Bailey Commits for 2012

The USHL's Omaha Lancers have announced that forward Casey Bailey has committed to Penn State for 2012.

Casey Bailey

Forward
Omaha Lancers (USHL)
6'3", 195 pounds
Anchorage, AK
DOB 10/22/1991

EliteProspects.com

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2009-10  Alberni Vly. Bulldogs  BCHL   51   13   11   24   43
2010-11  Alberni Vly. Bulldogs  BCHL   60   28   30   58   74
2011-12  Omaha Lancers          USHL    8    1    2    3    8

Since the relevant part of the release is pretty short, here it is:

The Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) are pleased to announce that forward Casey Bailey has committed to Penn State University and will join the Nittany Lions in the Fall of 2012. A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Bailey is in his first season with the Lancers and has tallied three points (one goal, two assists) through the first eight games of the 2011-2012 season.

The 6’3”, 195 pound power forward spent the last two seasons with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) where he registered 82 points (41 goals, 41 assists) in 111 career games. Bailey was selected 41st overall (Round 3) by Omaha in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft.

Notably, while with Alberni Valley last season, Bailey was a teammate of 2013 defenseman Connor Varley.

He's also a big guy who, along with 6'4", 220 pound Jon Milley, will give PSU some physicality up front and possibly a reincarnation of the Twin Towers of Terror (6'4", 206 pound Mike Pietrangelo and 6'5", 215 pound Tom Westfall) that helped win the 1998 ACHA National Championship.

Guy knows how to shoot the puck and get to the front of the net too. Here are three of his 41 regular season Alberni Valley goals.





Okay, some pretty filthy setups on that second video (no, those guys aren't available - one is Matt Hatch, now with Union, the other is Luke Fenske, now with the WHL's Vancouver Giants). But point made, the guy has a ridiculous release. He knows it too. Here's one more YouTube video, where we get to meet him a little.



Unfortunately, despite those goals, the lofty team ones went unfulfilled last season, as the Bulldogs were swept out of the BCHL playoffs by Langley. Don't blame Bailey though - not only were his 28 goals eight clear of second-highest on the team during the regular season, but his four goals and seven points both also led all Bulldogs during that playoff series.

As mentioned in the press release, he made the jump to the USHL this season after being drafted by the Omaha Lancers (the team of current Icer Bryce Johnson after leaving St. Cloud last season). While three points in eight games may not be eye-popping, it's actually tied for second on an Omaha squad that has pretty evenly-distributed scoring so far. His goal game Saturday on the power play, in a losing effort against Youngstown. The Friday prior to that, he set up a goal against Fargo - again with the man advantage - that forced the game to overtime, where the Lancers won.