The following are notes and pictures from the Festival played last weekend.  Section 7A/AA (Gold) won the HP-16 tournament beating Section 6A/AA (Gray) 6-1.  Section 6A/AA (Gray) won the HP-17 tournament beating Section 8A/AA (White) 3-1.

1.They Came Back

Lukas Dow and Ashton Altmann’s line led Duluth East’s Bantam AA team to the State finals a year ago at Braemar Arena in Edina.  The two players split on high schools, Dow went to Duluth Marshall and was the Hilltoppers’ #2 scorer with 32 points/goals last season.  Altmann played for Duluth East scoring 19 points/9 goals.  The two were reunited on the Section 7A/AA Gold team, playing on the same line again with Mitchell Mattson (Grand Rapids).

The Dow centered line blew open the HP-16 championship game scoring or setting up four goals in five minutes late in the first half to take a 5-0 lead.  The Section 7 team went on to win the championship 6-1.  In that flurry of goals, Dow picked up a goal and an assist, Altmann scored two goals and one assist.

Altmann and Dow will remain paired for the Final 54 round of the HP 16/17 to be played at the Plymouth Ice Arena.  Both have been placed on the HP 16 Red team; Mattson was also selected as one of the Final 54 players and placed on the HP 16 White team.

Dow and Altmann split.  Duluth East and Duluth Marshall never played each other in the 2013-2014 season.  Duluth East opted out of the Lake Superior Conference and played an independent schedule.

2. So Did East Grand Forks!

Four of the East Grand Forks players (Tanner Tweten, Tye Asmus, Grant Loven, and Trevor Selk) on the Section 8 HP-17 team made the Final 54 HP-17 teams.  All four played for the Green Wave high schoolers in the Class A State Tourney.  Sophomores Tanner Tweten (5 points/4 goals) and Grant Loven (6 points/1 goal) led the team in state tourney scoring behind junior Dixon Bowen.  Junior Asmus and sophomore Trevor Selk anchored the Green Wave defense.

In the Green Wave’s 7-3 championship win over Hermantown at the Xcel; Tweten posted a goal and an assist and Grant Loven had one goal and three assists.  Loven, Tweten, Asmus, Bowen along with EGF’s junior Reed Corbid scored 4 of the 5 second period goals that broke open the championship game against the Hawks. 

Asmus and Loven will be playing for the HP 17 White team at the PIC in two weeks; Tweten will be playing for the Blue and Selk will be at defense for the Red.

3. Jack Johnson and Bemidji

East Grand Forks may have had four players from Section 8 HP-17 team make the HP 17 Final 54 players; but Bemidji, led by Jack Johnson, also placed four players from the Section 8 HP 16 team on the Final 54.  Besides Johnson; Nick Leitner, Josh Lusby, and Brady Tatro made the Final 54 player list.  Johnson, Leitner, and Lusby are sophomores, Tatro is a freshman.  The four Bemidji players figured in 9 of the 15 goals scored by Section 8 at the Festival.

In their 7-6 loss to Section 7 in the semifinals, Johnson scored a hat trick and added an assist in the White team’s attempt to come back and win the game in the second half.  Johnson, Lusby, and Leitner will play for the White HP 16 team, Tatro will play for the Blue team.  The Section 8A/AA White 16’s were one of the best passing teams at the Festival.

4. Rasmussen Stops

YHH Top peewee in the 2011-2012 season, Dayton Rasmussen, played in the nets for the HP-16 Section 6 team (Gray).  Rasmussen posted a 2-0 record giving up an average of just under 2 goals a game while stopping 94% of the shots on goal.  In the championship game, Rasmussen stopped Dow and company in the second half of play.  The lone goal scored by the Gold champs from Section 7A/AA came off a 3-on-2 rush.  It was a freaky goal.  It started with a pass from the left to the slot that was tipped high by the lone Gray defenseman.  The puck hit the Gold forward in the slot on his stick handle and bounced mid-air to Scott Perunovich (Hibbing) closing at the right crease.  Perunovich batted the mid-air borne puck into the net on the fly.  It was a great score.

Rasmussen had an outstanding second half of play, shutting down Section 2A/AA in lead the Gray to a 3-2 overtime win in the semifinals.   He stopped 31 of 32 Orange shots.  Joshua Kenney, who played opposite Rasmussen in that period, gave up three goals on three shots; but the Burnsville JV goalie played well enough to be selected as a Final 54 player.

Rumor has it the Rasmussen was offered a place on the USA Hockey national team, but turned it down to stay at Holy Catholic Family.

5. Some Statistics

Rasmussen, as a ninth grader, stands 6’2” tall and weight 200 lbs.  Wayzata’s Tristan Moss (6’1” and 205lbs) and Chanhassen’s Jake Theis (6’0” and 200lbs), both tenth graders, were the only other HP-16 players to hit the 200lbs mark out of the 160 players participating in the festival.

Only two HP-17 players weighed in at 200lbs or more.  Hill-Murray’s Jacob Olson (6’3” and 210lbs) and South St. Paul’s Dan Pietruzewski (6’2” and 205lbs).  Both played on the Section 4A/AA team.  Both Olson and Pietruzewski will skate for the Blue team in the Final 54.

The tallest HP 16 player this year is Blaine’s Riley Tufte at 6’4”.  Tufte, a hard working physical wing, made the Final 54 and will be playing for the Red team at the PIC in two weeks.  St. Michael/Albertville sophomore defenseman Marshall Bjorlin was the tallest HP-17 player at 6’5”.  New Prague junior defenseman Mitch El-Waili came in second at 6’4”.

6. Does age within a year make a difference?

At the HP-16 level this year, 112 players out of the 160 participating were borne prior to July 1, 1998.  Of the 48 players borne after July 1, 1998, 24 were borne in the third quarter of the year and 24 were borne in the fourth quarter.  Of the 112 players borne in the first half of the year, 57 or nearly half were borne in the first quarter of the year.

At the HP 17 level this year, 83 players out of the 160 participating were borne prior to July 1, 1997.  Of the 77 players borne after July 1, 1997, 38 were borne in the third quarter and 39 in the fourth quarter.  Of the 112 players borne in the first of 1997, 49 were borne in the first quarter of the year and 34 in the second quarter.

That means 70% of this year’s HP-16 players were borne in the first half of their birth year while 51% of this year’s HP-17 players were borne in the first half of their birth year.  While the difference is dramatic, the statistic is a snapshot and is not necessarily a fact.  But it could point to a trend that 29 of the HP-17 players (or 18%) that were borne in the last half of the year stuck with hockey (as opposed to playing another sport) and as a result are enriching the state's hockey program.  At this corner of YHH it is another indication that the way Minnesota Hockey has set the youth hockey age groups fosters participation; the way USA Hockey sets its youth hockey age groups reduces participation.

7. Where is Roseau?

With East Grand Forks and Bemidji up next year and Moorhead looking strong, where will Roseau be when play in the Mariucci opens next December?  Only two players from Roseau made either the Section 8 HP-16 or HP-17 team.  Goalie William Woolever and Bryden Stoskopf, both ninth graders last year, played for the HP-16 White team.  The Ram’s eight top scorers will be graduating this year and not returning to play high school. That leaves Roseau will few experienced goal scorers (the returnees have put only four pucks in the net out of 116 scored by the Rams in the 2013-2014 season).  The Rams will be interesting to watch next year, they always find a way to compete.  At YHH we hope so, what is Minnesota hockey if the Rams are not on the prowl (sorry Thief River Falls).  

8. Shattuck Players Arrive

Because the National tourneys were being held at the same weekend as the Festival.  Three Shattuck players were placed in the HP-17 Final 54.  Forward Larry Jungwirth, defenseman Collin Saccoman, defenseman Jordan Klehr all played for the Shattuck Prep team at the Nationals.  The Preps won their ninth USA Midget 18U Tier I title beating Little Caesars 3-0 in the semifinals and Victory Honda 4-2 in the championship game.  The Preps went to the nationals as the #1 ranked team in the nation.

Three Shattuck players were also placed on the HP-16 Final 54 team; defenseman Brandon Schuldhaus, goalie Ryan Edquist, and defenseman Ryan Lindgren.  Lindgren, a sophomore, skated 51 games on the Sabre’s championship Prep team.  Schuldhaus and Edquist played for the Sabre’s U16 team.

9. What is Next?

The Final 54 games will be played April 26 and 27 at the Plymouth Ice Center in Wayzata and players chosen to participate in USA hockey’s New York camp later this summer.  It is good hockey and the players play to win games as much as tryout.  YHH congratulations to all that participated in the Festival and for the Final 54, good luck on getting a trip to New York.