Ryan over at the Unofficial USHL Blog has a spreadsheet that lists every team's roster.
Players to Watch
Cedar Rapids: Matt Donovan (Denver University), Paul Phillips (Denver University), Greg Burke (University of New Hampshire)
Notes: I am interested to see if Mac Bennett will be called up at some point. He's a Michigan recruit for the 2010 season.
Chicago: I talked about their roster here.
Des Moines: Brett Bruneteau (North Dakota), Ryan Walters (Minnesota), Nick Pryor (Wisconsin), Aaron Crandall (Wisconsin),
Notes: J.P. Parise the father of Zach Parise takes over as the head coach after building the Shattuck St. Mary's program into a powerhouse. I like to see how much time Yasin Cisse receives with the Buccaneers. If not the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL will be making a big push for him to sign with them.
Fargo: Mike Lee (St. Cloud State University), Nathan Condon (Minnesota), and Johnnie Searfoss (Maine).
Notes: The Force got a tough break this summer when their top signee Garrett Clarke bolted to the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. Colton St. Claire will most likely be with the National Team Development Program Under 17 Team this season and the WHL trying to recruit him.
Green Bay: Michael Forney and Reid Ellingson
Notes: Both player played in college last year. If they can get Zach Budish and Anders Lee into the line up, that should them offensively.
Indiana: Brett Bennett, Brent Gwidt (Nebraska-Omaha), Ian Ruel (Bowling Green) and Zach Golembiewski (Michigan State)
Notes: They have a lot of young players to watchout for. John Parker is highly regarded 16 year old, they have Stanislav Galiev a 16 year old Russian, and Ethan Werek a 17 year old from Ontario. Parker was drafted by the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Ranger fans think he will play one year with the Ice and then head to Kitchener.
Lincoln: Jared Festler (St. Cloud State), Travis Erstad (Wisconsin), and Kevin Murdock (Minnesota State)
Notes: This team has a lot of older players which should mean they are looking for a championship.
Omaha: Joey Diamond (Maine), Jake Hauswirth (Michigan Tech), Danny Kristo (North Dakota), and Steven Whitney (Boston College).
Notes: The Lancers are another deep team. Louis LeBlanc another highly touted player from Quebec is on the Affiliated list which I thought he would be in the USHL this year. I am wandering if he's heading to the QMJHL.
Sioux City: Justin Daniels (Northeastern), Drew Daniels (Northeastern), Mitch Bruijsten, Brodie Reid (Northeastern)
Notes: Sioux City is another team that has a lot of 18+ year olds.
Sioux Falls: Luke Greiner (Harvard), Marc Rodriguez (Bowling Green), and Eric Hartzell
Tri-City: I talked about their roster here.
Waterloo: Nick Larson (Notre Dame), Lee Moffie (Michigan), Craig Smith (Wisconsin), and Derek Arnold (Maine)
Notes: There will be a lot of new faces on the Blackhawks but they will bring talent. This team should be very competitive.
That's My Take
(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)
Monday, July 21, 2008
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9 comments:
That's "Yasin Cisse" not "Yann".Don't know why Leblanc is on the affiliated list,but he is said to be definitely headed for Omaha and then Harvard.Can't see him going to Val D'Or.
Thanks...I had a brain fart.
Players like Leblanc are on the affiliated list simply because they don't take up a spot on the 25 man roster. This allows teams to protect a few kids on the bubble and keep them through the pre-season.
Is Cisse going to DM? He wasn't at their camp.
I am unsure but it might be a situation like LeBlanc that he doesn't take up a roster spot and just have him on their affiliated list.
Why would Cisse get less ice time in DM than he would in Moncton? Isn't the QMJHL a tougher league?
Well the USHL did fair well against two Q teams last season.
Moncton is in a rebuilding mode and they will play young kids this year.
From what I have learned from the USHL its a 17,18,19,20 year old league. Not all teams have 16 year olds on the team compared to the CHL where 90% of the teams have a 16 year old on the roster.
I think there was a handful 16 year olds in the USHL last year.
"Well the USHL did fair well against two Q teams last season."
Lets put those games in perspective please! The very best team from the USHL-the Omaha Lancers, some say the best USHL team ever, managed to squeak by an average Quebec Rempart team that was missing its top players. They then went on to beat a very young and weak Rimouski team (finished well below .500 in the Q) that also happened to be missing their top players.
The other USHL team, the Indiana Ice, finished 2nd overall in the U this past season and how did they fare? They lost both games!
USHL is definately a step below the Q!
We can go on and on and on about that series. It really didn't mean a whole lot. But if you want to sling out excuses, Omaha and Indiana played ONE exhibition game before playing the Q teams that had been together playing for quite some time.
But again, it doesn't really prove much. Me saying the USHL is a step above the Q has just about as much credibility as your saying the Q is a step above the USHL. There are too many what ifs to make those conclusions, IMO.
Regardless of which league is better, it doesn't really matter at all. Major Junior is the route for some kids, while it is not for others.
I have to agree with Ryan that a preseason tournament does little to resolve which is the better league between the "Q" and the USHL. As for players not playing, if memory serves me right, Omaha played the preseason tournament without their best forward from last year, Barry Almeida.
As for LeBlanc, the word I hear is that he will be a Lancer this fall. USHL teams had to trim their rosters to 25 on July 1. However, teams could keep up to 8 guys with 1991 and 1992 birthdays on their protected rosters. Thus, LeBlanc can remain on the protected list until he actually plays in a regular season game.
Tom
Wahoo, NE
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