Ross Olsson taken by Lincoln in USHL Entry Draft

Northeastern recruit Ross Olsson was taken in the 5th round of the USHL Entry Draft, with the 73rd overall pick by the Lincoln Stars tonight.  Olsson, a forward, is a ’94 from Billerica, MA.  He is expected to enroll at Northeastern in the fall of 2013.   Olsson, who is listed at 6’4, 192 lbs played this past season for Williston Northampton Prep.  Before that, he played at Billerica Memorial, where he scored 43 points in his junior season.

Olsson said that he plans to go to the Stars preseason training camp and work his way onto the team.   If he cannot get onto the team, he will return to Williston for one more season before coming to NU.  Lincoln is projected to return about 9 forwards, so there is definitely spaces for Olsson to take.  Kirk Luedeke, a scout for Red Line Report, had this to say about Olsson on twitter:

“1st couple of steps are sluggish like a lot of big men, but he’s got a powerful stride and pretty good top speed. He’ll get better.  Raw yet, but has some nice upside. Just going to need time, patience to put it together.”

Hopefully that development can occur in Lincoln next season alongside another NU recruit Zach Aston-Reese.  Daniel Willett could also potentially make the team, as he is currently on Lincoln’s affiliate list.   Lincoln has been good to NU in the past, providing Brodie Reid, Jake Newton, Garrett Vermeersch, and Ben Oskroba in recent years, as well as Colton Saucerman and Dax Lauwers who are coming this fall.

 

Hitting the Links

Some news regarding both former and future Huskies, as well as some Hockey East info.

• Russ Bitely sat down with ’13 recruit Ross Olsson.  Olsson was Madigan’s second recruit and with everyone jumping ship, its nice to hear someone say they are excited for the new era of NU hockey.    Olsson has still not decided between heading to the USHL for a season or staying one more year at his prep school before coming to Northeastern.

• UNH released their schedule for next season.   They are the fist team to do so.  Once again, the Huskies will get an early meeting with them.  On the whole, their schedule is very similar to last year’s with home and away flipped, as well as some minor changes.   Thats pretty common for Hockey East, so expect more of the same for Northeastern’s schedule.

• Incoming recruit Cam Darcy was part of the US U18 team that took home the 4th straight gold medal for America.  

• After a brutal series for Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins may need to reevaluate their goaltending situation.  Scott Burnside suggests maybe its time to start getting Brad Thiessen ready to eventually take over.  Thiessen is a restricted free agent this summer.

• Its a rule change summer for college hockey.  Lets hope it goes better than last time, when they almost passed a rule prohibiting icing while on the PK.   On this year’s agenda: Half-Shields and changes to overtime.   We can only hope the coaches are smart enough to vote against the idea of a shootout.    Also in that article is a brief discussion on UConn to Hockey East.   That CT news station that reported it was a “done deal” seems to be a bit off the mark.   Good on Hockey East for making sure to get the proper assurances before letting a sub-.500 Atlantic Hockey team into the conference.

• Wade MacLeod didn’t put up huge numbers in his first full AHL season,  but Bruce Landon had good things to say about the former Husky in his season-wrap for MassLive.

• Former Coach Greg Cronin will once again be an assistant for the US team at the World Championships.

• Earlier this season, it looked like Michael Ryan’s career might be over due to concussion problems.   But Ryan hopes to return tonight for the Rochester Amerks after missing almost all of this season.

• Chad Costello was named the MVP of the ECHL award.  

Recruit Update: 12/14

No major news for Northeastern in terms of recruits.  Ryan Renz officially won’t be joining the Huskies, but that was obvious when he didnt come this fall.  Not really a loss since NU has already picked up better defenseman and Renz has not committed anywhere else.  No incomings either.  Next season’s class is pretty much set barring a major change.  So Madigan and his staff are probably focused on 2013 and beyond now.  Here is who all of the current recruits have been doing this year:

2012

Jon Gilles (G, Indiana Ice) continues to impress. This past week, he won USHL Player of the Week.  With all signs pointing towards a Rawlings exit, Northeastern cannot afford to lose Gillies to Major Juniors.  This radio interview makes it seem like he will probably be here, but MJ is probably going to come after him pretty hard and who could blame him for taking the chance to play for Patrick Roy’s team?  He has a 2.50 GAA (6th in USHL) and .922 SV Percentage (2nd) through 20 games this year.  He has played all but 2 games for his team.

Ryan Belonger (F, Youngstown Phantoms) is leading his team in penalty minutes with 44 in 21 games. But, 31 of those 44 have come in 2 games due to fights and misconduct.  He is also 3rd on his team with goals with 9 and 4th on his team in points with 15.

Mike Gunn (D, Youngstown Phantoms) is a +13 through 21 games, which is the 8th best in the entire league.  Gunn was a -13 last year in a half season with Chicago, so clearly the move to Youngstown has been a good one for him.

Colton Saucerman (D, Lincoln Stars) may be just what Northeastern needs on the Power Play.  Through 20 games he has a 3-8-11 line.  All 3 of those 3 goals, along with 3 of the assists have come on the Power Play.  His 11 points have him tied for 8th among defenseman.    Saucerman has just 10 penalty minutes on the year, which is extremely low for a defenseman.

Cam Darcy (F, USNTDP) has a 2-5-7 line in 26 games in all action.  Remember that since he plays for the USNTDP team, these games are not only against USHL opponents, but also some exhibitions against college or international teams.   Darcy and the USNTDP will visit Matthews Arena January 7th, so be sure to check him out. The talent is there.

2013

Garrett Cockerill (D, Muskegon Lumberjacks) has only appeared in 2 games for Muskegon this year.  He has spent most of his team with the Compuware U18 team that he played for last year.

Zach Aston-Reese (F, Lincoln Stars) has gotten off to a slow start.  He has a 3-6-9 line in 21 games for a Lincoln team that is currently in 1st place.  He finished last year with just 5 points from 25 games with Lincoln.

Nathan Ferriero (F, Governor’s Academy) has just begun his Junior year at GA, who play in the ISL.  The plan appears for Nate to come right from prep school, just like his brothers Cody and Benn (at BC) did.  Its rare that a kid doesn’t spend at least a year in juniors.  Cody struggled in his first year here as an 18 year old, but really has turned it on this year.  It will be interesting to see if Nate will take a similiar path.

Ross Olsson (F, Williston Northampton) has also entered his Junior season in the Prep League.  He picked up a goal the other night, but his team is 0-4 on the season.

2014

Dylan McLaughlin (F, Sioux Falls Stampede) has appeared in 11 games in his first USHL season.  He has an 0-2-2 line.  McLaughlin is just 16 years old, so he has plenty of time to develop and grow.

Daniel Whillet (D, NJ Rockets) has split time between the AJHL and the MJHL teams for the Rockets organization.  He is currently in the lower of the two leagues, the MJHL, where the 15 year old has spent much of his time this season.

2016

Cam Askew (F, Valley Jr Warriors) is absolutely tearing it up in the EJHL.  He has 21 points in 12 games. which is 3rd best on his team.  Askew, who is just 14, is seeing action as a freshman for St. Sebastians as well.  He picked up a hat trick against Milton Academy earlier this month.  The game also marked his first varsity goal.

Cam Askew Commits to Northeastern, plus Recruit Updates

There is nothing wrong with planning ahead and thats exactly what Coach Madigan has done by getting a commitment from Cam Askew.  Askew, a forward, is currently in 8th grade at St. Sebastian’s.  He is a ’97 birthdate and is planning to be here for 2016.

It is interesting to say the least.  Askew is apparently one of the best in his age group and its great to see Madigan and Northeastern getting a local kid before BC or BU can get their hands on him.  But its hard to get excited over someone 5 years away.  There is plenty of time for him to change his mind or go the Major Juniors route.  And there is no guarantee that he continues to develop like he has. So kudos for getting the commitment, but lets not get too excited yet.  We just hope it doesnt end up like the Chris Student situation.

2012

Jon Gillies has signed his National Letter of Intent to come here next season. Which probably means Rawlings will be leaving for the pros.  Gillies is 7-3 with a 2.44 GAA and a .913 SV % so far this season with the Indiana Ice of the USHL.

Cam Darcy and the USNTDP U-18 won the Four Nations tournament in Switzerland last week.  Darcy had an assist.

The other forward from next year’s class, Ryan Belonger has racked up 39 Penalty Minutes in just 15 games.  He also has 6 goals and 6 assists.  We can only hope he is the second coming of Dennis McCauley.

Defenseman Mike Gunn, who plays with Belonger for Youngstown, has a 1-4-5 line through 15 games.   He is also a +13 on the season.  With Gunn and Colton Saucerman (1-5-6, +3) coming in next season and no defenseman graduating, it could be a real battle for lineup spots on the blue line.  It will be interesting to see how that situation plays out.

2013

Defenseman Garrett Cockerill is making the jump up to the USHL this year with the Muskegon Lumberjacks.  In 2 games, he has yet to register a point but he is a +3.

Forward Zach Aston-Reese is off to a slow start with just 2 goals and 2 assists in his first 12 games.

Ross Olsson, who is from Billerica, is playing with the Eastern Mass Senators U18 team this season.

Nathan Ferriero is playing for the Governor’s Academy.

2014

Daniel Whillet has 5-9-14 line in 15 games for the New Jersey Rockets in the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League.

Dylan McLaughlin has joined the Sioux Falls Stampede for his first season in the USHL.  Through 5 games, he has 2 assists.

Overview

So no real big news with any of the recruits in terms of stats.  Its good to see McLaughlin and Cockerill playing in the USHL at such a young age.  And its really good to see some local kids commit.  Olsson, Darcy and Askew are all from Massachusetts.  Obviously you want the best players available, but its always good when you get local talent.  This year’s team has 5 players from Massachusetts (Tuckerman, Dongara, Vrolyk, Ferriero and Cornell) and it’d be nice to keep that going.