ADAM MURRAY
Denver
So. | G | Anchorage, Alaska

Key Statistics: Backing up Hobey Baker finalist Marc Cheverie, Murray played eight games for the Pioneers, finishing with a 3-4-1 record, a 3.81 goals-against average and a .874 saves percentage. He posted a career-high 34 saves during a 6-3 loss to Wisconsin in relief of Cheverie in the WCHA Final Five third-place game.

What He Does: Many top students come to college confident of their abilities, and are struck by the volume of work required during their freshman year. Murray experienced the hockey version of that his first season at DU, admitting that his handful OF appearances between the pipes didn’t go as well as he would’ve liked. He was given a chance to compete for playing time early last season, but Cheverie made the coaches’ decision easy with shutouts in his first three WCHA starts. Never one to slack off in the summer, Murray traveled to Toronto last month with Cheverie and another notable former Pioneer netminder, Peter Mannino, to work with an NHL goalie coach determined to tweak some positional things and learn more and more about the game. His first goal is to backstop a Denver repeat as MacNaughton Cup champions.

The Bigger Picture: Coach George Gwozdecky admits that goaltending is the “biggest unknown” for Denver heading into the 2010-11 season and he has not appointed Murray, incoming freshman Sam Brittain, or anyone else as the preseason number one guy. “It’s similar to two years ago when Cheverie was coming in with about five games under his belt, and we all know how that turned out,” Gwozdecky said, recalling the Pioneers goalie winning the league’s MVP award last March. Murray’s father played at Alaska Anchorage and the goalie considered coming home for college after a stint with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Michigan, but was more interested in following in the line of names like Dubielewicz, Berkhoel, Mannino, and Cheverie. So far, Murray has found the Front Range to his liking. “It’s definitely not Alaska, but you can still see the mountains every day,” he said.

Denver coach George Gwozdecky on Murray: “Adam is very talented, he’s quick, he’s fast, and he’s a good athlete. But in college hockey at this level, you’ve got to be more than that. Playing in the WCHA is extremely difficult, especially for a goaltender, and Adam got a good sense of that in the first games he played.”

BRADY LAMB
Minnesota Duluth
Jr. | D | Calgary, Alberta 

Lamb scored 11 goals for the Bulldogs last season, second among WCHA defensemen in that category.

Key Statistics: After notching a pair of points in a 21-game rookie season, Lamb was an offensive lion on the Bulldogs blue line last winter. Playing in all 40 games, he reached career highs in goals (11) and assists (13), finishing second (behind Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith) in goals by a WCHA defenseman.

What He Does: Blessed with decent size (6-1, 215 pounds), Lamb looks like the prototypical lane-clogging defensive defenseman. But from the moment he arrived in the Twin Ports from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, he was pegged as a guy who could move the puck and score from a post on the blue line. Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin, in scouting Lamb, had seen him make the first pass to start plays, liked the way he handled the defensive end of the ice, and saw a player who thrived on the physical part of the game.

The Bigger Picture: Perhaps the biggest reason for Minnesota Duluth’s top-half finish in the WCHA last season was the league’s most effective power play. That’s also where Lamb made his biggest impact for the Bulldogs, playing the shooter’s role on Sandelin’s second power-play unit on most nights and using his heavy shot to reach double digits in goals. While most of the key power play cogs return to open Duluth’s sparkling new Amsoil Arena this season, Sandelin feels that Lamb might be in position to move up to the top unit. After spending parts of the last two summers at NHL development camps (with the Bruins in 2009 and the Penguins last month) Lamb returned to Duluth in great shape, with added muscle that will surely be put to good use by the Bulldogs this season.

Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin on Lamb: “Brady always had good offensive abilities coming from juniors, so we knew going in that he would be a power play guy and would need to contribute offensively. He’s going to be a big minute guy this season.”

CORBAN KNIGHT
North Dakota
So. | F | High River, Alberta

A natural centerman, Knight struggled in a stint at wing during the first half of his freshman season but rebounded after going back to the pivot.

Key Statistics: Perhaps the gift of offense was sitting under the Knight family Christmas tree last year. After scoring just one goal in his first 17 collegiate games, Knight exploded after the holidays with a dozen points in his last 20 games and two WCHA Rookie of the Week awards.

What He Does: Your freshman year of college is all about trying new things. So Knight, who’d played center all his life, quietly went along last season when his new coaches tried him on the wing. Unfortunately, that led to many quiet nights on the rink as well, as Knight was ineffective in that position. After the holidays, when they moved him back to the middle of a line between Danny Kristo and Darcy Zajac, Knight’s numbers took off. And the offensive outburst came despite missing five games with a high ankle sprain that some thought would end his season. The late-season surge was a familiar scenario for Knight, who says he’s always been a late bloomer. When he was not picked in the Western Hockey League draft, he set his sights on college hockey instead. That’s a career path Sioux fans approved of, especially after Knight notched a goal and an assist in the WCHA Final Five title game in March.

The Bigger Picture: Coaches use words like “intelligence,” “competitor,” and “skills” when they talk about Knight, and admit those are all qualities you like to have in a playmaker. One word Dave Hakstol says he’d like to use more in his description of Knight is “selfish,” noting that the Florida Panthers’ draft pick is a natural playmaker, but would be well-served to use his scoring touch around the net a bit more this season. Those talents were first honed in small-town Saskatchewan, where Jack and Laurie Knight raised a family next door to an outdoor rink and Corban could be found there seemingly every winter day from the age of two and on. He got one trophy as a freshman as the Sioux won the WCHA’s playoff title. The sights are set higher, much higher, in year two. With star defenseman Chay Genoway expected back in the lineup, Knight says it should be a special season, in which he and his teammates have made a NCAA title their number one goal.

Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol on Knight: “He’s got a chance to play a very prominent role for us this season, but obviously that’s up to him. Throughout the year last season he seemed to get more and more comfortable with the level of play and the things around him. I expect Corban to play a lot of minutes for us.”

BRAD HUNT
Bemidji State
Jr. | D | Ridge Meadows, B.C.

Key Statistics: Hunt made a splash as a rookie, setting the Beavers’ D-I level school record for assists by a defenseman with 23. The record lasted just one season, as Hunt eclipsed his own mark as a sophomore, leading the team with 26 assists.

In two seasons at Bemidji State, Brad Hunt has recorded a total of 49 assists.

What He Does: Teammates note that at 5-foot-9 and less than 170 pounds, Hunt doesn’t have the strapping frame you’d expect to see on a college defenseman. Any shortcomings in stature are forgotten when Hunt gets the puck on his stick, which is how he’s earned a reputation as one of the top offensive defensemen in the game. While some players of his size spend the off-season in the weight room looking to add mass, Hunt has struck a balance, spending just as much time running to improve foot speed and endurance. He knows that his ability to start the play in the defensive zone and finish the play from the offensive blue line are his biggest contributions to the Beavers’ success.

The Bigger Picture: Hunt is majoring in business administration, and has dreams of owning his own sports bar someday when he’s done playing hockey. But if he were to major in math, it would surprise few of his earliest teammates. Despite being blessed with the body and the skills of a forward, when Hunt was a youth hockey player he did the math when he noticed that there were always fewer kids who wanted to play defense and figured a spot on the blue line equated to more time on the ice. He’s ridden that logic from the peewee leagues in British Columbia to juniors, then to college and, as a Bemidji State rookie, all the way to the Frozen Four. Hunt calls the Beavers’ surprising run to D.C. two seasons ago the greatest experience of his hockey career, but admits that his team has now lost the element of surprise, maybe forever. With a sparkling new lakeside rink set to open in Bemidji and the Beavers stepping up to membership in the WCHA, there will be new challenges and opportunities for the junior and more pressure to keep setting up Beaver goals at a school-record pace.

Beavers captain Matt Read on Hunt: “Brad has an absolute laser of a slap shot that often ends up in the back of the net, or bounces to one of our guys. When we’re in the offensive zone, we love to feed him the puck, watch him blast it and look for a rebound.”

ALEX HUDSON
Nebraska-Omaha
Jr. | F | Corona, Calif.

Alex Hudson

Key Statistics: When Hudson gets a goal, you can probably expect to see another one that same night. Of his 20 career collegiate goals, 12 have come during six two-goal games. With 25 points last season, he is one of the Mavericks’ top-three returning scorers.

What He Does: The “prototypical” college hockey player from California is an undersized guy with amazing hands (think Brett Sterling, Rhett Rakhshani, etc.), developed on a roller hockey rink. While Hudson indeed got his start playing YMCA roller hockey just a short freeway jaunt east of the Anaheim Ducks’ home rink, his size and leg strength meant he used speed to find success, rather than relying on stickhandling. Mavericks coach Dean Blais said Hudson’s one-timer makes him effective at the top of the circles, but the coach prefers to put him near the crease in the offensive zone, using that size and strength to create trouble for the other team’s defense.

The Bigger Picture: Blais inherited Hudson when he took over the Nebraska-Omaha program a year ago and said the forward’s conditioning at the time was “just OK.” Since then, Hudson’s commitment to his playing shape and his overall game have picked up considerably. A communications and broadcasting major, Hudson has worked on both sides of the television camera in school, hoping to be a sports anchor when his playing days are over. As for his on-ice work, he spent part of the summer in Omaha working with a skating coach and significant time working with other notable pro and college players at a hockey camp in northern Minnesota. He’s also focused on stickhandling, learning to make more plays in tight corners. As a bigger and older collegian (Hudson turned 23 in early August) Blais said he’ll put Hudson in a leadership position this year and will look for a consistent every-night effort. The coach admits that with teammates looking to Hudson to set an example, if the forward goes through peaks and valleys, the Mavericks may follow suit in their first WCHA season.

Mavericks coach Dean Blais on Hudson: “He’s learned to be a more consistent every-night player. When he started it was a shift here and a shift there. Then he improved to a period here and a period there. Playing in the WCHA, he’s going to need to bring it all game every game.”

JOE HOWE
Colorado College
So. | G | Plymouth, Minn.

Key Statistics: Howe started 36 of the Tigers’ 39 games in net as a freshman, and all 28 league games. He led all WCHA goalies in conference minutes played. Howe finished with a 17-15-3 record, a 2.80 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage, and was an INCH Rookie All-American.

What He Does: We first met Howe minutes after his WCHA debut – a 39-save effort to come from behind and win before a raucous crowd at the Kohl Center. What struck us immediately about the rookie was his calm demeanor despite nearly 12,000 red-clad fans urging him to fail. “I may have been a little more nervous than I showed,” Howe admits now. “Still, it’s the same game I’ve been playing all my life, with the same rules, but it’s maybe a little faster than I was used to.” Howe’s success comes foremost from his deep knowledge of the game, allowing him to sense the flow of the other team’s offense, read the play and often anticipate from where the next shot will come.

The Bigger Picture: Life was good for the Tigers in that window between Christmas and the New Year, as they sported a 12-4-3 record and stared headlong at an NCAA Tournament trip. Then the team hit a wall, and won just seven of the last 20 games. Howe’s coach admits the goalie, and the rest of the Tigers, had tough sledding in January, but Howe rebounded to finish the season strong despite CC bowing out in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs. Not shy about relying on rookie goalies (see also: Bachman, Richard) Scott Owens saw quickness, maturity and a competitive fire from Howe in the team’s first few practices a year ago, and knew he’d found the Tigers’ next every-night netminder.

Tigers coach Scott Owens on Howe: “You see young goalies do well in this league. It’s not an aberration. So when I saw Joe’s strength and how competitive he was in practice, I knew he could come in and be successful right away.”

BEN HANOWSKI
St. Cloud State
So. | F | Little Falls, Minn.

Ben Hanowski posted solid numbers during his rookie season at St. Cloud State, scoring nine goals and adding 10 assists.

Key Statistics: Hanowski recorded 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists) in 43 games as a college freshman, which is respectable, but also a sharp drop-off. As a high schooler, Hanowski notched 405 points in 117 games over four years, making him the most prolific scorer in Minnesota prep hockey history.

What He Does: Hailing from the hometown of aviator Charles Lindberg, Hanowski and his teammates made an unprecedented journey of their own last March, getting the program’s first NCAA tournament win. SCSU coach Bob Motzko says with Hanowski, one can sense his offensive abilities and his scoring touch around the net. That led Motzko to insert Hanowski into the lineup for key late-game faceoffs right from the start of the season. This summer, Hanowski and linemate Drew LeBlanc have been skating together twice a day for five weeks while working at a northern Minnesota hockey camp. That may lead to the kind of offensive chemistry and ability needed as they look to fill the scoring hole left by Ryan Lasch’s graduation.

The Bigger Picture: Despite his gaudy prep numbers, Hanowski started college hockey with realistic expectations, knowing that he was making a huge jump in levels of play and prepared to take some lumps. Then, in his first WCHA game, he scored two of the Huskies’ three goals in an overtime tie with Minnesota Duluth. “That was kind of a fortunate night,” Hanowski said, noting that both were power play goals and crediting teammates for nice passes. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.” With a year of college hockey under his belt and a second Pittsburgh Penguins prospect camp completed this summer, Hanowski says he’ll have fewer surprises in store as a sophomore. His goal is to be a more consistent player; he feels if he does that, the points will come.

Huskies coach Bob Motzko on Hanowski: “Ben had a number of moments last season where he showed the kind of offensive ability that he’s had in the past. But he also learned that going from high school to the WCHA is a major step. That was a year he had to go through to get to the next level.”

KURT DAVIS
Minnesota State
Sr. | D | Plymouth, Minn.

Kurt Davis

Key Statistics: Kurt Davis has been one of Minnesota State’s top two scoring defensemen in each of his three seasons with the Mavericks and actually shared the team lead with 31 points as a sophomore in 2008-09. He was a third-team All-WCHA selection that year. His production dipped slightly last year, to 23 points, but he was still just three points of the team scoring lead, held by classmate and fellow defenseman Ben Youds.

What He Does: Davis is an offensive defenseman, one who head coach Troy Jutting has given the green light to join the rush since the day he stepped foot on campus. He’s poised with the puck and has the hockey sense of a coach’s son – his dad, former Maverick star Carl Davis, was his coach at Wayzata High School.

The Bigger Picture: Seeing Davis off the ice, standing 5-foot-8 with a mop of curly brown hair – you’re reminded of the line from the movie Fletch: on skates, with the afro, he’s probably 6-foot-9. But Davis’s skating and his skills make up for his lack of size, and with the departure of Brendan Smith, Patrick Wiercioch and others, he enters his senior season as possibly the WCHA’s best offensive defenseman. At the very least he and Youds give Jutting a talented duo to start the breakout and help spark an offense that ranked eighth in the league last season.

Former Maverick teammate Trevor Bruess on Davis: “Kurt’s one of the most patient guys with the puck I’ve ever played with. He’s got great vision and he puts his passes right on your tape.”

ZACH BUDISH
Minnesota
So. | F | Edina, Minn.

Minnesota was 9-1-1 in games in which Budish recorded at least one point last season.

Key Statistics: Seeing action in all 39 of the Golden Gophers’ games as a WCHA rookie, Budish spent much of the season’s second half playing wing on the top line with since-departed Jordan Schroeder. Minnesota was 9-1-1 in games where Budish recorded a point, and 9-18-1 in games where he was kept off the scoresheet.

What He Does: The first thing that strikes you about Budish is his size. At 6-3, 220, last season, he was an imposing presence on the ice. But talk to him in civilian clothes and the term “gentle giant” comes to mind. His coach wants that to change. Minnesota head man Don Lucia says that one of his goals for Budish in year two is to “try to get him to be a little bit meaner” on the ice. Budish says that more physical play is a goal he’s working on as well. He spent part of the summer at the Nashville Predators’ development camp, learning about the way to treat your body right and prepare for maximum on-ice output. With his size, look for Budish to spend considerable time at the top of the crease on the Gophers’ power play, taking away the opposing goalie’s eyes and playing for tips and deflections.

The Bigger Picture: Making the jump directly from high school to the WCHA is tough enough. Now try doing so without playing any hockey for a full season. That’s what Budish did last year, after a serious knee injury suffered while playing high school football wiped out his senior year on the ice. His previous prep efforts were enough to get him a spot on the Gopher roster and make him a second-round NHL draft pick, and he led all Minnesota rookies with seven goals a year ago. But like any good “team-first” athlete, Budish brushes off talk of individual accomplishments, and instead is focused on pulling the Gopher program out of its recent doldrums. “Not making the (NCAA) tournament for two years in a row is definitely not acceptable here,” Budish said.

Gophers coach Don Lucia on Budish: “Zach has a really heavy shot and passes the puck extremely hard as well. When he zips a pass, you’d better be ready for it, because it’s like a missile.”

The major league trade deadline is fast approaching, but in Minnesota it’s the Gopher hockey team, and not the Twins, dealing with an onslaught of roster moves.

Defenseman Nick Leddy has come to terms on a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, a deal the Chicago Tribune reports is for three years and $2.7 million, and will bypass his final three seasons of college eligibility. The 19-year-old Eden Prairie, Minn., native, who scored three goals and added eight assists in 30 games as a freshman for the Gophers, was selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild, but his rights were traded to Chicago along with defenseman Kim Johnsson in February in exchange for blueliner Cam Barker. Leddy is expected to begin his professional career with the Blackhawks’ American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Ill.

Forward Josh Birkholz, meanwhile, is departing to join the Everett (Wash.) Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. According to a statement released by the Minnesota athletic department Tuesday, Birkholz was facing a suspension for violation of team rules. The Maple Grove, Minn., product, had five goals and an assist in 36 games with the Gophers last season.