Death of a Program: Alabama-Huntsville Gets Plug Pulled

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Chris Peters

The writing was on the wall. A school needed to cut costs. No one from the outside was willing to help. Malcolm Portera, Alabama-Huntsville’s interim president has decided to pull the plug on the school’s hockey program. Now, college hockey has lost its most unique program.

Portera said in a memo to staff and students at UAH that the team will be bumped down to club status after this season and will remain a part of the university, but that’s far from the same thing.

The only school south of the Mason-Dixon Line with a Division I hockey program always seemed like a long shot, even when Doug Ross took over the team in the mid-1980s. Against all odds, it lasted through the dissolution of Division II and temporarily the collapse of College Hockey America, UAH’s Division I home for nearly 10 years.

The last two years have been difficult for the Chargers, going it alone as an independent, after being turned away by the CCHA when the CHA went under. Though the school was able to book an incredibly competitive and attractive schedule, there was no chance for a bid to the NCAA tournament. Hard to get players to come to your school when they play what amounts to an exhibition season.

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Posted in NCAA | 3 Comments

CHL vs. NCAA: The Public Pursuit of an American Top Prospect

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Chris Peters

Sunday night, I was alerted to a story from the Windsor Star regarding Jordan Schmaltz. In it, Windsor Spitfires GM Warren Rychel and head coach Bob Boughner reveal that they are continuing their pursuit of Schmaltz, currently a defenseman for the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, a top 2012 Draft prospect and verbal commitment to the University of North Dakota.

That Windsor is hot on the trail of a college-committed American top prospect is nothing new. The squad has had success luring away several previously committed Americans like Cam Fowler, Jack Campbell and Kenny Ryan. There have been other, less publicized, instances where Windsor was unable to secure the rights to players they pursued (Stephen Johns, for example), but they’ve reeled in some big fish over the last few years.

This curiously timed article really piqued my interest, and it should be required reading for anyone that has been following the ongoing battle between the Canadian Hockey League and NCAA for a variety of reasons.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft | Comments Off on CHL vs. NCAA: The Public Pursuit of an American Top Prospect

U.S. World Junior Spotlight: Jack Campbell

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Chris Peters

Jack Campbell (Photo: Dave Arnold, USA Hockey)

Jack Campbell — Goaltender
Hometown: Port Huron, Mich.     Birthdate: January 9, 1992
Height/Weight: 6’2″ / 182
Current Team: Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
NHL Rights: Dallas Stars (2010, 1st Rd., 11th Overall)
National Team Experience: National Team Development Program (2008-2010), U.S. Men’s National Under-18 Team (gold, 2009; gold, 2010); U.S. National Junior Team (gold, 2010; bronze, 2011); U.S. Men’s National Team (2011)

Team USA won the bronze medal at the last World Junior Championship, and without Jack Campbell, it might not have. In Team USA’s semifinal loss to Canada, Campbell made 37 stops, doing everything he could to keep his team in the game. The goaltender then had to shake off the agony of defeat to make 34 saves to help the U.S. secure bronze against a crazy talented Team Sweden.

For his efforts, he received the directorate award as the tournament’s best goaltender. No question, he was Team USA’s best player throughout the entire WJC. Campbell’s numbers were filthy. In six appearances, he posted a 4-1-0-1 record (W-OTW-OTL-L), 1.70 goals-against average and .941 save percentage.

That’s been par for the course with Campbell throughout his international career. He has dressed in five IIHF-sanctioned World Championship events (he did not play a game for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the IIHF Worlds last May). In two World Juniors and two World Under-18s combined, Campbell has produced the following numbers:

Record: 14-2-1-2 — In case you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s an .842 winning percentage in the Stars and Stripes. As these young kids are saying, that’s cray-cray, which I believe loosely translates to: crazy. And it is.

GAA: 1.17 — 20 appearances, 19 decisions, an average of just over a goal allowed per game. See also: .842 winning percentage. These just may be related.

SV%: .949 — Speaks for itself, right? If not, that means Campbell has stopped nearly 95% of the shots he’s faced in four international tournaments. Maybe that’s why the kid’s got three gold medals and a bronze (hey, how’d that bronze get in there?).

SO: 6 — Five of these shutouts have come in the World Under-18 Championships, including the 2009 gold-medal game as an underager (5-0 win over a Russian team featuring Kirill Kabanov, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Burmistrov. Hello, offense.)

Needless to say, Campbell’s got the goods. Not only has Campbell had success on the international stage, he’s beginning to find more luck in the OHL this season, despite playing on a very young team in Windsor.

Through Thursday night, Campbell has yet to lose a game in regulation with the Spits this season, posting a 6-0-2 record, 2.31 GAA, .931 SV%, and a shutout. He’s off to a much faster start in his second OHL season.

As long as he’s healthy, Campbell should be between the pipes for all of Team USA’s tilts in Alberta. He’ll get another crack at Team Canada in the preliminary round and will have to be every bit as good as he was in the semis last year, and a little bit better.

Head coach Dean Blais obviously knows who he’s dealing with as he had no problem tapping an under-age Campbell on the shoulder in the second period of the gold-medal game against Canada in 2010. It proved to be the best of many great coaching decisions of the tournament for Blais, as the U.S. earned its first WJC gold since 2004.

Will this duo recapture the magic in 2012?

Notes on Campbell:

– Product of the vaunted Honeybaked hockey club, based in Michigan.
– Spent two seasons at the National Team Development Program, setting the following records: Career GAA (2.14); Career Shutouts (10); Single-Season GAA (2.08, 2009-10);  Single-Season shutouts (6, 2009-10; tied with Jeff Frazee).
– Was the first American-born player selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
– Jack Campbell’s Complete USA Hockey Bio

Every week, until the U.S. National Junior Team’s pre-tournament camp roster is announced, United States of Hockey will highlight a candidate for the team. We’ll be taking a look at players from the near locks to the dark-horse candidates to the out-of-left-field possibilities.

Previous Player Spotlights:
Emerson Etem 

Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NHL, NTDP, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | Comments Off on U.S. World Junior Spotlight: Jack Campbell

Potential Problems in Raising the NHL Draft Age

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Chris Peters

Bob Nicholson, the president of Hockey Canada, has an interesting idea regarding the NHL Entry Draft. Nicholson, a man of great influence in the sport, has proposed to the NHL a plan to raise the Entry Draft age from 18 to 19 (or more accurately, the players would have to be 19 by the start of NHL training camps) as part of the next collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players association.

The nine-page document that Nicholson has sent to the NHL and NHLPA has not been made public, so it’s hard to understand all of the nuances of this plan, but it’s one that deserves careful consideration.

On the surface, it actually sounds like a very reasonable idea. The plan is not without selfish motives for Hockey Canada, but the reasoning behind it appears genuine.

Per the plan, players would spend an extra year in Junior or college or with their European club, while NHL teams get an extra year of evaluation. That’s the most basic description of this plan.

Where the plan appears to get a little sketchy is in the implementation of an “exceptional player rule” not unlike what we have seen in the past in the OHL with John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad being granted admission into the league a year earlier than normal.

The plan would allow for a certain number of 18-year-olds, those perceived as most ready for the NHL, to be selected in the first round.

All of this sounds OK, but when you look at it a bit longer, the cracks begin to show.

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Posted in Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft, USA Hockey | 2 Comments

American Prospect Update: Scouting Reports from Cedar Rapids vs. Sioux City

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Chris Peters

Friday night I was able to take in a USHL contest between the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Sioux City Musketeers. It wasn’t much of a game, with Cedar Rapids winning 10-2, but it was a great chance to see top prospect Jordan Schmaltz and a host of other players who may hear their names called in June.

First off, a quick analysis of the two teams:

Cedar Rapids has been billed as one of the fastest teams in the USHL and they definitely lived up to that against Sioux City last Friday. The top six forwards for CR can really move the puck and create chance after chance with great speed. Cedar Rapids D is a little underwhelming physically, but still possess solid skating skills that can often make up for a lack of size. The RoughRiders are a very exciting team to watch.

Sioux City has a much older roster, with a heavy dose of 1992- and even a few 1991-born players. Despite the age and size advantages, the Musketeers got dominated. It’s not just CR doing the dominating either. Sioux City is 1-4 on the young season and is being outscored 19-9. This isn’t an overly fast team, and that could be a detriment to the Musketeers going forward in the increasingly younger, faster USHL.

Coming up after the jump, a look at prospects Jordan Schmaltz, Cliff Watson, Riley Bourbonnais, Matt McNeely, Austin Ortega and Ian Brady.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NHL Draft | 4 Comments

U.S. World Junior Spotlight: Emerson Etem

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Chris Peters

Every Thursday from now until the U.S. National Junior Team’s pre-tournament camp roster is announced, United States of Hockey will highlight a candidate for the team. We’ll be taking a look at players from the near locks to the dark-horse candidates to the out-of-left-field possibilities.

Emerson Etem -- Photo: USA Hockey

Emerson Etem — Right Wing
Hometown: Long Beach, Calif.     Birthdate: June 16, 1992
Height/Weight: 6’1″ / 197
Current Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
NHL Rights: Anaheim Ducks (2010, 1st round, 29th overall)
National Team Experience: U.S. National Under-17 Team (NTDP, 2008-09); U.S. National Junior Team (2011)

Unfortunately for Emerson Etem, he’s better known for a disparaging tweet about the city of Buffalo, than he is about his performance at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in which the U.S. National Junior Team.

Etem was brought into the U.S. National Junior Team last year to provide some scoring punch, but had just one goal in tournament play. A player of his caliber should never be a non factor, but he essentially was during that tournament. However, there’s reason to believe that won’t be happening if Etem is granted another chance to represent the U.S. at the 2012 WJC.

The way he finished last season and the way he’s begun this year for Medicine Hat may be an indication of what Team USA could expect from Etem in his potential second go-around at the World Junior Championship.

After posting 45 goals and 80 points in the WHL last season, Etem is off to a torrid start for the Tigers in 2011-12. With 13 goals and 17 points in his team’s first eight games, Etem was most recently named the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Week. That kind of production you simply cannot ignore. Can his WHL play translate into World Junior success this time? Perhaps with that extra experience under his belt, it will.

The Anaheim Ducks signed Etem this past spring and he earned some time in Anaheim’s training camp before being sent back to the Hat. Having that short stint of pro experience under his belt has to help, if only a little.

Because of his previous World Junior experience and his astounding production in the WHL, there’s little doubt Etem is going to get tapped again by USA Hockey. He has the speed that Dean Blais covets and the scoring touch the team will require in an effort to get back into gold-medal contention.

Notes on Etem:

– Spent his 15-year-old season at Shattuck-St. Mary’s and helped the prep team win the USA Hockey Tier I 18 & Under National Championship
– Spent one year at the National Team Development Program, where he finished second on the U.S. National Under-17 Team with 53 points.
– A product of the LA Hockey Club, a youth hockey organization that has been churning out a bunch of elite talent of late.
– Comes from a family of rowers. Etem’s mother, Patricia, is a two-time U.S. Olympian in the sport.

Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey, World Junior Championship | 2 Comments

American Prospect Update: Early Standouts in USHL Play

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Chris Peters

Every major developmental league is underway and there’s been plenty of excitement to start the season. Every USHL team has at least two regular-season games under their belts, and though it’s early, a few prospects are beginning to emerge. Still, since it’s early, these prospect updates will be more statistics-based until I have a chance to see more of these guys live. I’ll also be working on a few new features to roll out in coming American prospect updates, like more Q&A’s.

For now, here are a few highlights from the young season and the players getting off to great starts.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NHL Draft, NTDP | 6 Comments

On Brendan Shanahan and Controversial Suspensions

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Chris Peters

What job is worse? The one where you fly under the radar and no one notices what you do? Or the one where you get all sorts of praise and many times equal criticism? In one job, you’re never right or wrong, because no one cares. In the other, you’re never right or wrong because you can’t possibly please everybody.

Brendan Shanahan took the second job. He had to know that each decision he would make would come with its share of lofty praise and harsh criticism. Yet, he seems to go about his business the same way every time.

Shanahan’s first regular-season suspension came down on Sunday, a two-game ban for Pierre-Marc Bouchard, oft the victim of injurious hits. Bouchard is not known as a dirty player and the incident in which his stick hit Matt Calvert’s face on Saturday night could have ended much differently. However, it ended with Calvert bloodied and short a few teeth.

Bouchard claims, believably, that his intent was to slash Calvert across the hands, not the face. However, had Bouchard never lifted his stick in aggression in the first place, the incident would have never occurred.

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Posted in NHL | 5 Comments

2011-12 Preseason All-America Team — NHL

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Chris Peters

Editor’s note: Ripping a page right out of the NCAA’s book, the United States of Hockey is naming three, that’s right, three All-America teams. Why let the college folks have all the fun? The three All-America teams will feature the American-born players I feel are the best at their individual position. There will be an All-America team made up of NHL players, one for college hockey (naturally) and another featuring 2012 Draft-eligible prospects. I’ll be naming six players to each of the three teams, while also throwing out some honorable mentions. The All-America teams will be revisited at both the half-way point and the end of the hockey season. They might look the same, they might look different and that’s the fun of doing it in the preseason.

Finally. The National Hockey League season is upon us. After the particularly long summer hockey fans endured, it’s time to get back to what we know. We know hockey.

It should be a particularly exciting season for American-born players as there are a lot of great young players stepping into big roles on teams. Some are just entering their prime.

Mike Modano’s retirement a short time ago closed the book on American hockey’s “Greatest Generation.” However, it’s time for this new crop to forge their own legacy. It appears they have the talent, depth and youth to do it. We’re only seeing a glimpse of what’s to come.

That new generation is climbing to hockey stardom. Some of the players on this All-America team have already achieved star status on a national level. There are a few household names on the list and perhaps a few soon-to-be household names as well.

This All-America team was handled a little bit differently than the previous two on USofH. I’ll list the position, the player and an explanation for that player’s inclusion. Then I’ll also list a second-team selection with a briefer description, followed by the honorable mentions.

There were a few really tough decisions, which is always a good sign. Find out who made the cut after the jump….

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Posted in All-America Teams, NHL | 4 Comments

How Notre Dame Won Realignment

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Chris Peters

College hockey realignment felt like it took so much away. Trust. Loyalty. The CCHA. Competitive balance. Any notion that college hockey was just a wholesome little subdivision in the NCAA’s big, bad, greed-filled world. Look around and you find few winners. Few schools that actually gained something.

You’ve got the Big Ten. That conference and its schools won big. College hockey finally had what it’s never had before, a real, live Division I “BCS” conference. A nationally known brand with its own television network and fist-fulls of money.

While the Big Ten won big, Notre Dame may have just won bigger with its recent announcement that it will join Hockey East in 2013-14. On top of that, Notre Dame and NBC Sports Group appear to have a deal to televise some Notre Dame home games beginning in 2013-14 on what is now known as VERSUS (it will be renamed NBC Sports Network on January 2, 2012). There weren’t a whole lot of details regarding the television deal covered in Notre Dame’s press conference, which you can watch right here. However, Jack Swarbrick, ND’s athletic director stated that the school would have the most robust television package of any team in college hockey. Well, then.

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Posted in NCAA | 1 Comment