The NHL’s Central Scouting Service has released its early-season listing of the top North American players eligible for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft from Canadian Junior A leagues and U.S. high school and prep school ranks.

Players are divided into four cagetories: A-rated players are predicted to be selected in the first or second round of the 2008 draft; B-rated players are considered potential mid-round selections; C-rated players are plotted as late-round picks; players CSS scouts haven’t seen enough to form an evaluation fall under the limited viewing category.

Next month, Central Scouting will release its list of draft-eligible collegians to watch as well as ratings of the top 25 prospects from the United States Hockey League and the U.S. National Team Development Program. The Central Scouting Service mid-term rankings appear in January.

The list below contains only those players who have verbally committed to college programs. The full prospect list can be found at NHL.com.

Intrigue abounds in this, the season’s first full weekend of the regular season, assisted by the 2009-10 debuts of some familiar teams.

Jay Barriball and Minnesota open the 2009-10 season at North Dakota this weekend.

1. Minnesota at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): Beyond the rivalry, this series intrigues me because I have no idea what to expect from the Golden Gophers. I wouldn’t be surprised if North Dakota beat ‘em by six goals, nor would it shock me if Minnesota won by six (on second thought, that would shock me just a little). There are so many questions-Who replaces Stoa? How will the heralded newcomers fare? Which Alex Kangas shows up this season?-that anyone who says he or she has a handle on the Gophers is lying.

As was mentioned in this week’s INCH Podcast, North Dakota may not have the one dominant, dynamic forward like a Zach Parise or Jonathan Toews, but the balance across all four lines is impressive. Brad Eidsness is a capable goalie, but he seems like the college hockey version of Kyle Orton-you don’t have to win the game for us, but don’t lose it.

2. Miami at New Hampshire (Friday-Saturday): The RedHawks’ month-long death march continues this weekend with a pair at the Whitt. On paper, it seems as if UNH, which dropped a 3-1 decision at Rensselaer last Saturday, doesn’t match up well with Miami-the RedHawks should be able to wear the Wildcats down with their superior depth-but I’m more interested Miami’s focus. My feeling is the RedHawks are really locked in on a) putting April’s NCAA championship game loss behind them and b) proving to everyone that it’s behind them. That said, since Dick Umile has been behind the Wildcat bench, UNH has never started a season with two losses.

3. Michigan State at Maine (Friday-Saturday): Yeah, we know Maine isn’t what it once was. But did you see Michigan State last season? There were times the Spartans barely resembled a hockey team. These are important games for MSU if it wants to continue rebuilding its confidence-winnable road matches against a quality opponent in a hostile environment. The Black Bears, meanwhile, need to bounce back after two losses to a better-than-you-think Union team last weekend. The return of no. 1 goalie Scott Darling from a two-game suspension for violating the school’s student-athlete code of conduct will provide a boost.

4. Boston College at Vermont (Sunday): Even though Denver rallied in the third period to win, Vermont was impressive in its season opener at Magness Arena Friday, then beat our preseason no. 1 team the next night. The Catamounts’ top two lines, in particular, looked very sharp. How they match up against a relatively untested BC defensive corps will likely decide the game. Also, John Muse, the Eagles’ goaltender, took a step back last season after an outstanding freshman campaign. His return to form is critical to his team’s success.

Also: Former BU goalie Brett Bennett makes his debut for Wisconsin against Colorado College tonight … high-scoring forward Mike Connolly returns from a two-game suspension for Minnesota Duluth in its series with Minnesota State … can Union get a win at St. Cloud State? … fresh off wins against Army and UMass Lowell at home, Nebraska-Omaha visits Colgate … Alabama-Huntsville can pull off another road upset when it visits Air Force.

Feels good to be back, doesn’t it?

We’re trying something different this season in order to get more of a national feel to our early-week coverage before delving into the conference stuff as the weekend nears. Every week, the First Shift will feature INCH’s national Player of the Week, Stick Salute, and Bench Minor. We’ll also take a lighter-hearted look at the weekend that was in our Say What?, Rankings Outrage, and Tweet of the Week segments.

This is a work in progress, to be sure. But unlike Phil Cuzzi, we promise not to miss anything.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
RICH PURSLOW Nebraska-Omaha Jr. | F | Greenlawn, N.Y.His Statistics: 2 GP, 2-2-4, +3 vs. Army and UMass LowellHis Impact: If the results from this past weekend’s Icebreaker Tournament in Omaha are any indication, Dean Blais’s tenure as the Mavericks’ head coach should be, at the very least, exciting. UNO, which ranked 42nd in the country in scoring offense last season with an average of 2.45 goals per game, exploded for 10 goals in wins against Army and UMass Lowell.Purslow, the Icebreaker MVP, led a balanced scoring attack with a goal and an assist in each of the Mavs’ two wins. He helped set up Terry Broadhurst’s game-winning goal in Friday’s 6-4 decision against Army and sparked UNO’s come-from-behind triumph against the RiverHawks Saturday with a first-period goal less than three minutes after UML jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage. His Runners-Up: Dan Bakela (Bemidji State); Mike Cichy (North Dakota); Scott Greenham (Alaska); Brayden Irwin (Vermont); Dan Morrison (Canisius); Eric Lampe (Quinnipiac); Cameron Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville). The INCH Player of the Week is presented by The INCH Shop
STICK SALUTE	Good on the hockey fans in the Rochester area (7,421 of them, to be exact) for showing up at Blue Cross Arena for Saturday’s Colgate-RIT tilt. The game turned out to be a real treat—the Raiders’ Austin Smith scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to give his team a 3-2 victory. The building’s primary tenant, the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, averaged a little more than 4,000 fans in 40 home dates last season.
BENCH MINOR	The opening weekend wasn’t a high-water mark for the CCHA’s upper echelon. Most notable (and by notable, we mean cringe-worthy) were Notre Dame’s 3-2 loss to Alabama-Huntsville at the Joyce Center Friday, Michigan’s shutout loss to Alaska in Anchorage that same night, and Ohio State’s pair of losses to visiting Quinnipiac, a team picked to finish in the bottom third of ECAC Hockey.
SAY WHAT?	“I’m not one who’s going to make a lot of changes when things are working.” — UNO coach Dean Blais to the Omaha World-Herald’s Chad Purcell following the Mavs’ Icebreaker Tournament championship game win Saturday. But when things aren’t working—especially for a goaltender—Blais gets out the hook quicker than Tony LaRussa. UNO senior Jeremie Dupont learned as much against Army and UMass Lowell, allowing six goals on 20 shots in just under 54 minutes of work. Sophomore John Faulkner earned both wins in relief.
RANKINGS OUTRAGE	It’s early and it’s gonna take a while for the national polls to sort themselves out. That said, we’re not sure how Boston College, the 12th-ranked team in this week’s USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll, earned one first-place vote. By the way, 27 teams received at least one vote in the same poll. The Alaska Nanooks, who beat Michigan and Mercyhurst at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, were not one of them.
TWEET OF THE WEEK	@HackswithHaggs: God bless the dude at Angels stadium wearing a Whale T-shirt while waiting in line for a hot dog. What are the odds?

THE SKINNY

The 10 (soon to be a dozen) coaches of the WCHA might haven take a moment to look around the Verizon Center in downtown Washington D.C. last April, noticed the dearth of league members there, and realized that we’re a long way from Columbus.

You’ll recall that the 2005 affair in central Ohio was the notorious all-WCHA Frozen Four, which was cheered nearly everywhere west of Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and jeered pretty much everywhere else. In sharp contrast, for just the fourth time in Frozen Four history (1993, 1998 and 1999 being the others) there was no WCHA team at the 2009 Frozen. Although the strongest league backers will claim future member Bemidji State’s run to D.C. ought to count. Not likely.

But the 2008-09 doldrums went beyond a rough patch in rounds one and two of the NCAA playoffs. As evidenced by the fact that just one WCHAer (league MVP Jamie McBain from Wisconsin) made the list of Hobey finalists, and the fact that for the second year in a row the MacNaughton Cup champion (this time, North Dakota) ended the season on a 0-3 streak. It was clearly a down year for the WCHA.

The Fighting Sioux, who had made four straight trips to the Frozen, were literally within the blink of an eye (one-tenth of a second) from an NCAA tourney win when they were denied by New Hampshire. A talented but beat-up Denver team finished quietly with losses in both of the Twin Cities, as the Pioneers fell in St. Paul in the WCHA Final Five title game, and a week later saw their season end in the NCAA West Regional in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Duluth finished seventh in the regular season, but went 5-0 in the WCHA playoffs, becoming the first team to win three games at the WCHA Final Five to claim the Broadmoor Trophy. And the Bulldogs’ run almost got them to the Frozen when they pulled off the “Miracle at Mariucci” a week later in the NCAAs, rallying from two goals down in the final 40 seconds of regulation to beat Princeton in overtime, before falling to Miami the next night.

So if it’s possible for an entire league to have a chip on its collective shoulder, look for the WCHAers to take the passion up a notch in 2009-10. Loaded Denver is the one “sure thing” which, if history is a guide, means a kind of kiss of death for the Pioneers. But with significant questions elsewhere, and few questions needing to be answered at Magness Arena, the Pioneers are the consensus choice by coaches and the media.

After the WCHA-free 1999 Frozen Four, in Anaheim, the league went on a run of six NCAA titles in seven seasons and won the Hobey in six consecutive seasons (2002-07).

That’s not to predict a similar resurgence in the next decade, but if the WCHA has proven anything in the past, it’s that 10-team dry spells usually don’t last long.

BREAKTHROUGH TEAM

St. Cloud State's Garrett Roe improved upon a 45-point rookie campaign with 48 points last season.

Two of the league’s top four scorers from last year (Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe) are back on campus at St. Cloud State, along with one of the league’s top veteran defensemen (Garrett Raboin) and a hot young goalie (Michael Lee, see below). Still, is the hype a little much considering the Huskies sixth-place finish and quiet 0-2 exit from the league playoffs? Well, consider St. Cloud State’s 0-6-0 record versus rival Minnesota last year, and the fact that winning just one of those games would have meant that the Huskies would’ve hosted the Gophers in the playoffs.

Veteran offensive talent is not a question, with the likes of Aaron Marvin, Jared Festler, and Drew LeBlanc playing key roles a year ago, and impact freshmen like Ben Hanowski joining the mix. Lee’s adjustment to college hockey will be a mystery, but we’ve seen the last two MacNaughton Cup champs ride rookie goalies to the title. And with veteran Dan Dunn (owner of a respectable .904 saves percentage in nine games last season) also in goal, the Huskies have a formidable tandem.

PRIMED FOR A FALL

There was disappointment at Colorado College when would-be Tiger defenseman John Moore (drafted 21st overall by the Blue Jackets in June) opted to skate for a paycheck and put off school until later. Moore’s non-arrival, coupled with the early departures of goaltender Richard Bachman (who backstopped the Tigers’ WCHA title two seasons ago en route to league MVP honors) and would-have-been senior defenseman Brian Connelly (and the graduation of top scorers Chad Rau and Eric Walsky) means there are big holes to be filled at World Arena.

After winning the MacNaughton Cup but finishing the 2007-08 season on a 0-3 run in the playoffs, the Tigers were picked by many, including INCH, to repeat atop the WCHA. Instead, they never really got the hang of series openers last season—the Tigers were 3-7-7 on Fridays, and 13-5-3 on other days of the week—en route to a third place finish and an early exit from the WCHA playoffs when they were upset by Minnesota Duluth in the first round.

The potential good news for CC fans comes in the form of a sizable freshman class, at least when one measures from the ice to the top of the helmet. Of the nine rookies on the Tigers roster, six of them are six feet tall or better, meaning that Pikes Peak won’t be the only thing towering over visitors to Colorado Springs in 2009-10.

PRESSURE TO PERFORM

Among some WCHA fan-bases, a top-half finish, a first round playoff sweep of your nearest geographical rival and a trip to the WCHA Final Five would be satisfying. For Minnesota fans, players and coaches, it clearly wasn’t enough.

Jay Barriball says the 2008-09 season was a pitter pill for the Gophers to swallow.

So after seeing their streak of eight consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament snapped last March, most Golden Gopher players stayed near the Minneapolis campus much of the summer, lifting weights at 7:30 every morning and skating a few times a week in an extra effort to get back to national prominence in 2009-10. With only one early departure (Ryan Stoa) in the off-season and just four freshmen added to a veteran team, they’re positive that the extra work will pay off.

“We wanted everybody to be together as a team and work together on the ice and in the weight room,” said Gophers senior forward Jay Barriball. “Last year was pretty bitter for us and none of us want it to happen again, so we were pretty serious. If you wear the M, you’ve got to be the best, and for the last few years we haven’t done that.”

TOUGHEST ACT TO FOLLOW

The last time Minnesota Duluth won a WCHA regular season title, in 1992-93, future NHLer Derek Plante led the way with more than 90 points, and linemate Chris Marinucci chipped in with 77. The question the following year, with Plante wearing Buffalo Sabres blue, was could Marinucci do it alone? And despite a drop in the standings, Marinucci notched more than 60 points, won league MVP honors, and became, to date, the only Hobey winner on a sub-.500 team.

That may remind some of the challenge faced by Bulldog junior forward Justin Fontaine this season. After scoring just a dozen points as a freshman, Fontaine’s numbers saw a four-fold increase in 2008-09 as he finished tied for second in the WCHA scoring race (behind since-departed teammate MacGregor Sharp). Fontaine plays right wing, and was on the team’s second line much of last season. Now, Sharp is not there to carry an offensive load and deflect opponents’ defensive attention.

A move to the top line, and a likely pairing with talented sophomore center Jack Connelly means that Fontaine could have everything he needs in place to become the Bulldogs next great offensive star. Whether or not he’s ready for that role is the great mystery on the shore of St. Louis Bay.

BEST PLAYER

Radio color man and unabashed Gopher lover Glen Sonmor has seen plenty of hockey in his time, from coaching stints at Ohio State and Minnesota, directing the Minnesota North Stars to the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals and serving as a pro scout for the last decade or more. Ask him what he likes most about Gopher sophomore forward Jordan Schroeder and he makes a quick comparison to the teammates Schroeder has had here, there and everywhere.

“On every team that Jordan has been a part of, he’s been the best player on the ice,” Sonmor said, claming that notion holds true not only at Minnesota and at suburban St. Paul prep power St. Thomas Academy (where Schroeder was the team’s leading scorer in ninth grade) but also at the U.S. NTDP program in Michigan, and on the American entry at the last World Junior Tournament.

After finishing just one point off the Gophers scoring lead as a WCHA rookie, Schroeder was a first-round pick (22nd overall) by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2009 NHL draft, leading some to believe that barring a severe case of the sophomore jinx, his second season in the WCHA could be a farewell tour.

IMPACT NEWCOMER

New St. Cloud State goaltender Michael Lee already knows a fair amount about high-pressure situations. Having led his Roseau (Minn.) High School team to a state title as a sophomore and to an undefeated regular season as a junior, he faced the small-town peer pressure head on and opted for a USHL season with the expansion Fargo Force. All he did last season was win the league’s award for top goaltender, and the USA Hockey award for top goalie in the nation.

Never known for his patience with goalies, new Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais was Lee’s coach in Fargo last season, and said the newest Husky’s biggest strength is his size and position.

“Mike stays on his feet for the most part and doesn’t make things look spectacular,” Blais said. “He’s very good on the first shot and he doesn’t give up rebounds. If you’re going to beat him on the first shot, it’s going to have to be something.”

UNSUNG PLAYER

Minnesota State's Kael Mouillierat scored 17 goals last season despite missing eight games with a shoulder injury.

If you were asked to name the WCHA’s top four returning goal scorers, we think your average fan could probably name Ryan Lasch and Chris VandeVelde (18 goals each last year). You probably wouldn’t be surprised to know that Garrett Roe was next with 17. But would it surprise you to learn that Minnesota State senior Kael Mouillierat also lit the lamp 17 times? Opponents who have seen the senior from Edmonton on the other side of the ice for the past three years say that you underestimate Mouillierat at your peril.

“He’s a slippery player,” said Minnesota forward Ryan Flynn. “He doesn’t really stand out among guys in the WCHA, but every time we play against him, he always seems to do something. He’s got good scoring instincts and it tough to play against.”

Those 17 goals last seaason came despite Mouillierat missing eight games with a nagging shoulder injury. A full year of health and Kael might not by unsung much longer.

THREE BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Will they have to shovel between periods in Madison on Feb. 6?
Maybe outdoor stadium games are getting to be a bit of old news in college hockey, but we congratulate Wisconsin on becoming the first program to host two of them. After beating Ohio State at Lambeau Field in Green Bay en route to the 2006 national title, the Badgers will host Michigan at 80,300-seat Camp Randall Stadium in Madison in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game. We’re still waiting for Minnesota to play at TCF Bank Stadium and Denver to hit the ice at Mile High.

2. Will they still be talking about the nickname when Ryan Duncan’s grandkids are skating for North Dakota?
This scribe has covered the WCHA for some media outlet or another since 1988, and “to Sioux or not to Sioux” has seemingly been the question in Grand Forks for much of that time. It looked like things would come to some conclusion on Oct. 1, when the most recent “final” decision on the nickname was supposed to be handed down by the state of North Dakota’s education higher-ups. Instead we got yet another delay, and another month of hand-wringing and “hostile and abusive” talk. No matter where one stands on the issue, many are past the point of caring how this Fighting Sioux saga will end, they just want a final punctuation at the end of the sentence.

3. What could we learn about life in the WCHA from the well-traveled Lee Greseth?
For one more year, while the WCHA remains a 10-team league, new Minnesota equipment man Lee Greseth can provide the inside info on half of the league’s hockey programs. Greseth, who came back to his home state after the retirement of long-time Gopher equipment man Harry Broadfoot at the end of last season, is in his second stint with his alma mater, having worked for Doug Woog as a student. Since then, he’s also held equipment jobs at Colorado College, North Dakota, Alaska Anchorage and most recently Denver for nine seasons. He even had a two-year hitch with the hockey program at now-defunct U.S. International University in San Diego. We’re currently in negotiations to ghostwrite his book.

MARK IT DOWN
Five things you can take to the bank in the WCHA this season

1. There’s suddenly much less job security for goalie coaches at Wisconsin. Bill Howard had been the master of all things goaltending for the Badgers for three decades when he left the job prior to last season, helping create a kind of “goalie factory” in Madison that produced numerous NHLers and college All-Americnas. Former Badger goalie Mike Valley was Howard’s replacement, albeit briefly, last season. Now former CC star and Madison native Jeff Sanger is taking over the position. With little-used Scott Gudmandson (nine appearances in two seasons) the heir apparent in goal, Sanger may have some work to do right away.

2. Dylan Olsen’s father will be paying close attention to his son’s second collegiate game. On Sunday, Northern Michigan comes to visit Minnesota Duluth, in what will be the second on-ice appearance for highly touted Bulldog freshman defenseman Dylan Olsen. A first-round draft pick by the Blackhawks in June, Olsen is the son of former NMU star Darryl Olsen, who manned the blue line for the Wildcats in the late ’80s and helped spark Northern’s WCHA playoff title in 1989. The younger Olsen is the latest in a long line of Camrose (Alberta) Kodiaks to head to Duluth for college hockey, following the likes of Mike Connolly, Mason Raymond, MacGregor Sharp, Matt McKnight and Evan Oberg.

3. Michigan Tech will feature the only sixth-year senior in the WCHA, and likely in all of college hockey. Big (6-2, 215) winger Malcolm Gwilliam got a medical redshirt for his second year of college hockey after an injury kept him out of action in 2005-06. He was expected to be done with college hockey at the end of last season, but didn’t get that far, after suffering a season-ending stroke before a game at Minnesota last November. It’s takes an extraordinary situation for the NCAA to great a player a second medical redshirt, but the good people in Indianapolis apparently determined that a stroke was plenty extraordinary. So look for Gwilliam wearing the number nine sweater, and the captain’s C, for the Huskies this season.

4. Fans in Alaska will look up to the Seawolves, literally. With the addition of two freshman who stand 6-4 (before the skates go on) Alaska Anchorage remains the tallest team in the WCHA. And coming off their best season (14-17-5) under head coach Dave Shyiak, the Seawolves and their fan base are excited about the possibilities. There are 17 returning letter winners on the roster, which is the most since the 2002-03 season. That sounds like a good thing, until one recalls that the Seawolves were 0-22-6 in WCHA play that season. But with three of their top four scorers and two experienced goalies in the fold in Anchorage, there’s justified reason for optimism.

5. In Denver, college is all about preparing for a career—especially if that career involves pucks and hockey tape. Going back as far as the late Keith Magnuson’s star turn with the Blackhawks, there has been a nice line from Denver to the NHL. That line may get a bit longer in the coming few years if things work out like a few NHL scouts envision. The 2009-10 version of the Pioneers roster features a school-record 13 NHL draft picks, including a trio of second-rounders (sophomore Patrick Wiercioch and rookies William Wrenn and Drew Shore) and Joe Colborne, the sophomore forward who was plucked 16th overall be the Bruins in the 2008 draft. When you’re looking to capture a WCHA title and you’re favored to do so, that much talent is a nice place to start.

Miami, which fell just short of a national title in April, is the 2009-10 preseason favorite according to the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll, released Monday by USA Hockey. Miami collected four first-place votes and 457 points in the poll.

Denver ranked second after accumulating 455 points and the most first-place votes (13). Defending national champion Boston University claimed the No. 3 spot (438).

To view the complete poll, click here.

DEREK STEPAN

Wisconsin

So. | F | Hastings, Minn.

The only Wisconsin freshmen this decade to record more than Derek Stepan's 33 points in 2008-09 were Dany Heatley, Joe Pavelski and Kyle Turris.

Key Statistics: Stepan is the top returning scorer for the Badgers, having finished second on the team offensively as a rookie. He notched 24 assists and 33 points, which placed him in the top four among WCHA rookies. He also filled a special teams role for Wisconsin during much of the season, scoring two shorthanded goals during one penalty kill versus North Dakota in March.

What He Does: New York Ranger fans might have been struck by a sense of déjà vu when the team called Stepan’s name in the summer of 2008, picking the natural scorer 51st overall in the NHL Draft. It was apparently part of a family tradition for the Stepan clan, as the Rangers picked Derek’s father Brad in the fifth round of the 1985 draft. Like all of the Badgers, Derek struggled a bit early in the 2008-09 season, but learned fast, and was the team’s hottest source of offense late in the year, leading the team with 20 points in Wisconsin’s final 20 games. The Badgers won four of their last five games and captured third place in the WCHA’s regular season and post-season, but just missed an invite to the NCAA tournament.

The Bigger Picture: While he was learning the game that now occupies so much of his life, Stepan admits that skating didn’t come naturally, and he needed extra work to develop the mobility needed to make him a complete player. Stepan also learned ways to capture and control the puck without being the biggest or fastest skater. As his skating skills grew, his self-taught puck-control abilities became that much more effective. Along with much of his Wisconsin team, Stepan spent a good portion of the summer in Madison, working hard on and off the ice to improve strength and stamina. Another part of his summer was spent in Lake Placid, attending the training camp and tryouts for Team USA’s entry at the 2010 World Junior Championship. With an extra season of skill development under his belt, Stepan is working toward spending a holiday break in Saskatchewan and one April weekend in Detroit.

Stepan on the abrupt end to his freshman season with the Badgers: “Everybody had a crappy feeling in our stomachs and a crappy taste in our mouths knowing it was over, and how close we were. You win one of those games in overtime or hit an empty-netter here or there and we’d be in (the NCAA tournament). So I think you’ll see a pretty detail-oriented hockey team this season.”

LUKE SALAZAR

Denver

So. | F | Thornton, Colo.

Luke Salazar

Key Statistics: Fulfilling a childhood dream of wearing the Pioneers’ sweater, Salazar went right to work with the puck. He tied for the team lead with 15 goals as a freshman and finished second in the WCHA in game-winning goals with five. He was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week twice.

What He Does: As a newcomer to college hockey, Salazar said he was just hoping to crack the lineup of the team he followed growing up. Then, with an almost embarrassed tone in his voice, Salazar says, “I ended up doing a little better than that.” How about two goals and an assist in his first collegiate game, as the Pioneers upended Notre Dame in their 2008-09 debut? Playing alongside star forward Tyler Bozak much of the year, the 5-foot-7, 150-pound Salazar was able to use his hockey sense to get open in the offensive zone and be in the right place at the right time when loose pucks appeared near the blue paint.

The Bigger Picture: As recently as two decades ago, it was a rarity to see a kid from Denver, or anywhere in the Rocky Mountain region, on a Division I roster. Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky credits the 1995 arrival of the Quebec Nordiques (now known as the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche) as the catalyst for a youth hockey boom in the region that can be seen today in the form of locally-grown DU standouts like Salazar (Thornton), J.P. Testwuide (Vail) and Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood), along with highly-touted incoming freshman Drew Shore (Cherry Hills). Salazar had a proven track record of putting the puck in the net while playing junior hockey in Texas and had D-I offers elsewhere, but decided to put his abilities to the test and attempt to crack the DU lineup. His gamble has paid off handsomely for the Pioneers thus far.

Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky on Salazar: “Luke was the most pleasant surprise of our freshman class last year. While other guys like (Patrick) Wiercioch and (Joe) Colborne got more notoriety, Luke played well and learned quite a bit about what he has to do to stay successful in college hockey.”

BRETT OLSON

Michigan Tech

So. | F | Superior, Wis.

Brett Olson was one of 10 WCHA rookies to crack double figures in goals last season.

Key Statistics: His freshman year was one of immediate impact for Olson, who was named the Huskies top rookie after playing in all 38 games and finishing second on the team in points with 23. He led Tech in ice time among centers and was named the WCHA’s Rookie of the Week once.

What He Does: Homesickness was never an issue for Olson as a freshman, as the 2005 high school graduate started college after three full seasons in the USHL. That maturity and experience proved to be a huge benefit from the opening faceoff, as the injury-riddled Huskies put Olson right to work, centering one of the team’s top two lines. His physical maturity proved to be just as important as anything, with Olson being a key cog in Tech’s special teams. Coach Jamie Russell says that just weeks into the season, the team’s power play revolved around Olson and his natural gift for distributing the puck.

The Bigger Picture: Olson is praised for his offensive flexibility, allowing him to be equal parts sniper and set-up guy depending on what’s needed. That versatility and maturity came in handy last season, when the injury bug spent enough time in Houghton to qualify for in-state tuition rates. That meant Olson seemingly had a new linemate every weekend. Coach and player liked the on-ice chemistry and productivity that developed when Olson was paired with Malcolm Gwilliam, before Gwilliam suffered a stroke and was lost for the season. Gwilliam will be back to captain the Huskies as a sixth-year senior and, in a sign of how much Olson meant to the Huskies last season, he was voted assistant captain as a sophomore by his teammates. Asked about individual goals, Olson talks only about the team, and getting the Huskies out of the WCHA cellar in his second go-round.

Huskies head coach Jamie Russell on Olson: “We don’t like to put a lot of pressure on freshmen, but internally we had big expectations for Brett. As a guy who was a captain in the USHL and an older freshman, we thought he’d have a big year, and he did.”

JAKE MARTO

North Dakota

Jr. | D | Grand Forks, N.D.

All 17 of Jake Marto's points last season came in the final 29 games of the year.

Key Statistics: As has become a yearly team-wide tradition at North Dakota, Marto started slow and finished strong. After recording zero points in his first 14 games as a sophomore, he notched career highs in goals (6), assists (11) and points (17) in the final 29 games of the season.

What He Does: After a solid if not superlative freshman year, Marto dealt with what his coach calls “tougher minutes” right away in year two, facing opponents’ first and second lines, rather than the third and fourth lines he’d faced as a rookie. He struggled early in the season, as did his team which was 5-8-1 on Dec. 1. But once Marto’s comfort level and confidence improved, things turned around quickly. The team went on a 19-4-3 tear, won the WCHA, and by the end of the season Sioux coach Dave Hakstol was calling the duo of Marto and Derek LaPoint the team’s best defensive pair.

The Bigger Picture: Hakstol threw Marto into special teams roles right away last season, which suits the Grand Forks townie just fine. Marto could hardly feel more comfortable playing for the Sioux, after spending his childhood idolizing North Dakota stars like the Panzer brothers. Now getting to play the part he dreamed about as a kid, Marto says he relishes time killing penalties and opportunities to be aggressive, trying to jump passes and pounce on an opponent that turns his back or bobbles the puck even a little bit. The coach says that Marto is blessed with tremendous skating ability, and the statistics say he’s a key to the team’s overall success. Marto had all 17 of his points and was a team-best +26 in NoDak’s 24 wins last season. He had no points, and was a team-worst -18 in the 15 Sioux losses.

Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol on Marto: “Jake is a young guy that flies under the radar a little bit, but he’s a very efficient defenseman. He’s efficient moving the puck, efficient defending the puck, and very heady when it comes to jumping into the play and joining the rush.”