News of the Day

Well it's been awhile since I last updated, but I figure if the professionals over at USCHO can take weeks and even months off after the national championship is decided, why can't I? In the meantime, I've let a few pieces of hockey news slip by. First, CC picked up a commitment for next season from defenseman Brett Wysopal of Tri-City (USHL). I don't know a whole lot about Wysopal but from what I've heard he's a nice pickup this late in the year. Another piece of news that I missed was CC once again being at the top of the WCHA in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate. Nice. The most recent news for CC, however, is not so good; apparently forward James Brannigan will pass up his senior year at CC to play in the ECHL. I think Mr. Dilks at WCH is right in saying that the writing was on the wall in this case. Brannigan's playing time has definitely gone down since his freshman year and probably was not going to increase with the amount of young talent that CC has at forward. It's too bad for Brannigan and the team, but I think it's for the best.

That's the big news of the past two months. Now for some less noticed items:

* As usual a few college hockey players have signed professional contracts during the offseason so far. Here's a list off the top of my head:
- Andrew Cogliano (Michigan) : Edmonton Oilers - Not a big surprise since Cogliano is talented and Edmonton is coming off a disappointing season... Remember the Oilers traded away Ryan Smyth earlier this year - they need some help up front.
- Jack Johnson (Michigan) : Los Angeles Kings - I was surprised that Johnson even stuck around this long.
- Erik Johnson (Minnesota) : St. Louis Blues - I was surprised that this Johnson even played college hockey in the first place.
- Teddy Purcell (Maine) : Los Angeles Kings - Another college puck player headed to LA to live the life. If you don't follow NCAA hockey outside the WCHA, you may not have heard about Purcell, but the freshman phenom was a big reason why Maine made it so far this year.
- Ryan Dingle (Denver) : Anaheim Mighty Ducks - CC fans came to know Dingle well - not for good reasons. It'll be nice not having to face him anymore, although Denver still has plenty of firepower at forward.
- Jack Skille (Wisconsin) : Chicago Blackhawks - Skille was one of the top players in the WCHA last season and his presence/absence largely determined how much success the Badgers had. Once again, a player I won't miss facing.
- Mason Raymond (Minnesota-Duluth) : Vancouver Canucks - UMD fans can't be happy about this one. I'm not sure whether or not Raymond was expected to leave but he was without a doubt one of the Bulldogs' (and the WCHA's) top players last year.

It's a shame we don't get to see these guys play for four years, but that's the price you pay to get this caliber of talent in the NCAA.

* The WCHA recently decided to remain at ten teams for the foreseeable future. A lot of people had been speculating that Bemidji State might be invited to join the league due to the woes of the CHA. The problem is, the WCHA is at a healthy ten teams and is in no hurry to make it eleven. I agree with the WCHA on this one - I don't think letting in Bemidji State is a good solution to this problem. It would make more sense to me to tinker with a league that is already waaaay too big, the CCHA, in looking to accomodate teams that need leagues. I could go on for hours about this issue, but what's the point? You can read everything there is to be written about this issue over at the USCHO forums.