cassidy bowes

Johnny Beecher skates like a guy much smaller

This is the way hockey scouting works:

• There's a flurry of it when kids are high school sophomores, because the CHL and USHL drafts grab those guys and the NTDP is chosen from that age group. There's money there, largely because of the CHL, and a cornucopia of sites have sprouted to provide teams, and the more zealous variety of fan, in-depth scouting.
• Nobody cares much the year after unless you're so high end that you're generating first round NHL draft buzz.
• In your draft year CSB rankings and various other NHL scouting services will provide a final burst of information.

The 2019 class is in the gap year, and doesn't have a lot of high end guys, so there's not a lot to report that hasn't been on the site in some form already. But you probably don't remember that hockey recruiting blast in a UV from six months ago, so here it is anyway.

THE POTENTIALLY DELAYED

One way that hockey recruiting is weird is that guys will somewhat frequently take another year in junior if the program they've committed to doesn't have room. I can only assume that's a somewhat standard thing to say when you take a commitment, because nobody makes a big deal about something that would be a minor scandal in other sports.

Michigan looks set to do this. I missed Michael Spath's report that Michigan was set to bring in 10 freshmen this year, with some surprises amongst the names omitted and one amongst the names included:

With potential for a few more early departures and a few more commitments (keep an eye on Jack Hughes and Oliver Wahlstrom) here is a look at @umichhockey's current roster configure for 2018-19. pic.twitter.com/ssY9fNGWOy

— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) April 10, 2018

Summers was listed as a 2019 when he committed and is the surprise inclusion. Absences from that list: Jacob Semik, Calen Kiefiuk, Keaton Pehrson, and Nick Granowicz. Most of those surprise me in various ways, except that some guys needed to get put off. Kiefiuk's actually up to 48 points in 60 USHL games to lead his team; Granowicz is 20 and probably on light, if any, money so why not bring him in anyway; Pehrson already delayed a year. Semik's 5-4-9 line and status as an unranked draft eligible might warrant another junior year.

If those guys don't arrive this fall they will be potential 2019 recruits, or potential decommits.

As for Jack Summers—no relation to Chris—your guess is as good as mine. Here is the sum total of scouting I found:

Summers is a bit undersized and not a huge offensive threat yet, but he has incredible footwork and skating that makes him an effective defender and gives him the upside to potentially be a very dynamic player.

Michigan flipped him from Brown. He's got 11 points in 58 USHL games. One thing he's got going for him: Bill Muckalt was his coach last year, when he played a half-season with the Tri-City Storm after coming over from the NAHL. He is from Livonia and can get in-state tuition, so he might be another guy on light money.

In related news, here's an attempted Michigan hockey roster down the road.

[After the JUMP: a fair salvage job]

Sponsor note. Are you sick of working for a website that makes everyone think your name is Chad? Have aspirations larger than reposting dank memes while people assert that you're just another talentless Chad? Want to break away from a media conglomerate that subsists on 80% bro-yellin'?

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Oh. Barstool. Barstool is trash and it's no surprise that it's Barstool that has again found the trashiest sign on Penn State's campus and been like "oh sick burn, bro," because Barstool just hires whatever local Chad they can find and Chad does Chad things. The latest:

Set aside the potential odiousness of the joke. It's not even a good joke. The University of Michigan did not decide to change the source of Flint's water, or attempt to cover up the humanitarian disaster that was unfolding. This is equivalent to burning PSU for the actions of Philadelphia's mayor. Nobody does this, because nobody has to when trying to burn Penn State.

Anyway, Barstool's second-biggest problem is that they think "edgy" is funny by itself. Andrew-Dice-Clay-ass website. 

The decline of home court advantage. Home court means less these days:

This validates Craig Ross's frequently-expressed opinion that in the dingy arenas of the 1970s refs would bone you without repercussion. A couple other items from that piece:

• home court is a stronger effect the farther you travel
• it's a stronger effect in bigger conferences, probably because of crowd size
• all your conspiracy theories about referees are correct

All of 'em. Pick one. Yes, you're correct.

Half the defense. It was a good day for Michigan's defense:

PFF Week 7 - B1G Team of the Week - Defense pic.twitter.com/cNhuRecirM

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) October 17, 2017

Kinnel kind of surprises me, if only because I'm having a hard time thinking much of anything either way about the safeties. They are off screen for the large majority of this game, and Indiana's offense prohibits replays.

Mike Onwenu and Karan Higdon both made the offensive team. Also in "what were you doing with your offensive line recruiting two years ago": Maryland sophomore OG Terrance Davis makes the team. IIRC Michigan straight up passed on that guy.

20 games. Big Ten basketball head coaches have voted in favor of a 20-game conference schedule. Jon Rothstein reports that the change will happen next year. That'll take the schedule to 7 teams you play twice and 6 you play once, and a that point you might as well implement the Scottish Premiere League approach, which only takes 19 games and is awesome.

Harbaugh interacts with son. Via Outsports:

It’s only been in the last year that he came out to his dad. Dismayed by election results last November, he told his father that he was scared for himself and other people like him. When dad wrote back a vague message of support, James went all in.

“I just it blurted out –– and told him for the first time verbatim –– 'Dad, I'm gay. Do you know that? And because of that, this is why X,Y, Z. I'm scared because of this, that and the other.'

“And he just said something else back, it was an encouraging and uplifting response about how you just need to keep your head up. 'As long as you do what you feel is right in your mind, you live your truth. Everything will end up being OK.'"

James does not like his dad's sartorial choices, which makes him like every son in the history of the universe.

Even more hockey recruiting. Michigan continues to pick guys up at a rapid pace. They recently flipped USHL defenseman Jack Summers from Brown. Chris Dilks's take from a couple years ago:

Jack Summers-Victory Honda U16-Summers is a bit undersized and not a huge offensive threat yet, but he has incredible footwork and skating that makes him an effective defender and gives him the upside to potentially be a very dynamic player.

Summers played under Bill Muckalt last year, so he's a guy the coaching staff knows very well. Heisenberg has him listed as a 2019 kid. Michigan's also added 2019 F Cassidy Bowes, who's a bit of an odd duck. He spent last year playing in a western Canadian prep school league, putting up 49 points in 30 games. He's joined the BCHL and has 6 points in nine games in the early going.

Both Summers and Bowes will arrive in 2019 as 20-year-olds, so they're fleshing out the class. They're the 12th and 13th kids across four different recruiting classes Pearson has recruited since he was hired four months ago. He's added four guys to an already five-strong 2017 class, six 2019 kids to Mike Vukojevic, two 2020 kids to a Little Caesar's trio, and 2021 Dylan Duke.

I'm not sure all these guys are getting to campus or guaranteed full rides, particularly the older gents. This is a more aggressive style of recruiting than Michigan is used to; Pearson seems dead set on not having big roster holes from the inevitable departures.

Etc.: M settles FOIA lawsuit and must reform their terrible, terrible FOIA department. Hooray. Scooter Vaughn is a 28-year-old AHL veteran now, and he's also a cool skateboarder. Hurst still drives for Uber. How Bryce Love is... doing all that. Holding The Rope on IU. Urban Meyer's wife: thinks whatever has a hypen, can't spell, kinda racist. Harmon intercepts Kinnick.