Saturday, April 16, 2011

News & Notes

A few ramblings from around MSU and college hockey ...

• The national signing period began Wednesday but we're still waiting on anything official out of Minnesota State yet. Expect the Mavericks to officially announce the signing of defenseman Mat Knoll from the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints, but that's probably it. The Mavericks have four other recruits coming who inked their names during the November early signing period.

• MSU is also counting on Matt Leitner to join the team after sitting out last year for academic reasons. On Thursday, I saw Leitner skating with teammates during a spring workout, so that's good news for the Mavs. Leitner was in school all last year but did not practice with the team.

• Back to Knoll, he had tremendous postseason, assisting on 10 goals in 13 games during the Saints' run to the AJHL championship. Spruce Grove is currently playing the BCHL-champion Vernon Vipers for the Doyle Cup, essentially Canada's Junior A national championshipthe winner of which moves on to the Canadian Junior A national championship tournament.

• 2012 recruit Dan Carlson is playing for the U.S. National Team in the Under-18 World Championships in Germany. The U.S. is 2-0 so far, and Carlson has a goal and an assist. The Americans' next game is Sunday against Russia.

• The NHL's final Central Scouting Service rankings were released recently, and Carlson was No. 143 out of the North American skaters. MSU '12 goalie recruit Stephon Williams was ranked 27th among North American goalies.

• We're still waiting for the MSU women's recruits for next year, too (expect five players), however, the Mavericks already have a big name coming in 2013. Mankato East/Loyola sophomore Savannah Quandt revealed that she has already verbally committed to play for the Mavericks.

• Channing Boe's hockey season is still going, as he is playing in the ECHL playoffs with the Wheeling Nailers. Boe played in eight regular-season games and has played in six playoff games so far.

• College hockey's early departures have started, and six WCHA players have decided to turn pro rather than complete their eligibility. The national champs, Minnesota Duluth, have already lost two players — forward Mike Connolly and defenseman Justin Faulk. Others include a slew of other defensemen: Minnesota D Aaron Ness, Denver D Matt Donovan, St. Cloud State D Oliver Lauridsen and Wisconsin D Jake Gardiner.

3 comments:

BIGhkyfan said...

Shane,

Let's have some between season fun...

Based on the returns/recruits, how do you see the line combos and D pairings for the start of the season?

Put it in your time capsule and open on the first regular season game...

When does the team hand out it's awards and how do you see that list looking?

Come on Karnak, let's test you here.

GO MAVS

Nation said...

Thank you for the information Shane! We always can use more Maverick hockey information!

Paul Allan said...

Small thing. The Doyle Cup goes to - as you've mentioned - the winner of the series between the BCHL champ and the AJHL champ. The Doyle Cup champ advances to the Canadian national championship tournament and a chance to win the Royal Bank Cup as the top junior A team in Canada. And in related news, congrats to Jack F. on making the Royals AAA 10 year old travelling team!