The early National Letter of Intent signing period opens today and lasts through next Wednesday. (The “late” signing period opens April 8, 2010 and lasts through August 1.)

The National Letter of Intent is an agreement between an athlete (a senior in high school) and the institution, where the athlete promises to attend the institution for a year and the institution promises some form of financial aid for that year. So only athletes receiving athletic scholarships sign an LOI. Also, once an athlete signs an LOI, other schools promise to stop recruiting him.

UPDATE: CC is expecting LOI’s from John Moore, Joe Howe, and Dakota Eveland (though he is expected to arrive in 2010, could come next season if CC has early departures). CC obtained letters of intent from Rylan Schwartz, Scott Winkler, and Russell Goodman in the spring. CC coaches can’t comment on recruits until they have received the LOI.

Other recruits lined up for fall 2009 include: Andrew Hamburg, who was named the NAHL South’s player of the week for his five-point weekend, and defenseman Joe Marciano, who is playing with the Omaha Lancers.

Schwartz, who just returned from a silver-medal appearance at the World Junior A Challenge, ranks second among all points-scorers (14 goals, 18 assists in 16 games) in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Moore, who helped the U.S. Junior Select team capture a gold medal at the Challenge, is in his second year playing for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. Moore (Winnetka, Ill.) is fourth among Steel scorers and second in defenseman-scoring.

Winkler (Asker, Norway) as drafted in the third round (No. 89 overall) by the Dallas Stars last summer. He currently has seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in his first season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He spent last season with Russell Stover AAA, a midget team based in Overland Park, Kan.

Goodman, who seems to have rebounded well from a pair of serious knee injuries, leads the Nanaimo Clippers of the British Columbia Hockey League with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 20 games. Goodman hails from Saskatoon, Sask., and was named captain of the Clippers this season.

In his second season playing for the Waterloo Black Hawks, Howe is 3-2-1 through six games with a 3.10 GAA and a .892 save percentage. Howe has played the most minutes of the Black Hawks’ three goalies and just returned from the Junior A Challenge.

Future CC defenseman John Moore, who could join the Tigers next season, and goaltender Joe Howe (2009) helped the U.S. Junior Select Team to a 7-1 win over Canada West for the gold medal. CC recruit Rylan Schwartz scored the lone goal for Canada West, which had captured the title last season. Check out the results here.

As a bright spot for the Canada West team, Rylan’s younger brother, Jayden Schwartz, who is expected to join the Tigers in 2010, was named to the tournament’s All-Star team with a host of WCHA recruits:

F — Craig Smith, Wisconsin recruit (USA)
F — Mike Cichy, UND recruit (USA)
F — Jayden Schwartz, Colorado College recruit (CW)
D — Andrew MacWilliam, UND recruit (CW)
D — Matt Donovan, Denver recruit (USA)
G — Mike Lee, St. Cloud State recruit (USA)

MVP — Cichy

Stevens Point (Wis.) Area High School junior defenseman Aaron Harstad visited CC last weekend and chose the Tigers over Bucky, according to the Stevens Point Journal. (Read here).

Harstad was the fifth overall pick in the USHL entry draft, which was headed by fellow CC recruit Jaden Schwartz.

With the addition of Harstad in 2010 or 2011, the Tigers’ defensive corps will be heavy with Wisconsinites: Art Bidwill and Ted Behrend, both freshmen this season, hail from America’s Dairyland.

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There’s also a nice story on the BCHL website about 2009 forward recruit Russell Goodman, who had a tough spring with a knee injury and then being passed over in the NHL draft. Goodman’s back on track now, it seems, and one only needs to look at some of the undrafted players (Denver’s Tyler Bozak comes to mind) making a major impact in the WCHA to know that it’s sometimes good to fly under the radar.

Recruit Jaden Schwartz, who is pegged to join the Tigers for the 2010-11 season, was picked first overall by the Tri-City (Neb.) Storm in the USHL Futures Draft on Tuesday. Schwartz plays for the Notre Dame Hounds (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League), the same program that produced current CC defenseman Kris Fredheim. Schwartz’s brother, Rylan, is expected to join the Tigers next fall.

Another notable pick is Kyle Rau, younger brother of CC’s top scorer, Chad Rau, who went in the third round, 26th overall to the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Stampede. Head coach Kevin Hartzell said the younger Rau was “the best ninth grader in the state of Minnesota” and that “many feel that Kyle could end up being every bit as good if not better than his older brother.” I wonder if CC has the inside track in recruiting.

Back to the No. 1 selection of Schwartz–

To give you an idea what kind of recruiting coup this is for the CC hockey program: the last recruit to be picked No. 1 overall in the USHL Futures draft was none other than goaltender Richard Bachman. That gives the Tigers two No. 1 overall picks in three years. Not too shabby.

See the draft results here.

Future CC forward Dakota Eveland, who says he plans to study business at CC, and fellow recruit Joe Marciano, a defenseman who played with the U.S. under-18 team last year, are part of the infusion of California players dotting the Omaha Lancers’ (United States Hockey League) roster. Read here.

Colten St. Clair, a CC recruit committed for 2010, was named to the inaugural roster of the United States Hockey League’s newest team, the Fargo (N.D.) Force. In May’s USHL entry draft, St. Clair was picked in the 13th round (98th overall) by the Force.

Colorado Springs goaltender Cody Campbell and Superior defenseman Jacob Sloat join St. Clair on the roster.

Other CC recruits in the USHL include:

Omaha Lancers: Defenseman Joe Marciano and forward Dakota Eveland
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders: Center Scott Winkler
Chicago Steel: Defenseman John Moore
Tri-City Storm: Forward Andrew Hamburg
Waterloo Blackhawks: Goaltender Joe Howe

In Tuesday’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dean Spiros spun four vignettes about Minnesota hockey players who can’t seem to stay away from the rink. One of them, Travis Boyd, is a rising freshman at Hopkins, a public school in Minneapolis, where he skated on the varsity team as an eighth-grader last season. Boyd has received letters from Wisconsin, Colorado College and Maine, he said.

But, in case you didn’t believe that the Tigers coaching staff faces an uphill battle recruiting out of the Twin Cities, here it is:

“I would love to hear from the Gophers, ” Boyd said.

Though he was not ranked in Central Scouting’s final North American ranking, Tyler Johnson was listed by Hockey’s Future as a top-10 NCAA prospect. The article notes Johnson’s second-half improvement and quotes assistant coach Norm Bazin, who noted Johnson’s “tremendous instincts.”

As for other possible draftees with CC ties:

–Recruit Russell Goodman, a left wing for Nanaimo (BCHL), is a projected sixth-round pick by Central Scouting. He was listed as No. 160 in the final rankings.

–Recruit Scott Winkler, a center who plays for Russell Stover AAA, is a projected sixth-round pick by Central Scouting at No. 176.

Another little news item slipped under my radar, but I wanted to throw it up here. Recruit Colten St. Clair, considered by many to be the top 16-year-old hockey prospect in America, if not the world, was drafted by the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League in May. Former North Dakota coach Dean Blais will be on the bench this season.

Arthur Bidwill, a 20-year-old defenseman from Fontana, Wis., committed to CC Tuesday.

In his third NAHL season, Bidwill finished with 10 goal and 29 points in 39 games for the Fairbanks (Alaska) Ice Dogs. He was also plus-27.

Bidwell played for the Southern Minnesota Express and the Traverse City (Mich.) North Stars before being traded to the Ice Dogs midway through last season.

Read more here.

…as soon as I’m home in North Carolina on vacation, all havoc breaks loose in the college hockey world.

–Minnesota’s offensive woes are likely continue now that sophomore Kyle Okposo has decided to join the New York Islanders after World Junior Championships, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and first reported by Minneapolis radio station KFAN.

–Follow World Juniors via podcasts and videos here. Also, the medal round of World Juniors will be broadcast by NHL Network, which is available on Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and other major distribution channels. The schedule is here:

IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule
NHL Network U.S. Coverage

Recruiting news:

–Colorado College picked up a recruit for 2009 in defenseman John Moore of Winnetka, Ill. Moore, who attends New Trier High School and plays for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. Moore will be brought in to replace Jake Gannon, another Illinois native, and join Ryan Lowery and Brett Wysopal, also Illinois natives, on the defensive corps. Moore was also recruited by Dartmouth. More on Moore when I return from vacation. Updated recruit stats are here.

–Colorado Springs native Corson Cramer, a former Pikes Peak Miners goaltender, committed to Michigan Tech of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Cramer’s dad, Scott, was a World Professional Figure Skating champion from The Broadmoor Skating Club and attended Colorado College. Cramer plays for the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (USHL) with CC recruit Tim Hall.

Colorado College roundup:
The Tigers head into break ranked fourth nationally, behind rival No. 3 Denver and tied with the Pioneers for first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. On Tuesday, defenseman Jack Hillen was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, the third time this season a Tiger has won the award (goaltender Richard Bachman won twice).

CC’s individual honors stack up like this:
WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Chad Rau (11/20, 11/27)
WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Bachman (10/23, 11/27), Hillen (12/18)
WCHA Rookie of the Week: Bachman (11/13)
Commissioner’s Choice Rookie of the Month: Bachman (November)

Tiger Tracks:
–Aaron Slattengren was a named an ECHL All-Star and a starter for the American Conference team.
–The Grand Rapids Press’ Griffins beat writer implores fans to fill out AHL All-Star ballots and suggests they include Mark Cullen, who is second on the team with 23 points.
–This is pretty cool. Former CC defenseman Lee Sweatt has been hard to track since I can’t read Finnish. But his girlfriend, a CC alumna, has been keeping a blog on what I assume is the local newspaper’s Web site. Check it out.