Edgeworth Checks in to Hockey Valley

Valley Jr. Warriors defenseman Steven Edgeworth has confirmed to me that he is Penn State-bound this fall. Well, specifically, here's exactly what he said.

"It is on a tryout basis though as Gadowsky hadn't seen me play this past season."

Right off the bat, that raises a couple interesting questions. First off, is that what we're doing with everyone Gadowsky hasn't seen play? If so, that could impact a large chunk of this year's class, although in my amateur assessment, there's zero reason why a quality EJer would have an issue playing at Penn State in 2011-2012. Beyond that? It's anyone's guess at this point, although the EJ is a perfectly viable recruiting outlet for Hockey East, the ECAC and Atlantic Hockey (yes, even including 1990 and 1991 birth years). The way I see it, this coming season will be a proving ground for a lot of these guys, and it will play a large part in dictating how we recruit leading up to the inaugural NCAA season. I don't think Gadowsky will be afraid to pull in a recruiting class of 25 next year if he needs it, but at the same time, I don't think he'll need it.

The second question concerns the fact that it's Gadowsky, not Scott Balboni, making the call on Edgeworth's status for this coming season. While some were quick to jump on Gadowsky's "I get to coach the team" comments at his introductory press conference and assume that he'd be coaching the final Icers season, that wasn't the original plan. I certainly don't think it was decided to do something different at the point he said that, a day after he was hired. It may not even be decided at this point - note that as of today PennStateHockey.com still has a listing for both "varsity head coach" and "Icers head coach." My sense is that Gadowsky will be the guy behind the bench, as he and assistants Keith Fisher and Matt Lindsay are ready to go full tilt on this thing.

Anyway, on to Edgeworth...

Steven Edgeworth

Defenseman
Valley Jr. Warriors (EJHL)
6'0", 180 pounds
Phoenix, AZ
DOB 7/30/1990

EJHL Player Page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2008-09  New Jersey Hitmen      EJHL   37    1    8    9   14
2009-10  New Jersey Hitmen      EJHL   28    0    6    6   12
2010-11  Topeka Roadrunners     NAHL    3    0    0    0    0
2010-11  PH Fighting Falcons    NAHL    1    0    0    0    2
2010-11  Valley Jr. Warriors    EJHL   23    3   14   17   36

Dude is stoked about having to try out.

Just prior to joining the Hitmen, in 2007-2008, Edgeworth teamed up with Alex Cantor and Jeremy Langlois (who led Quinnipiac in goal scoring last season) on the Phoenix Polar Bears, the dominant team in the Tier III Junior A Western States Hockey League. The Polar Bears competed at the 2008 USA Hockey national championships, but their tournament run ended with a 4-2 loss to those same Hitmen in the semifinals, although not before Edgeworth had a goal and two assists in Phoenix's four games. The New Jersey brass was impressed enough with the Bears' trio to bring them all aboard for the 2008-2009 season.

Once with the Hitmen, Edgeworth teamed up with PSU commit P.J. Musico and current Icer Ryan Seibolt on one of the EJHL's perennially elite teams. Musico only faced 21.7 shots per game in his 14 games in 2008-2009, so without a doubt some quality defense was taking place in front of him.

The Polar Bears trio, along with Musico and Seibolt, powered their way to a 34-7-4 record and the EJHL championship that season, by defeating another perennial power, the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs in the final. By virtue of that title, Edgeworth went back to nationals in 2009 and helped defeat his former team by a 5-1 mark en route to the championship game, where the Jr. Monarchs got their revenge. 2009-2010 wasn't quite as successful from a team standpoint. While the Hitmen's record actually improved to 32-5-8, they lost to South Shore in the EJHL semifinals (thanks in part to Jake Friedman's second-period goal) and missed out on the national championships.

Following very brief stops with the Topeka Roadrunners and Port Huron Fighting Falcons of the NAHL this past season, Edgeworth landed back in the EJHL, with the Valley Jr. Warriors. With his offensive output on the upswing (a team-best 0.74 per game among defensemen and points in 12 of his 23 games, including three in the last one against Capital District), he helped boost the Warriors into the quarterfinals, where they fell to Tim Carr's Jr. Monarchs.

Four Aces

Penn State has announced that four new recruits have joined Jake Friedman and Tim Carr in the class of 2011: forwards Chris "Creek" Lewis, Forrest Dell and Dan Meiselman, as well as defenseman Peter Sweetland.

Since I haven't figured out the best way to cover recruiting yet, let's just stick with the "toss everything I can find against a wall" approach, first used with Carr and Friedman. No YouTube this time, which I suppose means that these four all have well-adjusted parents. Take the good with the bad.

Peter
Sweetland

Defenseman
Green Mountain Glades (EJHL)
6'2", 205 pounds
Newtown, PA

EJHL Player Page

Sweetland's 24 points (3-21), were tops among Glades defensemen as the team advanced to the EJHL playoffs, where they fell in the first round to Friedman's South Shore Kings. On December 9th, he had a season-high three points (1-2) in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of those same Kings. We probably could have used him on the power play last season, as exactly half of his points (1-11) came with the man advantage.

Back in October 2009, Sweetland was named EJHL rookie of the week by HockeyBarn.com. Here's what his blurb says:

Pete had back to back two-assist games for the Stars this past weekend in their split with Apple Core. After being All-League last year in the Empire League, Pete is starting to really understand the intricacies of the game at the EJHL level. Three of his assists this weekend were highlight-reel back door feeds. Pete is a solid student with a 3.5 GPA and continues to get better every week. His grades and upside are attracting significant interest from Division One schools.

Can't wait to see how he's developed since then.

Dan
Meiselman

Forward
Capital District Selects (EJHL)
6'2", 205 pounds
Winnetka, IL

EJHL Player Page

Meiselman was the Selects' leading scorer this season, with 36 points (23-13). What makes this especially impressive is that he did it in 34 games with the team after starting the season with the New York Apple Core. The Illinois native also knows a thing or two about how to finish a season, as he scored in 12 of CD's last 14 games (14 total goals), despite the fact that the team had little to play for, missing the playoffs with a last-place 6-36-2-1 record. And he has a pretty flattering write-up from USA Junior Hockey Magazine to his credit:

Meiselman started the year with the New York Apple Core, scoring two points in six games for Henry Lazar’s crew.

“They had just too many players there, and Danny came up and scored six points in nine games,” said Salfi.

Meiselman, a 1990-born forward from Winnetka, Ill., is a good student, scoring over 2000 on his SAT.

“I’m not sure what he wants to be, but at one time I thought it was an engineer,” said Salfi. “He was out visiting Penn State, which will be Division 1 in the future, but regardless it’s a great school, academically. Dan is one of those kids where you look at the scoresheet after the game and there’s his name [for a goal or assist].”

Offense is certainly the name of the game where Meiselman is concerned.

“He’s always been a guy who can find the net,” said Salfi. “He likes to shoot the puck, and that’s one of the hardest things to do today – to get kids to shoot the puck. He’s not a smooth skater. I believe he started hockey later [than most of his teammates], but he works all summer on it.”

Guess I should have known about him back in December, when that was published. Time to tweak the Google Alerts.

Forrest
Dell

Forward
New York Apple Core (EJHL)
5'11", 185 pounds
Evergreen, CO

EJHL Player Page

Between Friedman, Meiselman and Dell, Penn State has recruited three of the top 50 EJHL scorers from this past season. Dell held up his part of that statement with his 39 points (17-22) in 36 games, good for second on the Apple Core. Prior to his EJHL career, Dell played some Canadian Junior A, spending time in both the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Junior Hockey Leagues.

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2008-09  Weyburn Red Wings      SJHL    5    0    4    4    2
2008-09  Winkler Flyers         MJHL   31    8    7   15   16
2009-10  Weyburn Red Wings      SJHL   58   14   21   35   61

I did a Google Image search for each of these players, hoping for a solid action shot. Instead, I got an invite to the gun show.

It's not stalking if you get it from Google - standard operating procedure for these posts - and not straight from his Facebook page. That's the rule that I just made up. Wait, is that even him?

Also, you don't run in hockey, you skate. First person to drop a "Run Forrest!" is persona non grata with me.

Chris "Creek"
Lewis

Forward
Boston Bulldogs (AtlJHL)
6'0", 215 pounds
Fort Covington, NY

AtlJHL Player Page

I think there's one question on everyone's mind here: is "Creek" one of those nicknames to be used in place of his first name, or is it just sort of a second-option type of thing? If I was a legitimate member of the media, that would be my first question for him. Whatever you want to call him, Lewis just finished a second straight stellar season with the Bulldogs, posting 92 (34-58) points in 44 games to follow up his 82 (32-50) in 2009-2010. His second-in-the-league 2010-2011 point total included back-to-back five-point games against the Laconia Leafs on December 19th and January 9th.

The Icers have a pretty extensive relationship with both the Bulldogs and the Atlantic League - Eric Steinour and Josh Hand both played for highly-respected coach Mike Addesa. In fact, Steinour captained the 2008-2009 Bulldogs, while Lewis played 37 games for the team that season.

A couple thoughts on a big-picture level are in order. First of all, I like the fact that we've taken the "eastern" recruiting approach so far, although I'm sure it's just a result of Scott Balboni and Josh Hand both being eastern guys - the to-be-determined head coach will ultimately take things in his direction, of course. Regardless, I hope we can maintain a strong presence in the east to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the Big Ten, which slants towards the setting sun (in hockey terms). Turns out, the whole "we're on the Big Ten Network" thing isn't a valid recruiting pitch against Wisconsin.

Also, while a lot is made of the potential of current Icers to make the NCAA team, here's something a little more immediate to keep in mind: Penn State's departures following this past season were four forwards (Tim O'Brien, Marek Polidor, Chris Pronchik, Taylor Cera), a defenseman (Carey Bell) and two goalies (Teddy Hume and John Jay). In this 2011 class, we've now recruited four forwards (Friedman, Dell, Lewis, Meiselman), a defenseman (Sweetland) and a goalie (Carr). You don't have to be an RPI grad to do that math - there's going to be a squeeze on roster and lineup spots for 2011-2012 if we get any more recruits, and we probably will.

Monarchs Win EJHL Title

Tim Carr left the traditional goalie slide in front of the team picture to starter Brian Billett.



The New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs won the Dineen Cup, symbolic of the EJHL championship, today with a second consecutive 3-2 win over the Jersey Hitmen. Penn State recruit Tim Carr served as backup goalie (as he had all playoffs), so since I obviously can't comment on his play, I'll turn it over to the EJHL website.

Cody Sharib scored two goals, including the game-winner, to lead the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs over the Jersey Hitmen 3-2 on Sunday and give his team its second EJHL Dineen Cup Championship in as many years.

Ryan Tyson put the Monarchs on the board 3:24 into the game when he banged home Chris Cowles’ rebound from the slot. Billy Fitzgerald set up Cowles’ shot.

Sharib extended the lead to 2-0 with a power play goal with 7:14 on the clock when he took a pass from Trevor vanRiemsdyk just outside the slot and fired it past Hitmen goaltender John Nauta.

The Hitmen got on the board 3:40 into the second period when Matt Willows took a pass from Craig Kitto at the point and rifled it at the net. Monarchs goaltender Brian Billett made the save, but Connor Leen buried the rebound.

A power play goal by the Hitmen tied the game with 10:57 left in the second period. Max Novak sent the puck to Andy Latta, who took a shot. A defenseman deflected the puck to the circle and Matt Willows beat Billett with his shot.

Sharib put home his second of the game with 3:21 remaining in the frame when he scored on a point blank shot with assists from Cam Brown and Ryan Tyson.

Billett and Nauta held the teams scoreless in the third period. The Hitmen pulled Nauta with a minute remaining, but to no avail, and Sharib’s tally held as the game-winner. Nauta finished with 25 saves and Billett recorded 36.

The win gives the Monarchs their second consecutive EJHL Championship and their sixth overall. The Eastern Junior Hockey League would like to congratulate the Monarchs and the Hitmen on their outstanding seasons.

Carr, of course, was an integral part of the Monarchs' 38-4-2-1 record, and their Northern Division championship, which earned them a first-round bye and home ice until the final. He went 15-2-1 with a 2.40 goals against average, a 0.917 save percentage and three shutouts, and even chipped in an assist.

The other PSU recruit to date, Jake Friedman, exited the EJHL playoffs with his South Shore Kings two rounds ago, with Friedman collecting a goal and two assists in the Kings' four total playoff games, plus a 20:00 mini-game. During the 45-game regular season, he led the Kings in scoring and was tied for sixth in the league with 26 goals and 35 assists.

EJHL Playoff Update

While I was burying myself in ACHA national championship land, PSU commits Tim Carr and Jake Friedman were busy in the second round of the Eastern Junior Hockey League playoffs this past weekend.

Carr's New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs swept the Valley Jr. Warriors 2-1 on Saturday and 6-0 on Monday to advance to the semifinals, where they'll face the Boston Jr. Bruins this coming weekend in a two-game series, with a deciding mini-game following the second game if necessary. Carr did not play in either game against the Jr. Warriors - he backed up Boston College commit Brian Billet, who made an outstanding 57 saves on 58 shots over the two games.

The Jr. Monarchs semifinal games, which are at 5:30 Saturday and 2:20 Sunday, will both be broadcast on FastHockey.

Unfortunately, Friedman's South Shore Kings did not fare as well, dropping their series to the Bay State Breakers in a deciding one-period mini-game Sunday after winning the full game earlier that day 3-2 to force the tiebreaker. The Breakers won the opener Friday 6-2. Friedman was held pointless in the first two games but bounced back in the mini-game to open the scoring on the power play 8:19 in, before the Kings gave up two unanswered to lose. Friedman recorded two assists in an opening-round series win over the Green Mountain Glades.

First Two In

Fresh off of the Chris Van Damme news of last week, we have something even bigger and more exciting. According to college hockey recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg, Penn State's NCAA program received its first two commitments yesterday.

So who are these guys? To be completely honest, I'm still trying to piece this together myself - the news pretty much blindsided me, I didn't expect anything until after the coaching hire - but here's what I could dig up quickly.

Jake Friedman

Friedman, as noted above, plays for the South Shore Kings, based out of Foxboro, MA and in the Tier III Eastern Junior Hockey League. The 5'10", 170-pound center from West Bloomfield, MI had 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists) in 45 games this season to lead the Kings in scoring. In fact, he tied for sixth in scoring in the entire league with a guy who follows me on Twitter and is committed to Union College (not bragging...okay, I am).

Oh wait, did I mention that I found a video of Friedman roofing a championship-winning goal in an early bird tournament? Well, I did. Just don't ask me how Maroon 5 got anywhere near a hockey video.



Tim Carr

Carr also plays in the EJHL, but for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. This season he's split the time in net pretty evenly with Boston College commit Brian Billett (crappy players don't tend to get recruited by BC) and carries a 15-2-1 record, a 2.40 goals against average, a 0.917 save percentage, and three shutouts.

Andrew Dzurita from Lions 247 put together an outstanding piece on Carr that fills in a few details, including some interesting items not directly related to his recruitment.

“It feels great, it is something special, to be a part of something like Penn State is unbelievable,” said Carr in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Coming to a school like Penn State, with the reputation they have for athletics, and the plan they have for the Division I ice hockey team, it is going to be something special.”

Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Northeastern, Sacred Heart, Union were all schools interested in the 5-foot-10, 170-poind Carr, but when rumors of Penn State making the switch to Division-1 came true, everything changed.

“Last year I talked to Coach Balboni there, and it was before they were even considering making the jump to the Divison I level, so I was just considering them as a back-up plan, in case my other Division I offers didn’t work out.”

Carr said that while Balboni will stay on as the head of hockey operations as the team transitions from club to NCAA, he could not provide any insight on who the new coach would be. Carr also stated that Penn State doesn’t want to announce their new head coach because ‘they don’t want to disrupt the flow of Divison I hockey this year,’ and that an announcement won’t come before Frozen Four.

Interestingly enough, Friedman and Carr have gone head-to-head a couple times this season. On October 9th, Friedman's Kings rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie Carr's Jr. Monarchs 4-4. The first goal in the rally was scored by Friedman 56 seconds into the second period. Then on February 13th, the Jr. Monarchs defeated South Shore 6-3. Friedman opened the scoring on the power play in that game, and later assisted on Dean Niezgoda's goal that cut the New Hampshire lead to 3-2. So Carr's team comes away with a 1-0-1 record, Carr stopped 60 of 67 shots in the two games, but Friedman scored in both. Sounds good to me.

More evidence of it being a small world: American Junior Hockey named Friedman and Carr its EJHL offensive and defensive players of the week in the same week, back in October.

Just as a reminder to those unfamiliar with college sports recruiting: both Carr's and Friedman's commitments are of the non-binding verbal variety. I believe that they would be able to make it official in April or November (forgive my newness to college hockey recruiting) - I have to imagine that November is more likely, because who's going to sign something binding without knowing who's going to be coaching them? In the meantime, I'll keep up with the progress of these two, as well as monitor for any additional verbals.

Special thanks to Without a Peer, a fantastic RPI blog, for the heads up on this news and for the link to Heisenberg's recruiting page. I highly recommend checking out both.

UPDATE 3:34 p.m.: The news has been confirmed by the Icers' official site - and from the language used ("for the upcoming 2011-12 season"), it sounds like the pair may spend a year tearing up the ACHA. It also means that an April signing is likely/necessary.

UPDATE 5:27 p.m.: Both the Kings and the Jr. Monarchs made the EJHL playoffs. The Kings play their first-round games tonight at 6:20 p.m. and tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. against the Green Mountain Glades. Both are available on FastHockey. The Jr. Monarchs earned a first-round bye on the strength of having the second-best record in the league during the regular season. Their second round series will begin Saturday against a to-be-determined first-round winner.