College hockey's most coveted recruit continues to struggle with his
decision of which school to attend, but the conclusion should come soon.
Phil Kessel is in the process of letting schools know they're no longer on
his mental consideration list, which now numbers two, his father, Phil Sr.,
said. When the Verona native finishes that task, he'll get down to deciding
between the two schools, which are believed to be the University of Wisconsin
and Minnesota....
Phil Kessel Sr. said his son has never been in a rush to decide, and added
that his son wanted to get through the portion of the NTDP Under-18 team's
schedule where it played against college teams to see whether those experiences
had any impact.
A game against Michigan last Saturday was the Under-18 team's
final contest against a college team. Kessel scored two goals against the
Wolverines, who were on his original list of six possibilities. Boston
University, Boston College and North Dakota also are believed to have been ruled
out.
Kessel, expected to be a top pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft, leads the
Under-18 team with 30 goals and 58 points in 31 games.
Personally, I am of the opinion that he'll be a one year and done player which makes no sense for the Gophers, sinc they are years away. The Badgers on the other hand have an extremely young an talented team this year, which will only be better next year. Their only question mark next year will be in goal, assuming Earl, Pavelski and the defensemen don't leave early. Imagine if Suter had stayed for this year......
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Kessel will make his decision on Wednesday, possibly today. Included in their story is this quote, taken different ways on the USCHO message boards:
Phil Kessel Sr., did not identify the programs to the State Journal. But he
indicated one is a clear frontrunner, saying, "It's 75-25 [percent] on the two
that are left. In his heart he feels there's one that's a little bit better for
him."
