frustrating,” Lucia said. “It was a momentum killer for us. I didn’t get smarter over the summer with the power play. It’s our personnel, we’ve got more skill.”
And more goals with a one- or two-man advantage. the Gophers have 15 power-play goals in 10 games, an average of 1.5 per game.
“Our penalty kill has been very good,” Lucia said, continuing a review of special teams. “And [the penalty kill] starts with a good goaltender and guys willing to shot block and being in the right area.
“There were stretches last year where we played four, five, six games without a power play goal.”
Lucia is playing four forwards — Jordan Schroeder’s line of Ryan Stoa and Jay Barriball and Mike Hoeffel — on the first power play unit along with defenseman Cade Fairchild.
“We have three forwards and two defensemen on second unit,” Lucis said. “We would rather come back with two defensemen at the end of the power play.”
THEY SAY
* Don Lucia on the outlook for the rest of this season: “Are we going to get some bumps? Yes we are. But as long as we don’t get hit with some major injuries, we have a chance at a pretty good year, an exciting year. We are going to get better as the year goes on.”
* Lucia on Ryan Stoa: “A lot of people are surprised he is having the beginning of the year he is. I’m not. I saw that a year ago before he was hurt, that he had really taken that step as a player from his sophomore to junior year. He had 1 and 1 in the first game [one goal, one assist] and he got hurt and he is done for the rest of the year. I knew he was going to have an impact on our team this season.”
* Mike Hoeffel asked Sunday for his thoughts on the Gophers possibly moving up to No. 1 in the national rankings: “Certainly that would be a nice honor, but you have to take it with a grain of salt and remember it is a long season.”
