Hill-Murray 8th Grade Dman Mikey Anderson Commits to UMD

[C-dad]

Also, the Gopher's average recruit is younger than the average recruit of every other Minnesota school.

I'm sure you have the statistics to back that up. I'd love to see them, especially after the Poehlings commitment.

[mulefarm]

Haven't looked at any age statistaics, but if you look at the rosters of the other schools, many have come from the NAHL which lately has a lot of 20 yr olds. Also many of the other schools don't have even close to the amount of NHL draft picks, which takes place when they are 18. The high end guys and their NHL teams want them to get started and play at a higher level and speed up their development so they will turn pro after 2-3 years, which is around when they are 20-21. That is one reason they loose players before their eligibility is up, compared to other teams.

[The Exiled One]

Haven't looked at any age statistaics, but if you look at the rosters of the other schools, many have come from the NAHL which lately has a lot of 20 yr olds. Also many of the other schools don't have even close to the amount of NHL draft picks, which takes place when they are 18. The high end guys and their NHL teams want them to get started and play at a higher level and speed up their development so they will turn pro after 2-3 years, which is around when they are 20-21. That is one reason they loose players before their eligibility is up, compared to other teams.

Recruits, not rosters.

[The Exiled One]

Also, the Gopher's average recruit is younger than the average recruit of every other Minnesota school.

I'm sure you have the statistics to back that up. I'd love to see them, especially after the Poehlings commitment.

You're expecting me to do the math for you?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... JZVE#gid=1

[C-dad]

Also, the Gopher's average recruit is younger than the average recruit of every other Minnesota school.

I'm sure you have the statistics to back that up. I'd love to see them, especially after the Poehlings commitment.

You're expecting me to do the math for you?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... JZVE#gid=1

Yes, you made the claim.

The link, in case it does back-up your claim, requires a password from me.

[The Exiled One]

Yes, you made the claim.

The link, in case it does back-up your claim, requires a password from me.

Weird. The link has always worked for me. I think is a public Google doc, but maybe you have to be signed into a Google account to see it?

As for doing to math... well, I did, and I'm accurate.

[Gopher Blog]

Also, the Gopher's average recruit is younger than the average recruit of every other Minnesota school.

in what manner are you measuring? age on the day the commit? age of all current commits? We all know that averaging has its weaknesses as a stat depending on what point it is trying to prove.

I never said they don't ever do it. The question is how often and how young. Gophers don't tend to bring in a lot of overage kids but they don't tend to recruit a bunch of 14 year olds either.

[The Exiled One]

in what manner are you measuring? age on the day the commit? age of all current commits?

Either and both.

I never said they don't ever do it. The question is how often and how young. Gophers don't tend to bring in a lot of overage kids but they don't tend to recruit a bunch of 14 year olds either.

I also didn't claim that Minnesota goes after 14 year-olds, but they do tend to nab HS sophomores and juniors more regularly than the small schools do. Clearly they're fending off competition from somebody. Maybe UND, maybe Notre Dame, maybe Nebraska-Omaha, maybe the WHL. I can't say for sure, but (the Andersons and Ryan Poehling notwithstanding) smaller Minnesota schools aren't gambling on younger recruits to block them from the Gophers.

[Gopher Blog]

Either and both.

No doubt the Gophers get most of their recruits around the soph to junior age. But 16 or 17 years old (for the vast majority of them) isn't terribly young these days.

We both know most of the Gopher recruits come from MN and the best MN kids aren't prone to go WHL so I think it is safe to say their decisions aren't pressed much by Major Jrs. (especially compared to a Michigan or some east coast locales).

[The Exiled One]

We both know most of the Gopher recruits come from MN and the best MN kids aren't prone to go WHL so I think it is safe to say their decisions aren't pressed much by Major Jrs. (especially compared to a Michigan or some east coast locales).

So not the WHL, then probably other "big" schools.

You'd have to tell me, because I honestly don't know, who was hot on the trail of Ryan Lindgren, Tom Novak, and Ryan Edquist? They all committed at age 15. I don't doubt they are all tremendous talents, but why offer them a scholarship if nobody else was just about to? Certainly it would be beneficial for the Gophers to wait unless there were other suitors involved.

[Blackhawkfan]

We both know most of the Gopher recruits come from MN and the best MN kids aren't prone to go WHL so I think it is safe to say their decisions aren't pressed much by Major Jrs. (especially compared to a Michigan or some east coast locales).

So not the WHL, then probably other "big" schools.

You'd have to tell me, because I honestly don't know, who was hot on the trail of Ryan Lindgren, Tom Novak, and Ryan Edquist? They all committed at age 15. I don't doubt they are all tremendous talents, but why offer them a scholarship if nobody else was just about to? Certainly it would be beneficial for the Gophers to wait unless there were other suitors involved.

There were........Michigan State, Union, Boston College to name a few.

[The Exiled One]

Gophers don't tend to bring in a lot of overage kids but they don't tend to recruit a bunch of 14 year olds either.

*cough* Brannon McManus *cough*

I think there is now plenty of enough evidence to back up the claim that UMN recruits tend to be younger than other area schools, especially over the last few years. Clearly, the coaching staff is targeting young standouts whom are also being targeted by other strong programs. There's nothing wrong with that. The Gophers seem to be doing just fine with that formula. I guess I just don't understand why Gopher fans feel the need to believe this isn't the case.

[Gopher Blog]

I said they don't tend to do that. I didn't say they never do. I thought I made that pretty clear. That quoted sentence of mine spells out reality.

As I had to point out to somebody on GPL, their prior 6 commitments before McManus were all players that were 17 or older.

Halladay - 17
Lehr - 20
Hogland - 20
Sheehy - 18
Bristedt - 18
Johnson - 19

Zuhlsdorf committed after McManus but he is basically 17 too (July 97 birth).

Additionally, they will have to fill roughly 5 to 6 more spots on the roster for 2015 (all of whom would have to at least be HS seniors next year in order to play in 2015). Meaning another healthy amount of kids that will commit at 17 or older.

When you add all of that up, it's clear they have been doing exactly as my quote stated. They will recruit a few younger than usual kids. But most do not tend to be in that realm.

Admittedly, I do suspect there will be a few more than usual of those younger types for them in the next year because their 2017 class will be an important one and there are certainly a few very elite kids on the national level in that age range that I expect they will want to nab soon.

[The Exiled One]

I said they don't tend to do that. I didn't say they never do. I thought I made that pretty clear. That quoted sentence of mine spells out reality.

You should have said "never do." McManus is your first 14-year-old.

Zuhlsdorf committed after McManus but he is basically 17 too (July 97 birth).

There's a word for somebody who is almost seventeen. That word is sixteen.

[Gopher Blog]

Since you seem to have the tendency to pick and choose when you want to take things literally (must be a troll attempt when you do that), it seems rather pointless to guess when that will happen and spell out every detail to you to a T.

There's a word for somebody who is almost seventeen. That word is sixteen.

Only if splitting hairs on 8 weeks is that meaningful to you.

[The Exiled One]

Only if splitting hairs on 8 weeks is that meaningful to you.

What a coincidence! This is the exact phrase I used to try to get out of a minor consumption ticket when I was 20! It didn't work. Apparently 8 weeks was meaningful to the judge.

Okay, that story didn't actually happen. I'm just messing with you a bit. Seriously though, I just don't get why recruiting youngsters (true or not based on whatever definition you prefer) is considered offensive. I think the Gophers recruit young based on what I've observed. I think they're doing fine. I think SCSU has a slightly different model. They're also doing fine. Minnesota State is doing fine. Everybody's doing fine! (Except Bemidji.)

[Gopher Blog]

I don't think anybody has really denied that the Gophers tend to recruit younger "on average". I think it is how they come to that average that seems to be a little at dispute. It's not lower because they are getting all these 14 or 15 year old types. (BTW, I don't find the assertion "offensive").

Their average tends to be lower mainly because their wheelhouse over the years has generally been elite 16 and 17 year old commits and not as many of the older types (20 year olds). In contrast, I think it is fair to say that some of the other programs in the area need to supplement their roster more often with older guys. Nothing wrong with that. You have to make do with the cards you draw.

The other issue on this topic is we really don't know for some of these players when they actually could have made decisions. It is quite likely that some guys could have made decisions far sooner than they did while others might have essentially decided within days of getting an offer. It's not like they all decide on the spot. Phil Kessel waited way longer than he had to... as in a year or two longer.

We probably don't disagree all that much on this. It is maybe just how "young" is being defined.

[ted2you]

Does it really matter when they commit. For some kids both the school and kid know where they are going to go without an announcement. For example, UND has a strong connection with EGF. With Tucker Poolman entering as a Freshman, and his younger brother Colton Poolman being better at his age and having come off an outstanding senior season, you can bet he will eventually end up at UND as will Dixon Bowen (his dad played there). I'm guessing both have had offers from other schools, but I doubt other schools will pursue them very hard. Many of the top kids know where they want to go early in life. The question is are they good enough to go their first choices. These kids play on elite leagues and know most of the coaches or players who have a connection with these schools. For some kids,I think there is a real status to sign early and for schools, they want to get kids who have yet to make a connection with other programs.

For my money, Dixon Bowen is going to be the best player in Minnesota next year and he has not signed. I will bet my year's salary, short of a major injury, he is sealed to play 6 miles down the road.

[puckbreath]

Does it really matter when they commit. For some kids both the school and kid know where they are going to go without an announcement. For example, UND has a strong connection with EGF. With Tucker Poolman entering as a Freshman, and his younger brother Colton Poolman being better at his age and having come off an outstanding senior season, you can bet he will eventually end up at UND as will Dixon Bowen (his dad played there). I'm guessing both have had offers from other schools, but I doubt other schools will pursue them very hard. Many of the top kids know where they want to go early in life. The question is are they good enough to go their first choices. These kids play on elite leagues and know most of the coaches or players who have a connection with these schools. For some kids,I think there is a real status to sign early and for schools, they want to get kids who have yet to make a connection with other programs.

For my money, Dixon Bowen is going to be the best player in Minnesota next year and he has not signed. I will bet my year's salary, short of a major injury, he is sealed to play 6 miles down the road.

"For some parents, I think there is a real status to sign early and for schools, they want to get kids who have yet to make a connection with other programs."

Fixed it for ya

[BSUBeaver]

I would say this kid/family committed to UMD on his own with very little contact from the school. According to the recruiting page of College Hockey Inc:

http://collegehockeyinc.com/recruiting

"High school students may not be actively recruited by college coaches prior to Jan. 1 of their grade 10 year. After that point, students may hear from coaches expressing interest in having them attend (or at least visit) their school. Students may reach out to college coaches prior to Jan. 1 of 10th grade, as long as they initiate contact by phone or in person (coaches may not, by NCAA rule, reply to phone or email messages)."

As for the gentlemen's agreement with verbal commitments that has existed in College Hockey, that is blowing up as we speak. The "Big Boys" in college hockey have said they will no longer honor it while the smaller schools have said they still will honor it. The Big Boys are getting frustrated with losing players in the summer to the CHL or pro leagues and not having player ready to come in and fill the spot. So, they have decided that it will be okay to go poach other teams recruits that may have an agreement with the team they verbally committed to and play another year of junior hockey.

[The Exiled One]

I would say this kid/family committed to UMD on his own with very little contact from the school. According to the recruiting page of College Hockey Inc:

"High school students may not be actively recruited by college coaches prior to Jan. 1 of their grade 10 year. After that point, students may hear from coaches expressing interest in having them attend (or at least visit) their school. Students may reach out to college coaches prior to Jan. 1 of 10th grade, as long as they initiate contact by phone or in person (coaches may not, by NCAA rule, reply to phone or email messages)."

Based on the rule, you'd think that's how it works, but you'd be wrong. Often it's still the coaches that initiate contact by circumventing contact rules.

For example, Sandelin could call up Lechner and say, "Hey Bill, have Mikey Anderson give me a call. Here's my number." Lechner goes to Mikey and says, "Scott Sandelin from UMD wants you to call him. Remember that he can't return a voicemail, so if he doesn't answer, call him back a little later. He may offer you a scholarship." This scenario would be perfectly within the rules and not uncommon.

What likely happened was that (somehow) word got to Mikey Anderson that Sandelin (or Herter or Plante) would like him to visit UMD. A time was arranged for Herter or Plante to give him a tour of the school and arena. The tour ended with a (verbal) scholarship offer.

[ted2you]

Thank you for fixing what was clearly a significant mistake in my post. As a former player and one of five boys who competed in different sports, I would love to ban parents from this whole process. "My kid got offered a scholarship at UND, yours Bemidji State? That's nice."

Feel free to let me know when I screw up in the process....

[puckbreath]

Thank you for fixing what was clearly a significant mistake in my post. As a former player and one of five boys who competed in different sports, I would love to ban parents from this whole process. "My kid got offered a scholarship at UND, yours Bemidji State? That's nice."

Feel free to let me know when I screw up in the process....

You're welcome.

Maybe first, I should let you know what humor is, eh ?

[ted2you]

Nah,

You don't have to help me with humor, I wear my own rose colored glasses...

[MNHockeyFan]

Nah,

You don't have to help me with humor, I wear my own rose colored glasses...

Your humility on this board is very rare, and refreshing I might add.