55 replies to this topic

[Yeti]

Per Ryan S. Clark of the "Slightly Chilled" blog: http://slightlychill...ces.com/?p=1465

Quote

North Dakota commit and forward Luke Voltin has been added to the Chicago Steel, according to league sources.

Voltin, 16, was dismissed from the National Team Development Program late Tuesday night and the NTDP confirmed the news on Wednesday morning.
Voltin was playing with the U-17 team and was dismissed for what is believed to be a violation of team rules. NTDP spokesman Jake Wesolek could not discuss the reasons for Voltin’s dismissal from the program.
USHL Director of Hockey Operations Tony Gill said this morning there is a process in which a team could add Voltin to its roster but declined to further describe how it all works although with Chicago obtaining his rights, it could be determined the process allows a player like Voltin to go to whoever is first in line in the league’s waiver wire.
Chicago, which is 9-21-1 this season, has the worst mark in the league.
Voltin tweeted prior to the news breaking he was not going to play in the Western Hockey League and would honor his commitment to North Dakota along with playing in the USHL quickly.
He could realistically play this weekend when the Steel having three games agianst Indiana, Youngstown and Cedar Rapids.
Voltin, 16, played in 11 league games this seasons scoring six points for three goals and three assists. He was part of the United States team which won its third consecutive Four Nations Title.
In Voltin Chicago is getting a forward considered to be among the best American-born forwards in his age group.
He played on varsity last season as a sophomore at perennial Minnesota power Hill-Murray, scoring 31 points (18 goals and 13 assists) on a team which had been favored to make a serious run at a state title before losing in the section finals.
Before going to Chicago, Voltin had two other options which didn’t include the USHL.
Voltin’s Major Junior rights are owned by the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, who lately have had a knack for getting and seriously tempting players from North Dakota and Minnesota to join their team.
Portland recently signed Minot, N.D. native Alex Schoenborn to a contract for next season and are believed to be in the hunt for Breck freshman defenseman-turned-winger Keegan Iverson.
There have also been more Minnesotans going to play Major Junior as of late. Voltin’s former Hill-Murray teammate, defenseman Travis Wood, signed a contract to play this season with the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League.
Edina’s Ben Walker left the Hornets, another Minnesota perennial power, to sign with the Victoria Royals, which also play in the WHL.
Another possibility would be to return to Hill-Murray but now he is going to Chicago he will be expected to help jump start what has been one of the league’s most beleaguered offenses.

[Mr Ricochet]

What would a Steel fan do without a Fargo reporter to keep him up to date on his team, and Yeti to find and post the story. Thanks fellas!! ....

Look out Eastern Conference, the Steel are loading up. Pagozzi and now presumably Voltin. Lets get this kid into a Steel jersey and see what he's got.

Assuming they did acquire his rights, do they still need to get him into 10 games to lock him up for next year?

[wndrkty]

This is one of my complaints about the USHL. Player violates rules, gets kicked off team, and before you know it he's playing for some other team in the USHL. This is the first time I recall seeing it without some sort of trade involved, but the concept is the same. If the player has done something so heinous as to be kicked off of the team he is playing for, then he should not be able to play for another USHL team. Why does the USHL allow these "problem" players to be shunted off into someone else's organization to potentially cause problems again. This is the same thing that happened with Adam Chlapik earlier this year. Coach Littler came out in a public interview and stated that Adam had done things off the ice which resulted in his trade. That is as good as saying to the Storm, he's your problem now not ours. And now the NTDP is saying the same thing to the Steel.

Mind you, I realize the Steel need some help and I'm sure this is a great add for them. Just had to vent my frustration with the policy to continue to allow players to play in the league after they've violated team rules. Whatever the violation may have been.

[Mr Ricochet]

wndrkty, on 18 January 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

This is one of my complaints about the USHL. Player violates rules, gets kicked off team, and before you know it he's playing for some other team in the USHL. This is the first time I recall seeing it without some sort of trade involved, but the concept is the same. If the player has done something so heinous as to be kicked off of the team he is playing for, then he should not be able to play for another USHL team. Why does the USHL allow these "problem" players to be shunted off into someone else's organization to potentially cause problems again. This is the same thing that happened with Adam Chlapik earlier this year. Coach Littler came out in a public interview and stated that Adam had done things off the ice which resulted in his trade. That is as good as saying to the Storm, he's your problem now not ours. And now the NTDP is saying the same thing to the Steel.

Mind you, I realize the Steel need some help and I'm sure this is a great add for them. Just had to vent my frustration with the policy to continue to allow players to play in the league after they've violated team rules. Whatever the violation may have been.

Is the USHL's motto of molding young men hypocritical? Without knowing the details of his dismissal from the NTDP I'll hold my comments, other than to say this is a business first and all else comes after.

One need not follow jrs too long to realize that, that's not debatable. Allowing a player to violate one teams rules and then jump to another club is.

I'm in the camp that the LEAGUE itself should have a set of rules that covers all the players in the USHL, and the teams can have their own as well. But, in this scenario if a kid breaks a LEAGUE rule he's either given another chance or banned depending on the infraction.

But, I'm afraid if the league was set up this way there would be a dearth of talent, and is probably the reason they don't go that route.

[wndrkty]

Mr Ricochet, on 18 January 2012 - 07:27 PM, said:

wndrkty, on 18 January 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

This is one of my complaints about the USHL. Player violates rules, gets kicked off team, and before you know it he's playing for some other team in the USHL. This is the first time I recall seeing it without some sort of trade involved, but the concept is the same. If the player has done something so heinous as to be kicked off of the team he is playing for, then he should not be able to play for another USHL team. Why does the USHL allow these "problem" players to be shunted off into someone else's organization to potentially cause problems again. This is the same thing that happened with Adam Chlapik earlier this year. Coach Littler came out in a public interview and stated that Adam had done things off the ice which resulted in his trade. That is as good as saying to the Storm, he's your problem now not ours. And now the NTDP is saying the same thing to the Steel.

Mind you, I realize the Steel need some help and I'm sure this is a great add for them. Just had to vent my frustration with the policy to continue to allow players to play in the league after they've violated team rules. Whatever the violation may have been.

Is the USHL's motto of molding young men hypocritical? Without knowing the details of his dismissal from the NTDP I'll hold my comments, other than to say this is a business first and all else comes after.

One need not follow jrs too long to realize that, that's not debatable. Allowing a player to violate one teams rules and then jump to another club is.

I'm in the camp that the LEAGUE itself should have a set of rules that covers all the players in the USHL, and the teams can have their own as well. But, in this scenario if a kid breaks a LEAGUE rule he's either given another chance or banned depending on the infraction.

But, I'm afraid if the league was set up this way there would be a dearth of talent, and is probably the reason they don't go that route.

I understand what you're saying, and I'm not in complete disagreement of why they don't follow that practice. My beef is that without some sort of rule like that there is really no consequence to the boys who choose to violate the rules. At the very least players like this should be suspended for a period of time (again the length to be determined by the severity of the infraction)

If I had an employee who was not following the rules I'd fire them, not shunt them off to another area in the company. I do realize I don't know anything about what this player did to be dismissed, but that really isn't the point of this rant. My point is simply that I don't like how the USHL has decided to run their business.

[Panigale]

Maybe going to the Steel is his punishment. Just kidding.

[iowaninja]

Do these kids not deserve a second chance, I'm not saying they didn't have two strikes or more on them when kicked off or traded from their first team, but a move to another team might do the job to wake them up.

[wndrkty]

iowaninja, on 18 January 2012 - 08:50 PM, said:

Do these kids not deserve a second chance, I'm not saying they didn't have two strikes or more on them when kicked off or traded from their first team, but a move to another team might do the job to wake them up.

Possibly. But really what could they do that would be bad enough to lose them a slot on their own team, that would be acceptable for a second chance? Anything I can think of that would warrant giving them a second chance would earn them a couple of games on the scratch list rather than a dismissal from the team.

[Gambler Fan 0203]

Just remember when you where 16 and how much growing up you needed to do.

[Mr Ricochet]

Panigale, on 18 January 2012 - 08:18 PM, said:

Maybe going to the Steel is his punishment. Just kidding.

........... Those is my boys no matter what!!......... Last year I would agree, but things ain't too bad in Chicago this year. Seem to be a good group and McConnell has provided an atmosphere where the kids come to play every game.

[RealMenPlayHockey]

so do we know if this kid is going to play for the steel this year or not?

[The One Timer]

My guess is he'll be dressed sooner rather than later. Even with the win today, the offense is still lacking. I fear to think where they'd be had they not found Mike Fallon.

[Mr Ricochet]

The One Timer, on 22 January 2012 - 07:29 PM, said:

My guess is he'll be dressed sooner rather than later.

What do you mean, you guess? You were at the arena twice this weekend, did you ask around? We don't even know if he's Steel property let alone when he'll "dress". Nothing has been announced and nothing is on Pointstreak.

Did you ask around, TOT????

How bout Joel Benson? Injured, traded, quit, left for college? You ask around about their captain??

[The One Timer]

Mr Ricochet, on 22 January 2012 - 08:50 PM, said:

What do you mean, you guess? You were at the arena twice this weekend, did you ask around? We don't even know if he's Steel property let alone when he'll "dress". Nothing has been announced and nothing is on Pointstreak.

Did you ask around, TOT????

How bout Joel Benson? Injured, traded, quit, left for college? You ask around about their captain??

I actually managed to miss this thread until just now, somehow. Benson's injured, presumably, as I saw him Friday and Sunday just walking around. Though, I imagine if Voltin isn't up now, he's been thrown on the affiliate list.

[Dangle City]

I heard some gossip about Benson today at the rink. He has a concussion and it his 5th or 6th concussion. There is a good chance he is done with hockey and will be hanging them up. However, the Steel has acquired defenseman Bradley Shumway form Wichita Falls. Shumway did play today and was a good addition from how he played today. According to the NAHL website he is committed to RIT.

I hope the news i heard about Benson today was just a rumor (person I spoke with is not the best source for info) because he would be a big loss for the Steel.

[gotit12]

Ive heard that voltin wasn't in the lineup this weekend because he asked chicago to trade him.. i believe it. Should happen very soon.

[The One Timer]

Dangle City, on 22 January 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

I heard some gossip about Benson today at the rink. He has a concussion and it his 5th or 6th concussion. There is a good chance he is done with hockey and will be hanging them up. However, the Steel has acquired defenseman Bradley Shumway form Wichita Falls. Shumway did play today and was a good addition from how he played today. According to the NAHL website he is committed to RIT.

I hope the news i heard about Benson today was just a rumor (person I spoke with is not the best source for info) because he would be a big loss for the Steel.

Shumway did look good. Kinda wish he was a bit younger, but, hey, a solid find and fill-in. Hope that isn't true about Benson. However, he still doesn't have a college commitment. I hope he's got some sort of fall-back plan if that's true.

gotit12, on 22 January 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

Ive heard that voltin wasn't in the lineup this weekend because he asked chicago to trade him.. i believe it. Should happen very soon.

It'd be unfortunate to see, but, if he's got all the skill we've heard about, then he should fetch a handsome return. Just because the Steel have to trade him doesn't mean they have to trade him to any one team. My guess is he goes to the Western Conference, though. Welcome to FYC!

[Mr Ricochet]

gotit12, on 22 January 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

Ive heard that voltin wasn't in the lineup this weekend because he asked chicago to trade him.. i believe it. Should happen very soon.

Thanks for the scoop. Of course we don't know if it's accurate but it certainly sounds reasonable............ Welcome, 12.

[Yeti]

gotit12, on 22 January 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

Ive heard that voltin wasn't in the lineup this weekend because he asked chicago to trade him.. i believe it. Should happen very soon.

Was Voltin previously drafted by the Steel? If not, how could the Steel trade him? Wouldn't he be considered a "free agent" at that point?

[TheShow]

Yeti, on 23 January 2012 - 08:14 AM, said:

gotit12, on 22 January 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

Ive heard that voltin wasn't in the lineup this weekend because he asked chicago to trade him.. i believe it. Should happen very soon.

Was Voltin previously drafted by the Steel? If not, how could the Steel trade him? Wouldn't he be considered a "free agent" at that point?

Has it even been confirmed that he joined the Steel?