Seven UMHSEL teams played in the opening weekend.  Colorado Rampage was the eighth team.  All the games were played at the New Hope Ice Arena.  This weekend the USHSEL will play another round of games, but the games are split between Grand Rapids MN and Stevens Point WI.  The Chicago Fury will be the eighth team for the second weekend.  The performance of the seven UMHSEL teams on the opening weekend is summarized below. 

1. TCF Bank or Team Southeast

TCF Roster Changes: The only roster change from the roster announced by the league at the end of July is the addition of defenseman Jason Smallidge.  Lucas Gillett/Rosemount, Jack Poehling/Lakeville North, and Nick Reis/Cretin-Derhem Hall did not skate the opening weekend.  Max Johnson/Lakeville North skated the opening weekend.

TCF Team Play: Offensively, the Bankers’ struggled in the opening game before the TCF team broke away in the second period for a 6-2 win over Muscle Milk.  In their second game Saturday, the Bankers got into skating game with the Mpls St. Paul team; taking a 4-3 into the second period after wild up and down first period (37 shots were fired on net in the first period).  The offensive show did not slow in the second period.  The Bankers took a 6-4 lead into the third period after another 30 shots were fired on net.  For the game, 89 shots were fired on net.  The MSPers outshot the Bankers 47-42.  TCF’’s goalie Ryan Edquist/Lakeville North made the difference.  In Sunday’s game against Luther’s, TCF came back to take a 3-2 lead late in the game only to give up a last minute goal that tied the game 3-3.  The Bankers skated one Poehling short on the weekend (Nick and Ryan showed, Jack didn’t).  The coaches skated Lakeville North forward, Mark Johnson, and East Ridge’s Derek Hammer with the Poehlings.

TCF Individual Play: After a physical, scoreless, first period in their opening game; the Bankers scored two late second period goals to open a 5-1 lead (a 6-2 win over Muscle Milk).  The two late second period goals were power play goals.  The first power play goal was the result of shear individual effort by Peter Tufto.  After being frustrated by the MMer’s in the first minute of the penalty, Tufto took the puck along the right boards in the neutral zone and just powered his way through the Muscle Milk defense, put a hard shot on goal and kept skating cutting through the top of the crease from right to left.  He picked up his own rebound, slowed and buried the puck from the left crease.

The Bankers’ defenseman Jack Ahcan got the second power play goal three minutes later.  With time running out on the MMer’s penalty and the MMer’s defense overshifted right, Ahcan playing the left defensive point, seized the opportunity to slip down into the left crease area just as the puck bounced left.  He controlled the rebound below the end line and scored bouncing it through a melee along the left post from behind the net.

TCF Bank Notes: TCF Bank’s offensive lines were scrambled on the opening weekend.  Two lines were kept intact; the Poehlings teamed with either Johnson or Hammer and the line of Michael Graham/Eden Prairie, Nick Swaney/Lakeville South, and Casey Middlestadt/Eden Prairie.  The coach cobbled together line combinations after that with the four remaining forwards.  Defensively, Jack Ahcan/Burnsville teamed with Jack Sadek/Lakeville North controlled play on their shifts and Brady Schoo/Eden Prairie showed that he could score.  Outside of the Mpls/St. Paul game, the Banker defense limited opponents less than 25 shots on net.  Goalie Dyllan Lubbesmeyer/Burnsville played well; Ryan Edquist/Lakeville North struggled.  Edquist was in the nets for USA’s U17 team in the Five Nations tourney played in Germany two weeks ago.

2. Mpls/St. Paul Magazine or Team Northeast

MSP Roster Changes: Goalie Matt Snow/St. Thomas Academy has replaced Andrew Lindgren/Eagan on the Mpls/St. Paul roster.

MSP Team Play: The MSPers posted a 1-2 record on the weekend losing a tough Sunday game late to Team Wisconsin.  After beating Starkey 6-2 and pushing TCF Bank before losing 7-5 in two Saturday games, Mpls/St. Paul came from behind to take a 6-4 lead over Wisconsin only to lose the game in the last three minutes of play 7-6.  All three last minute Badge goals were even strength.

The MSPers’ defense corps, led by the two Rochester defensemen (Riese Zmolek/Century and Griff Slightam/Lourdes) and Seamus Donohue/St. Thomas Academy, had a good weekend.  Zmolek showed outstanding speed and offense when rushing the puck; Donohue played a tough smart game.  Donohue scored 4 goals in the opening weekend games.  Despite showing great offense speed and skills when rushing the puck, Zmolek ended up scoreless on the weekend.  That will change.  Donohue wound up leading the team in scoring with 6 points.

MSP Individual Play:  One of best plays made by the MSP team came in the opening game when MSP forward Chase Jungels saw Starkey’s all Edina line developing a weak side play off a 3-on-2 rush.  That play is a staple for the Edina youth teams.  This time, Jungels (who skated with all three Edina forwards in the Edina Association program) saw the play developing and came from behind to back check Garrett Wait out of the weak side position putting Wait into the MSP goal.

The MSP offense had all four lines involved in their opening game win over Starkey.  The line of White Bear Lake’s AJ Welch and Tom Giller plus Mounds View’s Austin Rameriz had an outstanding weekend.  Jungels/Benilde-St. Margaret’s became the playmaker (4 assists/0 goals) on his line with Christiano Versich/St. Thomas Academy and Connor Lovick/Centennial.  The line scored only one goal (Versich) in the three games; but posted 8 assists.

Mpls Team Notes: The White Bear Lake duo, AJ Welch and Tom Giller, powered a line that added depth to a solid offensive opening weekend for MSP.  The two Bears combined for assists on two goals in the first game.  Jack Beck/Mahtomedi added to a line with Mark Kaske/Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Zach Mills/Hill-Murray.  Riley Tufte/Blaine and Mark Swenden/Wayzata looked tired.  Both had just returned from playing for the USA U17 team at the Five Nations Tourney in Germany.  It is not easy to fly to Europe, play five tough games, return to the USA, and get back in the game a week or so later.  Tired or not, the two combined with Luke Notermann (center)/Blaine to post 5 goals/7 points in the three weekend games.  

The MSP goaltenders, Jack Burkel/Rochester Lourdes and Matt Snow/St. Thomas Academy, showed some rust giving up 16 goals while stopping 81 shots.  That should change as the UMHSEL season moves on.         

3. Starkey or Team Southwest

Starkey Roster Changes: Defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf/Edina and forward Kiefer Bellows/Edina were dropped from the Starkey roster.  Defenseman Casey Straum/Hill-Murray and forward Josh Laven/Hopkins were added to the roster.  Will Garin/Holy Family Catholic was out with an injury halfway through the first game.

Starkey Team Play: The loss of Garin early in their 6-2 loss to Mpls/St. Paul forced the Starkey coaches to experiment with line changes for the rest of the game.  The MSP defense took advantage and started to control the game flow.  Starkey recovered to beat Luther’s 5-3 and the Colorado Rampage 10-5 posting a 2-1 record for the opening weekend.

Starkey Individual Play: The coaches kept the all Edina line (Dylan Malmquist, Casey Dornbach, and Garrett Wait) for all three games and that line provided consistent pressure on the ice.  But the loss of Gavin resulted in the other lines based on two player combinations (Marshall Barnes/Holy Angels and Will Reedy/Prior Lake; Alex Gregor/New Prague and Kevin Fellows/Prior Lake; and John Peterson/Holy Family Catholic and Josh Laven/Hopkins).  Gavin Payne/Minnetonka and Matt Mastermann tended to freelance among the lines.

The coaching changes on the fly worked.  After their 6-2 loss, Starkey beat Luther’s 5-3 and Colorado 10-5 outshooting their two opponents 77-49 in those two victories.  Barnes posted 6 points/3 goals on the weekend; Payne scored 5 points/1 goal.  Dornbach scored twice and added an assist; the Dornbach/Malmquist/Wait line carried the play consistently into the opponents’ zone over the weekend.  Dornbach scored the first goal of the UMHSEL 2014 season, tipping a Ben Newhouse shot past Mpls/St. Paul goalie Jack Burkel/Rochester Lourdes in the first minute of play of the opening game.  Starkey’s defense contributed to the scoring.  Defensemen Anderson and Schuldt each posted three points/2 goals; Matt Anderson/Holy Family Catholic posted 3 points/2 goals on the weekend.

Starkey Team Notes: The jury is out on how Starkey offense will mesh.  At this point the team has one consistent line, a strong defense and good goaltending.  Dornbach had a good weekend.  If Starkey’s line of Kevin Fellows/Prior Lake, Gavin Payne/Minnetonka, and Alex Gregor/New Prague starts to roll; Starkey will be a tough team this year.          

4. MAP (formerly Velocity) or Team Northwest

MAP Roster Changes: Max Zimmer/Wayzata is not on the MAP roster.  Two players, Henry Enebak/Lakeville North and Jacob Nystrom/Spring Lake Park, have been added.  Both are forwards.

MAP Team Play: Team Wisconsin may have been rusty in their opener, but the MAP team was not.  Their offensive lines really meshed and it showed as the MAPers won easily in the opening game 9-3.  The MAPers went on to put 29 pucks in the net in three games.  Against Team Wisconsin, MAP jumped to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period, and led comfortably 6-3 at the end of the second period before winning 9-3.  In their second game Saturday against the Colorado Rampage, they took an early 2-0 in the first and added five second period goals to take an 8-3 lead into the third period beating the Rampage 10-4.  Against Muscle Milk Sunday, MAP held on to an early two goal lead through two periods leading 6-4 going into the third.  MAP scored three goals in the first nine minutes of the third to put the game out of reach and won 10-6.The line of Elk River’s Jacob Jaremko and Reggie Lutz plus Chase Ellingson/Breck scoring 22 points/10 goals as the MAPers hammered Team Wisconsin 9-3, the Colorado Rampage 10-4, and Muscle Milk 10-6.  The next MAP line out of Carter Roo/Benilde-St. Margaret’s sandwiched between Josh Passolt/Maple Grove and Jacob Nystrom/Spring Lake Park scored 16 points/9 goals.  The third line out led by Andover’s Zach Sitarz (with two young guns Ben Meyers/Delano and Henry Enebak/Lakeville North) scored 9 points/5 goals in the three game weekend.      

MAP Individual Play: The line of Elk River’s Jacob Jaremko and Reggie Lutz plus Chase Ellingson/Breck scored 22 points/10 goals as the MAPers hammered all three opponents.  The next MAP line out of Carter Roo/Benilde-St. Margaret’s sandwiched between Josh Passolt/Maple Grove and Jacob Nystrom/Spring Lake Park scored 16 points/9 goals.  The third line out led by Andover’s Zach Sitarz (with two young guns Ben Meyers/Delano and Henry Enebak/Lakeville North) scored 9 points/5 goals in the three game weekend.  MAP had the offensive power on the opening weekend.     

Josh Pasolt/Maple Grove made a great play for MAP in Saturday’s opener against Wisconsin.  MAP led comfortably 5-2 with 5 minutes left in the second period.  Team Wisconsin was pressuring MAP in the MAP zone when Passolt broke the puck loose from a jam in front of the MAP goal knocking it forward to a teammate on the left.  Recognizing that his teammate was going to gain control, Passolt kept going into the neutral zone right but slowed positioning himself to give his teammate a clear passing lane.  His teammate hit him in stride just before the Team Wisconsin blue line.  Passolt led a 2-on-1 rush into the Badger zone carrying the puck and drawing the lone Badger defender to him by accelerating to the Wisconsin net.  Once the defender turned his skates and shifted his stick to meet his charge, Passolt flipped the puck past the defender to an open wing for an easy score to put MAP up 6-2.  They went on to win the game 9-3.  Wisconsin was rusty in this game, their passing was off.  That would change.  It did.  Wisconsin won their next two games.

MAP Team Notes:  MAP replaces Velocity as Team Northwest’s sponsor.  MAP (Minnesota Advancement Program) is the elite division of FHIT Hockey created for individuals who want to compete alongside elite players.  They operate out of the Super Rink in Blaine and out of the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.  Please note that the UMHSEL coverage in this corner of YHH uses each teams sponsor’s name.  Our stories always include pictures of game action and the UMHSEL team uniforms feature sponsor names not Team Southwest or Team North.  It simplifies the read and gives the sponsors their due.

MAP showed a lot of offense on the opening weekend; their defense struggled at times.  Their offense put 144 shots on net; the defense gave up 116 shots on net.  The MAP defense needs to tighten up. MAP goalies Alex Schilling/Wayzata and Josh Kuehmichel/Hopkins played well; but saw a lot of tough shots considering the scoring pressure their offense put on the opponents.

5. Luther’s or Great Plains

Luther's Roster Changes: At the end of July, Luther’s still were in the process of finalizing their roster (one reason it was hard for YHH to preview).  One surprise is Jared Bethune/Warroad is not on Luther’s roster.  Bethune was drafted by the USHL’s Lincoln Stars and has committed to UMD for the 2016-2017 season.

Luther's Team Play: Sometimes a fan just does not expect much out of a team.  The Luther’s are just that type of team.  They were the “Cinderella” team on the opening weekend.  Luther’s put a great game together to beat the Colorado Rampage 5-0 behind the goaltending of Jacob Dittmer/Moorhead in their first game Saturday.  It was a surprising win; the Rampage are a good team.  What was also surprising was the balanced scoring that came from players who live on both sides of the Red River and from players who live from points north and south in the state, from Bemidji and East Grand Forks to Luverne.  It makes for a team that will be an instant fan favorite as the season progresses.

After beating Colorado, Luther’s struggled against Starkey’s losing 5-3.  The Luther’s forwards tended to collapse in their zone allowing Starkey’s defense room to operate.  The Starkey defense did just that, scoring three even strength goals.  Still Luther’s had TCF Bank on the ropes in their third game Sunday.  With the game tied 2-2 they had the edge in offensive pressure until the Bankers combined Derek Hammer/Eastridge with the Poehlings (Nick and Ryan)/Lakeville North resulting in the Bankers taking a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.  It took a goal from Detroit Lakes’ Jon Richards salvage a tie 3-3

Luther's Individual Play: Richards had a good weekend; Ryan Marciniak/Alexandria had a nice opening game; and Kobe Roth/Warroad still has that explosive speed (scoring 4 points/1 goal to lead Luther’s in scoring).  Chaz Smedsrud/Luverne had gotten bigger and stronger and centered a good line with Eric Leach/Grand Forks Red River and Jake Leitner/Bemidji.  Smedsrud’s back checking was outstanding.  But the play of Leach and Doug Larson/Crookston on the penalty kill was effective and fun to watch.   

Luther’s Team Notes: The Luther’s defense prevailed in the opening weekend.  They held their three opponents to eight goals in three games (and 84 shots on net).  Goalie Dittmer ended up leading the league after the first weekend. 

6. Muscle Milk or Team North

Muscle Milk Roster Changes: Muscle Milk’s roster did not change from the end of July.  The two Minnesota Hockey District 11 powers at the youth level, Hermantown and Duluth East, placed eight players on this year’s UMHSEL entry.  Hermantown (defenseman Wyatt Aamodt and forwards Nate Pionk and Cole Koepke) has three and Duluth East (defenseman Alex Spencer, goalie Gunner Howg, and forwards Brian Bunten, Ash Altmann, and Nick Altmann) has five.  They will form the core of the Muscle Milk 2014 team.  Hermantown and Duluth East are perennial Section 7A/7AA champs and state entries.

Hermantown’s closes challenger, Duluth Marshall, has two players (defensemen Lane Krenzen and Jordan Fralich) on the MMer’s roster.  Grand Rapids, the Hounds closes 7AA challenger in the North, has three Thunderhawks on the MMers’ roster (Alex Adams, Jonah Bischoff, and Mitchell Mattson).

East Grand Fork’s Tanner Tweten and Grant Loven are on the Muscle Milk roster, but the Green Wave’s Tye Ausmus and Dixon Bowen are missing.  Both were on the MM’s roster in 2013.  Ausmus is playing for the USHL’s Lincoln Stars.  Bowen was drafted this year by the USHL’s Fargo Force.  The Green Wave’s leading scorer, Reed Corbid is also missing.      

Muscle Milk Team Play: The MM’s were blitzed by TCF Bank in their opening game.  In the first two periods they were outshot 36-16 and trailed 5-1 going into the third period.  Their lines never meshed going against a strong TCF offense that controlled the MM’s breakout leaving their defense vulnerable.  Things did not improve in their second game against Team Wisconsin.  They held the Badgers to a 2-2 tie going into the third period and were outshot 18-6 in the final period to lose 5-2.  In their final game, the MM’s skated an evenly with MAP after falling behind 3-1 in the first period (a late Mpls St. Paul goal at the end of the first hurt).  They traded goals in the second period only to have Mpls St. Paul blow the game open with three goals in the first nine minutes of the third period and lost 10-6

Muscle Milk Individual Play: The MM’s offense missed some forwards for the first two games.  The juggling didn’t work until the forwards settled in on Sunday.  Mattson and Koepke ended up being the team leaders in scoring (3 points each).  Tweten, Revering, and Pionk each scored two goals on the weekend.  Defensively, the MM's gave up 128 shots on net in three games (21 goals). 

Muscle Milk Team Notes: The MMer’s have three goaltenders on their roster.  Lucas Murray/Virginia and Gunnar Howg/Duluth East both struggled in the nets for the MM’s this weekend.  Gabe Heifort/Bemidji is the third MM goalie.  The MM goalies were not alone in their struggles.  It was a tough weekend for all the goalies in the league.  Only one UMHSEL goalie (Jacob Dittmer had a save percentage in the nineties-94%).

After a slow start, one thing the MM’s from the North will have going for them; all three games next weekend will be played at the Grand Rapids Ice Arena in front of a friendly crowd.     

7. Team Wisconsin

Team Wisconsin Roster Changes: Team Wisconsin had 17 players that played 18 or more of the 21 UMHSEL games that the Badgers played last season.  Of those 17 players, goalie Nathan Siclovan (2013 UMHSEL record 4-3-1 giving up an average of 3.2 goals a game while stopping 90% of the shots on net) is the only returning player this season.  But Badge fans should not fret; 11 players on the Badgers’ roster played on Team Wisconsin’s U16 National Championship team last season.  

Team Wisconsin Team Play: In their opening game, a painful 9-3 loss to MAP, the rust and hesitancy was showing on the Badger players, especially the forwards.  Their passing was sporadic at best, often missing the open breaking wing.  Their hands were like the sideboards, wooden.  Still they kept their discipline in the Badger defensive zone and played the packed defense and quick transition on the breakout game they played last season.

Despite losing to MAP by 6 goals, the Badgers outshot MAP 42-38 in the game.  It was a sign that good things would happen.  The Badgers went on to beat Muscle Milk 5-2 and Mpls-St. Paul 7-6 (coming from behind to score three last minute goals for the win).

Team Wisconsin had their power play working on the opening weekend scoring on 5 of their 14 power play chances.  They moved the puck at nice pace once setup in an opponent’s zone and the open player was not afraid to take a quick shot if the opportunity was there.

The Badger coaches tinkered with three of their four lines, but kept the line of Ty Pelton-Byce/Madison Memorial, Cole Paskus/Madison West, and Collin Peters/Sheboygan North intact on the weekend.  That line produced 7 goals (Peters scored 4).  The Wisconsin defense provided significant offensive help.  Defensemen Bret Schwengler/Eau Claire Memorial, Anthony Stillwell/Notre Dame Academy, and Ryan Swenson/Chippewa Falls combined to score 2 goals/6 assists in the three weekend games.  The Badger goaltenders showed their rust, both goalies (as most of the goaltenders at New Hope last weekend) struggled.     

Team Wisconsin Individual Play: Defenseman Swenson scored on a power play that was a Badger signature play on the weekend.  In their opening game loss and the Badger’s on the power play in the Mpls-St. Paul zone, the puck was rotated to Swenson at the left center blue line.  Swenson quickly one-timed the shot into the lower right corner.  Even though the shot had a rainbow, his release was quick enough to beat the goalie.

The game hero on the weekend for the Badgers goes to Collin Peters.  Peters, teamed with Conner Blank/Fond du Lac Springs and Pelton-Byce in the last minutes of their Sunday game against Mpls St. Paul, and scored twice getting the game winner with 6 seconds left on the clock.

Team Wisconsin Notes:  The Badger team is a before and after team and proved dangerous last UMHSEL season.  Though they only posted 9-10-2 record in 2013, they upset a number of good teams and closed the season on an up note losing to Starkey 7-2 in the playoff championship game.  Team Wisconsin ended up ranked #6 among 135 U18 Tier I (AAA) teams posting an 18-14-2 record.  In the after part of the season, they played in the U18 national tourney held in Green Bay WI last April and made it to the tourney semifinals before losing to Victory Honda 2-1 (Victory Honda lost the national championship game to Shattuck’s Prep team 4-2).

Last season’s Team Wisconsin U16 team, also a before and after team, won USA Hockey’s Tier I title beating the Colorado Thunderbirds 2-1.  Tony Stillwell, a defenseman on U16 Team Wisconsin, scored the winning goal with 3 minutes left in the fourth overtime.  Henry Cutting/Madison West was in the nets for the championship game.  Both Stillwell and Cutting played for Team Wisconsin this past weekend.