USHL Draft Coverage- Geoff Fortman

I have been contacted by sbnation.com to write up some profiles on players that may be drafted into the USHL this year in the USHL Entry Draft. I will be writing a profile almost every day leading up to the draft beginning with forwards, then on to defensemen, and finishing with goaltenders. These are in no particular order, as the Entry Draft is hard to predict. I haven't seen these players play either, so if you have seen them play and have something to add, please do. Enjoy!

Geoff Fortman (Chicago Mission U16) is a big blueliner who we should be seeing very soon in the USHL. The defenseman from Crystal Lake, Illinois has the great combination of offensive ability, size, and physical play. Fortman stands at 6'1" and 205 pounds which is not incredibly tall, but he has that bulk to make him a great physical presence for a team, which is something every team can use back on the blue line. In 38 games of Tier 1 Elite midget minor hockey this past season, Fortman had 44 penalty minutes, most of which came on physical plays. He only had one game where he recieved more than 4 PIMs in a game though. The game he got more than four was December 4th, while his Mission were playing the Colorado Thunderbirds. In that game, he ended up with 12 penalty minutes, a checking from behind minor and then a 10 minute misconduct for the same infraction. But, as was mentioned before, Fortman is a complete player. In those 38 games, Fortman collected 23 points from the blue line. Of those 23 points, 9 were goals and 14 were assists. Of the defensemen I have profiled so far, Fortman has the best offensive numbers. Because of this offensive skill, physical play, and size, I would compare Fortman to Youngstown Phantoms defensman David Donnellan. Geoff Fortman is definitely a guy who we will be seeing in the USHL next year.

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