From the Portsmouth Herald:


'Cats fans get dose of bad news

By Roger Brown
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If you’re a die-hard University of New Hampshire men’s hockey fan, you’ve probably already heard the bad news: Keith Yandle will not be skating for the Wildcats next season.
UNH announced its incoming recruiting class Wednesday. It featured forward Greg Collins (Cedar Rapids/USHL), forward Thomas Fortney (Waterloo/USHL), forward Jerry Pollastrone (Salisbury Prep), forward Trevor Smith (Omaha/USHL), forward Alan Thompson (Chicago/USHL), defenseman Joe Charlebois (Sioux City/USHL), defenseman Jamie Fritsch (N.H. Junior Monarchs/EJHL), defenseman Kevin Kapstad (Governor Dummer) and goaltender Kirk Manke (Capital District/EJHL).

A few eyebrows were raised when Yandle was not listed among the incoming recruits since he committed to UNH in 2003.

Yandle, a 6-foot-2, 203-pound defenseman with good offensive skills, skated for Cushing Academy last season and many expected him to join the UNH program this fall. His older brother, Brian, will be UNH’s captain next season.

The United States Hockey Report, a Web site devoted to amateur hockey, reported that Yandle was denied admission to UNH, but UNH coach Dick Umile called that story inaccurate.

"That’s not the case," Umile said Thursday night. "It was a matter of when he was coming to UNH. The university wanted him to come the following year (2006-07), and he wants to come out now. That’s the bottom line."

How good is Yandle?

The NHL Central Scouting Service listed him as the 76th best prospect among draft-eligible North American forwards and defensemen last year, but Yandle elected to not enter the draft. He would have been eligible for this year’s draft, which was canceled because the owners and the players’ association are operating without a collective bargaining agreement.

He was recently one of 43 players invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp, which will be held Aug. 5-14 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Those players are candidates for the 2006 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.

So, to answer the question, he’s very good.

Yandle has plenty of options, among them:

* He could play Major Junior hockey.

* He could play for a team in the USHL (Omaha selected Yandle in the 2005 USHL draft).

* He could play for another Division I school.

It’s option No. 3 that should have UNH supporters concerned, because, according to several sources, that other school is Maine.

"He’s gonna go to Maine," Umile said. "Nothing is official, but the word is he’s going to Maine next year."

Earlier this week Yandle’s mother, Patricia, said she didn’t want her son to talk about the situation until everything is finalized.

If he does end up in Orono, Yandle would join Billy Ryan, who will be a sophomore at Maine next season. Yandle and Ryan were teammates at Cushing during the 2003-04 season.

Switching from UNH to Maine is like swapping your Red Sox hat for one with an NY on the front, so you can imagine how that rumor has heated up the USCHO message board - and it’s not as if Maine fans and UNH fans need anything else to joust about.

If the Yandle-to-Maine scenario does materialize it will be a double-whammy for UNH (UNH’s loss is Maine’s gain). It’s like falling down, hitting your head on the pavement and getting kicked in the teeth before you get up.

Yandle to Maine? If you’re a Wildcat fan it’s not good news. Not good news at all.


Roger Brown is a Herald staff writer. He can be reached at [log in to unmask]