Recruits 2006: The New Thread

The old one's just getting unwieldy.

ObOnTopic: Anybody here have a son getting close to college age who can play goalie?

Beeeej

Sorry, no goalie news...but another area kid is going to BC. Ryan Hayes, the leading scorer on the NTDP's U17 team appears as an Eagle commit on Heisenberg's site. Hayes is from Syracuse and played junior hockey for the Stars before heading to Ann Arbor. I don't know if Hayes fit Cornell's academic profile or if Cornell was in the running, but it was rumored he wanted to come east for school. Hayes is a 2007 recruit.

I love the BCHL pipeline, but please bring in Casey Jones to oversee US recruiting (and prepare for Mike's eventual departure). Is there an Ivy rule against having 3 assistant coaches?

A third assistant coach must be an unpaid volunteer.

Beeeej

I would think at this point Casey is hoping to land a head coaching position, having been the top assistant - excuse me, associate coach - at OSU for a long time now (11 seasons there). While I'm sure he'd love the head job at his Alma Mater, there's no reason to think that Schafer is leaving anytime soon. So i doubt he'd be eager to grab a job in Ithaca, even assuming one were open and Schafer wanted to hire him.

KeithK
I would think at this point Casey is hoping to land a head coaching position, having been the top assistant - excuse me, associate coach - at OSU for a long time now (11 seasons there). While I'm sure he'd love the head job at his Alma Mater, there's no reason to think that Schafer is leaving anytime soon. So i doubt he'd be eager to grab a job in Ithaca, even assuming one were open and Schafer wanted to hire him.

Well, once Mike gets called up to the Big Show, I'd be okay with Casey as a head coach with Brent and Scott as assistants with unpaid volunteer Joe "I don't need the money anyway" Nieuwendyk, assuming he eventually decides to stop pretending he's superman and retires.

I dunno, if you kept racking up GWG in the Show, would you retire?

Beeeej

But, laxpower is reporting that Ryan Hurley (6'2" has committed to Cornell's lacrosse program. Hurley is the capitan of the Holy Angels' hockey team in Minnesota. Holy Angels is the defending AA State Champions & currently ranked #2 in Minnesota. Hurley's hockey mates include Cameron Cooper and Taylor Matson. Heisenberg has Cooper ranked as the 5th best prospect (2006) in Minnesota/Mid-West and Matson as the 2nd best prospect (2007) in the region.

Sorry, it's a slow day.

Maybe not this year or next, but good article on the Ithaca High School hockey Team goalies. 2 rotate in net alot - one a young lady is a senior and captain of the boys team - headed to play D1 at NH next year, the other is an 8th grader learning and improving...
see: [www.theithacajournal.com]

I've seen them play a couple of times and Andy Iles looks very quick, smooth, and pretty solid fundamentally. He's very small (listed at 5'5", but sure acts comfortable in the net. He's going to have to venture from home, however, if he wants to test himself.

I wish Ithaca could get a team in the Empire Junior HL so local kids had an option closer to home, and it might help recruiting for Cornell -- it wouldn't be like USNTDP/Ann Arbor/UMichigan but it couldn't hurt.

It's too bad Lucy isn't heading to Cornell.

ithacat
and prepare for Mike's eventual departure

In the words of Little Richard, "shut up!"

Trotsky

ithacat
and prepare for Mike's eventual departure

In the words of Little Richard, "shut up!"

I'm not sure if I should be offended because you told me to shut up or because you used Little Richard to do your dirty work.

Joe Scali returned to the Bulldogs lineup tonight and recorded an assist, after missing the last 10 games nursing a lower body injury. Two other injured teammates also returned and the red-hot Dogs posted their 15th consecutive win, 4-1 over the Burnaby Express. Two more games to go this weekend and by then Joe should have shaken off what little rust he may have acquired. Who knows, by next Tuesday the Bulldogs could be the #1 nationally ranked team in Canadian Jr. A hockey. Quite an ascent for a team enjoying a great season.
Like I said before, Jordan Kremyr & Bradyn Melrose - up for grabs - Cornell you paying attention to these two guys at all?

[www.oursportscentral.com]

Justin Milo was traded to the Lincoln Stars, along with a goalie who's bounced around the BCHL and USHL for a while, for Steve Jakiel (who chose Michigan over Cornell). He hasn't performed as well as last year, hopefully the change of scenery will get him back to his goal-scoring ways.

Joe Scali wasted little time getting back into the action this week, scoring another hilite reel goal as the Bulldogs posted their 16th straight win at the expense of Williams Lake. Today (Sunday), Alberni Valley Scali and his team registered their 17th in a row.

A few people said that Princeton had scouts in Alberni Valley over the past weekend.....Kremyr? Melrose?

it could be my imagination.....but it seemed like there was a whole slew of talented players who were considering Cornell and then signed elsewhere. Am i imagining this? I would imagine that this would happen frequently........where a player is attracted to Cornell because of its tradition, but decides against coming because some other school is offering a big scholarship and at Cornell he would have to pay 40k a year. Any thoughts?

I don't think there's a stat for near-misses, but it does seem that Cornell's in the hunt for more highly-regarded (or publicized) recruits. Of course, almost making it to two Frozen Fours in 3 years should help raise the recruiting platform for the school. That window seems to close quickly, however, if a school is unable to take advantage of its opening.

There's so many factors that could be at play...Bachman grows up in Colorado, goes to prep school in the northeast, considers Cornell, Harvard, and CC...decided to go home. It could be that simple. Who knows outside of a select group of insiders. Morin grows up in Auburn, cousin played for BC...where will he end up? Depending on what happens with Chad, what about little brother Jeremy in a couple of years? Factor in academics, majors, facilities, scholarship/financial aid money...recruiting pipelines & contacts (Cornell does very well in the BCHL, while BC does very well in Cornell's backyard)...

Good news, Cornell's involved. Close on a couple and the winters might even get a little warmer. Bad news, spend too much time on kids that go elsewhere and the distance between good and bad disappears in a few years (Syracuse football).

Sorry to ramble...

I don't get the impression that we're missing out on a lot of good kids. It seems to me that we're doing pretty well getting talented recruits. Next year's class looks very solid. When it comes to high level players you're never going to win all of the recruiting battles, or even the majority of them because the competition is intense and Cornell has a few natural disadvantages.

Edit: Incorrect snarky response removed,

he did say almost...

You expect me to have reading comprehension? Sorry...

I think two things are happening:

1) We're getting more info on recruiting as it goes on, and we're paying closer attention to it. Ten years ago, I *never* heard the names of the ones who got away -- you just saw the list of your next freshman class and that was that.

2) Cornell is regularly competing for a higher caliber of player. IMHO, unsubstantiated by any knowledge or even rumor, when a player was considering one of the Usual Suspects, Cornell didn't even used to try. Now, after screening out the obvious academic non-fits, they are. That means the percentage of misses is going to go way up. It also means that any hit among that select group is a guy we wouldn't have seen before, and one who jumps right to the head of the class.

We got a goalie, Ben Scrivens of the Spruce Grove Saints in the AJHL. He was recently selected for the AJHL All-Star game. I wonder if this means that Brad Thiessen already committed to UND, or if we got tired of waiting and had to make a move?

[q]The Spruce Grove Saints announced today that 19 year old goaltender Ben Scrivens has committed to attend Cornell University on a hockey scholarship. Scrivens, in his second season of Junior “A” hockey, will join the Big Red beginning in September of 2006.

Scrivens currently sits 5th in goaltending in the AJHL with a goals against average of 2.20 and a save percentage of 0.928 and is second in wins with 18.

Cornell plays out of Ithaca, New York and is based in the ECACHL.

Saints GM / Head Coach Mark Holick: “The Saints are proud that Ben has achieved his goal of an education through hockey. We are confident he will be very successful in his future and wish him congratulations.”[/q]

[www.ajhl.ca]

Ben is 2nd in the AJHL in Save % (throwing out one goalie who only played a few games), and 4th in GAA (also tossing out those guys with a few games, otherwise he's 3rd and 6th).

He also played for AJHL North in the Viking Cup (the gold medal team), played 4/7 games, won 3, and had a save percentage of .933

I jusy took a look through the list of AJHL players on Heisenberg's site (http://members.aol.com/cheisenber/Recruit06.htm). It looks recruits coming out of the league are mostly going to the lower tier of schools although Denver and Wisconsin have one apiece. I don't know if this says anything about the quality of the league or if it's simply off the beaten track. Can anyone say with authority how AJHL stacks up against the other junior leagues?

I don't know about the quality of the league today, but the AJHL website lists under "Alumni" these NHL players: Mark Messier, Lanny McDonald and the Sutter brothers.

The league also has a website for NCAA commitments from the previous seasons.

[www.ajhl.ca]

I recognized a few names from the past seasons.

cs92@cornell.edu
I recognized a few names from the past seasons.

Including frosh D-man Taylor Davenport.

KeithK
Can anyone say with authority how AJHL stacks up against the other junior leagues?

I'm no authority (so I'm not going to do your question justice ), but I'd rank it below the BCHL and OPJHL as far as its production of top NCAA talent over the past few years. To my knowledge there hasn't been a real stud AJHL product goaltender recently in college hockey (the closest being Glen Fisher at Denver). That doesn't mean Scrivens won't break the mold. He was on the Viking Cup champion AJHL North team. And the fact that his team did well in the Viking Cup may suggest that the 06' AJHL recruit class is particularly strong. But something tells me we're going to have to wait till 2007 for a suitable McKee heir.

Al DeFlorio

cs92@cornell.edu
I recognized a few names from the past seasons.

Including frosh D-man Taylor Davenport.

Also Dan Glover and Kevin McLeod

Don't get me wrong: I love next year's class. I'd love to see a top-shelf goalie to go along with it, but the forwards/centers seem really strong and exciting. Nash looks like a strong prospect as well.

I only meant to say that Cornell seems to be going toe-to-toe with some of the best programs for kids & that's great. Just because they miss on some of them isn't meant to be a slight on the ones they get. It's a valid point that Cornell appears to be winning some of these battles as well. It sounds like Gallagher could have gone anywhere, maybe Romano too. Milo, though struggling a little this year (compared to lofty expectations), seems full of potential. Greeening could be a stud; Scali looks like a grinder; and I can't wait to see Nash. This program is right in there with the best on some of the premier goalie prospects, just coming up short. Maybe DiLeo is the next McKee, I don't know... I just really wanted to see Sauer or Jakiel or Cheverie, but especially Sauer.

Cornell just feels to be a player or two away from breaking through, that's all I'm trying to say. Breaking through to me is winning the National Championship. The potential downside to that is if they keep missing on As & then the Bs are gone one may end up with Cs. Still, this is the evolution of the program. They're successful enough to be wooing the best. Woo on...

We can talk all we want. The coaches know hockey; we're just passing time between weekends.

lgr...lgr...lgr...

pfibiger
Ben is 2nd in the AJHL in Save % (throwing out one goalie who only played a few games), and 4th in GAA (also tossing out those guys with a few games, otherwise he's 3rd and 6th).

He also played for AJHL North in the Viking Cup (the gold medal team), played 4/7 games, won 3, and had a save percentage of .933

That's great news. I thought Cornell was focusing on some younger prospects (Ben's an 86er), but so what. He's listed at 6' 2" & 175. Heisenberg has him as the 3rd-rated goalie propsect in the AJHL.

Great find. Really though, do you have a life?

Seriously, I love the info you come up. Thanks worthy of a couple of...

ithacat
This program is right in there with the best on some of the premier goalie prospects, just coming up short. Maybe DiLeo is the next McKee, I don't know... I just really wanted to see Sauer or Jakiel or Cheverie, but especially Sauer.

It's so hard to tell how these kids are going to turn out. Sauer has proved himself well, playing as a freshman at UM. Jakiel has been really shaky this year, and got himself traded from Lincoln for Milo. Cheverie had a phenomenal first half and has been really mediocre in the 2nd, dropping way down statistically to the middle of the pack in the BCHL.

We can't know how things will shake out, but if McKee were to leave, I would be pretty surprised if Ben Scrivens weren't the #1 goalie next year. I think that it's probably very difficult to convince kids to come to CU knowing that McKee will get (almost) all the minutes for the next X years. We had the same problem with Lenny, and hopefully we'll have the same problem with our next stud goalie, whether it's Ben Scrivens or an unnamed member of the 2007 recruiting class.

Dany Heatley played in AJHL before going to Wisconsin.

redhair34

KeithK
Can anyone say with authority how AJHL stacks up against the other junior leagues?

I'm no authority (so I'm not going to do your question justice ), but I'd rank it below the BCHL and OPJHL as far as its production of top NCAA talent over the past few years. To my knowledge there hasn't been a real stud AJHL product goaltender recently in college hockey (the closest being Glen Fisher at Denver). That doesn't mean Scrivens won't break the mold. He was on the Viking Cup champion AJHL North team. And the fact that his team did well in the Viking Cup may suggest that the 06' AJHL recruit class is particularly strong. But something tells me we're going to have to wait till 2007 for a suitable McKee heir.

FWIW, the recent CJAHL top 10 has 3 teams from both the OPJHL & BCHL, 2 from the SJHL, and one each from the AJHL & CJHL.

Central Scouting's Players to Watch list has 8 kids listed from the OPJHL, 7 from the AJHL, and 5 from the BCHL. Scrivens is not one of the AJHLers.

Ben Scrivens was the #1 star last night, stopping 34 shots on 36 attempts against Sherwood Park.

Colin Greening..BCHL.. 42-20-26-46
Blake Gallagher.SJHL.. 36-21-16-37
Justin Milo.....USHL.. 32-10-11-21
Brendon Nash....BCHL.. 36-06-29-35
Anthony Romano..AtlJHL 34-47-41-88
Joe Scali.......BCHL.. 34-19-15-34 
Ben Scrivens....AlbJHL 92.7%SV 2.28GAA

Colin Greening, Joe Scali, and Brendon Nash all played in last night's BCHL All-Star Game. Colin Greening was named Coastal Conference player of the game with 3 goals and 3 assists. I've read nothing about how Scali & Nash played.


Game blurbs about a couple of the CU recruits from the AV paper:

Colin Greening (1987 forward; 6-2; 197 lbs.; St. John's, Nfld.): Despite being a continent away from home, Greening is playing like a veteran in his rookie season in Junior A. A good skater, he's a strong, determined power forward, Bestwick said. "He's very mature, very focused and determined. He plays every shift like it's his last one." Greening is off to Cornell this fall.

Joe Scali (1986 left winger; 6-0; 186 lbs.; Coquitlam): Whether Scali is charging the net or killing penalties, he is rarely outworked by anybody. "He's got tremendous team speed, and plays the game with reckless abandon," Hiller said. "He goes at it 100 per cent, each and every shift." Scali is headed for Cornell.

[q]He's got tremendous team speed[/q]What does this mean? I understand when a team has tremendous team speed because it's, well, a team. But a player?

KeithK
[q]He's got tremendous team speed[/q]What does this mean? I understand when a team has tremendous team speed because it's, well, a team. But a player?

Beat me to it, Keith. If this were true, overnight we'd be a Minnesota-equivalent.

Maybe Minnesota just has a dozen guys with team speed. So they're like twelve times as fast!

KeithK
Maybe Minnesota just has a dozen guys with team speed. So they're like twelve times as fast!

I wonder if you got enough of them maybe you could escape earth's gravity, or at least break the sound barrier.

KeithK
[q]He's got tremendous team speed[/q]What does this mean? I understand when a team has tremendous team speed because it's, well, a team. But a player?

I think that it has to do with his skating while towing a couple of big defensemen behind him. Speedy skating is a fast-twitch muscle thing, but having fast "team speed" is more of a slow-twitch muscle trait.

[Q]
I think that it has to do with his skating while towing a couple of big defensemen behind him
[/Q]
That must be it. I picture the chain of players used to whip the guy at the end really fast, like roller derby.

13-10 in the All-Star game...I think someone here once said the BCHL was a more offensively-oriented league -- they had that right. Makes some of those goalies' stats look even more impressive. All-Star games tend to be more open, but 13-10? Must of been a heck of a game to watch.

Do 3 goals and 3 assists equal a double-hat trick? Or would that be 6 goals...

Anyone know why Blake Gallagher was replaced in the SJHL All-Star game?

Just saw in Heisenberg's site that we got a transfer from U Mass-Lowell. Chris Fontas- LW (will be a junior). Any word on this?

Omie
Just saw in Heisenberg's site that we got a transfer from U Mass-Lowell. Chris Fontas- LW (will be a junior). Any word on this?

Fontas is already at Cornell and practicing with the team I believe. He appeared in the Red-White Game and the skills competition this season already. He's even in the 2005-2006 team picture. I'd say his place in the lineup next year is all but certain.

Loved Fontas in the Red-White game. Good size and skates well for a guy his size. No clue why it didn't work out at Lowell but his addition next year will go a long way to neutralizing the losses of all the senior forwards. As outstanding of a recruiting class as they have coming in next year, it will still be unrealistic to think that they will all step right in and dominate. You see a guy like Barlow is finding his stride and it's January. I think Fontas will be a big part of next year's team. He'll be that two-way center that Schafer leans on nightly. Anyways, if both Pokuluk and O'Byrne stay (long shot at best), next year's team is going to be a lot scarrier than many of us thought even a year ago. There will be more talent from top-to-bottom than even 02-03 albeit they will be much younger.

Barlow-Bitz-Gallagher
Greening-Scott-Carefoot
Scali-Kennedy-Milo/McCutcheon
Mugford-Fontas-Sawada
Kindret-Romano-Connors

O'Byrne-Nash
Seminoff-Pokuluk
Krantz-Glover
Davenport-Salmela

There will be a lot of tough decisions for the coaching staff, that's for sure, with 16 forwards.

calgARI '07
There will be a lot of tough decisions for the coaching staff, that's for sure, with 16 forwards.

Such as seeing if any player wants to declare a gender change and get the women's team up to the level of Dartmouth or Harvard. Imagine what it would be like if 3836 crazy fans came out for that. 'Course, that's chicken and egg -- great fan support helps attract the kind of players that makes fans want to come out, and fans come out for a team that's successful. I don't think the athletics department is hostile to successful women's sports, it's just that others such as Harvard, Dartmouth, and Princeton (in lacrosse) do it better for the sports where the men's stick sports are also successful.

billhoward
I don't think the athletics department is hostile to successful women's sports

Nothing makes the AD's job easier than a successful women's program to trump the inevitable sexism card. Tennessee is hardly the promised land of sexual equality, but Pat Summitt has given them a free pass for thirty years.

I guess Andy has polo.

Trotsky

billhoward
I don't think the athletics department is hostile to successful women's sports

Nothing makes the AD's job easier than a successful women's program to trump the inevitable sexism card. Tennessee is hardly the promised land of sexual equality, but Pat Summitt has given them a free pass for thirty years. I guess Andy has polo.

He probably says a prayer every night that none of the ponies drown.

2 goals and 3 assists for Greening last night

calgARI '07
Loved Fontas in the Red-White game. Good size and skates well for a guy his size. No clue why it didn't work out at Lowell...

Isn't Fontas an extremely talented student who wanted an academic environment slightly different than the one at Lowell?

From what i hear dont expect Connors to ever crack the lineup.

ithacat

calgARI '07
Loved Fontas in the Red-White game. Good size and skates well for a guy his size. No clue why it didn't work out at Lowell...

Isn't Fontas an extremely talented student who wanted an academic environment slightly different than the one at Lowell?

I have no knowledge of that, but the thought crossed my mind. It was then banished for being an odd way to look at intercollegiate athletics. Kinda cool if it is true.

Here's some discussion of Fontas transferring from the USCHO board back in August:
[board.uscho.com]

jkahn
Here's some discussion of Fontas transferring from the USCHO board back in August:
[board.uscho.com]

Of interest from a hockey perspective, he had nine points in 68 games for Lowell.

Some nice details on Scrivens at BR Puckhead: [bigredpuckhead.blogspot.com]

What happen to Connors? I heard great things about him, power forward, aggressive etc? Is it injuries? or is the college game too much for him?

seanc
What happen to Connors? I heard great things about him, power forward, aggressive etc? Is it injuries? or is the college game too much for him?

I don't know for sure, but I think he was just vastly overrated. Nobody that gets 18 points in 28 games in the EJHL amounts to anything at legitimate Division I schools. He did a lot of scoring at a very low level of junior hockey and when he got to the high level last year, he got hurt a lot and was sparsely affective. To me, he definitely should have taken another year of development. Friends of mine who played against him in the EJHL were very unimpressed with him and were shocked that there was so much interest in him. Colin Greening was coming from a low level of juniors and he deferred and took this year at Junion A and has been absolutely outstanding, exceeding expectations.

From an article on Greening posted on the bchl site:

-------
Colin Greening is much like your typical Newfie. The St. John’s product loves listening to Great Big Sea and watching Trailer Park Boys and he’s as friendly as a Care Bear.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound left winger from the Nanaimo Clippers also flashed some awesome athleticism Wednesday night by earning MVP as the Coastal Conference outlasted the Interior 13-10 in the 36th B.C. Hockey League All-Star Classic in Salmon Arm.

Greening dangled his way to a six-point (three goals) night, while his regular linemate Blair Riley added three goals and two assists and Tyler Bozak of the Victoria Salsa had four assists to give the dynamic trio a 15-point game.
“It’s fun to come to a place like this and meet all the great players in the league and show respect for them and see how down-to-earth all the guys are,” said Greening, who is headed to the Cornell Big Red next fall.
“It’s just a fun time and I really enjoyed it. It got a little more exciting near the end when they made it 11-10. We kind of joked we were going to trap them and keep the lead.”

Isn't Schafer signed to another 4 years after this season?

Not that it really matters, but out of curiosity, have we had a Newfie on the team since Oates?

Do we know how long his contract is? I don't remember length or dollars being released when he signed.

There's a couple of updates on his recent games...I think Trotsky's referring to the post Who Wants a Goalie?

pfibiger
From an article on Greening posted on the bchl site:

-------
Colin Greening is much like your typical Newfie. The St. John’s product loves listening to Great Big Sea and watching Trailer Park Boys and he’s as friendly as a Care Bear.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound left winger from the Nanaimo Clippers also flashed some awesome athleticism Wednesday night by earning MVP as the Coastal Conference outlasted the Interior 13-10 in the 36th B.C. Hockey League All-Star Classic in Salmon Arm.

Greening dangled his way to a six-point (three goals) night, while his regular linemate Blair Riley added three goals and two assists and Tyler Bozak of the Victoria Salsa had four assists to give the dynamic trio a 15-point game.
“It’s fun to come to a place like this and meet all the great players in the league and show respect for them and see how down-to-earth all the guys are,” said Greening, who is headed to the Cornell Big Red next fall.
“It’s just a fun time and I really enjoyed it. It got a little more exciting near the end when they made it 11-10. We kind of joked we were going to trap them and keep the lead.”

There's an earlier article on the BCHL site that credits Greening with 4 goals & 3 assists. There's still no box score listed on the site.

[www.bchl.bc.ca]

pfibiger
Colin Greening is much like your typical Newfie.

Oh you might think it's goofy...
but Colin Greening is a newfie

...

No? Anyone?

Schafer has consistently said that he is interested in coaching at the highest (pro) level. When is hard to predict, but a cautious administration would ponder a succession plan.

The typical contract commits the school to paying the coach for the term of the contract. It doesn't commit the coach to sticking with the school for that term.

David Harding
Schafer has consistently said that he is interested in coaching at the highest (pro) level. When is hard to predict, but a cautious administration would ponder a succession plan.

The typical contract commits the school to paying the coach for the term of the contract. It doesn't commit the coach to sticking with the school for that term.

Wrong thread but just to toss it out: With the changes to NHL rules, don't you think Coach will have to continue to morph his tactics before he heads to the big show?

I'm excited about these recruits and the recruiting blog is going to be a new addiction for me. Thanks for putting that out there!

[q]atb9
Wrong thread [/q]I will only plead guilty of propogating thread drift. In thread view it is clear that I was responding to the chain that went:[q]ithacat
I love the BCHL pipeline, but please bring in Casey Jones to oversee US recruiting (and prepare for Mike's eventual departure).[/q][q]Ben Rocky 04
Isn't Schafer signed to another 4 years after this season?[/q][q]David Harding
Schafer has consistently said that he is interested in coaching at the highest (pro) level. When is hard to predict, but a cautious administration would ponder a succession plan.
The typical contract commits the school to paying the coach for the term of the contract. It doesn't commit the coach to sticking with the school for that term.
[/q]
[q]atb9
but just to toss it out: With the changes to NHL rules, don't you think Coach will have to continue to morph his tactics before he heads to the big show? [/q]Moving back towards the main thread theme, the players with higher aspirations are going to have to change and now may well be looking for programs that can help them grow in the new directions. I'm far enough away that I don't get to watch games, but from the discussions here I'm getting the sense that the college game is moving the same way.

According to Heisenberg's list, Cornell has received commitments from another set of twins, Mike and Joe Devin from Catholic Memorial. Since one plays defense, I guess that they won't replace the Abbotts.

Yes! I was really worried about not having twins!!!

Bizarre that we grabbed kids from CM. I thought they were a wholly-owned subsidiary of BC.

That's BU Greg.

Pics: [sports.bostonherald.com]

My daughter is going to think they're hot. Great.

ursaminor
That's BU Greg.

I thought BU's feeder program was Arlington.

Maybe, it has changed. It used to CM. BTW, both Devins are ranked by the NHL CSB.

The rumor i'd heard about the Devins was that they were 2007 recruits, and were expected to play a year in the USHL. That still seems likely, since we have a glut of forwards for next year.

Mike (the defenseman) is a B rated prospect by Central Scouting, hovering right around where Tony Romano and Blake Gallagher are. Joe is an A rated prospect.

ursaminor
According to Heisenberg's list, Cornell has received commitments from another set of twins, Mike and Joe Devin from Catholic Memorial. Since one plays defense, I guess that they won't replace the Abbotts.

No, but they might then "replace" the McRaes.

What is interesting is that Ted Donato is a Catholic Memorial alum. I wonder if Harvard was gunning for these twins and Cornell out-recruited them, or if Harvard passed. I know that Harvard loses 2 defenseman (Pete Hafner & Ton Walsh), and they already have a commitment from Iam Tallet and hear that Chad Morin and Alex Biega are theirs to lose.

bothman
What is interesting is that Ted Donato is a Catholic Memorial alum. I wonder if Harvard was gunning for these twins and Cornell out-recruited them, or if Harvard passed. I know that Harvard loses 2 defenseman (Pete Hafner & Ton Walsh), and they already have a commitment from Iam Tallet and hear that Chad Morin and Alex Biega are theirs to lose.

I'd heard that at least Harvard and Northeastern were interested in the Devins.

For all those who wish we had hockey/lacrosse all-stars, Joe Devin also plays varsity lax.
[www.boston.com]

pfibiger
Mike (the defenseman) is a B rated prospect by Central Scouting, hovering right around where Tony Romano and Blake Gallagher are. Joe is an A rated prospect.

Does Central Scouting explain what they mean by the grading? How "can't miss" is an A supposed to be, for example?

Trotsky

pfibiger
Mike (the defenseman) is a B rated prospect by Central Scouting, hovering right around where Tony Romano and Blake Gallagher are. Joe is an A rated prospect.

Does Central Scouting explain what they mean by the grading? How "can't miss" is an A supposed to be, for example?

I think A means "likely to be drafted in the first three rounds."

pfibiger

Trotsky

pfibiger
Mike (the defenseman) is a B rated prospect by Central Scouting, hovering right around where Tony Romano and Blake Gallagher are. Joe is an A rated prospect.

Does Central Scouting explain what they mean by the grading? How "can't miss" is an A supposed to be, for example?

I think A means "likely to be drafted in the first three rounds."

In other words, anywhere from a Jessiman to a Kessel...

pfibiger
The rumor i'd heard about the Devins was that they were 2007 recruits, and were expected to play a year in the USHL. That still seems likely, since we have a glut of forwards for next year.

Mike (the defenseman) is a B rated prospect by Central Scouting, hovering right around where Tony Romano and Blake Gallagher are. Joe is an A rated prospect.

The Central Scouting Mid-Term Ratings have Joe Devins rated as the 83rd best prospect in the draft, whereas Mike is rated 154th, two three spots below Blake Gallagher at 151st.

New twins! Awesome!

I would think the Devin's would be for 07 but perhaps they are for '06. The league they play in is pretty bad and very tough to make the jump (it's a little lower than the league Greening was in last year). I had heard they were going to the USHL next year. If they are for '06 that almost assures me that Romano will be deferring and going to a better league. Either way, I think Romano deferring is a definite possibility.

The Heisenberg site says '06. BR Puckhead, who appears to do his or her homework, mentioned a while back that he (or she) wouldn't be surprised if we added a couple more D'men, given the huge loses on the blueline after next year. He (or she, or it... whatever) has never mentioned the Devins, however.'

It's a little bit hard to believe, however, that we are really going to see 19 (16-4+7) forwards, 9 (8-1+2) defensemen, and 3 (3-1+1) goaltenders. I mean, 19 forwards?

The Devlins fall in between our 87ers (Nash & Milo) & 88ers (Gallagher & Romano), age wise, so some more development isn't out of the question given the competition they've faced.

Romano's an interesting case. The league he's in is a weaker one and he didn't appear to have much of an impact when he played on an AJHL select team against the U18 Nationals, yet he appeared to have a solid Viking Cup. Goal scorers are needed badly next year (when aren't they?). It'll be interesting to see what happens with Tony. It'd be a shame to see him standing in a suit next year. Of the two younglings, I'd be most surprised if Gallagher isn't skating in Lynah next year, even though he's the youngest.

I also see on Heisenberg's site, Chad Morin is now listed as having said yes to H******.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth on the Devin twins.

Having played on the same team as Schafe for four years at CU, and now also coaching a local high school team in Mass. that has played against the Devins, I think that their style of play will fit in perfectly to Schafe's system.

Both kids are big , strong and smart players, who I believe will be great additions to the program.

Keep up the great work with the site, I know a lot of the former players ( myself included) enjoy reading the forum


Cheers!

DH, we love it when former players post. Feel free to chime in often - your perspective is welcome

They're listed as 07s now.

Dave Hunter! Thank you for helping to take us back to Boston.

From the Boston Globe High School Sports Blog:

Catholic Memorial's web site noted that CM co-captains Joe (forward) and Mike Devin (defenseman) "have both been rated among the top National Hockey League prospects in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Service. The twin brothers from Scituate, both National Honor Society members, have committed to Cornell University."

From my narrowly informed perspective, it appears that the overall depth and breadth of the recruits is as strong as we've had. These classes especially seem to have more true scorers to blend with the usual hard-working muckers. Given the general consensus that lack of scoring punch is our key missing ingredient, it will be interesting to see if there is in fact any change in style over the next few years.

When Connors was recruited the initial reaction was that he was going to score 60 goals a year and win the Hobey. IIRC, Rob Levasseur had unbelievable goal scoring numbers in junior (he eventually developed into a goal scorer, but it took 4 years). It's a crapshoot.

In case anyone cares, Chad Morin did commit to hahavhd (after looking at vermont and ohio state[?]). His sister said that Cornell didn't want him and they "were mean to him." Don't know the whole story..but seems like our loss...

As for his little brother, Jeremy (Jet). He could be even better than Chad...so maybe we shouldn't be "mean" to him.

sen '08
In case anyone cares, Chad Morin did commit to hahavhd (after looking at vermont and ohio state[?]). His sister said that Cornell didn't want him and they "were mean to him." Don't know the whole story..but seems like our loss...

As for his little brother, Jeremy (Jet). He could be even better than Chad...so maybe we shouldn't be "mean" to him.

Did Coach tell Morin that he might actually have to do schoolwork to get an A?

Who knows with a guy like Connors. He could be the next Paolini who didn't play much his freshman year and then was on the first powerplay the rest of his time at Cornell. Yes, there's a lot of talent coming in next year, but the coaches clearly look to fill roles with the most suitable players and many of those roles do not require the most offensively-gifted player.

Seriously, what does "mean to him" mean? Its a weird thing to say about a school that's recruiting you.

Maybe he read the elynah posts suggesting obvious taunts if he signed elsewhere.

sen '08
In case anyone cares, Chad Morin did commit to hahavhd (after looking at vermont and ohio state[?]). His sister said that Cornell didn't want him and they "were mean to him." Don't know the whole story..but seems like our loss...

As for his little brother, Jeremy (Jet). He could be even better than Chad...so maybe we shouldn't be "mean" to him.

Care to give us some more? What does "mean" mean?

Otherwise you're--unfairly, in my opinion--just creating a ripe situation for extremely snarky comments by attributing to Chad very unofficial slams against a program that we all love. It's not like we need to be any more upset with Chad--Like the "A" comment, the snarky comments should be because he chose to play hockey at Honors U in front of apathetic fans!

I honestly have no clue what "mean" means...I'll try to find out.

Cornell was "mean" to him? I suspect he will find out how mean Cornell can really be when he next sets foot on the ice in Lynah.