Tag Archives: recruiting

Trevor Olson commits to UND

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UND has received a verbal commitment from a 6-foot-2 power forward from Duluth.

Trevor Olson, who played at Duluth East and is now with Sioux City in the USHL, is expected to come to UND in the fall of 2014.

In his first season in the USHL, Olson tallied 16 points in 31 games for Green Bay before Sioux City coach Brett Larson (of Duluth) traded for him. Since joining Sioux City, Olson has 30 points in 30 games.

“He’s a big power forward,” Larson said. “He brings a physical element to the game, but he can also make plays. He’s kind of like a pro-style power forward.”

Larson said that most schools didn’t start recruiting Olson until this year as he sustained an injury during his senior year of high school.

“He was recruited by the top schools in the country,” Larson said. “So, North Dakota did a good job.”

Olson said he chose UND over Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State and UMass-Lowell.

Stecher named BCHL D-man of the year

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UND’s most recent recruit just received a top honor from the BCHL.

Troy Stecher was named the defenseman of the year for the Interior Conference. Stecher, the team captain, tallied 47 points in 52 games for the Penticton Vees.

Stecher is expected to come to UND next season.

The Vees, who also feature UND recruit Wade Murphy, are about to start the BCHL playoffs. They open against Salmon Arm in a best-of-seven series on Friday.

Gardner commits to UND

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UND has received a verbal commitment from Rhett Gardner, a 6-foot-2 forward from Moose Jaw, Sask.

Gardner is currently playing for the Moose Jaw Generals, a AAA team in his hometown. The Generals have played in The Ralph’s AAA showcase tournament each of the last two years.

“He skates extremely well,” Generals coach Ray Wareham said. “He has some pretty good offensive upside. He does all the little things well in his own end. I’d say he’s a complete player.”

Gardner originally was a second-round WHL pick of Spokane, but Spokane traded him at the deadline last week to Brandon.

“He wanted to weigh his options,” Wareham said. “This one opened up and he’s pretty happy to be part of the University of North Dakota.”

Gardner, the captain of the Generals, recently played in the World Under-17 tournament in Quebec. Gardner had two goals in five games at the event.

UND likely to lose Lemieux

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UND is likely to lose forward recruit Brendan Lemieux to the Barrie Colts of the OHL.

Lemieux had been playing for the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL and was expected to come to UND in the fall of 2014, but a source says he’s expected to soon leave the USHL and sign with Barrie.

At the time of his commitment, Lemieux said he researched and made visits to OHL teams as well as colleges and made the decision that the college route was for him. Even so, Barrie still used a high pick on him in the OHL draft.

Lemieux had one goal and one assist in 11 games this season for the Gamblers. He led the team with 34 penalty minutes.

UND previously lost three recruits to CHL teams in the span of 18 months in first-round draft picks J.T. Miller and Stefan Matteau as well as undrafted forward Miles Koules.

Poolman commits to UND

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UND will have a familiar name in the lineup in a few years.

Former East Grand Forks Senior High defenseman Tucker Poolman has committed to UND for either 2013 or 2014. Poolman is the son of longtime UND trainer Mark Poolman, a former UND football player.

Poolman, 6-2, 193, is currently playing for the Omaha Lancers in the USHL. He has four points and 24 penalty minutes in 11 games this season.

“He’s been great for us,” Omaha Lancers coach Mike Aikens said. “He’s got good size, has some toughness, has contributed offensively. He’s on our top power-play unit. He does a lot of things really well.

“He’s just scratching the surface of what he’s going to be. He has potential to play for a long time. I think he’s going to develop into a great college player. He has potential to play in the NHL for a bunch of years. With his size, skillset and what type of character player he is, he’s got the total package.”

Poolman played in the NAHL last season. There was a lot of recruiting interest in him to start this season, including some from Maine and Minnesota Duluth.

“He’s a pretty hot item right now,” Aikens said. “He’s a great get for the Sioux. It’s a great story with him growing up there and his dad being on the staff. He’s definitely not just a token guy on the team. He’s a definite, legit prospect.”

Poolman said UND started talking with him in the summer.

“My dad is the trainer up there and I didn’t really like that idea at first,” Poolman said of playing at UND. “But I warmed up to it after talking with the coaches.”

UND will have a lot of local connections soon on the team in Poolman (EGF), Luke Johnson (GF), Paul LaDue (GF) and Keaton Thompson (Devils Lake).

“As a kid, you grow up watching UND and all that stuff,” Poolman said. “I’m really excited.”

UND lands 1997-born defenseman

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UND has received a verbal commitment from 1997-born defenseman Christian Evers of the Omaha AAA U16 team.

Evers, at 6-foot-4, is considered to be one of the top 1997-born blue liners in the country. Evers has 10 points in 10 games so far this season.

The Omaha U16 site has a release on his commitment here.

UND currently has six committed defensemen and all are at least 6 feet tall. It appears that UND may have quite a large defensive corps in a few years: Keaton Thompson (6-0), Paul LaDue (6-1), Geoff Crisfield (6-2), Charlie Pelnik (6-3), Evers (6-4) and Ryan Mantha (6-5).

More to come in a bit.

BCHL standout Murphy commits to UND

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Wade Murphy, who was named the co-MVP of the BCHL playoffs last season, has committed to UND for next season.

Murphy originally had committed to Merrimack, but de-committed about a month ago. He quickly set his sights on UND. It was the only school he visited and he said he verbally committed to the coaches in person on Monday.

“He’s a player that’s found a way to produce offensively over the last few years,” Penticton coach Fred Harbinson said. “He does it by not playing the perimeter. He’s a guy who gets involved in the corners and in front of the net.”

Murphy has seven points in four games this season. A year ago, he finished with 91 points in 60 games.

“There are players that score goals and there are players that score important, big-time goals,” Harbinson said. “Wade has found a way to score some big overtime goals. He already has done it this year in our first game scoring a goal in the last minute of play to win the game. He’s one of those guys that has a knack for when the stage is big.”

The full story is here.

Big defenseman commits to UND

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UND received a verbal commitment Monday night from 1996-born defenseman Ryan Mantha, who is 6-foot-5 and 212 pounds.

Mantha, who played for Belle Tire in Michigan last season and will play for Sioux City in the USHL this season, visited UND a couple of weeks ago and came away impressed.

“When I got there, everything clicked right away and I knew this was the place I wanted to be,” he said.

Mantha also visited Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin. He was picked in the fifth round by the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL. When asked if the window to the OHL is still open or if that has now closed, Mantha said “It’s closed. Very closed.”

Mantha said he knew about UND and Ralph Engelstad Arena because his brother played in the Little Caesars midget major tournament in the Ralph and returned to Michigan raving about it.

The earliest Mantha could come to UND would be 2014. His arrival date will depend on his development.

Sioux City used a tender to sign Mantha for the upcoming season. Sioux City’s assistant coach told the team website after signing Mantha to the tender: “We’re thrilled to have Ryan on board for next season. He is a big, mobile, puck-moving defenseman who we watched closely throughout the entire season. Ryan’s a player we felt was both physically ready while also having the maturity and mental makeup to make the next step in our league as a 1996-born player.”

Mantha’s uncle, Moe, played 12 years in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. Moe also coached in the AHL, ECHL, OHL and NAHL.

Tambellini commits to UND

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Who says this week is just reserved for football recruiting?

UND has garnered a second verbal commitment today — Vernon Vipers forward Adam Tambellini says he’s headed to UND in either 2012 or 2013.

Tambellini is the son of Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini and the brother of former Michigan star Jeff Tambellini.

He chose UND over Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State and Portland of the WHL.

Tambellini made his official visit during UND’s 2-1 win over Minnesota in Ralph Englestad Arena.

“He’s a high-end, offensively talented player,” Vernon coach Jason Williamson said. “He can get the puck in the back of the net. He was heavily recruited. He could have picked wherever he wanted to go.”

Tambellini gained notoriety last year, leading his team to the championship at the Mac’s midget tournament. He scored all of his team’s goals in a 3-2 victory in the championship.

Chyzyk commits to UND

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Fargo Force forward Bryn Chyzyk has committed to UND.

Chyzyk is the second-leading scorer on the Force with 20 goals and 31 points in 37 games this season. He’s the sixth-leading goal-scorer in the league.

The 19-year-old from Virden, Man., has been on fire lately for the Force. After starting the year with 8 points in 19 games, he has racked up 23 points (13 goals) in the last 18.

Chyzyk made a visit to UND on Friday along with Miles Koules, who already has committed.

“To grow up watching the Sioux play and have a dream come true to play for them, it’s pretty unbelievable,” Chyzyk said.

Chyzyk will come to UND next season.