UAA Fan Blog
Tuesday, September 04, 2007

University Alaska - Anchorage

The 07-08 Rookie Class

Winston DayChief, Matthew Gordon, Tommy Grant, Nick Haddad, Kane Lafranchise, Aaron Mayo, Brad McCabe, Craig Parkinson, Luka Vidmar and Sean Wiles comprise the 07-08 Freshman Seawolf class. Ten guys. Two goalies and eight skaters. It is a big class. It is an important group. I've said it before and I'll say it again; you can't count on freshman to perform at any particularly high level in the WCHA. It takes time to adapt to the game no matter what league you come from. But this year Seawolf fans are definitely going to be looking to (even if not "expecting" <---- a word I should avoid using) some of these rookies to contribute. What can we realistically hope for? It occurs to me that at least we've got some colorful new names added to the roster. So without further rambling ...

Brad McCabe finished last season with the Texas Tornado of the NAHL. He spent the first part of the season with the Alaska Avalanche in Wasilla where he played well enough to get the offer to play for UAA. In a combined 42 games Brad scored 36pts (21g, 15a). Brad missed a chunk of playing time in the middle of the season with a knee surgery. Prior to the 2007 NHL draft he was listed at #208 on the CSB midseason rankings as a "Player to watch". When I contacted Keith Morris about Brad he had this to say,

Brad McCabe is a tremendous young man. Played very hard for us when he was in Wasilla. Very strong on the puck and excellent balance. Has a big time shot and can get to the battle areas to score goals. Coming from junior b the year before there is going to be a learning curve to his play away from the puck ( Defensive zone coverage) at the WCHA level. He was liked by his teamates and comes from a good military family ( Navy officer dad) He is a player who should get better as his career grows.
Brad is one of the players I've been eagerly anticipating seeing in a Seawolf sweater. He is 6ft and 200 pounds and is originally from Oregon. My thanks to Keith for the comments as he was one of only two responders to emails that I sent to all of these recruit's former coaches.

Summary: With 10 guys coming in I'd be foolish if I didn't think at least one or two of these guys won't be quality contributors this season. My sense of these things (wherever that comes from) tells me that Brad McCabe, Craig Parkinson, Kane Lafranchise and Luka Vidmar have the best chances to become this years version of Clark, Crowder or Lunden. I'm excited about Winston DayChief, Nick Haddad, Tommy Grant and Sean Wiles as well but in terms of past numbers etcetera there just isn't enough evidence for me to get all fired up. I hope all four prove me wrong. I hope none of the four I listed as best chances turn out to be less than I'm expecting. And so there it is, the word I'd hoped to avoid using; expectations. I'm responsible for mine and of course it's important to remember that I haven't seen any of these kids skate much less play a game.


Posted by Donald at 8:15 PM

Labels: Analysis, preview

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