Recruits sign with Mavericks

Four recruits signed their letters of intent to play at Minnesota State on Wednesday afternoon. The group includes one forward, two defensemen and a goaltender. Here's a look at the group:

Mike Huntebrinker, F, Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL): The 5-11, 187-pound forward missed the start of the USHL season after undergoing offseason wrist surgery, but he's made a big impact since getting healthy, scoring three goals and assisting on four others in just four games. Mike Hastings' first recruit (he committed less than two months after the coach took the MSU job), Huntebrinker had 17 goals and 17 assists last season, including a strong late-season surge that carried over to the Clark Cup playoffs, in which he had 10 points in 13 games. “I think Mike can come in and contribute offensively right away,” Hastings said.

Cole Huggins, G, Coquitlam Express (BCHL): The 6-0, 180-pound netminder is off to a great start this season.  He currently ranks as the BCHL’s leader in save percentage at .938 through 18 games. The 20-year-old Colorado native has a 10-5-1 record with a 2.25 goals-against average. “I really like his demeanor in the net,” Hastings said. “I like what he brings, and I think he can help us between the posts.”

Sean Flanagan, D, Penticton Vees (BCHL): The 6-1, 170-pounder was traded to the Vees from the Salmon Arm SilverBacks on Wednesday. A puck-moving defenseman who could be a future power play presence, he has three goals and five assists in 20 games this season. He had 31 points in 60 games with Salmon Arm last year. He was an alternate captain with the SilverBacks before the trade.

Carter Foguth, D, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL): More of a physical, defensive defenseman a la Tyler Elbrecht, the 6-2, 210-pound Foguth is in his third season in the USHL and a two-year captain with the Lumberjacks. He has one goal and one assist through 14 games this season. In 97 career games, he has 12 points and 233 penalty minutes.

“We’re losing two senior defensemen (Elbrecht and Evan Mosey), and I think it’s a good mix,” Hastings said of Flanagan and Foguth. "We need to get a little better on the blue line."

Read The Free Press' story here.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota State women's team signed two defensemen on Wednesday, including Mankato's own Savannah Quandt. Quandt, a senior at Mankato East and standout for East/Loyola, was a forward when she committed to MSU as a sophomore, but after getting moved to D, she has shined, and Mavericks coach Eric Means says he'll likely keep her there. The other player is Stillwater's Sara Bustad. Read more here.

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.

Mavs get D commit

Minnesota State recently received a verbal commitment for next season from defenseman Nick Buchanan of the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League. Buchanan is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound defensive defenseman from the BCHL's top team. He has seven assists in 31 games.

Buchanan, a Victoria, B.C., native, is teammates with another future Maverick, forward Bryce Gervais, who was traded to the Vees from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Gervais has 28 goals and 15 assists in 31 games.

The Vees are loaded with future college players, including Minnesota-bound Connor Reilly, Mike Reilly and Ryan Reilly (three brothers from Chanhassen); St. Cloud State-bound Joey Benik of St. Francis; and Notre Dame-bound Mario Lucia, son of Gophers coach Don Lucia.

Blueger locked up

Fear not, Minnesota State fans, Shattuck-St. Mary's standout forward Teddy Blueger has signed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Mavericks next year.

While there was some thought that he might not sign until the April signing period, he indeed signed during the November signing period. The Mavericks announced the signing six days after announcing six other recruits for next fall.

Blueger, a native of Riga, Latvia, had five goals and 15 assists in 15 games playing in the Upper Midwest Elite High School League this fall. Last year, the 5-11, 165 forward helped Shattuck win the national U18 title and finished the season with 24 goals and assisting on 42 others in 54 games. He will be playing for Latvia next month in the World Junior Championships.

With Blueger in the fold, the '12 freshman class has the makings of a darn-good group. Combine it with this year's freshmen — with Jean-Paul LaFontaine, Zach Palmquist, Matt Leitner and Max Gaede, among others — and the future looks pretty bright for MSU.

Mavs add another forward

PucKato is back from vacation, and, of course, there was MSU hockey news while I was gone.

The Mavericks added Rochester native Charlie Thauwald to the roster. Thauwald, 20, is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound forward who played at Rochester Mayo through 2007-08. The following year was his senior year but he opted to play junior hockey.

During '08-09, he played 23 games with the USHL's Chicago Steel, totaling one goal and two assists. A year later, he played 28 games in Chicago (one assist) and 14 in Owatonna with the NAHL's Express where he had four goals and four assists. Last year, he went to Alaska and joined the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL where he had 12 goals, 21 assists and 140 penalty minutes and helped the team win the Robertson Cup as the league's playoff champion.

Thauwald is the younger brother of former Colorado College player Scott Thauwald (2003-2008).

The addition of Thauwald brings MSU's roster to 27 players, including 16 forwards. He will wear No. 20 (Chase Grant is switching to No. 21 — not sure if I had that change on my post about new players and new numbers).

Jutting talks recruits

Minnesota State made it official this week, announcing the signing of defenseman Mat Knoll to its recruiting class for 2012. Knoll is playing for the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. After winning the AJHL title, the Knoll and the Saints are taking on the BCHL-champion Vernon Vipers for the Doyle Cup — Canada's Junior A national championship the winner of which moves on to the Canadian Junior A national championship tournament (Thanks for the clarification, PA!). Spruce Grove leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

Mavericks coach Troy Jutting called Knoll one of the best defensemen on the best junior team in Canada. He said that Spruce Grove rotated six defensemen pretty equally during the regular season but that Knoll got more responsibility in the playoffs, including time on the top power play. Knoll had 10 assists in 13 playoff games. He also has on assist in the Doyle Cup so far.

"He's a 20-year-old who's played a ton of games," Jutting said. "He's in his third year in the Alberta league and was the best defenseman on the team in Lloydminster last year. He's been around the block and understands the game. He's been a very good player. He's very experienced and a leader."

Sounds like a good recruit to bring in considering the loss of Kurt Davis, Ben Youds and Channing Boe.

Knoll will join the four players who signed during the early period in November and Matt Leitner as part of a six-player rookie class (Leitner will be a sophomore).

Here's what Jutting had to say about the other recruits coming in next fall:

On forward Jean-Paul LaFontaine: "He's second (on the Green Bay Gamblers) in scoring in his first year of juniors. He's had a great year there."

On defenseman Zach Palmquist: "The team (Waterloo) was not as good this year, and his numbers were down a little offensively. But his shots were up and his (playing) time was up. ... He's had a great junior career, and we're really excited about him. We hope Zach can pick up some of the slack with what we lose with (Davis) graduating."

On defenseman Brett Stern: "He's on one of the best team in the USHL (Green Bay). ... He's had to sit behind some veteran defensemen, but he's a good hockey player. He doesn't get as much get as much playing time but when he has he's played well."

On forward Max Gaede: "He's had a good year. He's got some thing to learn. But he's a big, raw, talented kid. We're very excited about him."

On Leitner: "He's on track (to play). Obviously, he's an extremely talented kid. He has potential to be a first-line center in the WCHA."

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 championship, the 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.

Checking in on the recruits

Here's a quick look at the stats for MSU's 2011 class of recruits:

J.P. Lafontaine, C, Green Bay (USHL) — 13 goals, 29 assists, 42 points in 52 games, +11,  63 PIM
Max Gaede, F, Sioux City (USHL) — 8 goals, 14 assists, 22 points in 43 games, -22, 55 PIM
Zach Palmquist, D, Waterloo (USHL) — 4 goals, 10 assists, 49 points in 49 games, -25, 55 PIM
Brett Stern, D, Green Bay (USHL) — 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points in 27 games, +10, 21 PIM
Matt Knoll, D, Spruce Grove (AJHL) — 6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points in 52 games, 51 PIM

Here are the players committed for 2012:

Bryce Gervais, F, Salmon Arm (BCHL) — 29 goals, 22 assists, 51 points in 58 games, 49 PIM
Brett Knowles, F, Salmon Arm (BCHL) — 30 goals, 28 assists, 58 points in 57 games, 58 PIM

Dylan Margonari, F, Youngstown (USHL) — 5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points in 46 games, -12, 45 PIM

Stephon Williams, G, Sioux Falls (USHL) — 18-6-6, .907 SV%, 2.61 GAA

MSU men and women announce recruits

The Minnesota State men's hockey team finally announced the three recruits who have signed national letters of intent since the signing period began about a month ago. No surprises there, as J.P. Burkemper, John McInnis and Josh Nelson joined the five players who signed with the Mavericks during the early signing period in November.

In Tuesday's Free Press, I had a story on the women's hockey team's recruits. That team announced three recruits that, with another recruit coming, will bring next fall's freshman class to a whopping 11 players.

Coach Eric Means was hired one year ago today (May 11), and, not only were most of the current players already gone for the summer, but he was able to bring in just one new player, Lauren Smith, who ended up being the team's second-leading scorer and will be the top returner next year. Means will have a much bigger impact on building his roster this year with seven players graduating and that big recruiting class coming in.

"That's half the roster," Means said. "Half the roster will have changed in a year. We'll be young, but I really like the players we have coming in, and I like the players who are returning, too."