Elk River took on Rochester Friday at the Vadnais Sports Center as part of the White Bear Lake Preview. This would be an interesting match up of two teams looking to make their mark early in the season. After the first four teams in Minnesota (Minnetonka, Grand Rapids, Edina, and Centennial), the next 6 in the top ten will be tricky to project.
Elk River has a nice mix of first year and second year talent. Top returners include Mitch Stroh and Taiyo Larson on the blue line and scoring machine Connor Bizal up front, who will be joined by first year sensation Jack Perbix to form a nice front line for the Elks. the Elks won't be as highly regarded to start the season, but with some seasoning and good coaching by Adam Sharratt, the Elks could contend for a spot on state in Duluth.
Rochester finished second in the state last year in PeeWee AA losing to Edina in Thief River Falls. Many of those second year PeeWees load the roster for Rochester this year at Bantam AA. This is a really nice eighth grade class...kids like Dustin Sorenson, Luke Newman and Dylan Schneider made a great line last year as PeeWees, this year they may struggle early due to adjustment, but be assured, Rochester will also contend for a spot in Duluth.