NHL College Hockey

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

Last year, the Wisconsin Badgers were loaded with defensemen. Entering the season, their top four were all high NHL draft picks. Three of those four are back this year, but it seems that junior Ryan McDonagh (NHL rights: N.Y. Rangers) gets a lot of the attention. While people gush -- justifiably -- about McDonagh's skills, junior Cody Goloubef (Columbus) might have become the best of the bunch.

Scott Gordon was told, with a purposeful tint of vagueness, that a reporter had a question "about your days in Boston College."

"I bet you do," said the head coach of the New York Islanders.

Gordon had been warned about this two weeks ago. The video, the one he filmed in 1986, was recently re-discovered, dropped on the world wide web and slowly but surely was starting to go viral.

Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

Earlier today, a group of local sports fans led a petition for originality from sports media humorists*. Standing outside a local bar the group spoke to reporters with local citizen Michael Davidson representing the group, which was composed of about 10 18-to-35-year-old males and females. The group of fans say that they are "upset" and "distraught" by blogs, websites and sports media who continue to make the same joke about hockey each year.

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

More and more underclassmen are signing pro contracts and not playing four years of college hockey. This puts additional pressure on seniors to help carry the load for their teams. Coaches love to lean on experience when the playoffs come, and while the freshmen and sophomores might have all the talent, it's the older guys who bring valuable experience to a locker room. For Boston College, there's hope that a big defenseman -- who happens to be off to a great start -- can help lead them back to the NCAA Tournament.

In 1984, a kid with a famous name and loads of potential in his game showed up on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Calgary Flames had drafted the kid, but they knew he wasn't ready to play.

After two years at UMD, Brett Hull -- son of the great Bobby Hull -- was ready to tear up the NHL. Boy, did he ever do that.

Turns out Hull was quite the impact player at every level he ever played at. He finished his career as the only player to ever score 50 goals in college hockey, the minors, and the NHL.

---

---

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

It's been a pretty good start to the season for Michigan. The Wolverines took care of business on the road last weekend, sweeping Lake Superior State (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) to open their Central Collegiate Hockey Association schedule.

Even though junior star Louie Caporusso (NHL rights: Ottawa) has just one goal in the Wolverines' first six games, Michigan has gotten early contributions from a highly-touted freshman.

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

Two big stories emerged from a Western Collegiate Hockey Association weekend series at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, most college hockey followers only know about one of them. While everyone is well aware of the early-season struggles of Minnesota (0-3-1 record, three goals scored in four games, and all three losses have been shutouts), they've probably dismissed the accomplishments of the Denver goalie who held the Gophers off the board for 120 minutes.

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

Last year, he was vilified. Fans wanted to run him out of college hockey. Instead of finishing his sophomore season at Michigan State, forward Corey Tropp (NHL rights: Buffalo) found himself looking for a place to play hockey. A vicious assault of Michigan's Steve Kampfer (Anaheim) got Tropp suspended by the school for the rest of the season. What's happened since is a great story of redemption.

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

As the college hockey season gets underway, freshmen are often just trying to get some game experience and adjust to the speed of the college game, which is much different than the high school, prep school, or junior team they came from.

For North Dakota forward Mike Cichy (NHL rights: Montreal), you couldn't have scripted a better start to his college career.

Every Tuesday, FanHouse discusses the top NHL prospects found in college hockey.

Last year, we scoured the 58 Division I hockey schools for the best players we could find. As the 2009-2010 season gets underway this weekend, and Boston University tries to defend their dramatically-won NCAA title, it's time to take a sneak peek at this year's top talent.