Welcome to the Gazette's Colorado College hockey blog!
It's the off-season, but CC hockey news never stops.
In that spirit, I hope this blog provides CC's ardent hockey fans and even fans from around the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with quick updates from practices and games, notes that didn't make the paper due to space limitations, recruiting news and an inside look at the Tigers at home and on the road.
You can expect Q&A's with players, information on former Tigers and extra statistics.
Also, feel free to offer your suggestions through your comments or to my email, kate.crandall@gazette.com.
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Here's a first entry:
The story line entering last season was the rash of early departures that depleted the WCHA of some of its best talent.
Although the league did not lose nearly as many underclassmen as some were predicting in April, there have been a few surprises.
Today, Denver announced that defenseman Keith Seabrook, a rising sophomore, signed with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. For those who are unfamiliar with the WHL, one of Canada's major-junior hockey leagues, once Seabrook signed that contract, he forfeited his remaining three years of college eligibility. Seabrook's departure shows that the NCAA still faces competition from the WHL as well as the NHL and its minor leagues.
I interviewed Seabrook for a story on WCHA and CC recruiting that ran in March. It's interesting to read his quotes now.
I have kept a running list of early departures, found below. Please let me know if I missed someone. Their 2006-07 grade is listed in parentheses.
Alaska-Anchorage (2)
Jay Beagle (sophomore)
Signed with Idaho Steelheads (ECHL)
Nathan Lawson (junior)
Pursuing spot with Phoenix RoadRunners (ECHL)
Minnesota-Duluth (2)
Mason Raymond (sophomore)
Signed with Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Matt Niskanen (sophomore)
Signed with Dallas Stars (NHL)
Minnesota State (1)
Steve Wagner (junior)
Signed with St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Wisconsin (2)
Jack Skille (sophomore)
Signed with Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Joe Piskula (junior)
Signed with Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Colorado College (1)
James Brannigan (junior)
Plans to pursue a spot with the Augusta Lynx (ECHL)
Denver (3)
Ryan Dingle (junior)
Signed with Anaheim Mighty Ducks (NHL)
Keith Seabrook (freshman)
Signed with Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Greg Paukovich (junior)
Signed with Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
St. Cloud State (1)
Andrew Gordon (junior)
Signed with Washington Capitals (NHL)
North Dakota (2)
Jonathan Toews (sophomore)
Signed with Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Brian Lee (sophomore)
Signed with Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Minnesota (3)
Erik Johnson (freshman)
Signed with St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Alex Goligoski (junior)
Signed with Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Jim O'Brien (freshman)
Signed with Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Total early departures in the 2007 off-season: 17 (ties a WCHA record)
Total early departures in the 2006 off-season: 17
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4 comments:
How will this Blog and the Tiger Den work together?
Thanks for the coverage
Hi,
We're currently the process of switching from Blogger to an in-house system. The link will be posted as soon as we can get the site up and running and will be accessible via the Gazette's home page (www.gazette.com).
To more accurately answer your question, Tiger Den will remain the place that print material is posted online, while the blog will be chockful of extra features (stats/Q&A's/shot charts/podcasts) and will hopefully become a hub of activity for fan discussion.
Thanks for reading the Gazette,
Kate
P.S. If you have any suggestions for material you'd like to see on the blog, please post them here or email me at kate.crandall@gazette.com. I want to become the best source of Tiger hockey information on the web, so your comments are much appreciated.
Thank you Kate for this forum. gmf1a is one of the biggest tiger fans and has lots of knowledge about them. I'm glad to see him here. I look forward to visiting and commenting at this site often. Again thank you for all your hard work!!
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