Danny Bertram lighting up the AJHL!

Hat-trick tonight for Camrose and he now has something like 38pts in 27 games as a 16 yr old! Very impressive numbers for the young guy.

Has anyone seen him play lately??

 

Bertram is a very taleneted player but word around town is he is going to go the NCAA route, no def. answer from anybody yet though.

 

He visited the University of Minnesota this past summer so I would bet if he goes the college route, Minnesota would be a team he'd be seriously considering.

 

seen him play last year at the Canada Winter Games, I would have to say that he is one of the fastest skaters I have seen play, I found he is like a rocket out there. I can't waite to see him and Brule play on the same line at the U17s in Newfoundland this year that should be great to see those to work a little together.

 

It's stupid to visit a college during the summer.

Nobody is there, no practices, no players, no games.

 

how is it dumb he gets to see the university, see the arena, the workout facility, what the school has to offer, meet his potential coaches, what the location is like around the school, what the dorms look like. He doesn't need to see students, watch a practice or games to see if he wants to go there, IMO if he picked NCAA he wants his schooling and hockey so I think he is looking for the best schooling with a decent program in hockey as well.

 

is this the guy who was drafted by the Giants?

 

Yes - and if he had gone all indications are that he would be having a great start to Junior. As it is, he stayed in Camrose and as noted above appears to be considering going south - don't count on Minnesota although they have a great program - he can go wherever he wants.

Hard to compare performance between leagues and especially levels - but he is a great hockey player with quickness, anticipation and finish around the net. Also a great kid. He is one to watch - at the CWG there were about 4 strong 87's (I know there were others but I was watching Crosby, Brule, Bertram and the one from Quebec whose name I forget right now) and as I have posted elsewhere the gap between them was not as large as some of the hype might suggest.

 

Most of the players work out and skate on campus during the summer, the coaching staff's office is in the arena so they spend a lot of time at the rink and with less activity going on, a player is able to get a more in depth guided tour.

A lot of unofficial visits for college hockey players happen in the summer because that is when kids have the time to travel without interrupting any school or missing any hockey games during their season.

Stupid to visit in the summer? If you say so.

 

Just to make sure you aren't misunderstanding my comment, I didn't say Minnesota is his 1st choice or a lock to land him. Just noted that they are very likely to be one of the schools he seriously considers and he visited them already.

 

Sorry - I wasn't saying you are wrong or that there was anything wrong with your post - just that he has a lot of options and the fact that he has taken his first flydown does not really mean that much. There are other contenders and given his potential and what I understand are good marks, he has a hard but good decision to make.

 

hey

I know Bert good, he is very fast and is considering the NCAA route, he has unbelievable speed. He's got a mouth on him like no other person i have seen in my life, hes an ass to play against on the ice, but is a great guy off the ice, during the kodiaks main camp and final black and white game before team was made this year he was slashing and hacking me so i dropped the gloves and fought him. doesnt have the greatast shot in the world but has good hockey smarts and knows where to be on the ice to put the points on the board. But wow he can fly down the wing, i remember him burning me once inside and out and just makign teh gaolie look like a fool afterwards, trust me his is not easy to contain in front of the net, even i couldn't handle him but were the same age. I wil be shocked if he doesn not go in teh first round in 2005, it would be an insult. from playign against him all kodiaks camp it was hard to play against him and not easy to contain as a dman. Not much of a fighter though haha hes a good guy.

Go Bert Go

 

I'm friends with the AJHL's education consultant and he has talked to Bertram about the route he is taking and he says he isn't leaning either way. He simply felt he wasn't physically ready for Major Junior this year and will again look at his options next year.

 

Good bet that you will him see in the WHL next year playing with the phenom Brule. Bertram has not accelerated and will have to play another year of tier II hockey before he can play in the NCAA. The way he is playing, I cannot see him spending another year in the AJHL or any other tier II league for that matter.

 

I agree, that is what I was looking at his agent would have advised him to accelerate his schooling if he wanted him to go NCAA route, and I can't see him playing another year in this league. He can play though in the same league that Wes O'Neill played in last year with the Green Bay Gamblers (not sure if I got the team right or not) but it is either there, where he is or WHL and I can see him playing WHL. Talking with Bertram at the Canada Games last year he told me he was thinking about playing NCAA but will probably choose WHL route...that is what he told me last year but alot can happen between then and now. But the clues add up to him playing for Vancouver next year.

 

I previously posted but decided to simply say that I think Dan has all his options open to him - don't count anything out.

 

From what I've read and heard, the Vancouver Giants are pretty confident that he will be in their line up next season. As far as I know he has not accelerated his courses and will not be graduating H.S. this year.

 

And I have a kid scheduled for 2 fly down's in the coming month and the teams could have done it with him over the summer but they wanted him to come in and see everyday campus life plus what a game day is like in the college.

So yes, to me, and obviously others... fly down's during the summer are stupid.

 

I do play-by-play for the AJHL and Bertam is by far one of the most talented players in the league.

He could easily be at a point per game in the dub this season.

Unbiased Canadian

 

I agree, if you want to sell a kid on everything the school has to offer, bring him down during the season.

The difference is Bertram's visit was an unofficial visit and the visits you are talking about are official visits. The University of Minnesota didn't pay for Bertram's visit. He isn't old enough for the school to actively recruit him. IIRC, Bertram was already in town for a hockey camp or something of that sort. The Bertram's most likely contacted the coaches and told them they are interested in seeing what the school has to offer and that is how the visit got set up.

 

I know all about the difference between official/unofficial visits

As the case is with SEVERAL young kids, not only can he visit a school but he can now committ to one as well.