New Jersey Devils College Prospect Roundup

We are two weeks into the college hockey season. Blake Coleman got a few surprising penalties while Pietila continued to score important goals for the Huskies. Keep reading for an update on each college prospect for the Devils.

CCHA

Jon Merrill:

Merrill is still out with a neck injury, but there is a little bit of news on him. According to Michigan Daly, Freshman Andrew Copp stated that Merrill has been working to make the younger men on the team feel at home and welcome, despite his injury. Hopefully this is showing a new maturity in Merrill different from the player last year who was suspended for half the season for breaking a team rule.

Blake Coleman:

Blake Coleman had yet another interesting weekend with Miami. In two games against Providence, Coleman scored a goal and racked up eleven penalty minutes. On Friday, he was held without a point and received a penalty for embellishment. Miami tied Providence 1-1 after three periods and overtime.

On Saturday, Coleman scored during the first period to give Miami a 2-1 lead. He got two minutes for roughing during the first period, two minutes for hitting after the whistle during the second period, and with just over five minutes left in the game a one goal lead on Providence, Coleman got a five minute major for charging. Although Miami successfully killed it off, that is not the time to take a penalty. I haven't seen the play, but according to RedskinWarriors.com it was considered clean by many who watched. It was thought that he may have left his feet, forcing the refs to make the call.

Just four seconds after the penalty expired, Providence scored, but Miami won in overtime.

You can check out the highlights from Saturday's game here. Coleman's goal was nice (at about the :45 second mark).

Curtis Gedig:

Gedig was held off the score sheet again this weekend but he finished a +1 after a 1-1 tie and a 3-1 loss to Quinnipiac.

WCHA

Blake Pietila:

Pietila had another strong outing for the Huskies. He scored twice for Michigan Tech in their 5-3 win on Friday against Devils' prospect Seth Helgeson and the University of Minnesota. The first was on the powerplay and gave Michigan the 2-1 lead.

The Huskies went 1-1 this weekend against the number one ranked University of Minnesota.

Derek Rodwell:

UND went 1-1 this weekend against Alaska Anchorage. Rodwell was kept off the score sheet. Hopefully Derek will show up on the score sheet this weekend with the teams second week against Anchorage.

Seth Helgeson:

Seth Helgeson faced Blake Pietila and the Michigan Tech Huskies this weekend, going 1-1. Helgeson was a +1 in the 5-3 loss on Friday and got a penalty for hooking. I'm not sure how the lines matched up throughout the entire game, but Helgeson was put against Pietila's line for the start of the game.

The Gopher's won 3-2 on Saturday, and Helgeson was a +1, again. He was not matched against Pietila's line to start this game.

Joe Faust:

Joe Faust and the University of Wisconsin Badgers did not play this weekend. They are back in action tomorrow and Saturday at Minnesota Deluth.

Patrick Daly:

Daly did not go out for the St. Thomas Hockey team, so he will no longer be included in the roundup.

Totals:

Blake Coleman and Blake Pietila are still the stars of the bunch. They are the only two to score so far this season. Hopefully Coleman doesn't take anymore major penalties at vital times of the game, but he is still young and has time to learn to control that. Both Blake's have five points in four games - not a bad start at all. Hopefully the rest of the bunch will follow suit and get on the scoreboard this weekend.

What are your thoughts about Coleman's major penalty? Who do you think stands out the most out of the college prospects? Feel free to discuss the college hockey action from last weekend below.