Staying in your Minnesota youth hockey association to play bantam hockey as a ninth grader has many advantages for players and families alike.  Playing 50 to 60 games in a highly competitive, relatively cost efficient Minnesota association system, while continuing to play with the friends you grew up with seems to be reason enough.  For elite players in strong associations, this allows for another year of hockey development and physical maturation before making the jump to the high school level to play against 16-18 year olds.  

Jack Jensen, the MVP of this year’s Bantam Elite League has chosen to take his talents to Eden Prairie and spend this winter honing his skills at the Bantam AA level.  And while certainly capable of making the jump to the high school level, the skilled power forward no doubt has his sights set on being one of the most dominate players in Minnesota bantams.  The same can be said for some of the returning Minnetonka Bantam AA players.  This team sports many members capable of playing at the high school level, but their desire to search for a repeat state Bantam AA title while continuing their development will certainly provide some of them with enough drive to reach their long term goals in hockey by playing bantams this Winter.  

Making the jump to the high school level (AA or A) seems a natural progression for highly skilled players who had productive first years at the bantam level in their respective associations.  Often these players are searching for development by playing at the high school level with more physically mature and developed high school players.  Playing in a much more physical and faster game certainly has its merits when it comes to development.  The high school game also has its limitations.  First, the relatively short duration of the Minnesota high school season and limit on the number of games allowed are debatable.  Second, and possibly more important, the success and dominance that could be experienced as second year bantams may not come quite as easy or at all in high school and reduce the confidence players once had.  Also, the social dynamics of high school freshmen being surrounded by primarily 16-18 year olds also must be a consideration for coaches and parents alike.  Bantam Elite League players like Trevor Janicke (Maple Grove), Jett Jungels (Edina), Grant Docter (Minnetonka),  and Jackson Jutting (Prior Lake) will attempt to translate their skill sets from their rookie bantam seasons to the AA high school varsity level in Minnesota this winter.  This advancement will no doubt provide these and many others the challenge they seek to expedite their hockey development while playing for the high school extensions of their youth associations.   

Decisions start early for those players who have aspirations for playing at Shattuck St. Mary’s with many deciding in the spring of their eighth grade year to play for the Sabres.  The ability to play at this storied prep school comes not only as a result of a big talent level on the ice, but an equally large commitment from both the player and their family to choose a development path that changes family dynamics.  This year’s Shattuck U14 Bantam team has 8 Minnesotans. 

Among them are players like 2019 NOW Prospects Drew Helleson, Tyler Rollwagen, Kaden Bohlsen, Nik Norman, and Grant Silianoff who would have been among the top players on their association teams.  They instead chose a boarding school and Tier One hockey program that plays a national schedule.  Sacrificing living, and playing hockey,  at home at the age of thirteen or fourteen years old while pursuing a development path that most, if not all, hope will lead to reaching their goals in hockey comes with high expectations. 

Shattuck St. Mary’s has proven it can produce these results for some and these players are hoping the same is true for them.

While far from common, making the choice to play for out of state Tier 1 hockey programs has also become a choice that some youth hockey players in Minnesota see as a viable alternative for hockey development.  This “path less traveled” comes with as much social change as the change these young hockey players hope to see on the ice.  This choice certainly represents a family decision.   One such current individual is 2019 Now Prospect and past Bantam Elite League player Killian Kiecker-Olson.  The Anoka native is in his second year of playing for the nationally ranked U14 Colorado Thunderbirds.  While certainly not the first, or last, Minnesotan to journey this path (think Dayton Rasmussen-Colorado Thunderbirds  and Todd Scott-Omaha), Killian’s choice represents the rarest  for Minnesota’s ninth graders seeking hockey development and notoriety.   Many talented players come from Tier 1 hockey nationwide and obviously the development and national exposure available in these programs can be valuable for players whose aspirations are focused on post high school hockey at a young age.  The commitment to this choice in the name of hockey development may be questionable to some but the player’s sacrifice and dedication to achieve their goals is certainly not.

When it comes to hockey development, if you asked nine individuals you would most likely get ten opinions as to which path is best and why.  The simple fact is that development is specific to the individual and what truly matters is that all players “run their own race.”  The finish line or goal doesn’t change for what many of these hockey players hope to achieve.  The race, however, does.  The race is highly dependent on the player’s physical development and mental maturity, commitment to skill development and hard work no matter what the setting, family commitment and resources, and natural talent level.  The ability to run their own race and the diverse opportunities for hockey development in these four scenarios provides players with paths to reach their goals in the game of hockey.  Which path they choose is up to them, but they still have to run the race.