University of Minnesota Athletics
Alex Goligoski Named College Hockey News Preseason All-American
9/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
University of Minnesota junior defenseman Alex Goligoski (Grand Rapids, Minn.) was named to the 2006-07 College Hockey News Preseason All-America Second Team. In addition, freshman defenseman Erik Johnson was named to CHN's “Players to Watch” list.
College Hockey News on Alex Goligoski:
“Dave Starman (lead color analyst for College Sports Television's Game of the Week package) says: High-risk, high-reward. Unbelievably skilled offensively.
We say: To win, he'll need to pay more attention defensively, but there's no question what he can do offensively.”
College Hockey News on Erik Johnson:
“The No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft, could easily be an All-American at year's end.”
2006-07 CHN Preseason All-America Team
First Team
F – Brian Boyle, Sr., Boston College
F – Scott Parse, Sr., Nebraska-Omaha
F – T.J. Oshie, So., North Dakota
D – Matt Hunwick, Sr., Michigan
D – Kyle Klubertanz, Jr., Wisconsin
G – Brian Elliott, Sr., Wisconsin
Second Team
F – Michel Leveille, Sr., Maine
F – T.J. Hensick, Sr., Michigan
F – Ryan Dingle, Jr., Denver
D – Alex Goligoski, Jr., Minnesota
D – Brett Motherwill, So., Boston College
G – Cory Schneider, Jr., Boston College
Players to Watch
F - Nathan Davis, Jr., Miami
F - Jonathan Matsumoto, Jr., Bowling Green
F - Tyler Burton, Jr., Colgate
F - Andrew Gordon, Jr., St. Cloud State
F - Jonathan Toews, So., North Dakota
F - Mike Morris, Sr., Northeastern
F - Kirk MacDonald, Sr., RPI
D - Mitch Ganzak, Jr., Miami
D - Jack Johnson, So., Michigan
D - Chris Butler, So., Denver
D - Erik Johnson, Fr., Minnesota
D - Brian Lee, So., North Dakota
G - Troy Davenport, So., Cornell
G - Bobby Goepfert, Sr., St. Cloud State
G - Jeff Jakaitis, Sr., Lake Superior State
G - Jeff Lerg, So., Michigan State
G - Mark Dekanich, Jr., Colgate
G - Billy Sauer, So., Michigan
G - John Curry, Sr., Boston University
In addition, Minnesota’s 2006-07 recruiting class of Jay Barriball, Mike Carman, David Fischer, Ryan Flynn, Erik Johnson, Tony Lucia, Jim O’Brien, Kyle Okposo and Brian Schack was ranked as the best recruiting class in the nation, according to Inside College Hockey. Okposo is listed as the nation’s top incoming forward, while Carman, Flynn and Barriball are ranked No. 7, 12 and 16, respectively. Johnson was named the top incoming defenseman with Fischer at No. 5. The freshman class includes one Minnesota Mr. Hockey (Fischer), two Mr. Hockey finalists (Barriball, Fischer), one USHL Rookie of the Year (Okposo), one U.S. National Junior Team member (Johnson) and seven NHL draftees (Barriball, Carman, Fischer, Flynn, Johnson, Lucia, Okposo).
Inside College Hockey on Minnesota's freshman class:
“Keep an eye on: Six of the nine Gopher freshmen appeared in our individual rankings. Two others – forwards Tony Lucia (the coach’s son) and Jim O’Brien – were also mentioned by at least one participant in our survey.”
2006-07 Inside College Hockey Top 15 Freshman Classes
1. Minnesota
2. Boston University
3. Wisconsin
4. Denver
5. Colorado College
6. North Dakota
7. St. Cloud State
8. Cornell
9. UMass-Lowell
10. Michigan State
11. Ohio State
12. Boston College
13. Notre Dame
14. St. Lawrence
15. Michigan
College Hockey News on Alex Goligoski:
“Dave Starman (lead color analyst for College Sports Television's Game of the Week package) says: High-risk, high-reward. Unbelievably skilled offensively.
We say: To win, he'll need to pay more attention defensively, but there's no question what he can do offensively.”
College Hockey News on Erik Johnson:
“The No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft, could easily be an All-American at year's end.”
2006-07 CHN Preseason All-America Team
First Team
F – Brian Boyle, Sr., Boston College
F – Scott Parse, Sr., Nebraska-Omaha
F – T.J. Oshie, So., North Dakota
D – Matt Hunwick, Sr., Michigan
D – Kyle Klubertanz, Jr., Wisconsin
G – Brian Elliott, Sr., Wisconsin
Second Team
F – Michel Leveille, Sr., Maine
F – T.J. Hensick, Sr., Michigan
F – Ryan Dingle, Jr., Denver
D – Alex Goligoski, Jr., Minnesota
D – Brett Motherwill, So., Boston College
G – Cory Schneider, Jr., Boston College
Players to Watch
F - Nathan Davis, Jr., Miami
F - Jonathan Matsumoto, Jr., Bowling Green
F - Tyler Burton, Jr., Colgate
F - Andrew Gordon, Jr., St. Cloud State
F - Jonathan Toews, So., North Dakota
F - Mike Morris, Sr., Northeastern
F - Kirk MacDonald, Sr., RPI
D - Mitch Ganzak, Jr., Miami
D - Jack Johnson, So., Michigan
D - Chris Butler, So., Denver
D - Erik Johnson, Fr., Minnesota
D - Brian Lee, So., North Dakota
G - Troy Davenport, So., Cornell
G - Bobby Goepfert, Sr., St. Cloud State
G - Jeff Jakaitis, Sr., Lake Superior State
G - Jeff Lerg, So., Michigan State
G - Mark Dekanich, Jr., Colgate
G - Billy Sauer, So., Michigan
G - John Curry, Sr., Boston University
In addition, Minnesota’s 2006-07 recruiting class of Jay Barriball, Mike Carman, David Fischer, Ryan Flynn, Erik Johnson, Tony Lucia, Jim O’Brien, Kyle Okposo and Brian Schack was ranked as the best recruiting class in the nation, according to Inside College Hockey. Okposo is listed as the nation’s top incoming forward, while Carman, Flynn and Barriball are ranked No. 7, 12 and 16, respectively. Johnson was named the top incoming defenseman with Fischer at No. 5. The freshman class includes one Minnesota Mr. Hockey (Fischer), two Mr. Hockey finalists (Barriball, Fischer), one USHL Rookie of the Year (Okposo), one U.S. National Junior Team member (Johnson) and seven NHL draftees (Barriball, Carman, Fischer, Flynn, Johnson, Lucia, Okposo).
Inside College Hockey on Minnesota's freshman class:
“Keep an eye on: Six of the nine Gopher freshmen appeared in our individual rankings. Two others – forwards Tony Lucia (the coach’s son) and Jim O’Brien – were also mentioned by at least one participant in our survey.”
2006-07 Inside College Hockey Top 15 Freshman Classes
1. Minnesota
2. Boston University
3. Wisconsin
4. Denver
5. Colorado College
6. North Dakota
7. St. Cloud State
8. Cornell
9. UMass-Lowell
10. Michigan State
11. Ohio State
12. Boston College
13. Notre Dame
14. St. Lawrence
15. Michigan
Players Mentioned
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