HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Here is the list...

#2 Kevin Wehrs D Plymouth, MN
#4 Stu Bickel D Chanhassen, MN
#7 Patrick White F Grand Rapids, MN
#11 Mike Hoeffel F North Oaks, MN
#18 Nick Larson F Stillwater, MN
#25 Drew Fisher F International Falls, MN
#28 Cade Fairchild D Duluth, MN
#33 Alex Kangas G Rochester, MN

I dont think it gets much better than that. The question here is, how good can these 8 guys be?

OK Boblee, please tell me why Bickel is on that list. I know the gophs do a great job of recruiting. Please explain that one. Will he play much?

Did that guy light it up in JRs?

breakout wrote:OK Boblee, please tell me why Bickel is on that list. I know the gophs do a great job of recruiting. Please explain that one. Will he play much?

Did that guy light it up in JRs?

Size, mobility, and toughness. He was one of the toughest guys in the USHL and the Gophers needed to add some of that to their skill players on the blue line. He'll definitely keep the other team on their toes if they should try some cheap stuff.

Stu Bickel is an outstanding physical presence. He is tougher than nails, and he can shoot the puck a little bit as well.

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:OK Boblee, please tell me why Bickel is on that list. I know the gophs do a great job of recruiting. Please explain that one. Will he play much?

Did that guy light it up in JRs?

Size, mobility, and toughness. He was one of the toughest guys in the USHL and the Gophers needed to add some of that to their skill players on the blue line. He'll definitely keep the other team on their toes if they should try some cheap stuff.

OK, who would YOU pair him with this year?

Bickel and Fairchild would compliment each other nicely...but I do understand they will both be freshmen this year. Maybe R.J. Anderson.

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:OK Boblee, please tell me why Bickel is on that list. I know the gophs do a great job of recruiting. Please explain that one. Will he play much?

Did that guy light it up in JRs?

Size, mobility, and toughness. He was one of the toughest guys in the USHL and the Gophers needed to add some of that to their skill players on the blue line. He'll definitely keep the other team on their toes if they should try some cheap stuff.

I saw him play a couple of times in high school. Back then, I questioned his skating and decision making with the puck. No doubt he is a big presence. Must have improved greatly in JRs.

boblee wrote:Bickel and Fairchild would compliment each other nicely...but I do understand they will both be freshmen this year. Maybe R.J. Anderson.

Putting him with an offensive type makes sense. Playing with a freshman may be a stretch.

I like Patrick White, he is a team player and has great offensive talent. Anybody have any info on fisher?

Fisher played for Moorhead and was a transfer from International Falls I believe. Had a very good year for Sioux Falls.

SEC Scotty wrote:Fisher played for Moorhead and was a transfer from International Falls I believe. Had a very good year for Sioux Falls.

Fischer just played his senior year at Moorhead, correct, before that was I'Falls. Good job on that. Very good hockey player. He will fit in nicely.

breakout wrote:I saw him play a couple of times in high school.

So what did you think of Bickel on defense back then?

i thought larson was going to juniors this year and coming next year

sachishi4 wrote:i thought larson was going to juniors this year and coming next year

Things changed late in the summer. He is going to attend school at the U this year and take a redshirt season.

ahh, good stuff

sachishi4 wrote:ahh, good stuff

Bickel is like Ogie Ogelthorpe only bigger and meaner I wouldn't want to play against him.

Rumor has it Hagemo is coming back too. His injury must finally be healed.

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:I saw him play a couple of times in high school.

So what did you think of Bickel on defense back then?

XXL orange cone

Like I indicated, he must have improved greatly since high school. Obviously he did otherwise the Gophs wouldn't have selected him.

What other schools did he visit?

Looking forward to watching these freshman players. With these new guys and the other returning gophers this should make for one great team.

breakout wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:I saw him play a couple of times in high school.

So what did you think of Bickel on defense back then?

XXL orange cone

Interesting you would say he looked that way on defense back then. Because he didn't even play there full time until well into his junior hockey career. You must have quite some foresight to be able to tell how a guy played the position before it happened. Either that or you didn't really see him play and mistook him for somebody else.

As for some of the other teams that were after him, SCSU, CC, OSU, and SLU.

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote: So what did you think of Bickel on defense back then?

XXL orange cone

Interesting you would say he looked that way on defense back then. Because he didn't even play there full time until well into his junior hockey career. You must have quite some foresight to be able to tell how a guy played the position before it happened. Either that or you didn't really see him play and mistook him for somebody else.

As for some of the other teams that were after him, SCSU, CC, OSU, and SLU.

If he never played "full time", how in the heck did he even make it to Juniors? By "full time" I assume he was never a top two lines player. So did his SIZE get him playing time in juniors since fighting is allowed there and not in HS?

I don't know the guy and have never seen him play, so I have no real opinion on him.

RLStars wrote:If he never played "full time", how in the heck did he even make it to Juniors? By "full time" I assume he was never a top two lines player. So did his SIZE get him playing time in juniors since fighting is allowed there and not in HS?

What I meant, is he played forward back then. He didn't play defense full time until midway through his junior hockey career.

Gopher Blog wrote:

RLStars wrote:If he never played "full time", how in the heck did he even make it to Juniors? By "full time" I assume he was never a top two lines player. So did his SIZE get him playing time in juniors since fighting is allowed there and not in HS?

What I meant, is he played forward back then. He didn't play defense full time until midway through his junior hockey career.

Oh, I see. Thanks for the repy, makes sense now.

Gopher Blog wrote:

breakout wrote:

Gopher Blog wrote: So what did you think of Bickel on defense back then?

XXL orange cone

Interesting you would say he looked that way on defense back then. Because he didn't even play there full time until well into his junior hockey career. You must have quite some foresight to be able to tell how a guy played the position before it happened. Either that or you didn't really see him play and mistook him for somebody else.

As for some of the other teams that were after him, SCSU, CC, OSU, and SLU.

As it turns out, you are correct. Apparently I was wrong and did mistake him for someone else. My apology to Stu.

It's interesting seeing how often you rip others and others opinions. You are quite the PR guy for the U of M. Maybe you will offend one of Don's recruits or a recruits parent someday. Odds are, you probably already have.

The Gophers need more players like Bickel who are just grinders but also have some talent, good 4-year players like UND gets.

Good teams seem to have a mixture of different types of players.

The good news, Stu Bickel will be a freshmen that is old enough to buy beer. Back in my day that was considered a good thing.