After losing four players to graduation and one to the NHL, the UW men’s hockey team will add a handful of new skaters to next year’s roster.
Six student athletes signed letters of intent Monday to join Mike Eaves’ team, with three defensemen and three forwards set to be added to the Badgers in the fall of 2008.
Three Minnesotans — Derek Stepan, Jordy Murray and Jake Gardiner — will join Wisconsin natives Matt Thurber, Ryan Little and Eric Springer as freshmen next season.
Stepan and Murray, both forwards, will come into their first year at UW already having played together at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, where current Badger Jamie McBain also played before coming to Madison.
Stepan was second on the Shattuck team with 36 goals and 55 assists in 54 games and in February skated with the USA Under-17 team in the Vlad Dzurilla Tournament in Slovakia.
“Derek is a very gifted forward with a lot of offensive skill,” Eaves said in a statement Monday. “[H]e comes from a program that knows what it takes to win. We look for Derek to come in, and even as a freshman, hopefully do some good things for us offensively.”
Murray wasn’t far behind Stepan in the scoring at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, finishing with 87 points, including 36 goals. His dad Andy is the current head coach of the St. Louis Blues, and his brother Brady skated with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux before playing briefly this season with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
At just 5 feet 9 inches and 170 pounds, Murray is the smallest of the six recruits but has drawn comparisons from Eaves to a current Badger freshman.
“Jordy will remind people a lot of Patrick Johnson. He is not very big in stature, but his heart is as big as his chest,” Eaves said. “He has a real good feel for the game, both with and without the puck. We look for Jordy, because of his competitiveness, to be able to come in and have an effect right away.”
The final Minnesotan in the group is Jake Gardiner, a 6-foot-2 defenseman from Minnetonka High School. As a senior, Gardiner led the Skippers in scoring with 20 goals and 28 assists in just 25 games en route to being named the 2008 Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year. The numbers Gardiner put up as a senior were made even more impressive by the fact that it was his first season playing defense, having skated as a forward his entire career.
“He sees the ice, skates and handles the puck,” Eaves said. “We are excited that he is coming to learn how to play without the puck and play the defense position. … We look for Jake to come in and learn quickly. He is going to get some significant ice time.”
Thurber, a Beaver Dam native, is the third forward in this year’s recruiting class. He left high school early and has spent his last three years in the USHL with the Omaha Lancers, where he notched 53 points in 56 games in the 2007-08 season.
Eaves believes his past three seasons in Omaha will benefit him at the collegiate level.
“He’s a heart and soul guy and very much like Jordy Murray — he can play very well with and without the puck,” Eaves said of Thurber. “Because of his experience in the USHL, which is probably one of the premier leagues in helping a young man get ready for college, we expect Matt to come in and be somewhat of an impact player right away.”
The other two Wisconsin natives are also products of the USHL — Little played for the Green Bay Gamblers, while Springer skated with the Sioux Falls Stampede.
In 56 games this past season, Little produced 13 points as a defenseman to go along with 90 penalty minutes.
“He is a pretty steady young defenseman,” Eaves said. “He is very competitive in nature, makes a good first outlet pass, has a good stick and moves well.”
Springer produced a bit more on the offensive side of the puck than Little, putting together a 31-point season in 58 games. He also played in the USHL All-Star Game in January.
“He is very competitive in nature and not the biggest guy, but again one of those guys whose heart is as big as his chest,” Eaves said of Springer. “He is going to round out our defensemen, and the biggest thing we’ve got going there is everybody is going to be pushing each other.”
Finding playing time may be a difficult task for the six newcomers when the 2008 season starts, as the Badgers lost only two forwards — senior Matthew Ford and freshman Kyle Turris — and three defensemen in seniors Davis Drewiske, Kyle Klubertanz and Josh Engel.
Forward Tom Bardis will also be eligible to join the Badgers this season after having to sit out a year due to NCAA regulations following his transfer from St. Lawrence.
