BEN MARSHALL TO BYPASS SENIOR YEAR AT MAHTOMEDI

[wbmd]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/preps ... _Yyc:aUUsZ

[Geno Snipes]

Wow! This doesn't surprise me too much but he would've been a strong contender for mr. hockey

[Goldfishdude]

wbmd.... not sure your opinion, and we know Ben is a fine hockey player, but whomever gets his draft rights, I hope they help him make an informed decision for his future.

What I mean by that is that I wouldn't be opposed to see him stay in the USHL two years... He may not get any taller, but he's going to need to get physically stronger, and he will still have to finish his academic work. I am not sure how much balance between USHL hockey and his school work will allow him to get stronger, but after seeing some spotty play out of Aaron Ness at the U of M, there are many of us who feel Ness would have been better off going to juniors rather than accelerating HS classes to get to the U....

I hope am I wrong, and I wish him the best of success, but, it wouldn't surprise me to see his NHL rights holder tell him to stay at USHL for a couple years, and then move him to their own minor league complex.

[johnnyquest]

Are you saying g.f.d., that marshall might not even wear a gopher uniform?

[Goldfishdude]

Are you saying g.f.d., that marshall might not even wear a gopher uniform?

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

[bstarr15]

I saw him last week at model camp in a game and he did not impress me.Granted it was not your typical game format but he got walked twice,once by a freshmen while playing D. He also tends to want to rush the puck from his D position. Close to the end of the game was throwing punches and sat in the box.
I've seen a few other games but never have been knocked out by his play.
I think last year at state he might have been hurt when I saw him. He'll need some more size and a few years of Jr.s before going to the U or anywhere.

[Just_Another_Fan]

I saw him last week at model camp in a game and he did not impress me.Granted it was not your typical game format but he got walked twice,once by a freshmen while playing D. He also tends to want to rush the puck from his D position. Close to the end of the game was throwing punches and sat in the box.
I've seen a few other games but never have been knocked out by his play.
I think last year at state he might have been hurt when I saw him. He'll need some more size and a few years of Jr.s before going to the U or anywhere.

When i have watched him i have seen the same things. He is a good player but he is very predictable.

[mulefarm]

Is this his draft year? If it is, haven't heard much about his status.

[Penalty Shot]

For all you skeptics, I watched Ben at Omaha and thought he might be the best player on the ice. Certainly the most noticeable. The USHL will do wonders for his game. Offensively he is excellant and has great lateral movement. He probably hasnt had to play a ton of defense where he has been but that will be required in the USHL. I believe he is making the right decsion by playing juniors especially when I hear the description of the way he played at Model camp.

[bstarr15]

Good to hear his performance in Omaha was good. It may very well have been they were tired I know are group of boys were. I wish him the best.
I agree offensively he is very good and have wondered why his doesn't play forward. He tends to do some spin-o-ramas as a D man when he gets pressured but when he rushes up he can skate and I do like that from a D man. Jr's will be a step up and will miss seeing him play HS.

[johnnyquest]

according to the "model camp" thread that is currently running, he was the top scoring defenseman at the camp and tied for 9th overall - considering there were 200 plus skaters, how bad could he have played?

[Gopher Blog]

Are you saying g.f.d., that marshall might not even wear a gopher uniform?

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.

[h-m fan]

Are you saying g.f.d., that marshall might not even wear a gopher uniform?

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.[/quote

Blogger,
I understand why you might be a little heated when catching wind about a player like Marshal not going to the U because of reasons involving the alleged distrust in Lucia's system among pro scouts. I myself believe that Lucia is a great coach that will get the program turned around. However, in defense of goldfish, there is reasonable cause for people to be concerned about players leaving early or not going to UofM at all because they are swayed by NHL scouts to do so. I believe that it all started when Peter Mueller decided to skip college and go to the farm system before ever having slipped on the gopher uni. I don't know what players that Lucia coached before that didn't develop the way they should have, but after Mueller there have been many players leaving early that probably wouldn't have if, in my opinion, the teams that had their rights were comfortable leaving them at the U. Kris Chucko, Jimmy O'brian, Stu Bickel are just a few of the players that left way earlier than most players would have. I'm not saying that these players left only because the pro scouts pushed them to, but I truly believe that this played a role. No matter how large that role played, its still alarming to see as a gopher fan. There have been some big name players at the U who not only didnt improve, but actually regressed under Lucia. The biggest one I can think of was Gino Guyer who was a scoring machine in his first two years as a gopher, then struggled to get any points at all in his senior season...
I guess the point I am trying to make is this:
Lucia is a very good coach who has coached some great teams over the years, but he is a good system coach and he has a history of players flopping under his tutilage. So the fact that he is getting players who are highly scouted by the pros is concerning in itself because their stay at the U may be shortened due to the pros wanting them out as soon as possible. This doesn't bode well for a coach who is trying to teach a system because he constantly has to throw new guys into the mix to compensate for these early departures..... which leads to loses. I am hopeful that this trend doesn't continue, but I just don't see it changing until Lucia developes a couple of players that stick around for 3+ years and have them turn into studs at the next level.

[flatontheice]

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.[/quote

Blogger,
I understand why you might be a little heated when catching wind about a player like Marshal not going to the U because of reasons involving the alleged distrust in Lucia's system among pro scouts. I myself believe that Lucia is a great coach that will get the program turned around. However, in defense of goldfish, there is reasonable cause for people to be concerned about players leaving early or not going to UofM at all because they are swayed by NHL scouts to do so. I believe that it all started when Peter Mueller decided to skip college and go to the farm system before ever having slipped on the gopher uni. I don't know what players that Lucia coached before that didn't develop the way they should have, but after Mueller there have been many players leaving early that probably wouldn't have if, in my opinion, the teams that had their rights were comfortable leaving them at the U. Kris Chucko, Jimmy O'brian, Stu Bickel are just a few of the players that left way earlier than most players would have. I'm not saying that these players left only because the pro scouts pushed them to, but I truly believe that this played a role. No matter how large that role played, its still alarming to see as a gopher fan. There have been some big name players at the U who not only didnt improve, but actually regressed under Lucia. The biggest one I can think of was Gino Guyer who was a scoring machine in his first two years as a gopher, then struggled to get any points at all in his senior season...
I guess the point I am trying to make is this:
Lucia is a very good coach who has coached some great teams over the years, but he is a good system coach and he has a history of players flopping under his tutilage. So the fact that he is getting players who are highly scouted by the pros is concerning in itself because their stay at the U may be shortened due to the pros wanting them out as soon as possible. This doesn't bode well for a coach who is trying to teach a system because he constantly has to throw new guys into the mix to compensate for these early departures..... which leads to loses. I am hopeful that this trend doesn't continue, but I just don't see it changing until Lucia developes a couple of players that stick around for 3+ years and have them turn into studs at the next level.

Just to clarify. Peter Mueller did not "skip" the U. He had no chance of getting in because he never went to class anywhere. His ACT score prevented him from going to college ANYWHERE.

[Gopher Blog]

Blogger,
I understand why you might be a little heated when catching wind about a player like Marshal not going to the U because of reasons involving the alleged distrust in Lucia's system among pro scouts.

I get "heated" (I really wasn't but I'll use your term) because I have become very familiar with his family and they are not BS artists who are going to shaft anybody. As I said, the only reason he is leaving Mahtomedi this year is because he has a desire to be at the U next year. He has a strong desire to be there (as do his parents) and talk of him not following through is ridiculous if you know these people.

I believe that it all started when Peter Mueller decided to skip college and go to the farm system before ever having slipped on the gopher uni.

Mueller wasn't a good student. See flatontheice's remarks. Not to mention, he also was caught in a tough spot. He had aged out of the NTDP and his only choice was USHL if he wanted to maintain the college route. Given his academics, he made the right choice.

Kris Chucko, Jimmy O'brian, Stu Bickel are just a few of the players that left way earlier than most players would have.

Chucko was drafted by a Calgary team whose decision makers (Sutter) is not a big backer of the college game... and look what Chucko has done since he went pro. He has pretty much been stuck in neutral in the AHL ever since. Apparently Calgary isn't "developing" him either, right?

O'Brien was a tough one... talk of moving him to defense to help a team that was shorthanded in that regard didn't help. Even then, he had been a hockey nomad for years. Leaving for somewhere else was pretty much what he had been doing for years.

Bickel is (by far) the worst example you could have used. He was an older free agent that got the max offer to go pro. Why would he turn that down? If anything, he is an example of what kids in his shoes dream of... he was overlooked, made a position change in juniors, played well in his first year in college, and got a max deal. If you are a free agent (especially at an older age) and get offered a max deal, you'd be stupid to reject it for another year in college hockey... no matter who or where you play. It sucked for Gopher fans but it was hardly something anybody could blame Bickel for doing.

I'm not sure what you expect any coach to do. Let's face it, this isn't college hockey of 10 or 20 years ago. Guys are easier to sign after the last CBA was put together. All of college hockey is losing players earlier than they used to. But that is the price you pay when you grab these kinds of prospects. A coach just has to adjust more. Not an easy task.

Obviously Lucia has not done as good of a job as he needs to and I would suspect this next year will be his last if the team doesn't make some significant improvements this coming season. But any issues with guys leaving early are not going to disappear if Lucia is gone. That is the way it is in college hockey and it isn't going away. Not every guy (at the U or elsewhere) lives up to earlier projections. Even pro scouts screw up (but nobody wastes much time on criticizing individual scouts because most of them are unknown to the average fan).

[FREDFLINTSTONE]

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.[/quote

Blogger,
I understand why you might be a little heated when catching wind about a player like Marshal not going to the U because of reasons involving the alleged distrust in Lucia's system among pro scouts. I myself believe that Lucia is a great coach that will get the program turned around. However, in defense of goldfish, there is reasonable cause for people to be concerned about players leaving early or not going to UofM at all because they are swayed by NHL scouts to do so. I believe that it all started when Peter Mueller decided to skip college and go to the farm system before ever having slipped on the gopher uni. I don't know what players that Lucia coached before that didn't develop the way they should have, but after Mueller there have been many players leaving early that probably wouldn't have if, in my opinion, the teams that had their rights were comfortable leaving them at the U. Kris Chucko, Jimmy O'brian, Stu Bickel are just a few of the players that left way earlier than most players would have. I'm not saying that these players left only because the pro scouts pushed them to, but I truly believe that this played a role. No matter how large that role played, its still alarming to see as a gopher fan. There have been some big name players at the U who not only didnt improve, but actually regressed under Lucia. The biggest one I can think of was Gino Guyer who was a scoring machine in his first two years as a gopher, then struggled to get any points at all in his senior season...
I guess the point I am trying to make is this:
Lucia is a very good coach who has coached some great teams over the years, but he is a good system coach and he has a history of players flopping under his tutilage. So the fact that he is getting players who are highly scouted by the pros is concerning in itself because their stay at the U may be shortened due to the pros wanting them out as soon as possible. This doesn't bode well for a coach who is trying to teach a system because he constantly has to throw new guys into the mix to compensate for these early departures..... which leads to loses. I am hopeful that this trend doesn't continue, but I just don't see it changing until Lucia developes a couple of players that stick around for 3+ years and have them turn into studs at the next level.

INCH (inside college hockey) lists the drafting of Kris Chucko as Calgary's worst college player pick of all time. Interesting article about the biggest hits and misses of college players by NHL clubs.

[BodyShots]

[quote="h-m fan[/quote

There have been some big name players at the U who not only didnt improve, but actually regressed under Lucia. The biggest one I can think of was Gino Guyer who was a scoring machine in his first two years as a gopher, then struggled to get any points at all in his senior season...
[/quote]

I can think of a few defensemen that make your point as well. How about Fischer, Fairchild, and the kid from Centennial (name escapes me right now). All were scoring machines in high school who went nowhere in the college ranks. Is it Don, or is it the de coach?

I also have to agree with the BLOG and his remarks about your other examples. Can't blame the coach for a kid that doesn't want to pay attention to the academic side of the equation.

[Gopher Blog]

I can think of a few defensemen that make your point as well. How about Fischer, Fairchild, and the kid from Centennial (name escapes me right now). All were scoring machines in high school who went nowhere in the college ranks. Is it Don, or is it the de coach?

Let's remember something... what a player did on past levels does not mean his role at the next level is going to be the same. A lot of guys that get to the college/pro level were, at some point in prior years, a "scorer" (in HS, Midgets, etc). But not all of them stay in that type of role. College teams don't have four scoring lines, four PP units, etc.

The further up the food chain you go, the tougher it becomes to maintain your spot as one of the team's big scoring guns. The competition for those spots increases and players have to adapt to new roles during various years and that that might not include ample PP time, etc... and points often reflect it.

[blueblood]

RJ Anderson is the defenseman I believe you are referring to. At that time, Centennial was in the North Suburban Conference, which was terrible, to say the least.

FYI - Tom Gorowski, who went to Buckyland, was also on the Centennial team. He also scored a ton of points for the Cougars but did nothing special for the Badgers.

Finally, Bickel had some help getting to the Gophers from a very influential MN hockey icon. IMO, he was a disaster at the U and somehow got a great pro deal out of it, which was good for him. IMO, he was not built for the college game and needed to turn pro.

[Goldfishdude]

Are you saying g.f.d., that marshall might not even wear a gopher uniform?

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.

Gophs...

As I stated, I want Ben to be a Goph.

You are basically on the same wave length as my point... It has nothing to do with my knowledge of Ben's family - it's the growing sentiment about the illusion of the program-I am not suggesting one bit that Ben doesn't want to be a Gopher, and I would expect he is very excited to be a Gopher. Nor do I feel the family is BSing about going to the U.

I say illusion of the program, because even though the success hasn't been there as we Gopher followers would like, for the most part, it's entertaining hockey, and Lucia is challenged by getting the top talent, and risks the players leave early. As Lucia states, he would rather have a Ben Marshall for one year, than not at all. He isn't going to stop recruiting the best of the best.

BUT, just as you surmised that The Don helped get him to Omaha, as he told Ben he needs a year in the USHL, whether now or after his senior year, Ben may not have a choice IF he does get drafted and the NHL team tells him they want him in their system and not at the U of M. The NHL team will have more influence over his decision than Minnesota.

I think, Gophs, you specualted that if The Don doesn't improve on his performance this year, that a change could be made.

I believe the family and Ben probably feels that he will be drafted, as to his wanting to get to the U as quickly as he can. Otherwise, look at how many 20-year-old freshmen arrive at other colleges. Those older freshman have gotten bigger, stronger, and some have ultimately been signed by the NHL as 21-year-old college free agents.

I believe, if Ness was a second-round pick of the Islanders, Marshall should get drafted. I "think" their skill sets are very similar. Ben's point totals are ridiculous for a defensemen. Both are about 5'10" and 170 lbs. Good luck tangling with Derek Boogaard in the corners!!

Here is a report from October of '09... Ben is listed as a "B" player....

http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/200 ... css_watch/

UPDATED 4:30 pm Saturday June 26.

Ben Marshall drafted in the 7th Round by the Detroit Red Wings.

Hey, Gophs!!!!! I wasn't even aware Ben was eligible for this year's draft, figuring he was just a junior in HS. In my opinion, if Ben wasn't eligible for the draft until the 2011 Entry Draft, he probable would have been selected higher than 7th Rd.

Regardless, congrats from his WBL neighbors!!!

[breakout]

Well, Johnny, with the reputation that The Don is getting at the U, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never wears one.

When it is becoming publicly clear, that the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild is questioning the growth of players while at the U, agents/NHL teams will start looking at the alternatives. If the Wild have issues, then other teams will scratch heads.

The normal thought process is that NHL teams respect and encourage the college game, because 1) playing against quality talent/plus getting an education, but 2) (and may be the most important) the NHL teams save the $$ on contracts and lets the players mature under college $$.

I am suggesting it wouldn't surprise me that whoever drafts him asks him to take a different path.

I want to see him in a Gophs uni, though.

It won't shock me if he goes totally undrafted. At the very best, late round pick. From what i recall, he isn't listed on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for North American kids. He is just one of those dynamic defensive players that get overlooked by the pro guys because he is shorter than what they tend to want out there.

As for whether he'll be at the U, the fact you are speculating on it in the 1st place tells me you know nothing about him or his family. Very excited to play at the U. Heck, the only reason he is going to Omaha this year is because he wants to be at the U in 2011 and Lucia told him that he has to play a year of junior hockey before being a Gopher... it just depended on when he wanted to play that year of junior.

Gophs...

As I stated, I want Ben to be a Goph.

You are basically on the same wave length as my point... It has nothing to do with my knowledge of Ben's family - it's the growing sentiment about the illusion of the program-I am not suggesting one bit that Ben doesn't want to be a Gopher, and I would expect he is very excited to be a Gopher. Nor do I feel the family is BSing about going to the U.

I say illusion of the program, because even though the success hasn't been there as we Gopher followers would like, for the most part, it's entertaining hockey, and Lucia is challenged by getting the top talent, and risks the players leave early. As Lucia states, he would rather have a Ben Marshall for one year, than not at all. He isn't going to stop recruiting the best of the best.

BUT, just as you surmised that The Don helped get him to Omaha, as he told Ben he needs a year in the USHL, whether now or after his senior year, Ben may not have a choice IF he does get drafted and the NHL team tells him they want him in their system and not at the U of M. The NHL team will have more influence over his decision than Minnesota.

I think, Gophs, you specualted that if The Don doesn't improve on his performance this year, that a change could be made.

I believe the family and Ben probably feels that he will be drafted, as to his wanting to get to the U as quickly as he can. Otherwise, look at how many 20-year-old freshmen arrive at other colleges. Those older freshman have gotten bigger, stronger, and some have ultimately been signed by the NHL as 21-year-old college free agents.

I believe, if Ness was a second-round pick of the Islanders, Marshall should get drafted. I "think" their skill sets are very similar. Ben's point totals are ridiculous for a defensemen. Both are about 5'10" and 170 lbs. Good luck tangling with Derek Boogaard in the corners!!

Here is a report from October of '09... Ben is listed as a "B" player....

http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/200 ... css_watch/

UPDATED 4:30 pm Saturday June 26.

Ben Marshall drafted in the 7th Round by the Detroit Red Wings.

Hey, Gophs!!!!! I wasn't even aware Ben was eligible for this year's draft, figuring he was just a junior in HS. In my opinion, if Ben wasn't eligible for the draft until the 2011 Entry Draft, he probable would have been selected higher than 7th Rd.

Regardless, congrats from his WBL neighbors!!!

What??? If it's his initial draft year ...... it is what it is.

Apparently Ben is an older Junior.

Regardless, congrats to Ben on getting drafted.

[Goldfishdude]

Breakie..... It's clear he has to be 18 in order to get drafted, so yes, it is what it is. I wasn't aware he was 18 and draft eligible. I was trying to state that if he was only 17, and had one more year of play before being drafted, he may have gone higher.

Ness was drafted in the 2nd Rd after his junior year. I didn't think there was that much difference in their ability, but apparently there is.

[breakout]

Breakie..... It's clear he has to be 18 in order to get drafted, so yes, it is what it is. I wasn't aware he was 18 and draft eligible. I was trying to state that if he was only 17, and had one more year of play before being drafted, he may have gone higher.

Ness was drafted in the 2nd Rd after his junior year. I didn't think there was that much difference in their ability, but apparently there is.

Thanks for clearing that up. I would have guessed that he was younger.

So, if Sidney Crosby were a year younger the year he got drafted and was draft eligible he may have been taken #1 overall the following year?

[RushnCircles]

marshall is still 17 - he is one of the youngest players involved in the draft. If his birthday were 2 weeks later that would have kicked him into next year's draft. But like someone said, it is what it is.

[Gopher Blog]

Breakie..... It's clear he has to be 18 in order to get drafted, so yes, it is what it is. I wasn't aware he was 18 and draft eligible. I was trying to state that if he was only 17, and had one more year of play before being drafted, he may have gone higher.

Ness was drafted in the 2nd Rd after his junior year. I didn't think there was that much difference in their ability, but apparently there is.

Marshall is similar to Blake Wheeler. Get drafted after their junior year. You are eligible for that year's draft if you turn 18 prior to September 15th. Ben squeaked in and got drafted very late. I'm glad he went to a good organization with the Red Wings.