WCHA stuff: Gophs to carry 28 players, defection bug hits the Sioux

FELDY: Some more interesting stuff from the Star Tribune's Roman Augustoviz. Here's a note he has about the Gophers' incoming recruiting class, which numbers 13 players. The biggest thing to me about this class is that it pushes the Gophers roster size to 28 players. That means eight guys (counting new walk-on goalie Jake Kremer) will not dress for games.

That could cause some unhappiness among players. I mean, almost all of these guys were heavily recruited, and I'm sure their dream wasn't to come to the U and wear a shirt and tie on Friday and Saturday nights. That said, Lucia told us months ago that he'd do this. After Kyle Okposo left the team in the middle of the season, Lucia talked about bringing in enough players to have depth in place if/when situations like the Okposo situation arise.

The part that made me chuckle a bit had to do with Kremer, the walk-on goalie who will fill Brent Solei's role as a cheerleader on game nights. HIs former coach -- Byron Pool of the NAHL's Bismarck (ND) Bobcats -- said: "I'm real excited for Jake. I think he will make it hard for the Gophers not to play him." Maybe Mr. Pool has never heard of, or didn't watch, Alex Kangas this season.

Gophers players have also elected junior wing Ryan Stoa as their captain for the 2008-09 season.

** On another note, the list of underclassmen from the WCHA jumping to pros grew by one today, as North Dakota forward T.J. Oshie signed with the St. Louis Blues. Oshie was a top-10 Hobey Baker Award finalist this past season, when he helped the Sioux to their fourth consecuive Frozen Four appearance.

This isn't a shock to anyone who follows the Sioux or the WCHA. It was just a matter of time once the Sioux were eliminated by Boston College in the national semifinals. And I'd bet within the next week or two, we'll see Oshie's teammates Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley follow him out the door. All three of those guys had thought about jumping a year earlier, but they decided to stick around and make another push for a national title, which, once again, came up two victories short.