Quote:
Originally Posted by PRStoetzer
I guess I can hijack my own thread, so I will.
What do you think of the incoming hockey recruiting class? It's tough to find information. I know there are some good players coming in, like Trevor Nill. Do they have the potential to be as good as the 2005 class with Kennedy, Abdelkader, and Crowder and do you think the team will still have a decent shot at a CCHA title despite the losses of Abdelkader, Mueller, Lerg, Vukovic, and potentially Kennedy?
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From what I've heard, the incomming clas is pretty solid. I like what I've been hearing about Leveille (29 goals & 11ppg for St. Catharines) Perlini seemed to do well after returning home to the Soo to play for the Thunderbirds (16-16-32 in 16 games!) I think the fans will like the Henderson kid. (6-2 200lbs 26-32-58 and a team high 150 pen minutes!) Tim Buttery improved from a -36 to a +16 this season and had a 6-26-32 scoring line from the blue line while cutting his pen mins in half. And we did pretty well the last time we got a goalie from Omaha! I had heard last year that the palmissano kid is the real deal. 27-10-0 with a 1.54 GAA and .923 sv%.
One area that will be crucial for the team is who will be named Captain? The upperclassmen who will be back are a pretty quiet bunch... not the type to get fired up in the locker room or during practice on the ice.
We'll lose alot of scoring, but when talented players leave it does tend to open the ice for the role players to step up and take charge. Sucharski and Schepke will have to step it up a bit. If Sprague would play "meaner" it would help his game. I really feel he could evolve into a McKenzie clone if he wants it badly enough. Gazley and Tropp will continue to improve, and you might start to see Shean and AJ Sturges get some ice time.
As far as a league title goes, The CCHA is losing a ton of talent this year (Porter, Jones, Kolarik, Whitmore from BG) so it's not just us. I don't think
MSU will be favored to win the title. But that might be just what this team needs.