Three Players Sign Letters of Intent

As you’ll read in The Gazette on Wednesday, CC secured letters of intent from Tim Hall, Andrew Hamburg and Rylan Schwartz. Those are in addition to the letters of intent from Nick Dineen and David Civitarese, signed last fall and earlier this year, respectively.

The recruits that are definitely coming in 2008, barring injury or some unforeseen circumstance, are Dineen, Hall, Civitarese and Joe Marciano. Possible additions to that class–resulting from early departures and other roster changes–include Hamburg and Schwartz. If either of those two makes a rapid skill development this season, then that would also earn them consideration for 2008 matriculation.

Coach Scott Owens discusses some of the players below:

F Nick Dineen, Omaha, Neb.
Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
5-foot-9, 190 pounds, 2/28/89
Shoots: Right
Fun fact: Dineen played for the AAA Pikes Peak Miners in 2004-05 and attended Liberty
Owens: “Dineen is really excelling right now. He’s in his third year in the league. He’s a tremendous locker-room guy. He’s a great leader. He can play gritty, he can score. He’s really having a great year. He was one of their top three guys in that (World Junior A) tournament up at Trail (B.C.). He’s all about team. …We knew that he had tremendous character. In midgets he scored a fair amount. His first two years in the USHL, he just scored OK, but now he’s settling down and he’s still pretty young.”

C Tim Hall, Sewickley, Pa.
Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (USHL)
5-foot-8, 160 pounds, 2/2/90
Shoots: Left
Fun fact: Hall is the second player from the Pittsburgh area in CC history. John Mooney, who played for CC from 1989-91.
Owens: “Tim Hall had 17 goals and 14 assists as a ’90 (birthdate) last year in the USHL. He’s off to a little bit of a slow start this year, but he played well overseas this summer and he also really played well up at Trail (at the World Junior A tournament). He’s a tenacious, hard-working left-handed forward with some scoring touch. He’s a smart hockey player and he’ll be an asset to us. He needs to get things rolling a little bit now, but no matter what we’re bringing him in next year.”

2008 or 2009

C Rylan Schwartz, Wilcox, Saskatchewan
Notre Dame Hounds (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League)
5-foot-10, 180 pounds, 1/8/1990
Fun fact: Plays for the same team that produced sophomore defenseman Kris Fredheim and assistant coach Norm Bazin.
“He’s been doing well. He’s only played two, three months of junior hockey. He did very well in midgets. Our original discussion on him was for ’09. We just wanted him to mature and that’s where we thought he’d fit in nicely for us.”

RW Andrew Hamburg, Phoenix
St. Louis Bandits (North American Hockey League)
6-foot-2, 175 pounds, 6/17/1989
Fun fact: Nicknamed “Hammer”
Hamburg landed with the Bandits after a two-game stint with the NAHL’s Texas Tornado. Originally thought would be playing for Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL, but was one of the final cuts.
“He was a late cut. It’s tough for high school. It’s a learning experience. He ended up in St. Louis, which has a very good North American team and he’s doing pretty well.”

I’ll catch Owens about Civitarese and Marciano later this week.

Sunday Sundries

Taking stock of North Dakota’s talent and musings on Grand Forks:
Talking about the Hobey Baker Award in early November is about as absurd as Christmas music playing at the mall already. That being said, the four North Dakota players in the top 10 of CSTV.com’s Hobey Watch were as advertised. I would put T.J. Oshie at the top of the group. As nasty (and legal) as that hit was on defenseman Nate Prosser, it showed Oshie’s well-roundedness. At 6 feet, 192 pounds, Oshie had chalked up a goal and an assist before unleashing his fury on Prosser–and that was all in the first eight minutes of Friday’s game. He’s fast, he’s physical and, as CC goaltender Richard Bachman and I discussed on the plane at 5 a.m. this morning (before passing out), he’s scary good. The Tigers should be thanking their lucky stars they don’t have to face North Dakota in the regular season again. The two teams would be a sweet matchup in the Final Five, but there’s a lot of season left to go. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and end up on a flight back to Grand Forks in March. I can only handle one Grand Forks trip per year.

Recruiting Roundup:

• Forward Rylan Schwartz, who leads Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League rookies in point-scoring and is seventh in overall standings, was named SJHL Rookie of the Month for October. Schwartz will join the Tigers in 2008 or 2009.
• In his first United States Hockey League season, forward Dakota Eveland has contributed to the Omaha Lancers’ 8-2 start with a goal and an assist in seven games. Eveland is tabbed for the 2010 incoming class.

Tiger Tracks:

• Looks like Peter Sejna made his debut with Zurich of the Swiss-A league.
• Mark Stuart‘s overtime play helps the Boston Bruins top the Buffalo Sabres.
• Matt Zaba continues to follow my well-beaten path between Connecticut and North Carolina. After a brief stint in Hartford, Conn., with the American Hockey League’s Wolf Pack, Zaba returned Friday to the Charlotte (N.C.) Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League.

Scouting No. 6 New Hampshire

Three things to keep in mind this week as CC heads into a two-game set at New Hampshire:

1. Kevin Regan The senior goaltender, who saved 30 of 31 shots in the Wildcats’ 4-1 win over Boston University, has an impressive career save percentage of .928 and 2.28 goals-against average in 61 games. Regan, named Hockey East defensive player of the week, is a big reason UNH was picked to finish first in its conference.

2. Big corners UNH’s Whittemore Center, which features an ice sheet with the same dimensions as the World Arena (200′ x 100′), is rumored to have nearly square corners (I’ll be pulling out my measuring tape). That means more space for the CC forwards to work with, but conversely, a tougher defensive task for the Tigers’ young defensemen.

3. Formidable top line The combination of LW James VanRiemsdyk, C Mike Radja, and RW Matt Fornatero will need some special attention. In the Wildcats’ first outing against Boston University, each had a goal and an assist. VanRiemsdyk might be “just a freshman,” but he’s already drawing comparisons to Minnesota’s Blake Wheeler. CC coach Scott Owens said the matchup between CC and New Hampshire should resemble last weekend’s games against Minnesota.

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Notes:
Right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick (hip) will travel and is “very close,” coach Scott Owens said Tuesday, after he put Kilpatrick with center Chad Rau and left wing Scott Thauwald to test his progress…Stephen Schultz (undisclosed leg injury) and Dan Quilico (right ankle) did not make the travel roster but both are back to full-contact practicing…Read Owens’ Tuesday at the Rink chat transcript here…Elliot Olshansky puts his foot in his mouth after CC’s season-opening sweep of Minnesota.

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Recruiting Round-up:
One of CC’s recent commitments, Tim Hall, who is slated to join the Tigers next season, was named to the U.S. Junior Select team, which will compete Nov. 5-11 in Trail and Nelson, British Columbia, at the World Junior A Challenge. Nick Dineen, another forward recruit for 2008, is also on the 21-player roster.

Hall was also named a ‘B’ list of NHL Central Scouting’s Player To Watch list, released today. A ‘B’ rating indicates a potential third- to fifth-round draftee. Rylan Schwartz, who committed to join CC in 2009 but could enroll next fall, was given a ‘C’ rating, meaning he is a potential late-round selection. Central Scouting will release a midterm and final ranking before the NHL draft in June 2008.

Andrew Hamburg has endured quite a journey this fall. After being released from the Waterloo Black Hawks (United States Hockey League), Hamburg was picked up by the Texas Tornado (North American Hockey League), where he had one goal and one assist in two games. As pointed out by Ryan of the USHL blog, the Tornado traded Hamburg to the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL, where he now appears on the roster but not in the stats.

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Tiger Tracks:
In net for the Charlotte Checkers (ECHL), Matt Zaba stopped 29 of 30 shots in his first professional victory, a 5-1 win over the Augusta Lynx.. The lone goal for the Lynx was scored by Aaron Slattengren. Trevor Frischmon, who joined the Checkers Tuesday, had two assists.

Toby Petersen was named captain of the Iowa Stars (AHL).

Shortly after he allowed one goal on two shots in his NHL debut, Curtis McElhinney was sent packing to the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate.

Bachman Racks Up Honors

Goaltender Richard Bachman was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (see release below) and Inside College Hockey Player of the Week (here).

Also, a week after Denver was named “Team of the Week,” College Hockey News passed the honor to CC.

WCHA Defensive Player of the Week
Richard Bachman
Fr., G, Colorado College

MADISON, Wis. – Richard Bachman, a freshman goaltender at Colorado College, has been named Red Baron® WCHA Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 23-29 as a result of his outstanding play in a weekend sweep of two-time defending conference champion Minnesota.

A 5-10, 172-pound freshman from Highlands Ranch, Bachman stopped 61 of 63 shots on goal (.968 saves percentage) and posted five shutout periods, including one overtime, while backstopping the host Tigers to a 3-1 victory over the Golden Gophers last Friday (Oct. 19) and a 2-1 overtime win last Saturday (Oct. 20). They were his first two collegiate starts.

Bachman had 23 stops in the series opener and then came back with 38 saves in the series finale as CC swept UM at home for the first time since Feb. 5-6, 1999 and handed UM its first road sweep since Feb. 27-28, 2004 at Denver.

In addition, Bachman, an NHL draft choice of Dallas, also played a key role in the Tigers’ success on the penalty-kill against Minnesota, as CC held its opponents scoreless on all 11 power-play opportunities over the weekend.

Also nominated this week were: Michael-Lee Teslak, G, MTU; Alex Stalock, G, UMD; and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, G, UND.

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Recruiting Round-up
There’s a possibility Rylan Schwartz, a recruit originally slated for 2009, could join Colorado College next season.

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Tiger Tracks:
Brandon Straub was recalled to the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) yesterday to replace Kyle Cumiskey, who was recalled by the Avalanche (it didn’t hurt that Dale Purinton was suspended for 25 games for this).
Straub signed a two-way AHL contract, which means he gets paid an AHL salary for any games played on that level. Straub was minus-3 with no points in three games for the Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL). Straub’s first AHL game could be against former Tigers Marty Sertich and Toby Petersen of the Iowa Stars on Oct. 27.

Matt Zaba will have a buddy in Charlotte; Trevor Frischmon signed with the Charlotte Checkers (ECHL).

Apparently, Brian Salcido took a bit of a beating on an East Coast swing with the Portland Pirates (AHL).

Curtis McElhinney made his NHL debut, but it wasn’t his strongest showing.