Tuesday, January 8, 2008

All-Stars Announced

The USHL announced the all-stars today, and there were some surprises in my eyes.


East Division All-Stars (Team RBK)

Goaltenders
Brady Hjelle - Cedar Rapids - Right.
Matt DiGirolamo - Waterloo - Wrong.

Defense
Matt Tomassoni - Cedar Rapids - Wrong.
Tim Buttery - Chicago - Wrong.
Ryan Little - Green Bay - Wrong.
John Carlson - Indiana - Right.
Greg Pateryn - Ohio - Wrong.
Blake Kessel - Waterloo - Right.

Forwards
David Boehm - Cedar Rapids - Right.
Doug Jones - Cedar Rapids - Wrong.
Tyler Thompson - Cedar Rapids - Right.
Drew LeBlanc - Chicago - Right.
Brian O'Neill - Chicago - Right.
Joe Schiller - Green Bay - Wrong.
John Kemp - Indiana - Right.
Greg Squires - Indiana - Right.
Paul Carey - Indiana - Right.
Nick Larson - Waterloo - Wrong.
Brett Olson - Waterloo - Right.
Brock Montpetit - Waterloo - Wrong.


As far as the East goes, there only real surprises I see are that Joe Howe and Matt Leitner were not selected. Howe has emerged as a top goalie in Waterloo, and Leitner has been one of Ohio's best players over the past month.



West Division All-Stars (Team CCM)

Goaltenders
Drew Palmisano - Omaha - Right.
Josh Robinson - Sioux City - Right.

Defense
Austin Handley - Des Moines - Wrong.
Matt Bartkowski - Lincoln - Right.
Ross Henry - Lincoln - Wrong.
Chris Hepp - Omaha - Wrong.
Matt Crandell - Sioux City - Right.
Eric Springer - Sioux Falls - Right.

Forwards
Jared Festler - Lincoln - Wrong.
Jason Gregoire - Lincoln - Right.
Barry Almeida - Omaha - Right.
Chris Connolly - Omaha - Right.
Andrew Conboy - Omaha - Wrong.
Spencer Heichman - Sioux City - Wrong.
Steve Quailer - Sioux City - Right.
Alex Tuckerman - Sioux City - Wrong.
Nick Dineen - Sioux Falls - Right.
Jake Hansen - Sioux Falls - Right.
Jack Connolly - Sioux Falls - Right.
Alex Hudson - Tri-City - Wrong.


With the West, I'd say the biggest shockers are Ryan Kretzer, Mike Cichy, and Matt Thurber. A case could be made for David Reekie, but he hasn't spent as much time in the league as the other goalies.


Breakdown by team:
Cedar Rapids: 5
Chicago: 3
Des Moines: 1
Green Bay: 2
Indiana: 4
Lincoln: 4
Ohio: 1
Omaha: 5
Sioux City: 5
Sioux Falls: 4
Tri-City: 1
Waterloo: 5

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can the #4 scorer in the USHL like Kretzer not be on a All-Star team? I don't know how these players were slected, but this is just WRONG!!!

Do coaches vote? It certainly can't be on stats!! I am not his mom, just a fan that watched him play for Springfield in the NAHL!!

Anonymous said...

Kretzer should be on the team for sure. I don't understand at all how they could have overlooked him. I think most Lincoln fans would agree with me...take Festler off, and replace him with Kretzer. He's done outstanding, especially for a kid who was told he'd be nothing more than a 4th line player for Waterloo.

Too bad for Reekie as well, as I think he is deserving...but I agree that he hasn't been in the league long enough to warrant a spot. There's no doubting he's one of the best in the league right now though.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that the All-Star game is also a NHL prospects game...I'm no NHL scout but Kretzer is far from an NHL prospect

Anonymous said...

Some of your "wrongs" are ones that the NHL guys want to see. Life is never fair.

Anonymous said...

Two teams of 20 players (18 skaters, 2 goaltenders) were selected from each division. Players from the West Division will play on one team, while players from the East Division will play on the other. Players are selected following a vote of the league's coaches. Coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own rosters.

Anonymous said...

Little is a punk. -14 how does he make the allstar team? as to for Schiller that just blows my mind. i guess empty net goals mean a lot. Lee is more deserving

GB

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I am an Omaha fan, how can you leave Thurber off the team and take Conboy. Conboy is having a subpar year compared to last year, while Thurber is just outside the top ten. As for the NHL scouts, Conboy was taken in the draft last year while this is Thurber's draft year. What a waste of a slot for the western division.

Anonymous said...

why can't anyone be happy for these kids instead of bashing them. They obviously did something well to be elected by other coaches

Anonymous said...

I totally agree that Matt Thurber or Travis Novak are more deserving than Drew Conboy.

Anonymous said...

Drew Conboy is more respected by coaches in the leauge there are more than one type of forward you don't always have to just score the most points, as a hard hitting power forward there aren't any better than Conboy he is deserving of the spot and will not dissapoint in the game

Anonymous said...

they are probly just scared he will grab them off the bench and throw them around the ice

Anonymous said...

Handley sucks(and I'm a Des Moines fan...)

Anonymous said...

I still think that Forfar from Lincoln belongs. 4 game winning goals to lead the leauge in that catagory just dont happen on there own. He seems to score a lot of importantgoals.

Sieveman said...

I see Ryans two favorite referees will be working the All-Star game. I know Ryan will make the trip to Green Bay, WI to see those two perform.

The game will utilize the four official system. The referees will be Joe Sullivan and Mike
McCreary
, while the linesmen will be Chris Allman and Chris Woodworth.

Ryan said...

UGH!

Anonymous said...

I sometimes wonder if there needs to be an All-Star Game AND a Top Prospects Game, not unlike what major juniors in Canada does (albeit, the Top Prospects Game there includes players from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL). If that were instated, I would be opposed to some of the prospects also playing the All-Star Game, if they legitimately deserve it (like, say, John Carlson this year, among others).

I personally was disappointed not to see the following prospects: Max Nicastro, Mike Cichy, Luke Witkowksi, Matt Thurber, Matt Donovan, and Mitch Bruijsten.

Obviously, from an All-Star standpoint, there are a number of other top performers (like Kretzer) out there who get gyped.

Anonymous said...

correction to my previous post: "would NOT be opposed...."

Apologies.

John Meissner said...

Coaches vote for these teams, they just can't vote for players on their own team. For those of you whose favorite players didn't make it, remember, it was the coaches who chose these teams. There are deserving players from each team who weren't chosen. While the idea of seperate prospects/All Star games isn't a bad one, when do you hold the two games? Same weekend/site might work, but does that mean you stretch the all-star break out a couple more days, bring in more people to make things work?

How do you pull this off?

Ryan said...

It could work if you had 1 more day for the all-star break. Have the all-star or top prospects game Tuesday night and the other one Wednesday night. It seems easy, but I'm sure it's not nearly that easy! :)

Anonymous said...

"Drew Conboy is more respected by coaches in the leauge there are more than one type of forward you don't always have to just score the most points, as a hard hitting power forward there aren't any better than Conboy he is deserving of the spot and will not dissapoint in the game"

You must have started drinking early in the day for this kind of a post. I TOTALLY do not agree that the coaches respect him. You have to be kidding me! He's the biggest fruit loop of the league. He's not a hard hitter, he's a goon that loves to go after smaller players. I've talked to more than one Omaha fan that does not agree with the choice of Conboy being picked. Yea, I know the coaches pick the players but you can't tell me that there are more DESERVING players on the Lancers. There were A LOT of players from most of the teams that really surprised me. For the ones that did make it, I do say congrats to them. GO WEST!!!

As far as the refs and linesmen, I am not surprised that they picked those to boneheads. They are 2 of the most hated Refs in the USHL, why not pick them?

Anonymous said...

some of these picks are a complete joke, how can defenceman that are more then -5 (some are -14) make an allstar team?? that is not being a good defenceman. very confusing.

Anonymous said...

Sure, many players chosen are talented. And many deserving. We will never see all of our favorite or deserving players. HOWEVER, how can a kid like Kretzer not be chosen; as the #4 scorer in the USHL????? Some choices are close calls but this one is blatant. If the coaches pick, then they were all blind. And, if the players chosen are supposedly chosen cause of NHL draft potential, it defeats the purpose of choosing a player that has excelled, this season, in the USHL. Otherwise, have a game for NHL prospects only and do not link it to how players performed during the season thus far
P.S. Des Moines sucks so bad and do not deserve one player on the All Star team.

Anonymous said...

Heck, maybe PK figured out a way to convince the other coaches not to vote for Kretzer.I find it hard to believe that noother coaches in the league think that Kretzer is worthy of being in the all star game. I kinda wish that the league would make public the voting to see who voted for who.I'd like to know exactly how the voting process works. which players are tagged only by the scouts, which players are on both the scouts and coaches list, how many players does each coach vote for, is there a way to ensure that there isn't any "vote for mine and I'll vote for yours" But I know the league will never open up the voting process. it would also be nice to do like what I believe everyother league does and have a fan vote. I'm sure there are ways to make sure that each person only gets one vote. Most people have cell phones, let each person vote once per cell number. Have a fan vote for the starting line up. Or let the fans pick a few of the players from the east and the west. We as fans can't do any worse than it seems the pro's did this year.

Anonymous said...

This is the same anonymous poster who posted earlier about having a separate All-Star Game and Top Prospects Game. I would say have it on the same day, before the All-Star Game. A Top Prospects Game would be angled toward scouts, and the scouts would stay for the All-Star Game a while afterwards, too. It's not a lot different than having 3 games at the Tyson Center for the Fall Classic this year. There'd obviously be more time between the two games. Do all USHL teams have venues that would have four open locker rooms (good ones, not closets) to lodge these teams? I don't know. Many do, however.

Do you have two separate Skills Competitions? I don't know. Having ALL of those players do the skills comp at once would be too many. So, maybe you have two skills competitions.

I come from a scouting vantage point, as I scout for a hockey service, so that's why I'd really like to see two separate games. A Top Prospects Game is angled more toward scouts, especially NHL amateur scouts (many of these guys will have already committed to a college). Of course college scouts would want to get a book on these guys, too, but... Any fans interested in the Top Prospects Game could come and would be a bonus, but the true All-Star Game would be angled toward them. Obviously, having them so close might make it difficult to have a Top Prospect also in the All-Star Game. Perhaps, at that point, if a Top Prospect (I'm talking for the NHL Entry Draft) deserves to be there on merit, perhaps he only skates in the All-Star Game, then, making room for another prospect. Maybe a few more guys get that honor and that extra exposure in front of scouts, and fans.

The logistics increase some, especially putting up more players in hotel rooms, etc., but perhaps it can be done.

Anonymous said...

There actually is no skills competition this year, there is just the banquet on monday, then the teams practice tuesday morning then the game at night.

Anonymous said...

Earlier comments say this is for NHL prospects.....you mean to say these officials chosen are what we can look forward too in the NHL??? WOW!!!