Green Bay Gamblers Fall Classic Part I

After a USHL-worst 13-41-6 record in 2007-08, the Green Bay Gamblers returned to respectability in 2008-09. New head coach Jon Cooper took the reigns, cleaned house, and brought in a collection of largely underrated players and molded them into the winners of the USHL's Anderson Cup as the team with the best record during the regular season. Nobody expected such a turnaround entering last season, but it shouldn't have been surprising considering Cooper's prior success in building the St. Louis Bandits into back-to-back NAHL champions. The Green Bay team entering the 2009-10 season has a lot more USHL experience and higher expectations than the one that entered 2008-09, and it also features a stronger list of first-year eligible prospects.

Standout Wisconsin high school offensive defenseman Aaron Harstad enters the season with the benefit of having played at the end of last season and had a head start in establishing himself for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Cohort Chris Crane also has the benefit of USHL experience heading into his draft year and now looks primed to make the jump from scrappy energy-line player to a legitimate two-way contributor.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to catch the Green Bay Gamblers in action at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and in Part I of the Gamblers report enters notes on Green Bay's prospects in their first year of draft eligibility - a list that has some depth beyond just Aaron Harstad and Chris Crane.

Aaron Harstad (2010), D, Green Bay

Green Bay's next NHL draft pick .. has good speed with the puck and can make a very tight circle at top speed to ditch opponents .. agility with the puck is well above average, as he can get well out over his edges .. uses his mobility to give him a quick release from the point .. has a smooth, hard one-timer that he is adept at getting off while fading backwards .. makes crisp, hard breakout passes and can connect from a long distance .. makes crisp, accurate point-to-point passes, too .. able to rifle a hard saucer pass .. an offensive defenseman in high school, needs to improve his defense .. has a frame to work with at 6-foot-2, 183 pounds and engages physically along the boards .. needs to improve defensive awareness .. has the mobility to maintain proper gap control and engage at or near the blueline, but backs in too much .. reads when defending the rush are questionable at times .. similar to teammate Nick Jensen, although Jensen was slightly better in terms of skating and offense, but defensive game is not as good as Jensen's was last year at this time .. unlike Jensen, Harstad has the benefit of being a likely top-four defenseman on Green Bay the entire season, and thus could surpass Jensen's numbers from last season .. with said comparison in mind, a likely fifth or sixth-round draft pick .. committed to Colorado College .. played Wisconsin high school hockey for Stevens Point Area in 2008-09 and scored 23 goals and 20 assists in 24 games .. also played for Team Wisconsin in the 2008 Upper Midwest High School Elite League prior to the high school season and had 1 assist in 8 games .. also played 10 games for Green Bay at the end of the 2008-09 season but went without a point .. went without a point in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. went without a point in 5 games for the entire preseason.

Ryan McKay (2010), G, Green Bay

Has some definite strengths and some things that definitely need work .. has decent quickness in his crease movements in all directions, be it laterally or vertically .. does a good job tracking the puck through traffic and does a good job controlling rebounds when square .. unfortunately, he does not always stay square, which can result in some interesting rebounds .. can be especially prone to cheating along his posts, which is the time when he most often isn't square and gives up the unpredictable rebounds .. when square, he does a good job of allowing no rebounds or directing them into the corners .. drops to the butterfly early at times .. does a good job of keeping his butterfly compact .. makes crisp glove saves .. quite confident handling the puck and can move it up the boards or up to teammates crisply .. has a lot to work with and sufficient size at 6-foot-0, 190 pounds, but needs to work on consistently staying square .. a possible pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft if he can supplant Steve Summerhays as the number one or at least platoon .. no college commitment of yet .. played midget major for Chicago Young Americans in 2008-09 and went 14-12-7 with 1 shutout, a 2.82 GAA, and a .910 save percentage in 1762 minutes over 35 Tier 1 regular-season games .. played 60 minutes in 1 game at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and went 1-0-0, had 0 shutouts, a 2.00 G.AA, and a .909 save percentage .. played 120 minutes of 2 games in the entire preseason and went 2-0-0, with a 1.50 GAA, and a .940 save percentage.

Christopher Crane (2010), RW, Green Bay

Has come a ways in a year, but doesn't appear to have made as much improvement over the summer as he did over the course of last season .. skating still needs some work .. looks a bit awkward accelerating and has some wasted vertical movement accelerating .. able to build decent speed without the puck, but is still a bit slow with it .. doesn't have much separation along the wing .. offensive game appears to be making steady improvement .. now shows some patience to assess options from the half boards, but will still drive the net, too .. able to execute some nifty stickhandling maneuvers and will even employ the occasional Gretzky circle .. has a decent wristshot skating in and can execute it off the pass .. not as kamikaze on the forecheck as last year, but still physical .. still willing to fight, too .. appears set to be a top-nine forward for Green Bay .. a possible pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but will need to have a strong year and improve skating .. committed to Ohio State .. played for Green Bay in 2008-09 and scored 10 goals and 9 assists in 48 games, as well as compiling 120 penalty minutes .. had 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and 1 assist in 4 games for the entire preseason.

Max Hartner (2010), D, Green Bay

Proof Air Force is getting some decent recruits these days .. confident skating the puck and displays poise with it .. has good vision to find teammates on the breakout, the attack, or in the zone .. makes crisp, accurate breakout passes and also in distributing the puck from the point .. smooth circling with the puck backwards .. pretty quick at the point and can also stop quickly .. has a hard wristshot from the point that he can keep low .. defensive game is decent .. mobility allows him to stand up opponents .. engages physically down low and skates hard on the backcheck, if such happens .. has adequate size at 6-foot-0, 191 pounds .. has the makings of a good two-way defenseman .. long shot to be selected in 2010 NHL Entry Draft because of commitment to Air Force and the complications that creates with the required service after graduation .. would be upgraded to a possible pick otherwise (although Air Force as a hockey program is getting stronger) .. played midget major for Colorado Rampage in 2008-09 and scored 8 goals and 14 assists in 46 games .. had 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and 1 assist in 4 games for the entire preseason.

William Kessel (2010), LW, Green Bay

Looks set to be a role player for the Gamblers in 2009-10 .. consistently put in a strong effort on the forecheck and was frequently F1 .. regularly finished his checks .. handy with his stick on the forecheck and manning the point defensively .. didn't get a lot of offensive chances, but did show some nice lateral quickness for loose pucks and some one-touch passing prowess .. appears to have embraced his role with Green Bay, as he was not known for having a consistent effort in midgets .. has continued to get bigger and is now listed at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds .. a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but if he takes a year as a role player and merges it with his past as a scorer in midgets, he could become a well-rounded hockey player .. no college commitment of yet .. played midget major for Honeybaked in 2008-09 and scored 11 goals and 17 assists in 46 Tier 1 regular-season games .. had 1 assist in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and 1 assist in 3 games for the entire preseason.