Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

News & Notes - Saad, Europe, Notre Dame

October 3, 2011, 10:47 AM ET [ Comments]
Julie Robenhymer
RSSArchiveCONTACT
Yesterday, the Blackhawks made it clear that 18-year-old Brandon Saad was going to sick around with the big club for at least a few games when he didn't play in their final exhibition game. He's played in just about every one of them up until that point and they wanted to give him a rest so he'd be fresh for the season opener. That left me with a lot of emails and tweets about who this kid is and why they were keeping him around since he was picked in the middle of the second round.

Well...he's a native of Pittsburgh, a product of the US National Team Development Program, his brother, George, plays hockey for Penn State and if you read this article I wrote about him in June you'd know that he knows the difference between being a teenager who plays hockey and being a teenager who wants to play in the NHL. At the start of last season, he was projected to be drafted in the Top Ten, but a mid season injury limited his playing time and subsequent point production causing scouts to doubt drafting him so high, but as I saw his name continue to fall down the draft board in St Paul, I knew he'd end up being a steal for whoever finally picked him. Fortunately, for my scouting credibility, he hasn't let me down!

He's quiet, he works hard, he's fast, he plays both ends of the ice...even if he only plays nine games and then heads back to Saginaw of the OHL, he'll have a terrific season with them, represent Team USA at the WJC and be in a better position to make the team next year.

In other news, the NHL teams participating in the Premier Games have all made their way across the pond by now. Hopefully, you've been keeping track of what they've been up to either through their team websites/twitter because the scenic pictures alone are well worth it and hopefully you've remembered the trend of the past three Stanley Cup Champions starting their season in Europe...so of the four over there - Buffalo, Anaheim, LA and NYR - who do you think has the best chance of continuing that trend? Since there's also the trend of a Winter Classic team from the year before participating in the Cup Final, I'm inclined to see a Washington-LA Final in my crystal ball. Interestingly enough, both teams have the tools to do it and would be an entertaining series, but I digress....what do you think? Are the next Stanley Cup Champions in Europe right now?

Finally, in some college hockey related news, it looks like Notre Dame will announce on Wednesday that they will join Hockey East and presumably bring RPI as a 12th team with them (RIT would fill the subsequent void in the ECAC). Yesterday, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced that they would start their inaugural season in 2013-14 with eight members - North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, St Cloud, Colorado College, Nebraska-Omaha, Miami and Western Michigan. The Irish have spent the summer debating on whether to join the NCHC, Hockey East or go as an independent. Of course they could always join the Big Ten, but that means all of their other sports would have to do the same and as you probably know, the Notre Dame football team, which is independent, has their own, very lucrative, TV contract with NBC that they would have to forfeit (or at the very least share) should they join a conference and if you join the Big Ten it's all sports or nothing. Weighing heavy on Notre Dame's decision was a TV schedule and interestingly enough in a press release from last week about their games that would be televised this year, they noted that Versus, a member of the NBC Sports network, had yet to announce their college hockey schedule for this season. The plot thickens.....

The good news is we'll all know for sure in 48 hours and all that's left to sort out is where Bowling Green will end up. They have until Friday to accept an invitation to join the WCHA, but have been in talks with some of the schools from Atlantic Hockey - Niagara, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Canisius - as well as Buffalo State, who is interested in starting a DI program, about reviving the CCHA. That would give them six, geographically close (read: easy on the travel budget) teams that are looking for more national recognition. An automatic bid into the NCAA tournament would go a long way to achieving that goal. They've also had discussions with Alabama-Huntsville, who is in desperate need of a conference to call home since the CHA folded in 2010.

I'm heading to Boston University this afternoon, but until then I will be editing up a storm as the second episode of the College Hockey Spotlight will be released on Thursday. If you missed the first episode, check out the links below.

College Hockey Spotlight - Episode 1


All segments for Episode 1:
Minnesota Duluth - Looking For A Repeat
Boston Universty - Off-Season Workouts
Western Michigan - Yoga Practice
Robert Morris - Strong Non-Conference Schedule
Week One Scoreboard
Michigan - History of Yost Ice Arena
Rensselaer - A Program on the Rise
Minnesota State - Game Show


Julie

[email protected]


Facebook
free hit counters
Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment
More from Julie Robenhymer
» CAN vs USA Preview
» Thoughts from USA's WJC Training Camp Day 3
» Everything You Need to Know About Team USA
» Video Blog E.5 - October 12, 2015
» Video Blog E.4