Casey Mittelstadt will return for his Senior year for another run at the X
At every level of youth hockey, we see players trying to move up and or move on to greener pastures. It seems everywhere we turn a Squirt is playing PeeWees, a girl is skipping U12s to play high school, or a high school skater is leaving for the USHL or the National Development program.
This past weekend we saw two groups of Minnesota high school teams beat the United States National Team Development Program ((NTDP) U-17 team. A feat that had never been accomplished prior, happened twice in two days.
Many in the local hockey circles waved their flags with pride on Sunday, proclaiming the strength of one model versus another. Where at YHH we like to think there are many paths to a great hockey future. That said, it cannot be ignored what happened and some incredible supporting facts that support the Minnesota development model.
For review, that model includes playing for your local PeeWee AA/A team in the Winter at Squirts, PeeWees and Bantams. Followed by a high school career at a local private or public school. With the ultimate prize of playing in the Minnesota State High School Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.
Each year, a non-hockey entity will publish a "The Sky is Falling" article about how major junior hockey is ruining high school hockey and that the shine of the state tourney is fading. Fact: every author of these doom and gloom articles hasn't been in the building of the X the last four years. Ask people who watched Duluth East beat Edina in 2015 or Wayzata knock off Eden Prairie last year if the tournament is dying. Spend 15 minutes in the hallways of section 200's, it is the best party in the state for four straight days.
Grand Rapids celebrated their trip to the X last year in Duluth
Looking at the two rosters of the teams that defeated the NTDP, it is pretty impressive. Division one commits like Gavin Hain (North Dakota), Sammy Walker (Minnesota) and Josh Ess (Wisconsin) were standouts for the Selects. There were a few lines that were really fun to watch like Hain, Blake McLaughlin (Minnesota) and Ryan Sandelin (MSU Mankato). But what really stood out was the fact that there are 20+ players that have played at least one year of MN high school hockey and bypassed the Elite League and a shot at The Tourney to play somewhere else.
While this does work out for many of these players (see Scott Reedy, Grant Mismash and Dayton Rasmussen) - it still begs the question. Do you think they really needed to go to Shattuck, Colorado or Ann Arbor to get a scholarship from the Gophers, Sioux or Denver?
Read this list and imagine what the HS Elite League would look like if they were living at home, eating mom's hot dish, going to homecoming and high school football games versus the alternative in someone else's house and in someone else's league.
Player | Grad Class | College Commitment |
---|---|---|
Matt Anderson* | 2017 | Minnesota Duluth |
Mikey Anderson | 2018 | Minnesota Duluth |
Ryan Bischel | 2017 | Clarkson |
Brendan Bushy | 2017 | St. Cloud State |
Chase Brand | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Cam Buhl | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Ben Copeland | 2017 | Colorado College |
Brian Hurley | 2017 | Ohio State |
Trevor Janicke | 2019 | Notre Dame |
Isaac Johnson | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Keegan Karki | 2018 | North Dakota |
Nate Knoepke | 2017 | Minnesota |
Benton Maas* | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Connor Mayer | 2017 | Connecticut |
Ben Meyers* | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Micah Miller* | 2017 | St. Cloud State |
K'Andre Miller | 2018 | Wisconsin |
Dylan Mills | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Casey Mittelstadt* | 2017 | Minnesota |
Jaxon Nelson | 2018 | Minnesota |
Scott Perunovich | 2017 | Minnesota Duluth |
Clayton Phillips | 2018 | Minnesota |
Dayton Rasmussen | 2017 | Denver |
Marko Reifenberger | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Jacob Sibell | 2018 | Uncommitted |
Harmon Sorenson | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Baron Thompson | 2017 | Uncommitted |
Ryan Ullan | 2019 | Uncommitted |
Jensen Zerban* | 2017 | Uncommitted |
*Expected to return for 2016-17 HS season |
Holy Family's Jared Moe makes this save last year against Stillwater
Despite all of the great players, coaching and development in state, players still choose to leave. Likely because the perception is there is something else better out there. The reality is, the best players are found, no matter where they play. If the player is good, scouts and college coaches will find you. Especially in a state that produces hundreds of division one players each year.
But as you look at this list, you begin to wonder how great it could be - players like Clayton Phillips and Scotty Perunovich showing why they are the next Mike Crowley or Tom Kurvers. Or Casey Mittelstadt battling against future Bulldogs Mikey and Matt Anderson (no relation).
The relative quality of the HS Elite League is still very high - this was proven this past weekend in New Hope. But with just a little awareness of how good we have it in Minnesota, maybe fewer will choose greener pastures elsewhere and realize how green the grass is in their own backyard.
Because it is a free country, we took some freedoms to build out what the HS Elite League rosters could look like if players stayed home to play there and subsequently at their home high school.
Wayzata won their first state title last year