Harvard Freshmen Recognized by INCH
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Inside College Hockey has recognized the
Harvard men’s hockey Class of 2015 as one of the top
recruiting classes in the NCAA and named four individual freshmen
among the best at their positions in its 2011 recruiting
rankings.
The Crimson sports arguably the nation’s deepest freshman
class, as only Miami’s top-ranked class matches
Harvard’s four players recognized in the INCH individual
rankings and only Minnesota and North Dakota equal the
Crimson’s five incoming National Hockey League draftees. INCH
lists Harvard’s overall class, which features nine players,
is ranked 12th nationally by INCH. The class was previously ranked
fourth by Red Line Report.
Steve Michalek is INCH’s pick for the nation’s No. 2
freshman goaltender. The Glastonbury, Conn., native led the United
States to a silver-medal performance at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka and
was invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in summer
2011.
Two Crimson defensemen are ranked among INCH’s top 20
freshmen on the blue line. Patrick McNally, captain of last
year’s New England-champion Milton Academy squad, is ranked
14th. Max Everson, a 2010-11 Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalist, comes
in at No. 17.
Czech Republic native Petr Placek is the No. 20 forward in the
INCH freshman rankings. The former Hotchkiss School captain was
ranked as high as No. 54 on the NHL Central Scouting list before
being picked by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2011 NHL Entry
Draft.
McNally was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in 2010 NHL Entry
Draft, a year before the Toronto Maple Leafs chose Everson, the
Minnesota Wild picked Michalek and the San Jose Sharks selected
Colin Blackwell. Along with previous draftees Danny Biega (Carolina
Hurricanes), Alex Fallstrom (Boston Bruins) and Alex Killorn (Tampa
Bay Lightning), the Crimson has eight NHL picks on its 2011-12
roster, the ninth-highest total in the NCAA.
