Thursday, April 14, 2011
PREDATORS GO DUCK HUNTING
The Ducks hosted the Predators in front of a sellout crowd at the Honda Center Wednesday night. Two goals from Mike Fisher and a 27-save night by Pekka Rinne led the Predators to a 4-1 win over Anaheim in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarters of the Stanley cup Playoffs. Next game will be at Honda Center Friday night for game two as the Ducks will look to even up the series.
DUCKS GRAB 4TH SEED
now that the college season is over, its time for playoff hockey in the NHL. The Western conference had a dramatic finish to it's regular season with a few seed changes happening all on the last day of regular season games. Anaheim was tied with Chicago for the last 8 seed, but a Coyotes loss and two Duck wins on the same weekend, bumped the ducks into the fourth seed.
the playoff picture is now set for the DUCKS to take on the Nashville Predators.
the playoff picture is now set for the DUCKS to take on the Nashville Predators.
WEBER LOOKS TO NEXT YEAR
Weber State Hockey will guarantee to be a top contender next year with top recruits. Over 80
recruitment letters and player packages are being sent out this week to the top Junior A teams
in the northern and western region to coaches and general managers by Coaches Steve Soto
and Paul Pfleegor. Captain Braxton Green and General Manager Linlee Jones also sat down
Monday to discuss target players and teams they think will benefit by coming to play for WSU.
The structure of Junior hockey is to allow players 15-21 an outlet to play high level hockey and
develop for either the college or professional hockey ranks. The target players discussed in
the meeting are those of players 20-21 years old, or players who have voiced to their coaches
that they are looking to go to college sooner. “By sending out so many packages, it becomes a
numbers game and we are really only going to get a handful of the players we would like,” said
Pfleegor.
The player packages being mailed contain information on the school and the team’s history,
mission statement, contact info as well as the benefits WSU has to offer for prospective players
to consider in their college options. “We want to give some of these junior players an option
when they’re aging out of the league and looking to pursue education,” said Soto. After a
disappointing and terrible 2010-2011 season of a WSU team that went 6-27, WSU is looking
to get back on track of traditional Weber hockey. “If you look at the rosters of most national
contenders, their rosters are chalk full of guys from these leagues.”
Pfleegor has been long time coach of the WSU hockey team, coaching Soto when he was a
player at WSU. “We are ready to move forward once again as an organization and once again
become a top club,” said Pfleegor, “and that can’t ever be done without heavy recruiting in
the off season.” Some of the packages are being asked to be dispersed to the entire team by
coaches to just spark interest in future players, but only some will be considered
As the team representatives sat down at the Weber County Ice Sheet and discussed their
target teams, the Western States Hockey League was discussed frequently. With over 13 teams
ranging from Southern California to Texas and up to Idaho, the target players won’t be asked
to move too far away from “home” if they come to play for Soto. All stats of players being
featured are available on pointstreak.com conveniently for Pfleegor and Soto to compare and
discuss pros and cons.
The main interests discussed were players with attributes of speed to compliment the line of
Roberts and Green. Top prospects mentioned are Weston Cydell of San Diego Gulls and Brad
Atkinson of the Idaho Jr. Steelheads. “Either of these guys would be a great addition for myself
and Roberts,” said Green. Nothing is guaranteed but the coaches are extremely hopeful and
are in contact with many coaches in the league as playoffs are still resuming in their respective
leagues.
The second target league is Northern Pacific Hockey league that operates under “NORPAC”.
Players such as current WSU forward Junior Josh Guidice are a product of this league (Billings
Bulls) and have proven not to disappoint. “Josh was recruited out of NORPAC by Braxton
(Green) and Chris (Roberts) and has done well for us both seasons,” said Jones.
By the end of the hour meeting one goal was clear, WSU wants to be a powerhouse next year
and is taking the necessary steps to do so through heavy recruiting and off season preparation.
The next step is following up with the said organizations after playoffs to check interest of
prospects and continue preparing.
recruitment letters and player packages are being sent out this week to the top Junior A teams
in the northern and western region to coaches and general managers by Coaches Steve Soto
and Paul Pfleegor. Captain Braxton Green and General Manager Linlee Jones also sat down
Monday to discuss target players and teams they think will benefit by coming to play for WSU.
The structure of Junior hockey is to allow players 15-21 an outlet to play high level hockey and
develop for either the college or professional hockey ranks. The target players discussed in
the meeting are those of players 20-21 years old, or players who have voiced to their coaches
that they are looking to go to college sooner. “By sending out so many packages, it becomes a
numbers game and we are really only going to get a handful of the players we would like,” said
Pfleegor.
The player packages being mailed contain information on the school and the team’s history,
mission statement, contact info as well as the benefits WSU has to offer for prospective players
to consider in their college options. “We want to give some of these junior players an option
when they’re aging out of the league and looking to pursue education,” said Soto. After a
disappointing and terrible 2010-2011 season of a WSU team that went 6-27, WSU is looking
to get back on track of traditional Weber hockey. “If you look at the rosters of most national
contenders, their rosters are chalk full of guys from these leagues.”
Pfleegor has been long time coach of the WSU hockey team, coaching Soto when he was a
player at WSU. “We are ready to move forward once again as an organization and once again
become a top club,” said Pfleegor, “and that can’t ever be done without heavy recruiting in
the off season.” Some of the packages are being asked to be dispersed to the entire team by
coaches to just spark interest in future players, but only some will be considered
As the team representatives sat down at the Weber County Ice Sheet and discussed their
target teams, the Western States Hockey League was discussed frequently. With over 13 teams
ranging from Southern California to Texas and up to Idaho, the target players won’t be asked
to move too far away from “home” if they come to play for Soto. All stats of players being
featured are available on pointstreak.com conveniently for Pfleegor and Soto to compare and
discuss pros and cons.
The main interests discussed were players with attributes of speed to compliment the line of
Roberts and Green. Top prospects mentioned are Weston Cydell of San Diego Gulls and Brad
Atkinson of the Idaho Jr. Steelheads. “Either of these guys would be a great addition for myself
and Roberts,” said Green. Nothing is guaranteed but the coaches are extremely hopeful and
are in contact with many coaches in the league as playoffs are still resuming in their respective
leagues.
The second target league is Northern Pacific Hockey league that operates under “NORPAC”.
Players such as current WSU forward Junior Josh Guidice are a product of this league (Billings
Bulls) and have proven not to disappoint. “Josh was recruited out of NORPAC by Braxton
(Green) and Chris (Roberts) and has done well for us both seasons,” said Jones.
By the end of the hour meeting one goal was clear, WSU wants to be a powerhouse next year
and is taking the necessary steps to do so through heavy recruiting and off season preparation.
The next step is following up with the said organizations after playoffs to check interest of
prospects and continue preparing.
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