From THE HOCKEY NEWS, Oct. 1: COLLEGIAN BOLTS TO DETROIT (OHL) by Jim Cressman Goalie wars broke out between the Ontario Hockey League's Detroit Jr. Red Wings and the Bowling Green State University Falcons. Bowling Green goalie Aaron Ellis has defected to the Jr. Wings and it has left Falcons' coach Jerry York seeing red. York was upset Jr. Wings' general manager Jim Rutherford didn't inform him he was conducting talks with the Falcons' No. 1 goalie. But Rutherford fired back that U.S. colleges never inform junior teams when they're talking with players the OHL has already drafted. In the end, Ellis is a Jr. Wing and will be the team's last line of defense in its battles in the Emms Division. Ellis, 19, from New Palestine, Ind., was set to begin his sophomore year at Bowling Green when he contacted the Jr. Wings. "I figured this was the best decision for me," said Ellis, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's freshman goalie of the year in 1992-93. He had a 14-10-2 record and 3.70 goals-against average. "There will be more games for me to play and I felt this would be a step forward in my hockey career." Ellis was the Quebec Nordiques' 11th-round draft pick out of high school in 1992. "I first talked to Detroit in the spring, but I wasn't real interested in the OHL at that point," he said. "I talked to them again (in late August) and then I ran everything by Quebec and they thought it was a good decision." Ellis, invited to the U.S. national junior team summer camp, was also disappointed that despite being Bowling Green's top goalie, he was only on a partial scholarship. Another concern was the fact Bowling Green went out in the summer and recruited another goalie. York said that was done because Ellis had become academically ineligible. Ellis attended summer school to improve his grade point average and regain his athletic eligibility for the start of this school year. "We couldn't wait until July to see what was going to happen (with Ellis's grade)," York said. "But he was still our No. 1 goalie...I just don't think Aaron seemed interested in school." Rutherford has never seen Ellis play, but said he comes highly recommended by Quebec. "Everyone I spoke to said he'll make a good OHL goalie," Rutherford said. ------------------------ (For what it's worth, I agree with the decisions made by York *and* by Ellis.) ------------------------ Also from THN, picks for minor league FABULOUS FROSH included: Greg Johnson, Adirondack (AHL)...North Dakota Jim Montgomery, Peoria (IHL)...Maine Chris Tamer, Cleveland (IHL)...Michigan Tim Sullivan, Nashville (ECHL)...Plattsburg State John Young, Greensboro (ECHL)...Michigan Tech ------------------------ Lastly from THN, LA King Luc Robitaille on Rob Blake (BGSU) replacing Marty McSorley as the team's player representative to the NHL Players' Association: "Rob is responsible and he went to college. He's a bright guy." (Obviously brighter than Luc, although not as wealthy...yet. :-) ------------------------ John Haeussler...Univ of Michigan P.S. I'm testing a new message system, so apologies if this post doesn't look right..it's definitely a gamble.