Harms has USHL and WHL interest

The United States Hockey League is often compared with Canadian major juniors in terms of which route a player should take. In the case of Fargo’s sixth round pick Brendan Harms, that is his exact dilemma. The Brandon Wheat Kings own his Western Hockey League rights, and now the Fargo Force owns his USHL rights.

“[I’m] not really sure about pros and cons, as they are both a higher level of hockey in each country,” Harms said. “The USHL is less physical than the major junior. I am more familiar with the major junior league, its structure and know players in the league. The USHL has great college opportunities.”

Harms has earned all the accolades and the attention that he has received from both leagues. He put up phenomenal numbers for Portage in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and help lead them close to a Royal Bank Cup.

“He’s a young, almost a ’95, who put up close to 70 points in the Manitoba League on a first place team,” interim head coach Byron Pool said. “Portage went all the way to the Royal Bank Cup, so a very good hockey team.”

Those numbers become even more impressive when they are dug into a little bit. Not only was Harms second on the team in scoring with 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) in 59 games, but he was the youngest player on the team. He tacked on another 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 27 games in the postseason.

So the question is on the table. Will Harms go to the WHL or will he take the USHL, then college route? That same question is what may have let him slip to the Force in the draft.

“With Harms, if he wasn’t an import and there was 100-percent certainty he was coming down, that kid would have been a first round pick type kid,” Pool said. “He’s a kid that was garnering a lot of Major Junior interest. Brandon has his rights. So, he’s kind of in a situation where, you know, he needs to figure out what route he’s going to go.”

The USHL is known as the best developmental leagues in United States. Harms, like many of the players Fargo drafted, could easily benefit from that development. Pool described him as a solid hockey player with good hockey sense. Harms says his work ethic and his two-way play will help him wherever he ends up, but knows there are still parts of the game to work on.

“I work out regularly with a trainer and I will also be attending a hockey school over July and August to work specifically on improving my skating,” Harms said.

The Force is hoping that he does show up and make the 2011-2012 team roster. He did not participate in the team’s tryout camp in Prior Lake, but if he plays in Fargo next season he could be a dandy, according to Pool.

The organization definitely needs a dandy. They need someone to replace their top three leading forwards from a year ago. Jimmy Mullin will be at Miami (OH) next season, Chad Demers will be at Air Force, and Tanner Kero will be at Michigan Tech. Harms and others will have a great chance to fill that void, or even the void left by the Joe Rehkamp trade that helped Harms land in Fargo. The sixth round pick that the team used to pick Harms was acquired in the Rehkamp trade.

Assistant Coach and Director of Player Personnel Jesse Davis said that the team had to be spot on in the first phase of the USHL draft. It appears that they were, with Harms being their one gamble pick.

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By: Tim How