Checking in on recruits (updated)

Today is national signing day for football and a few other sports. This has been made into a huge deal on ESPN and elsewhere, despite the fact that we know where most of those players are going already. The only difference is now the coaches get to talk about those players.

In honor of this not-as-newsworthy-as-everyone-thinks day, lets take a look at the Minnesota State men's hockey recruits for next fall and beyond and see how they're doing:

2012
Teddy Blueger, F, Shattuck-St. Mary's: 15 G, 41 A, 38 PIM in 35 games
Nick Buchanan, D, Penticton (BCHL): 1 G, 12 A, 23 PIM in 44 games
Dan Carlson, F, Sioux Falls: 6 G 8 A, +4, 38 PIM in 29 games
Jon Juntzi, D, Powell River (BCHL): 8 G, 19 A, 12 PIM in 43 games
Brett Knowles, F, Cowichan Valley (BCHL): 12 G, 35 A, 60 PIM in 44 games
Bryce Gervais, F, Pentiction (BCHL): 35 G, 26 A, 35 PIM in 44 games
Dylan Margonari, F, Youngstown (USHL): 11 G, 7 A, +1, 73 PIM in 34 games
Stephon Williams, G, Waterloo (USHL): 6-9-2, .913 SV%, 2.70 GAA

2013
Ryan Schwalbe, F, Shattuck-St. Mary's: 18 G, 41 A, 40 PIM in 41 games
Eli May, D, Eagan High School: 7 G, 9 A, 15 PIM in 20 games

Notes: UPDATE: Williams was traded from Sioux Falls to Waterloo on Tuesday. ... Gervais ranks second in the BCHL in goal scoring. ... Knowles was traded from Salmon Arm to Cowichan Valley 10 games ago. ... Williams is tied for fourth in the USHL in SV%. ...  May's Eagan team is ranked No. 4 in Minnesota.

MSU recruit picked for prospects game

Lincoln Journal-Star

Minnesota State's goalie of the future, Stephon Williams was chosen to play in the inaugural USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game later this month in Muskegon, Mich. The game will feature the USHL's top players who are eligible for this summer's NHL draft.

Williams, who is one of four goalies selected for the game, plays for the Sioux Falls Stampede. The 6-foot-2, 197-pound native of Fairbanks, Alaska, currently ranks second in the USHL in save percentage at .917 and is tied for fifth with a 2.54 goals-against average.

The prospects game will take place Tuesday, Jan. 24.

It will be interesting to see if and where Williams gets drafted this summer. The Mavericks have never had a goaltender who has been drafted nor one who has gone on to play in the NHL.

St. Louis is done; one more game for Fargo

Tyler Bruggeman's St. Louis Bandits didn't make it to the finals of the Robertson Cup championship over the weekend in Wenatchee, Wash. The Bandits lost on Saturday to Wenatchee, however, Bruggeman did not play in (and did not appear to dress for) that game after starting St. Louis' first three games in the tournament. The North Mankato resident and West graduate went 1-2 in those games, allowing 10 goals (including four power-play goals) and stopping 86.8 percent of the shots he faced.

Meanwhile, in  Fargo on Saturday, the Green Bay knotted the Clark Cup championship series with the Fargo Force (or as one blogger called them, the MSU-Mankato JV) to force a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday night in Green Bay. Not only does it appear that Mankato's Corey Leivermann will miss the game but so will another MSU recruit and Force captain Chase Grant, who suffered a knee injury early in Game 4.