More pro contracts

Four more Colonials from last year’s graduating class have signed on in minor professional hockey.  This time it’s in the Central Hockey League (CHL).

Logan Bittle 08–Colorado Eagles

Jeff Gilbert 08 — Laredo Bucks

Brett Hopfe 08– Laredo Bucks

Christian Boucher 08–Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

The CHL has five teams with direct affiliation with NHL teams, the Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Phoenix Coyotes.

A few months ago people were surprised that players like Bittle and Boucher hadn’t signed as quickly as some of their teammates, but there was a hang up on these players getting their Visas to play in the states, not to mention finding the right place to get active play.

Watch the guys all season long on the CHL Network, it’s free!

Vote for the Colonials!

The Hockey News is doing an online voting contest for the top logos in College Hockey and of the CHA logos are a part of their tournament to discover the fans’ choice for the top logo in all of hockey. The Robert Morris Colonials logo is picked number 1 by THNs panel of experts and is currently leading the CHA vote.

Over the month of August, THN will rank the logos of 16 North American leagues. Click the link to go to THN’s Logo Rankings Central page and vote for your top Hockey East, CCHA and CHA logos as part of our tournament to discover the fans’ choice for the top logo in hockey.

Vote Here!

Inside College Hockey’s A-Z: RMU’s Nathan Longpre

Inside College Hockey has been putting together their 2008-2009 A-Z Profile of players to watch from each team in College Hockey this upcoming season.  They recently previewed the RMU Colonials, with Nathan Longpre, the sophomore forward from Ontario, as the key player to watch this upcoming season.

Everyone knows that Chris Margott will deliver this season, the main question with that is who will help him deliver this year.  Last season Margott spent the majority of the season paired with Ryan Cruthers (who put up 49 points), so this season only looks to see who will be paired with the 40+ point forward in Margott.  Coach Schooley feels confident enough to tell ICH, that Longpre will spend a good amount of time on the top line this season with Margott, “I’m looking for Nathan to go from 20-something to 30-something points this season. He is a dynamic player with excellent skills and plays big. Playing with Chris Margott this season, hopefully his progression will continue and he can help pick up the slack.”

To read more: RMU’s Nathan Longpre

Chris Kaufman at Tampa Bay Lightning Prospect Camp

Recently graduated Colonial defensemen Chris Kaufman recently attended the Tampa Bay Lightning Prospect Camp, and skated for Team “B” in the camp.  There is limited information regarding the camp itself, but Chris was one of 9 non-Lightning prospects invited to the camp, 3 of which were defensemen (including Chris).

Currently Chris is not listed on the Bakersfield Condors roster list, but there are only 2 defensemen listed who have signed contracts.  Chris was offered a qualifying offer from the Condors back on July 1st, but had until August 1st to accept the offer, but apparently he has not making him a restricted free agent.  Chris is allowed to field other offers from teams in the ECHL and AHL/NHL alike, but the Condors will have a chance to match whatever offer he may recieve, until August 31st, where Chris and any other restricted free agent, will become an unrestricted free agent at that time.

Lady Colonials Campaign – Schedule and 3 Recruits Officially Added

The Lady Colonials have announced their 2008-2009 campaign with highlights of this year’s season against St. Lawrence on October 24th and 25th, who finished their season at 28-10-1, winning 10 out of 17 non-conference match-ups last year.  The Saints top two leading scorers (Harbec and Grills) both graduated in the spring, as well as their top goaltender, Meaghan Guckian, who logged over 2,000 minutes in net last year putting up a 23-10-1 record.

The newest member to the Women’s CHA Conference, Syracuse, will make their first trip to RMU to open the season here at home for the Lady Colonials on October 10th and 11th.

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Coach Handrahan and his staff have also officially announced 3 new members to their squad: Brianna Delaney, Paige Pietrangelo and Kathryn Stack.  Here is what Coach Handrahan had to say about his new players:

“Brianna is a forward that will add to our quality at the position,” said Handrahan.  “She is very heady and has a knack for scoring goals.  Scott did a great job finding her because she is a player that you have to watch closely to appreciate how good she is.  I believe that she will help us take another step forward in producing offense.”

“Paige will be a welcome addition to our program,” said Handrahan.  “She will add an element that we haven’t had a lot of with her size.  She has very good hockey sense which will help her adapt to the college game quicker.  Paige was born in Pittsburgh (living in Niagara Falls, Ontario) so it is great to have another native-Pittsburgher joining us.”

“Kathryn is a great kid with a great attitude toward the game,” said Handrahan.  “She is excited to be a Colonial and she will continue to develop in our culture.  Being from Edmonton, Alberta, she comes from a hockey-rich part of Canada and brings a passion to play.”

Read more at RMU Colonials.com

CHA in USCHO.com Article

USCHO.com wrote about the upcoming CHA season, highlighting some areas of concern in the future of the CHA of course, as well as talking with the interm Commisioner Ed McLaughlin.

Read it here: CHA Article