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September
27, 2007
Recruiting Trail: Top 10 Goaltenders
No disrespect meant to the names appearing on
our list of the Top 10 Incoming Goaltenders, but more than
one person we surveyed remarked that this year's crop of netminders
was the weakest in recent memory.
Josh Unice would've been the top-rated goalie
on this list, but the U.S. NTDP product and Chicago Blackhawks
draft pick reneged on a commitment to Bowling Green in favor
of the starting job with the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener
Rangers. The ensuing uncertainty among which incoming backstop
deserved the top spot resulted in three different players
appearing in the top spot during our deliberations. We finally
settled on Bemidji State rookie Matt Dalton, who played for
Des Moines (USHL) last season..
Inside College Hockey compiled its 2007 Recruiting
Rankings with extensive input from college and junior coaches,
as well as professional scouts. Participants were asked to
evaluate recruits based on their projected impact at the college
level, not on their professional hockey prospects.
TOP
10 INCOMING GOALTENDERS
|
| |
Name |
School |
Last
Team |
| |
Matt Dalton |
Bemidji State |
Des Moines (USHL) |
Dalton was the 2006 North
American Hockey League MVP as a member of the Bozeman
Ice Dogs. He played in a league-high 53 games for
the Bucs last season, and paced the USHL with five
shutouts.
|
| |
Alex Kangas |
Minnesota |
Indiana (USHL) |
Struggled during the regular
season, but played extremely well for the Ice in the
playoffs. He went 6-1 with a 2.49 GAA and a .919 save
percentage.
|
| |
Richard Bachman |
Colorado College |
Cedar Rapids (USHL) |
| |
Pat Nagle |
Ferris State |
St. Louis (NAHL) |
The 2007 NAHL Rookie of
the Year sported a 24-8-4 record, a 2.28 GAA, and
a .920 save percentage and backstopped the Bandits
to the league championship.
|
| |
Dan Dunn |
St. Cloud State |
Wellington (OPJHL) |
Though he's 19 years old,
Dunn is considered a raw goalie with good reflexes
and athleticism. And he stands a Ben Bishop-esque
6-5.
|
| |
Brad Phillips |
Notre Dame |
U.S. NTDP |
| |
Cameron Talbot |
Alabama-Huntsville |
Hamilton (OPJHL) |
Two CHA-bound netminders
in the top 10? Believe it. Talbot was the OPJHL Western
Division Player of the Year as well as the Ontario
Hockey Association's Junior A Player of the Year.
|
| |
Alan Reynolds |
Princeton |
Jr. Canadiens (OPJHL) |
| |
Marc Cheverie |
Denver |
Nanaimo (BCHL) |
| |
John Muse |
Boston College |
Nobles Prep |
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