Adrian gets commitment from Indians defenseman

BY RANDY RUSSON
RR Media Service

Dependable defenseman J.D. King has commited to play Division III hockey at Adrian College, a private school located about 35 miles south west of Ann Arbor.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound hardrock defender played the 2006-07 campaign with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season and playoff champion Soo Indians.

"We would have loved to have J.D. back with us for another season but this is all about moving a fine young man on to college hockey," Indians' head coach Kevin Cain said of King, who played all of his minor hockey in the Michigan Soo, his hometown.

The 2007-08 season will mark the debut of Adrian College in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association. Adrian will play in a new ice hockey facility scheduled to open in August.

Called the Bulldogs, Adrian College will be coached by Ron Fogarty, a former assistant with the Division I Bowling Green Falcons of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

"I heard from Adrian earlier in the season and then just before the Dudley Hewitt Cup," said the personable King, a 1987 birth year who had a goal, six assists and 54 penalty minutes in 45 regular-season games with the Indians. "This is a really exciting opportunity. I always wanted to play college hockey somewhere in Michigan."

Northern Michigan announces '07-08 slate

Northern Michigan University has announced their 2007-08 hockey schedule. The Wildcats will drop the puck 19 times on the Berry Events Center ice.

NMU will open the campaign with an exhibition game against the University of Toronto on Saturday, Oct. 7. The ‘Cats will play a second exhibition against the United States National Team Development Program on Jan. 26.

The ‘Cats first home weekend series will be against the University of Michigan on Oct. 19-20. NMU will be in the same Central Collegiate Hockey Association scheduling cluster as Michigan, Michigan State and Lake Superior State. NMU will face the Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Feb. 1-2. The ‘Cats face the Spartans in East Lansing on Oct. 26-27 and in Marquette on Feb. 8-9. The Lakers and ‘Cats will face each other in Marquette on Nov. 23 and March 1 and in the Soo on Nov. 25 and Feb. 28.

NMU will participate in the inaugural Superior Cup along with Michigan Tech, Minnesota-Duluth and Lake Superior State. The ‘Cats face the Huskies in Houghton on Oct. 12 and the Bulldogs in Duluth on Oct. 13. NMU will also face MTU two other times during the season in a home-and-home affair on Dec. 14 in Marquette and the next night in Houghton. The Wayne State Warriors from College Hockey America will visit the Berry Events Center on Jan. 11-12.

Over the Christmas break, the ‘Cats will skate in the Denver Cup along with Denver, Dartmouth and Sacred Heart. The ‘Cats face Dartmouth on Dec. 28. NMU will either face Denver or Sacred Heart on Dec. 29.

Other teams visiting the Berry Events Center include Miami, Western Michigan, Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha.

Full schedule HERE.

OU's McMahon named best in ACHA Division I

Forward Will McMahon of Oakland University has been selected American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I Player of the Year by the head coaches of ACHA men's Division 1.

The other finalists for the Men's Division 1 Player-of-the-Year Award were Mike DeGeorge, goalie, Illinois, Jason O'Bannon, forward, Kent State and Steve Rademacher, forward, Michigan-Dearborn.

McMahon, a senior from Sterling Heights, is the first player from Oakland to win the award and the second forward to win the award in the last three seasons. He was a First Team All-American and tied for the most goals in Division 1 with 47. McMahon averaged two points per game and was a Detroit Free Press finalist for the State of Michigan Best Athlete Award.

In its first season of Division 1 action, McMahon led Oakland to the national championship, a 5-1 win over Penn State. For his efforts, he was named the MVP of the tournament, leading all scorers with eight goals, four assists, 12 points, three power-play goals, two shorthanded goals and two game-winning goals. It was the second time McMahon had been named MVP of an ACHA national championship, also winning in 2004 for Oakland in Division 2.

McMahon leads OU in all major career statistics: 238 goals, 142 assists and 380 points and has scored a whopping 47 or more goals in each of the past four seasons. Previously, McMahon won each of the following awards for three consecutive years (2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006): ACHA Men's Division 2 Player-of-the-Year, ACHA Men's Division 2 First Team All-American, ACHA Men's Division 2 First-Team All-Tournament, ACHA Men's Division 2 Central Region Most Valuable Player and ACHA Men's Division 2 First Team All-Central Region.

He is a two-time ACHA Academic All-American with a 3.43 grade-point average.

McMahon signed a contract with the Quad City Mallards of the United Hockey League and made his professional debut on April 7 against Muskegon, garnering an assist.

Sauer invited to USA goalie evaluation camp

Junior goaltender Billy Sauer of the University of Michigan is scheduled to participate in USA Hockey's National Junior Goalie Evaluation Camp at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube Friday through Sunday.

The camp will include seven goalies who are eligible for the 2008 U.S. National Junior Team.

"This camp is a new initiative in the overall evaluation process related to our National Junior Team," said Jim Johannson, senior director of hockey operations at USA Hockey. "While some of the players we'd like to have at the camp are still playing, we'll have a good chance to get a look at some of the top goaltenders in this age group."

As a sophomore during the 2006-07 season, Sauer started 40 of U-M's 41 games, earning a record of 25-14-1. He posted a goals-against average of 3.03 and a save percentage of .896. He had a single shutout and allowed just one goal in eight contests. Sauer was the CCHA's Goalie of the Week on two occasions -- Nov. 20 and Jan. 15.

Sauer went 11-6-4 as a freshman in 2005-06. He had a 3.04 GAA and a .898 save percentage with one shutout.

The other six goalies who will attend the goalie camp are Brett Bennett (Boston University), Neil Conway (Owen Sound Attack-OHL), Thomas McCollum (Guelph Storm-OHL), Joe Palmer (Ohio State), Brad Phillips (U.S. National Under-18 Team) and Josh Unice (U.S. National Under-18 Team).

The National Junior Goalie Evaluation Camp is a precursor to the overall National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., which will take place August 3-11. The final roster for Team USA will be finalized in the late fall. The 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship will take place in Liberec and Pardubice, Czech Republic, from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

CCHA's Hart resigns front-office position

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced today that Brian Hart, the league’s Director of Officials since the 1998-99 season, has tendered his resignation from the position, effective immediately.

“On behalf of the entire CCHA membership, I would like to thank Brian for his dedication, leadership and expertise while serving in this demanding role for the past nine seasons,” stated CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos. “The CCHA officiating program is recognized throughout hockey for its professionalism and high standards.”

Hart, who previously served as the CCHA Referee-in-Chief in the 1980s, created an outstanding network of supervisory staff that has helped develop the conference’s on-ice officials into some of the best in the nation. CCHA crews skated in five of the nine NCAA championship games contested during Hart’s tenure with a conference-record 13 referees and assistant referees selected to work the NCAA Tournament in both 2004 and 2005.

A search for Hart’s replacement will begin immediately.

Ferris State, U-M recruits win Robertson Cup

The St. Louis Bandits won the North American Hockey League’s Robertson Cup with their 8-4 victory over the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in the championship game on Sunday in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Robertson Cup Championship crowns the NAHL's playoff champion (USA Hockey's Tier II Junior A national champion).

In the finale, NAHL MVP and incoming Ferris State recruit Pat Maroon recorded a hat trick, including the game-winner, and an assist for the Bandits, with Ben Warda and Graham Sisson adding two goals of their own. In goal, St. Louis’ Pat Nagle, another future Bulldog, turned aside 27 shots.

Maroon, Nagle and Michigan recruit Scooter Vaughan were named to the All-Tournament Team.

SHERWOOD ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
F – Kyle Schmidt, Fairbanks Ice Dogs
F – Pat Maroon, St. Louis Bandits
F – Miles Winter, Mahoning Valley Phantoms
D – Jeff Carlson, Southern Minnesota Express
D – Scooter Vaughan, St. Louis Bandits
G – Pat Nagle, St. Louis Bandits