Recruits 2006: The New Thread

[ithacat]

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...

[KeithK]

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,

[nr53]

he did say almost...

[KeithK]

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

[Trotsky]

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.

[pfibiger]

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]

http://www.ajhl.ca/index.php?news_id=143&start=0&category_id=&parent_id=&arcyear=&arcmonth=

[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

[KeithK]

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?

[scoop85]

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.

[cs92@cornell.edu]

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

http://www.ajhl.ca/education/ncaa_2006-07.php

I recognized a few names from the past seasons.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote cs92@cornell.edu]I recognized a few names from the past seasons.[/quote]
Including frosh D-man Taylor Davenport.

[redhair34]

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

I'm no authority (so I'm not going to do your question justice :-P), 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.

[redhair34]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote cs92@cornell.edu]I recognized a few names from the past seasons.[/quote]
Including frosh D-man Taylor Davenport.[/quote]

Also Dan Glover and Kevin McLeod

[ithacat]

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...

[ithacat]

[quote 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[/quote]

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...::banana:: ::banana::