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Chicago Tribune Chicago Sports Section 3 Tuesday, September 3, 2013 BASEBALL BLACKHAWKS PREPS PLUS Winning seeds being planted PRESS PASS-WRIGLEY See Wrigley Field like you've never seen it before. At noon on Sept. 15, the Chicago Tribune hosts a Press Pass event featuring a chance to meet a former Cubs player and tour the stadium with access to the warning track, dugouts, locker room and press box. Tribune baseball reporter Paul Sullivan will also be on hand to answer questions. Tickets for adults are $45, $25 for children 12 and younger.

Ballpark food and on-field photos are included. For tickets and more information, go to chicagotribune.com wrigleyevent BRIAN CASSELLATRIBUNE PHOTO Corey Crawford was at his best in the playoffs when he posted a 16-7 record, 1.84 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Crawford extended RECRUITING BITS BY MIKE HELFGOT Crete's Morgan trims his list to 6 Illinois, Indiana, Purdue offer Montini's Sykes without seeing film Anthony Standifer went from Crete-Monee to Mississippi in 2012 and was a big part of the reason why Laquon Treadwell, the 2012 Tribune Player of the Year, chose to do the same. Now it's Treadwell's turn to play recruiter with Crete-Monee senior Nyles Morgan. Morgan, a four-star linebacker and the No.

2-ranked recruit in Illinois according to Rivals.com, trimmed his long list of suitors to six over the weekend. Ole Miss made the cut along with four other Southeastern Conference schools Vanderbilt, Texas Florida and Tennessee and Michigan State. Morgan has spoken with Treadwell since Treadwell earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors by snaring nine receptions for 82 yards and a two-point conversion in the Rebels' 39-35 win at Vanderbilt on Thursday night "I would say Quon is going to be an influence; he's a teammate I played with," Morgan said. "But I'm going to make my decision regardless of teammates and other influences." Morgan said he plans to start scheduling official visits in the next week. No film? No problem: Illinois, Indiana and Purdue didn't need to see film of Montini's Nile Sykes playing linebacker before extending an offer.

Following the Oak Park transfer's dominant debut at the position in Montini's 21-19 victory against Maine South on Saturday night, the Illini, Hoosiers and Boilermakers are likely to have plenty more competition from the Big Ten and beyond. "I played defensive end at Oak Park, so schools like Missouri, Wisconsin, Mississippi State and Minnesota wanted to see film of my first game at linebacker," Sykes said. "Northwestern was asking about the film as well." They're going to like what they see. Sykes, who scored a 28 on the ACT, lined up in different spots and was all over the field in unofficially recording 11 tackles three behind the line and a sack. In addition to the three Big Ten schools, he has offers from Syracuse, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

"I've got a feeling this is going to mushroom," Montini coach Chris Andriano said. "He had a great game Saturday night. It reinforced to me what I've been seeing in practice." Visit on hold: Notre Dame running back Chris James was considering a Labor Day weekend visit to Pittsburgh before the storm that postponed the Dons' eventual 44-21 victory over Prairie Ridge from Friday to Saturday. James said Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Tennessee are his current leaders. He has not scheduled any official visits.

Continued from Page 1 Meanwhile, Tennessee travels to Birmingham on Thursday to begin its Southern League play-en's against the White Sox affiliate, and Class A Boise, the Cubs' short-season team, takes on Sa-lem-Keizer on Tuesday in its Northwest League playoff opener. "It's a very big compliment to our player development department that it kept to their plans and didn't deviate a lot," said Tim Wilken, the former scouting director who now is a special assistant to Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer. "It's part of the attitude We want to win including here (in the majors). "Hopefully that attitude funnels all the way up here as the kids progress up the ladder. It's going to be fun to watch." Wilken, a holdover from the Jim Hendry regime, was in charge of drafts that netted many of the current prospects, including Javier Baez, the first-round pick in 2011 who led all minor leaguers, through Sunday, with 111 RBIs in 129 combined games with Daytona and Tennessee.

Wilken is renowned for out-side-the-box picks including Jeff Samardzija who starred as a wide receiver at Notre Dame and Daytona first basemandesignated hitter Dan Vogelbach, a Chris Farley look-alike who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds. Because of his fire hydrant-type build, some scouts project Vogelbach as a future DH. Epstein joked in spring training the Cubs aren't worried because the National League could adopt the DH rule by the time Vogelbach is ready to play in the majors. But Vogelbach, a second-round pick in 2011, led Daytona with a .455 OBP in 17 games after a promotion last month from Class A Kane County and has 19 homers with 76 RBIs and a .824 OPS overall in 2013. "He gets stereotyped not only by (the media) and me," Wilken said.

"You look at him and say, 'That's not the usual guy you see out on the He knows that. He hears that And that's a little bit of his grindy edge that makes him compete even better. I think it helps him focus." Vogelbach, who turns 21 in December, said he doesn't have to prove anything but does want to "show people I can play first base." Of course, the Cubs have a first baseman in Anthony Rizzo who recently signed a seven-year contract, which suggests Vogelbach eventually will be playing elsewhere if he makes the big leagues. "I don't worry about that," he said. "All I can control is going out and playing hard and getting better as a player and a person." Daytona manager Dave Keller concurred, saying it's way too soon for Vogelbach to fret over his path to the majors.

In fact, one of Vogelbach's teammates is talented first baseman Dustin Geiger, who ranked third in the FSL with 86 RBIs and fifth with an .824 OPS. "You can't sit and worry about playing first base in the Cubs' minor league system and also worry about Rizzo," Keller said. "You can't do it, because then you're already defeated. "What happens if you (hit like) crazy and go off? Now you're in Triple and then next thing you know boom maybe you're going to get traded and go play for another team and get an opportunity. How many shortstops sat in Triple A with the Orioles when (Cal) Ripken was playing short every day? How many catchers played in a system behind Gary Carter or Carlton Fisk or Johnny Bench that made it? "You never know.

Maybe Rizzo gets traded, or someone gets hurt. This game is so unpredictable. You never want that to happen, but that happens too." Keller concedes Vogelbach has "some work to do defensively," including picking balls the ultimate with our group. There was never a question in our minds that we want to commit to him. It's the most important position we have and we have a lot of faith in his ability to continue.

He's a young goalie and he's certainly worked hard. He's proven he can do it at the highest level." Bowman said signing Crawford to a long-term deal always was part of the plan and the main impetus for letting Antti Niemi become a free agent following the Hawks' run to the Cup in 10. The cap figures to rise perhaps dramatically in the years after the 13-14 season when it will be $64.3 million. The additional cap space will be needed when the Hawks can enter negotiations on extensions for forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane beginning next July. Crawford combined with Ray Emery in 13 to win the William M.

Jennings Trophy as the tandem with the top goaltending in the league. After a regular season during which he went 19-5-5 with a 1.94 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, Crawford was at his best in the playoffs when he posted a 16-7 record, 1.84 goals-against and .932 save percentage. The deal capped a stretch in Crawford's life in which he got engaged, helped the Hawks to the Cup, attended Team Canada's Olympic orientation camp and had his day with the cherished trophy. "It's just been getting better and better," Crawford said. "I'm on a bit of a high right now and hopefully I don't come down from it The last couple of months have been great." ckuctribune.com Twitter ChrisKuc Continued from Page 1 million and the Hurricanes' Cam Ward at $6.3 million.

The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, whose hit will be $6,875 million this season, and the Sabres' Ryan Miller, who costs $6.25 million against the cap, will be unrestricted free agents in 2014-15. Of that group, only Ward joins Crawford in capturing a Stanley Cup as a team's primary goalie. "It's more of a confidence the team has in me to try and repeat and go for more championships in the future," Crawford said of the extension. "I'm not going to put any extra pressure on myself. I'm just going to compete hard like I've always done." Now 28, Crawford will be 35 when the contract expires, an age when goalies can still be at the top of their game.

In recent years, Tim Thomas was 37 when he helped the Bruins win the 2011 Cup and Chris Osgood was 35 when he led the Red Wings to the '08 title. Thomas was 36 when he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie for the 10-11 season, Martin Brodeur of the Devils was 35 when he nabbed the trophy for the '07-08 season and Dominik Hasek was 36 when he won it for the 2000-01 Sabres. The long-term investment in Crawford is a departure from Stan Bowman's history with goalies, but the Hawks GM believes it's worth it for a goalie who came into his own during '13 and now has a Cup on his resume. "The reality is, we need to have a top-notch goaltender in our organization and we have one right in-house here with Corey," Bowman said. "We know him well.

He's grown up with our organization and he's earned 'It's just a matter of time." Prospect Dan Vogelbach on the Cubs ending their World Series drought out of the dirt on errant throws. But Vogelbach continues to improve, saying he learned a lot in Kane County from manager Mark Johnson and his staff. Now he's on a winning team and playing with some more experienced players. Daytona, like many low-level affiliates, has been in transition since April. When the season began, Baez and outfielder Jorge Soler, their top prospects, were the main focus at Daytona But Baez and left fielder John Andreoli, a University of Connecticut product, were promoted to Double-A Tennessee along with starter Matt Loosen, who threw a no-hitter for Daytona.

Meanwhile, Soler and second baseman Stephen Bruno, who had a .436 OBP in 19 games, suffered season-ending injuries in the first half. Now much of the focus is on Kris Bryant, the No. 2 pick in the 2013 draft, and Edwards, one of their top pitching prospects. "That has been a darn good club the whole year, even while it's been affected by promotions or injuries," Wilken said. "It's been kind of fun to watch because even guys that are not considered prospects are real good baseball players, so it's a wonderful blend." Vogelbach is the joker in the clubhouse, a job he takes seriously.

Wilken called him an "infectious personality," the kind who brings together a group of divergent personalities from various backgrounds. While playing at Kane County, Vogelbach and some teammates took the train into the city on a couple of days off to watch the Cubs play. "You look at yourself, and you look at those guys and you think, Tt'd be pretty cool to be playing with them for a ring at Wrigley some he said. "You try and put yourself on the field in a year or two and think: 'Dang, that could be me As the Daytona Cubs compete for the FSL title, the Cubs hope it goes a long way toward developing talent and relationships. Not all of the Daytona Cubs will make it to Wrigley Field together, but those who do will one day look back on this as their first taste of winning together.

"That'd be really cool to be there with these guys," Bryant said. "Getting to know them, it makes me feel comfortable down the road, knowing there will be familiar faces in the (Cubs') clubhouse." They may not be history majors, but they all know about the Cubs' World Series drought. Vogelbach said it would be hard to ignore, since people "talk about it all the time." But the Cubs' prospects feel they could be the ones helping to finally end it, and Vogelbach matter-of-factly said, "it's going to happen" soon. "It's just a matter of time," he said. "And when it happens, it's going to be pretty exciting." psullivantribune.com Twitter PWSullivan 21.

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Els squeaks in for BMW Continued from Page 1 stay at his North Shore home during the event. Garcia slumped to a final-round 73 on Monday to allow Henrik Stenson to win in Norton, Mass. "I just wasn't comfortable," Garcia told reporters at the TPC Boston. "I wasn't able to trust myself as I did the first few days." Stenson, who tied the tournament record by shooting 22-under 262, surged to the top of the FedEx Cup points list, while Tiger Woods fell to second after a tie for 65th. University of Illinois alum D.A.

Points got cut from the Deutsche Bank, but it won't affect his plans. Points secured a spot in the BMW Championship by winning the Houston Open in March and finishing second in New Orleans. He raved about Conway Farms after playing a recent practice round. "It is in fantastic condition," he said. "It's a beautiful place.

If the greens are soft, I think the scores will be really low. The fairways are generous. There's not a lot of crazy Projected field for BMW Championship, Page 6 length to it, so from that perspective it won't be too hard. There are some really great par-4s, and overall you'll see a lot of low scores." Points also likes the par-5 finishing hole, an uphill 570-yarder with a creek that runs across the fairway and short of the green. "If the wind gets blowing in the right direction," Points said, "it will certainly make for an exciting finish." Conway Farms, a walking-only course that opened in 1991, was designed by Tom Fazio.

It has hosted the 1997 NCAA Division I men's championship, the 2009 Western Amateur and the USGA's 2012 Mid-Amateur Championship. The event marks the first time a PGA Tour event has been contested on Chicago's North Shore since the 1972 Western Open was played at Sunset Ridge in North-field. Cog Hill played host to the PHIL ROGERS' POWER RANKINGS JIM ROGASHGETTY PHOTO Henrik Stenson took the FedEx Cup points lead with his win in the Deutsche Bank Championship. event in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Donald, not surprisingly, said he has given the par-71 layout "glowing reports.

I think the guys will like it It's a little bit of a different feel to what we play week in, week out It's a prairie-land course with some fescue. "I know Cog Hill hosted this championship for a long time. I think the guys are looking forward to having a new venue and obviously a new area, and I think this event will be a great success." Last week's rankings in parentheses 1. Dodgers (2) 2. Tigers (1) 3.

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