Euro-players?

[LaJollaRed]

I was talking about this today with someone:

When was the last time (if ever) that Cornell has had a european player on the team? Do ANY teams in the NCAA have Euro players right now?

We recruit heavily from BC, but what about Germany, Russia, Sweeden, Finland? There must be tons of kids there who would love to get an American, Ivy League education AND play at a very competitive, visible level.

If they're good enough to play in the European junior leagues, but not yet ready for the NHL, why not give it the ole college try? (ha.) It'd certainly give them a chance to really prove themselves.

Thoughts?

[ebilmes]

Murray?

[LaJollaRed]

Yup. You're right.

But still...Die Berlin Junior-Eisbären looks like a fun team.

[jkahn]

Recent NCAA notables include Peter Sejna (Slovakia) and Thomas Vanek (Austria).  Both, I believe, spent time in the USHL before college.  There have been numerous Finns in the college ranks.

[jtwcornell91]

Kovac?
Svoboda?

[French Rage]

Starchuski

[Beeeej]

Kloboucek.

Beeeej

[ursusminor]

[quote LaJollaRed]When was the last time (if ever) that Cornell has had a european player on the team? Do ANY teams in the NCAA have Euro players right now?[/quote]Last season, RPI had players from Slovakia (Alexander Valentin), Austria (Mathias Lange), and Russia (Andrei Uryadov). Valentin is gaduating.

[calgARI '07]

[quote French Rage]Starchuski[/quote]

After that experiment, I doubt we'll be seeing any more guys from Europe any time soon.  For the record, Stachurski is Canadian but played in Finland for some reason.

[min]

not to be forgotten is the fact that plenty of women's hockey players are from europe. that was one impression i got from watching the winter olympics.

[ugarte]

Did Cornell find Murray in Sweden or on Apple Core?

[evilnaturedrobot]

Isn't Krueger European?  He plays for the German Junior national team, so he at least holds a EU passport.

I think the reason that you don't see more euros in the NCAA is because by the age of 16 they're getting paid to play in European Junior leagues, making them ineligible to play college hokey.  In order for a European to play in the NCAA they have to make the decision early on to not accept compensation for playing.  That probably means moving to North America to play in either the USHL or Tier 2 Canadian Juniors, as I don't believe there are any high level amateur junior leagues in Europe (though I wouldn't want to be quoted on this.)  My guess is that most 16 year olds don't want to move a continent away just for the sake of maintaining NCAA eligibility.

[jkahn]

[quote ugarte]Did Cornell find Murray in Sweden or on Apple Core?[/quote] Apple Core.
My recollection is that Murray came to Long Island as a junior in high school on one of those one year exchange programs, started playing for Apple Core and decided to stay in the U.S. for his senior year also.

[jkahn]

[quote evilnaturedrobot]Isn't Krueger European?  He plays for the German Junior national team, so he at least holds a EU passport.
[/quote]
Justin Krüger (or Krueger as it gets translated) is German, but has played in Switzerland the last few years when not playing for the German national team.  His dad has been coaching in Switzerland and was the coach of the Swiss Olympic hockey team.

[KeithK]

Further, it would be hard for an NCAA coach to spend much time recruiting in Europe.  Limited budgets.  You get much more bang for the recruiting buck looking in your own backyard.