Having a Seat Over There: Lucas Lessio Update

Lucas Lessio still hasn't decided if he'll play a year at St. Mike's and then come be a Wolverine or if he'll go to the OHL, but he is headed to Niagara's camp.

Ice Dogs' General Manager Dale Brown seems to think that the longer this goes, the better his team's chances are of landing the player who would be eligible to join Michigan's vaunted incoming class of 2010.

"He hasn't committed to either school or the OHL," Brown said of Lessio, who has a scholarship offer from the University of Michigan. "The longer it goes, the better for us. I think if school made 100 per cent sense for him, he would have committed to it already.

...

I think at the end of the day, he'll end up choosing here because he'll see it's the best thing for him and his career."

As a counter to that last point, let me offer the following:

Wolverines who played in the NHL this year:
Mike Brown
Mike Cammalleri
Andrew Cogliano
Mike Comrie
Andrew Ebbett
Dwight Helminen
TJ Hensick
Andy Hilbert
Matt Hunwick
JMFJ
Mike Knuble
Mike Komisarek
John Madden
Brendan Morrison
David Moss
Eric Nystrom
Jed Ortmeyer
Max Pacioretty
Kevin Porter
Jeff Tambellini
Mike Van Ryn
Aaron Ward
Marty Turco
Al Montoya

That's 1,335 games played and a line of 203-286--489.

Niagara/Mississauga Ice Dogs who played in the NHL last year:
Cody Bass (12 games)
Luca Caputi (5 games)
Daniel Carcillo (74 games)
Dustin Jeffrey (14 games)
Brian McGrattan (5 games)
Patrick O'Sullivan (81 games)
Alex Pietrangelo (8 games)
Kyle Quincey (72 games)
Rob Schremp (4 games)
Jason Spezza (82 games)

357 games played and a line of 57-119--176. Thank you Spezza.

Just sayin'.

We're Getting Closer

The Alumni Game will, in fact, be July 31. It will feature two games--an Under-35 game and an Over-35 game--and it will be free this year. Notables playing for the U-35s are JMFJ, Andrew Ebbett, Hobey Porter, Hobey 1a Kolarik, Drew Cogs, and the new millionaire Matt Hunwick.

Speaking of Hunwick, here's an article about his recovery from the spleen injury suffered in the playoffs and how JMFJ's contract might have helped to set the market for Hunwick.

Another indication that the B's are looking for big things out of their young defensemen, including Hunwick, is that Aaron Ward was traded back to Carolina today. There are a ton of quotes from Ward in that story. He seems very happy to be headed back to the Canes and is thankful the Bruins sent him there.

Anybody know anything about the hockey jerseys that Brian mentioned in his post today? It'd never happen, but how cool would it be to see Michigan go all Montreal Canadiens and wear all the different jerseys from their history one season? They could go from the jerseys below (which actually are kind of bad-ass) and the jerseys in the other picture in the linked post all the way up to the god-awful ones they busted out at the GLI a few years back.

Then as an added bonus, Adidas could slip in some jerseys that we've never worn and will never wear to see if anyone notices.

A loud curse word went out from these parts when I saw the USHL schedule and realized the only time that the NTDP plays at Cedar Rapids (where Bennett and DeBlois are playing) is the week I'll be out of the lower-48 on business. Luckily though, the NTDP is playing the Badgers this year. I'm in for that one for sure. Hopefully Campbell will be in net.

The new roster is up on MGoBlue. Chris Brown will wear #10, Kevin Lynch gets Kevin Porter's #11, Moffie is #13, Rohrkemper will wear #22, Lindsay Sparks gets #39, and AJ Treais has #21. Capt28 breaks down the changes in height/weight from last year.

More Links, Cos There's Nothing Else Going On

MHNet says the Alumni Game will be July 31 this year.

Nice article from The Arizona Republic about the Michigan connection with the Phoenix Coyotes. Porter, Kolarik, Montoya, Summers, Chris Brown. There are a lot of really great quotes in the story, both from the Coyotes and the Michigan players. Phoenix GM Don Maloney said that he would be "stunned" if Brown spent four years in college.

Maloney also said that Summers "will be with us at the end of the year, for sure".

Jed Ortmeyer and Dwight Helminen both signed one year contracts with the San Jose Sharks. They're the latest Michigan teammates to become reunited. Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble both signed with the Washington Capitals.

More praise for Mac Bennett. CTV called him the biggest surprise of Habs camp, citing his poise despite being as young as he is. Montreal's Director of Player Development said that he looks like he had been to two or three of those camps.

The Jerseys Aren't Changing

I've been told by someone who would know that the jerseys being sold at MGoBlueShop are not the jerseys that the team will be wearing in this upcoming season and that the jerseys aren't changing. So as nice as the ones being sold online look, it looks like the white throwbacks are coming back for another season, and that makes me happy.

Here's a camp notebook from the Habs website about Mac Bennett.

Mike Spath addressed NHL rumors surrounding Kevin Lynch. No comment since it's a premium story and they didn't give anything away in the teaser.

More Links

A couple more features involving Mac Bennett: A take on the changing landscape in youth sports and a really good story about the Bennett family hockey legacy.

Culver's is sponsoring the Camp Randall Hockey Classic. There have been 20,000 tickets sold, but Mike Eaves is still convinced there will be 80,000 in attendance. I guess I just need to make more friends!

3 of ESPN's top ten NHL free agent signings are former Wolverines.

JMFJ and Mike Komisarek made the 34 man roster for the USA Hockey Olympic Orientation Camp. It'd be fun to see the two of them playing together in Vancouver next year.

Matt Hunwick filed for arbitration with the Bruins.

Another Jersey Change?

Yes, that's right. Those gorgeous throwback whites may have only lasted one year. A reader passed along a link to the new MGoBlueShop.com. In the hockey section we have these:

Update: Photos removed since the site has since been updated to show the correct jerseys.

Individually, I like all three of them (the maize jerseys stayed the same). I don't really like having the same layout for all three jerseys, though. And I especially don't like that they got rid of the whites from last year, which were quite possibly the best Michigan jersey ever (neck and neck with the gold dazzle from the championship years).

That said, I guess I've got two more jerseys to buy. And yes, I'm fully aware that people like me are the reason they change jerseys ever year.

There's no confirmation (yet) that these are the jerseys that the team will wear. But with the official Michigan store selling them, I have to believe they are.

They could be worse. Signed, North Dakota.