near Huntington, California. In order to improve his game, he left California to play hockey in Ontario for the Pembroke Lumberjacks for three years. Nodl, from Vienna, Austria followed the footsteps of fellow countryman, Thomas Vanek (formerly of the Gophers and now with the NHL Buffalo Sabres) and took his game to the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL for two years. Both made tremendous strides in junior hockey gaining notoriety as strong offensive players and catching the eye of the SCSU coaching staff early on. Both committed to the Huskies before their final year in junior hockey and before legions of college hockey recruiters even had a chance to sell their respective programs. Proving the coaching staff right, Lasch burned the Central Junior Hockey League with a league leading 146 points in 2005-06 while Nodl finished his final USHL season with 57 points, sixth in the league. Nodl was subsequently taken 39th by the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL in the 2006 NHL entry draft. Proven scorers, both have amazing hand eye coordination, good on-ice vision and an instinctual nose for the net. And while Lasch sees many of his goals being directed in from around the goalmouth, Nodl has the ability to wrist a well placed shot from twenty feet out into the back of the net. At the college level, both seem to have that uncanny ability to see the game in slow motion holding the puck until the last moment before generously sliding the puck through traffic to a teammate's stick. After four games, both players have given a glimpse of what's to come as Nodl leads all Division I rookies with a 2.00 point per game average, 30% scoring percentage (3 goals/10 shots) and currently leads the Huskies in scoring with 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. Lasch has scored in three of the Huskies first four games, has a 40% scoring percentage (2 goals/5 shots) and is fourth in team scoring with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. The coaching staff is obviously pleased with these youngsters placing them in key roles early on in the 2006-07 season. Coach Motzko calls Lasch the "real deal" and is impressed by his "tenacious approach to game day and to their practice sessions". He calls Nodl a "highly skilled" player that will improve the offensive statistics of any player on his line. As a result, he indicated "I have 12 other forwards who would love to be on a line with Nodl". Nodl and Lasch may be the future of the Huskies but they are also proving the future may be now for two of the top young players in the WCHA.
