Inside College Hockey | Recruiting Trail

September 13, 2006
Recruiting Trail: Top 10 Goaltenders

While the top spot was, in many ways, the easiest part of our Top 20 Forwards and Top 20 Defensemen rankings. Not so with our list of the Top 10 Incoming Goaltenders, where we found significant debate over the first and second positions.

There are probably multiple reasons for this, beginning with the fact that Joe Palmer (Ohio State) and Alex Stalock (Minnesota Duluth) enter school with similarly impressive credentials. But there may be more to it, specifically this: goalies are unpredictable, as seen in last year's INCH rankings, which some may say should have flip-flopped No. 1 (Minnesota's Jeff Frazee) with No. 10 (Miami's Jeff Zatkoff).

Inside College Hockey compiled its 2006 Recruiting Rankings with extensive input from college and junior coaches, as well as professional scouts. Participants were asked to evaluate recruits based on their projected impact at the college level, not on their professional hockey prospects.

Stay tuned in the coming days for our exclusive ranking of the top incoming classes and our annual all-name team.

TOP 10 INCOMING GOALTENDERS
No.	Name	School	Last Team
1.	Joe Palmer	Ohio State	U.S. NTDP
Steady, if unspectacular, goaltender squares to the shooter and plays the angles well. May not steal a game for his team, but gives them a chance to win every night.
2.	Alex Stalock	Minnesota Duluth	Cedar Rapids (USHL)
The USHL's first-team all-star goaltender got some support for the top spot on this list. A year older than Palmer, his transition may be easier as a freshman, although most give Palmer the edge long term.
3.	Brian Foster	New Hampshire	Des Moines (USHL)
Another in this year's line of solid fundamental goaltenders, Foster may hold an advantage over his fellow freshmen in how he challenges shooters and controls rebounds.
4.	Jase Weslosky	St. Cloud State	Sherwood Park (AJHL)
A 1988 birthdate, Weslosky would have entered a year from now had Tim Boron not left school early. Arriving early may cost him minutes, but will allow him to ease into the college game behind starter Bobby Goepfert.
5.	Zach Kleimann	Quinnipiac	Milton (OPJHL)
Last year the Bobcats brought in an outstanding, but underrated, freshman class. Kleimann, who was 24-4-2 in the OPJHL last season, gives them a highly touted goaltending prospect.
6.	Brett Bennett	Boston University	U.S. NTDP
Opinions are widely mixed on the agile Bennett, but the consensus is this: he should stay away from Agganis Arena when the basketball court is down, after missing half of last season after separating his shoulder in a pickup hoops game.
7.	Ryan Simpson	Providence	New Hampshire (EJHL)
Like Weslosky (above) and Grieco (below), Simpson is coming to school a year ahead of schedule. Steven Ritter's departure made room for Simpson, the EJHL Goaltender of the Year.
8.	Anthony Grieco	North Dakota	Wellington (OPJHL)
9.	Dan Meyers	Massachusetts	Green Mountain (EJHL)
10.	Kain Tisi	St. Lawrence	St. Michael's (OPJHL)
Holds the bulk of the career goaltending records for the OPJHL's St. Michael's Buzzers, a significant acheivement for a franchise that boasts Jason Muzzatti and Sean Burke as alums.