Screwed Again

Unsurprisingly, the hockey gods have again conspired to deny the Michigan Tech Huskies a highly-touted recruit, this time via the temptations of post-lockout NHL rookie contracts.

So if this is true (and there's no reason to believe it's not), Jake Hauswirth, the son of Michigan Tech alumni and owner of some nice USHL stats (28-24-52, +16), will be off to the minor leagues without ever setting foot in Houghton.

Frankly, this irks even more than the CPZ debacle, because up until this wonderful little news announcement, Jake had given just about every indication that he was planning to attend MTU. As I said, his parents are even alums. In his case, it did not sound like academics would be a problem as they ultimately were for Zabotel. So I get the feeling that the Capitals simply convinced him and his family that because he is 21 and has already impressed Caps scouts, they're willing to gamble on a contract right now to lock him up, get him developing in the minors, and have him for as long as possible before he becomes a free agent.

Really, I can't blame the guy for taking the money, but assuming I'm correct, this is yet another unfortunate case of the post-lockout NHL screwing college hockey out of potentially good players. Now, it's happening before some of these guys even make it to campus.

I'll tell you one thing though - that's the last time I will take the word of any recruit regarding enrollment until I actually see them in a Husky sweater. I definitely feel like we were being led on here, and it disappoints me greatly.

On a team as starved for offense as Tech is, my expectations for the next couple of seasons just dipped a notch.