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

College hockey can be a humbling experience, even for highly-touted NHL prospects. It doesn't make a kid a lesser prospect, but being 18 and having to deal with guys who are often 22-25 years old can be tough. This is true no matter how talented a kid is. For Notre Dame freshman forward Kyle Palmieri (NHL rights: Anaheim), the first part of the season has been spent adjusting, and the Fighting Irish are about to be rewarded for their patience.

When he was 15 years old, phenom defenseman Cam Fowler locked in a scholarship to play college hockey at Notre Dame. Two years later, at the age of 17, the kid from Farmington Hills, Mich. made a phone call he said was "the toughest thing I've had to do in my life so far."

He broke his commitment with head coach Jeff Jackson and Notre Dame, electing to play Canadian junior hockey with likely 2010 first overall pick Taylor Hall and the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.

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.

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.

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.

When he's not pursuing his goal of becoming the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, 17-year-old Kirill Kabanov helps out with renovations on the home of his host family in Moncton, New Brunswick.

"They treat me like a son," Kabanov said of his billets. "I want to help out any way I can. This is my home."

It will likely be for just one year. The super-skilled left wing is a certain top-10 pick in the draft next June. His decision to move from his native Russia to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season has elevated his already-lofty status in the NHL scouting community.

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.