PSU Lands Former Engineer Koudys

According to both Chris Heisenberg and Ken Schott, former RPI defenseman Patrick Koudys has committed to Penn State.

Patrick Koudys

Defenseman
Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
6'3", 198 pounds
Smithville, ON
DOB 11/15/1992

EliteProspects.com


Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2009-10  Burlington Cougars     CCHL   50    5   28   33   42  
2010-11  Rensselaer             ECAC   31    1    2    3   14
2011-12  Rensselaer             ECAC   27    1    1    2   22
2012-13  Muskegon Lumberjacks   USHL   20    0    3    3   34

The headlining news with Koudys (pronounced COW-dice, by the way) is that he's an NHL draft pick, the second such player associated with Penn State, after Max Gardiner, of course. The Washington Capitals selected Koudys with their fifth round pick (147th overall) in 2011. Let's work a photo of him wearing a Caps jersey in, just because we're not used to this NHL thing yet.

Photo: Russian Machine Never Breaks

Koudys left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after last season and joined the USHL for his sit-out year, where he presently plays with 2015 commit Conor Garland (and Matt Mendelson, the brother of women's team member Cara) on the Muskegon Lumberjacks. The Jacks are off to a great start at 12-7-1, with Koudys second on the team in plus-minus at +5.

Here's what RPI blog (and FoTYT) Without a Peer had to say upon his leaving their program in the spring.

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Koudys came to RPI with a lot of upside potential, but did have a rough sophomore year defensively after a solid freshman campaign.

It doesn't do us much good to speculate about underlying reasons for the departure. [RPI coach] Seth Appert told the Troy Record that it was a decision that Koudys himself made in part because of a lack of playing time. Why Koudys was a healthy scratch down the stretch is unknown and will likely remain that way. He was not injured this season, which means he was a healthy scratch on 12 different occasions this year on a team with only seven defensemen.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Washington Capitals weren't satisfied with his development in Troy (or just his playing time) and wanted him elsewhere, but Koudys plans to return to juniors rather than sign with the Oshawa Generals, the OHL team that has his rights. That means he's looking to use his last two years of NCAA eligibility in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and in most cases an NHL team leaning on a player to leave school would result in a bee-line for major junior.

Where he ends up from here is a bit of a mystery, but given that he majored in civil engineering at RPI, that might narrow it down a bit if he maintains his field of study. It makes Clarkson and Yale likely potential landing points, and would put Union out of the running, though he does have a connection there in Josh Jooris, who he played Junior A hockey with in Ontario.

At any rate, it's tough to lose a guy with as much potential as Koudys, but hopefully he lands on his feet. He's a good kid and his father, Jim, is a great person. Unless we see him across the ice at any point down the road, best of luck to him in the future.

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Before his apparent falling out of favor with the RPI coaching staff, Koudys - who describes himself as a big, physical defenseman who makes smart decisions with the puck - actually enjoyed a great deal of success as a freshman, in 2010-2011. That year, and with the Ontario blueliner regularly in the lineup, the Engineers went 20-13-5 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time since Ned Harkness' revival of the program in 1949 (I suppose it's worth a quick mention that Rensselaer split a pair with Guy Gadowsky's Princeton team that year, with Koudys registering a shot and a -2 rating over both games). Washington was pleased enough to nab him with their second pick (the Caps traded their picks in each of the first three rounds) following that season.

Photo: Sara Melikian/RPI Athletics

So why use his last two years of eligibility at Penn State?

“Penn State was the right choice for me because it was more than I expected when visiting the campus with the new state of the art facilities being built, and the coaching staff is dedicated to helping me develop my skills for the pro level,” said Koudys. “Penn State has everything to offer both on and off the ice for me because it is close to home and the engineering program they offer is second to none.”

The reference to PSU's engineering program is hardly fluff - Koudys was a dean's list student as a civil enginnering major at an institution recently rated behind only CalTech, MIT and Stanford among the world's engineering schools. Their athletic teams are even named the "Engineers," if you didn't know (or catch it above). So yeah, he's probably not dumb.

Prior to his time in Troy, NY, he skated for the CCHL's Burlington Cougars in 2009-2010, where he and PSU freshman Luke Juha were the two highest scoring defensemen on the team. Interestingly, from there, Koudys went to RPI and - after another year with the Cougars - Juha committed to rival Clarkson. Now in a bizarre way, the puck mover and the brick wall will bring things full circle as Nittany Lions. Burlington was 39-8-3 that year to take the West Division title, but was upset in the league semifinals by second-place Newmarket. Prior to his season in Junior A, Koudys played Junior B for the Welland Jr. Canadians in 2008-2009 and for the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs organization from 2002 through 2008.

Koudys is the product of a true hockey family, as his father Jim was a former 12th-round pick of the New York Islanders in 1982, although he never made it to the NHL. Jim's brother Randy was a four-year player at RPI from 1980 through 1984. Randy's two sons also are playing or played college hockey, as one, Dan, is a senior forward at Bentley, while Joey is playing professionally in Germany following four years with Alabama-Huntsville.

Commit Cycle: August 28

Welcome back from the off-season hiatus of Commit Cycle, the bi-weekly post keeping track of Penn State hockey's verbal commitments. Believe it or not, the Canadian Junior A leagues are already into their exhibition seasons, necessitating this series revival for 2012-2013.

With 14 total known players to cover (down from an incredible 35 by the end of last season), I'm going to attempt to once again combine the men and women into one post. If that number grows significantly, I may split things up by gender, as done previously. For now though, it's just the three men's players in the BCHL or OJHL - the others will be added as their seasons get underway.

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Bo Pellah

Defenseman
Langley Rivermen (BCHL)
5'11", 150 pounds
New Westminster, BC
Class of 2014
DOB 5/25/1995


Date  Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------
8/24  at Surrey (ex)          L 0-5  0   0   0   - [box score]
8/25  vs. Surrey (ex)         W 8-3  -   -   -   - [box score]
8/27  at Coquitlam (ex)       W 7-4  0   0   0   - [box score]

Langley split their roster up for the home-and-home with Surrey, and Pellah had the misfortune of being the only returning player assigned to the first game.

David Thompson

Defenseman
Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
6'2", 187 pounds
Glen Mills, PA
Class of 2013
DOB 5/19/1992


Date  Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------
8/25  vs. Coquitlam (ex)      T 2-2  0   0   0   0 [box score]

It's uncertain whether Thompson played in the Chiefs' first competition against another team (the box score is informally done and doesn't include a participation list), but for what it's worth, he wasn't involved in any of the scoring or penalties, isn't visible in this highlight video of the proceedings and isn't mentioned on this list of players expected to be in the lineup...obviously, head coach Harvey Smyl and his staff knows what it has in the rock-solid veteran, so his preseason participation may be limited.

Thomas Welsh

Defenseman
Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)
6'0", 195 pounds
Toronto, ON
Class of 2013
DOB 2/1/1995


Date  Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------
8/25  vs. Burlington (ex)     W 5-2  0   1   1   0 [box score]
8/25  vs. Oakville (ex)       W 4-1  1   0   1   0 [box score]
8/26  vs. Hamilton (ex)       L 0-4  0   0   0   6 [box score]
8/26  vs. Burlington (ex)     W 3-1  -   -   -   - [box score]

Although the games don't count, Welsh is off to a fantastic start in his first Junior A go, helping Georgetown win the Burlington Cougars Challenge Cup over the weekend...one observer to his first three exhibition games reported that "Thomas is very strong on the puck and confident when skating with it. You can tell when the play is bearing down on Welsh he is thinking of what the forwards will attempt to do to get around him. They rarely do get around Welsh as he is strong positionally and able to force the forwards to make mistakes without giving up his position" (more available at the link below).

Related stories:
OHL Prospect Report from Cougars Championship Cup 2012 (ohlwriters.com)

A Conversation With Luke Juha

On Wednesday evening, 2012 recruit Luke Juha, a defenseman from Mississauga, ON, graciously spent a little time talking to TYT. We reviewed his career to this point, his style and hockey influences, the twists and turns of his decision to play college hockey (not to mention those involved with the selection of a particular school), his plans for this season and his NHL draft prospects as well as those of a few of his high-profile former teammates.

I left the conversation with little doubt that Penn State is getting a quality individual who will be a true asset to the program, both on and off the ice.

....................

Thank You Terry: Let’s start by going back to when you were 16. You’re drafted by Guelph in the Ontario League [in the fifth round] and could’ve played there, but decided to stay in Junior A. Talk a little bit about that decision.

Luke Juha: Well, it’s definitely out of the norm for Ontario players. I really defied convention when I decided to go the NCAA route, and I was supposed to go possibly late first, early second in the OHL draft, and I think my draft suffered a bit because of it – my draft position.

The OHL’s a great way to go, but you know, I thought the NCAA route was the right choice for me, just because I love the team atmosphere there. Education is still very important to me, and I also love the camaraderie of NCAA hockey. There’s no trades, and the best part about it is that you also get two extra years of development, sometimes three, for the NHL. If you go to the OHL, NHL teams have to sign you when you’re 20, or your career’s pretty much over. You go play AHL, or even the East Coast League, or in Europe. In the NCAA, you get two extra years, you can sign at 24. Being a smaller guy, it’d be more beneficial to me to get those extra two years of growth and development.

TYT: You committed to Clarkson last year. But I did see somewhere – I forget where I saw it – that you had Princeton on your final list. Was there a connection with Coach Gadowsky early in the process?

LJ: Oh yeah, 100 percent. I got recruited by a lot of schools as a 16-year-old, and I took a long time to decide to go to Clarkson. Princeton was my second choice, and a huge part of that was because of Gadowsky. The big thing lacking at Princeton was the fan support and the academic support from the school. At Penn State, obviously we’re going to get them. But going back to Gadowsky, Fisher and Lindsay, they’re great guys and they have a track record of developing players to the NHL, in particular, offensive defensemen. So I’m definitely excited to come to Penn State and be coached by them.

TYT: Yeah, I mean, you listen to Gadowsky talk about the system he likes to play, and I read a little bit about how you like to play, and I’m like hey, that works out pretty well, it seems like you’d be a good fit.

LJ: For sure, yeah, I take everything into consideration, and he plays an upbeat possession game, and that’s kind of how I want to play. I want to have the puck as much as I can, and move up in the play with the forwards, and try to make offensive opportunities.

TYT: So then a year passes, you have a good year in Junior A, but then Clarkson makes a coaching change. Is that the biggest reason you decided to start looking around?

LJ: Yeah, there’s a coaching change – I loved the coaches there. The assistant coach and the head coach, George Roll and Greg Drechsel, got fired. I had committed there for almost a year and two months, so it was kind of a blow to me. Clarkson’s still a great option, I just felt that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity at Penn State with Gadowsky, Fisher and Lindsay coaching.

TYT: Penn State then enters the picture, obviously the coaches are there, were there other things that drew you to the school?

LJ: I didn’t know much about it until obviously, there’s a coaching change and I started looking around. But the academics are great, Penn State’s ranked 41st in North America academically. The fan support, even at the football games, they get great support. I heard Penn State’s just an all-around great school to be at, a great experience, and finally, just the fact that we’re starting up a new program. I really want to be a part of that because I think it’s going to be something special.

TYT: It’s going to be pretty cool. I’ve been around it a little bit, and everyone’s just kind of waited for this moment, and you being one of the first group in there, it’s going to be pretty nuts I think.

LJ: Definitely. Even with the rink coming up, it didn’t impact my decision but I feel like the rink’s really going to bring a new life to the program.

TYT: It’s just too bad you’ll have to play a year in the old rink first.

LJ: When I came down, I saw it, but I feel like it’ll still be special because it’s the first year.

TYT: Yeah, it’ll be a different atmosphere.

LJ: And then the second year, you get to come in with the new rink and there will be a new buzz. So there’s two years of this huge buzz around the hockey program.

TYT: Now obviously you like Penn State enough that you’re delaying going to college for a year. Are you sticking with the [OJHL’s Burlington] Cougars this season?

LJ: Actually no, I’m going to play – they’re just finalizing the deal – with the [BCHL’s] Vernon Vipers right now. I’m going to go play there. They’ve had a great program.

TYT: Yeah, they’re pretty good. [The Vipers have won four RBC Cups, symbolic of Canada’s Junior A national championship, including in 2009 and 2010.]

LJ: I guess you know about it, yeah. Those coaches there are both great coaches, [Mark] Ferner and [Jason] Williamson, and I’m excited to be coached by them as well. And hopefully make a run for the RBC.

TYT: They actually got upset by Jonathan Milley, another guy that’s coming in with you there, and his team [the CCHL's Pembroke Lumber Kings at the RBC Cup this past year].

I saw somebody on a message board compare you to Tomas Kaberle and you listed Nicklas Lidstrom as your favorite player. Is that who you’d most compare your style to?

LJ: I guess you could talk about Lidstrom and Kaberle, both of them are great players and they both have great poise with the puck, and make great first passes. That’s what I try to do, and I also try to jump in the rush and make odd-man rushes. It’s important to generate offense, even as a defenseman. So I try to pattern myself around those guys, those types of players.

TYT: Speaking of the NHL, you do have a chance of being drafted this weekend. What have you heard or what are your expectations about that?

LJ: You know, I haven’t talked to many NHL teams. It’d be great to get drafted, and I know I’m on some teams’ radar, but it’s not going to change the game I play. There’s a huge cliché that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I definitely believe that even if I don’t get drafted this year, I have two more years to get drafted. It’s not going to affect how I train and play on the ice. It’s a good feather in the hat, but at the end of the day, my goal’s still going to be playing in the NHL and developing.

In Ontario, I think it hurt my draft a bit that I’m playing in Junior A hockey, because it’s not the best league. It’s definitely not as good as the BCHL and the USHL. There’s a negative stigma about it in Ontario, so that’s part of the reason why.

TYT: And you talked about going the college route, which gives you a little bit of extra development time.

LJ: Oh yeah, I still think it’s the best option for me, and I have no regrets whatsoever. And even being coached by Coach Gadowsky, Fisher and Lindsay, those guys have developed those players. Hopefully they can help me develop even further into a potentially great NHL player.

TYT: Even if you don’t get drafted, you have a little bit of a reason to watch, other than for yourself. You have those other four guys [Ryan Strome, Michael Curtis, Evan Rodrigues and Steven Strong] – you played together for seven years [with the Toronto Marlies organization]. A couple of them are going to go, one maybe a first-rounder, one maybe a middle round. That has to be pretty exciting too.

LJ: I know a bunch of the guys, Ryan Strome, [Stuart] Percy, Brett Ritchie. It’s going to be interesting to see, and I’m hoping they all do well and go to the teams they want to go to, I’ll definitely keep an eye on that. They’re all great players, and I wish them the best.

TYT: I saw that Evan Rodrigues is going to [Boston University] – kind of hoping they show up on the schedule at some point?

LJ: You know, I work out with him every day, we go to the same high school, he’s my best friend, so I hope we play them in the next four years because I definitely want to get a chance to beat him. We’ve got a little rivalry going for sure.

TYT: Obviously, BU’s a great program, so I hope you guys beat them too.

LJ: Yeah, exactly. It’s funny you say that because we were actually talking about it today at the gym. We were talking about potentially playing each other. I’m definitely excited to come down and start playing and build the program into something special.

Stocking Up For The Big Time

In what should be considered the single biggest recruiting haul in the young history of Penn State's NCAA program, Guy Gadowsky landed three highly-touted players over the last two days according to recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg.

First thing's first: all three of the players in this post will be starting at PSU in 2012, as NCAA play gets underway. That's not the only commonality shared by the trio, however. All three hail from decidedly traditional hockey areas (two from Canada, one from Michigan), as Gadowsky continues to prove that he'll go where the players reside. And all three provide a glimpse of the Nittany Lions' recruiting pull once full-fledged varsity status arrives. Quite simply, that pull is pretty strong.

Luke Juha

Defenseman
Burlington Cougars (OJHL)
5'11", 180 pounds
Mississauga, ON
DOB 3/9/1993

OJHL player page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2009-10  Burlington Cougars     CCHL   29    6   25   31   24
2010-11  Burlington Cougars     OJHL   44    9   39   48   16

Did this post's intro get you pumped? No? Well, maybe this will. Sit down for a second - it's declaration time.

Luke Juha may be the first Penn Stater ever to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

In case it slipped your mind, we'll know about that soon enough - the draft is next weekend, June 24th and 25th to be exact. In the meantime, here's a projection from December that shows Juha as a second-rounder. Granted, he's not likely to be taken that high, as he's considered something of a sleeper. Opinions of Juha are widely varied, to the point where he doesn't even appear on NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters. So essentially, he could go anywhere from the second round to undrafted. Glad I could nail that down for you.

In the event Juha's name does get called in St. Paul, some lucky NHL team will have acquired the rights to a defenseman with rare vision and puck-moving ability. According to TheScoutingReport.org:

He is a defenseman with tremendous offensive upside, will not over complicate the game and always makes the smart pass. Juha has been said to make passes that other players his age would not attempt, which supports the fact that the Mississauga native, has outstanding vision.

In other words, he fits perfectly in Gadowsky's up-tempo system. But it took a fortuitous sequence of events to get Juha to Hockey Valley. He originally spurned Gadowsky's Princeton program (as well as Maine, Harvard and the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm, who drafted him in 2009) and committed to Clarkson last year, with plans to begin this fall. But in April, the Golden Knights dismissed coach George Roll, who recruited Juha. Put that together with Gadowsky's arrival at PSU and it's pretty easy to understand why Juha has now had an apparent change of heart regarding his college choice.

The guy's not exactly light on accolades either.

Luke Juha is the only player to receive recognition as both an [OJHL] All-Star, being named to the North-West Conference 1st All-Star Team, and as an All-Prospect. The seventeen-year old’s award-filled season includes winning a silver medal as a member of Team Canada East at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, participating in the CJHL Prospects Game and leading the Burlington Cougars to a West Division title.

Here's a video that shows a little bit of Juha's background before heading to Burlington - he and four others spent an unbelievable seven years as teammates through minor hockey. Two of that Fab Five are Ryan Strome and Michael Curtis, both anticipated NHL draft picks next weekend. Hopefully Juha will be joining them.

Jonathan Milley

Forward
Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL)
6'4", 215 pounds
Ottawa, ON
DOB 5/8/1991

CCHL player page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2007-08  Smiths Falls Bears     CJHL   30    3    5    8   29
2008-09  Smiths Falls Bears     CJHL   58   28   33   61  109
2009-10  Smiths Falls Bears     CJHL   31   13   29   42   78
2010-11  Pembroke Lumber Kings  CCHL   42   29   29   58   50

Jonathan Milley did a lot of winning last season.

Sure, his Pembroke Lumber Kings cruised to a CCHL-best 51-9-2 record last season and went on to take the Bogart Cup, symbolic of the league's playoff championship, for the fifth straight time. But while that's a destination for most outfits, for Milley and his teammates, that was just the beginning.

From there, it was on to the Fred Page Cup, contested each year by the champions of the CCHL, the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League, the Maritime Hockey League and a host team. Once again, the Lumber Kings met little resistance, going 2-1-0 in the round robin, then defeating QJAAAHL champion Longueuil College Francais for the Cup. That win allowed Pembroke to compete for the RBC Cup, Canada's Junior A national championship, along with champions from other regions. And as you might have guessed, the Lumber Kings won that too, topping the two-time defending champion Vernon Vipers in the final.

Not bad for a season's work.

At this point, you may be thinking "all of this is well and good, but team success doesn't necessarily say anything about an individual player on the team."

Except in this case it does, because Milley's play grew exponentially along with the importance of the games. During the CCHL regular season, his 29 goals and 58 points were good for second and fourth on the team, respectively. Then, come CCHL playoff time, he led the Lumber Kings in scoring. At the Fred Page Cup, he notched four points in the championship game and was named player of the tournament. By the final of the RBC Cup, Milley had taken over completely, scoring the only two goals in the game (part of his tournament-high seven).

Milley's RBC Cup-winning goal somehow found that hole.

Milley brings something important to the table - size and presence down low, particularly on the power play. Fifteen of his 29 goals last season came on the man advantage - I imagine many of them looked quite a bit like the one shown in the photo above as well as the ones in the videos on Milley's Lumber Kings profile page.

A big player who plays even bigger in important situations and important games. Name a hockey team that doesn't need one (or more) of those.

Mark Yanis

Defenseman
Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
6'2", 190 pounds
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
DOB 5/26/1994

USHL player page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2009-10  Belle Tire U16         Mdgt.  64    6   16   22  112
2010-11  Muskegon Lumberjacks   USHL   54    1    4    5  136

Coming off of a productive midget season in his native Detroit area, defenseman Mark Yanis was chosen by the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers in the ninth round of the 2010 OHL draft. If you're new in the game, there's a common dilemma faced by high-end players once they turn 16 - play Canadian major junior and lose NCAA eligibility or take what's commonly referred to as the college track and play in the USHL (or other junior leagues considered amateur by the NCAA) until ready for higher education.

Yanis (as well as fellow one-time OHL picks Juha and Milley) chose the latter, signing with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks this past season and holding his own as the youngest player on the team to log more than ten games. He had a top-six defense spot on lockdown and contributed a physical presence on the back end.

If it's not obvious yet, he has a big-time ceiling. For starters, look at the college programs knocking on his door.

Yanis is a well sought-out player, with the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, The Ohio State University and University of Notre Dame heavily recruiting him. [Note: Penn State wasn't on his radar at this point, as the article was written two months prior to PSU having an NCAA program.]

Yanis doesn't plan on ending his hockey career in college either, as he's considered a likely pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

A couple quick scouting reports are in order, first from Lumberjacks coach Kevin Patrick:

“Mark is a hard-nosed defenseman who loves to play physical and in a guy’s face. He skates well and moves the puck well. And he’s not afraid to get up and support the rush.”

Next, from the USHL Prospects Blog:

A big shut down style defenseman. At 16, Yanis already has pro caliber size, standing at 6'3" and 190 pounds. Yanis, like [Sioux City Musketeers defenseman Sam] Piazza, plays a more defensive game, not really producing offensively.

And finally, from Yanis himself:

"I skate well for a guy my size and I take pride in making tape-to-tape passes coming out of the defensive zone. I can mix it up in the corners and play a physical game...I like the way [Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas] Kronwall plays and I think I play hockey like he does."

Yanis dispenses some justice.