WCHA -outside the Border-Freshmen Orientation

Alaska Anchorage is often the forgotten team in the WCHA, but it often gives players who had no other major offer from other teams, a chance to play in teh WCHA. Incoming freshman Drew Darwitz from Cottage Grove is the only Minnesotan on this years Seawolves roster. Darwitz played for the Faibranks Ice Dawgs for two seasons and last year led the league in scoring among defensmen. As an undersized defenseman, he was voted NAHL's 2008-09 Defenseman of the Year.

Colorado College has always benefited from recruiting Minnesota players. This year's freshmen class only includes one player from Minnesota, but it is one who had a tremendous career as a goalie at Wayzata. Joe Howe started for the Trojans since sophomore year and was team captain as a junior. As a rookie for the Waterloo Blackhawks Howe had a 13-5-1 record, 2.12 goals-against average and .915 saves percentage while helping his team reach the Clark Cup finals. Last year was his second year in juniors and he was named team captain, but didn't put up the numbers he did his rookie season giving up 3.5 goals per game and dropping his save percentage by .033. Howe has also played for Team USA when they won the Gold Medal at the World Junior A Challenge in 2008. The Tigers have an interesting freshmen class geographically speaking in that they have two players from Arizona, one from California, Alaska and Ohio. They also have one from Canada and one from Norway.

The Tigers opened the season with an exhibition win over the University of Calgary 4-2. CC played three goalies and Howe finished the game making eight saves to secure the win.

Denver University has no Minnesotans in its freshmen class and has four Minnesotans on the roster.

The Michigan Tech Huskies are excited to get redshirt freshman Mikael Lickteig on the ice as he missed all of last year due to injury. In his second year in juniors for the Alexandria Blizzard of the NAHL, Lickteig of Little Falls, MN was voted team MPV while scoring 34 goals and 40 assists in 58 games. There are no Minnesotan on this year's incoming freshmen class. The Huskies did get a pair of goals from freshmen in an exhibition victory over Ryerson. Aaron Pietila and Evan Witt both scored on their first collegiate shift in the 3-1 win.

The prize recruit for the University of North Dakota this year is freshman Danny Kristo from Eden Prairie. Kristo a 5'11", 180 pound freshman who played for Omaha in the USHL last year was drafted in the second round (56th overall) in the 2008 Early Entry Draft. He left the Eden Prairie program early to play at the United States Development Program in Ann Arbor for two seasons. During his only season in the USHL he scored 22 goals and 35 assists in 50 games. Kristo has played on Team USA for numerous junior teams including the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship. In a 7-1 exhibition win over Manitoba, Kristo was the number one star scoring the first goal of the game for the Fighting Sioux and later adding an assist.

Two defensemen from Minnesota are also included in the Fighting Sioux's 2009-10 freshmen class. Joe Gleason was a dynamic playmaker and skater at Edina when he graduated in 2008 as one of the top defensmen in the state collecting 43 points (10 goals, 33 assists) . Last year he played for Des Moines in the USHL leading his team in scoring among defensemen with five goals and 15 assists. He had one shot on goal and was a +2 in the exhibition win over Manitoba.

Gleason, according to Hakstol, possesses "some of the best skating ability of any defenseman coming into the league this year." -UND Season Preview

Ryan Hill was a three-sport athlete at Hermantown and spent two years in the USHL before landing in Grand Forks for his freshmen year. at 6'3" he has the size to be a strong defenseman that UND loves. However, with the Fighting Sioux returning five defensemen and with Gleason expected to add an element of skating the puck that UND doesn't always have, Hill might not see much ice time this year and could be a candidate to be redshirted.

Surpisingly there are no incoming freshmen from Minnesota on the University of Wisconsin's roster. Minnesota's precense will be felt however on the blueline with its best offensive defensemen Jake Gardiner from Minnetonka and its best defensive defenseman Ryn McDonagh from Cretin-Derham-Hall.