News and Notes 3/18/13: Bowdoin defenseman goes pro, March Madness and more

Bowdoin's Milley signs SPC with Wheeling Nailers of ECHL

Milley sports flowing locks

Nick Craven isn't the only NESCAC senior joining the pro ranks. After his Polar Bears season ended with a 4-2 loss to Utica in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals on March 9th, Bowdoin defenseman Alexander Milley signed a Standard Player Contract (SPC) with the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL)'s Wheeling Nailers on Saturday's March 16th. Milley appeared in the Nailers 3-1 loss to the Toledo Walleye (you can't make up minor league hockey names) on Saturday.

The ECHL is the second highest level of minor league hockey in North America, behind only the American Hockey League (AHL). 25 of 30 NHL franchises have an affiliation with one of the ECHL's 23 teams. The Wheeling Nailers, based in Wheeling, West Virginia, are affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens. The Nailers currently sit eight points behind the Walleye for the eighth and final playoff spot with seven games remaining in the regular season.

The 5'9" 165 lb. defenseman from Winchester, Mass. played in 49 games in four years at Bowdoin, garnering 32 penalty minutes and 6 points (3-3-6). He scored his third and final collegiate goal in Bowdoin's 5-2 NCAA Tournament opening round victory over UMass-Dartmouth on March 6th, exactly three years to the day (3/6/10) after his second college goal.  Milley wore number 26 for the Polar Bears but wears number four for the Nailers.

Alexander Milley's official Wheeling Nailers roster page 

March Madness

Sure it isn't hockey, but everyone loves picking brackets for the soon to tip off NCAA D-I men's basketball tournament. We are having our own bracket challenge, with the winner getting a nescachockey.com t-shirt (design to be revealed this week) and a hat from the winner's NESCAC school of choice. The Middlebury Hockey hat to the right is an example of what you could get, but it is just an example. The choice is yours...if you win, of course.

You can enter and follow the standings here. No fee for entry, limit one entry per person. You can signup with a yahoo ID, facebook or google account. Standard bracket scoring: 1 point for correct picks from the round of 64, 2 points for the round of 32, 4 points for the sweet 16, etc. You have until tip-off of the first game on Thursday, March 21st to enter.

NESCACHOCKEY. COM TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE 

Recruitment 
With the season officially over for all of D-III and most of awards season having come and gone, the majority of the attention in the NESCAC puck world turns towards recruiting. We'll have our own list and coverage, but for now you can check out the WordPress blog's recruitment list  and the USCHO forum recruitment list thread.

If you know of other credible resources for D-III hockey recruitment or have tips on recruits not listed on any of these sites, please email us.