The North Stars earned the 2020 Bantam Elite League Major title with a 9-5 win over the Bolts.
Beckett Hendrickson
Bruins
The league’s leading scorer with 17 goals and 33 points, Hendrickson proved to be one of the league’s top players every time he took the ice.
With the exception of three out of the Bruins’ 13 games near the end of the season, Hendrickson registered at least one point in every contest and twice totaled six points in a single outing. The gifted forward got off to one of the fastest starts in league history with seven goals and 15 points in the season’s first three games, setting the scoring tone he would carry with him the rest of the season.
Thanks in large part to Hendrickson, the Bruins tied for the league-lead in goals with 87 in 15 games, compiling a record of 7-5-1-2 (wins, losses, overtime wins, overtime losses) over that span.
After scoring 17 goals and 33 points in 13 games for the Bruins, Minnetonka native Beckett Hendrickson was selected as the league's Most Valuable Player.
Darik Olson, North Stars.
Player | Team | Position |
---|---|---|
Lucas Schanno | Bolts | Goalie |
Kai Weigel | North Dakota | Goalie |
Will Emerson | Sharks | Defense |
Cade Kozak | Wisconsin | Defense |
Darik Olson | North Stars | Defense |
John Stout | Bruins | Defense |
Jake Verwest | North Dakota | Defense |
Owen Branson | North Dakota | Forward |
Tanner Bruender | Bolts | Forward |
Parker Gast | North Stars | Forward |
Jordan Geike | Wisconsin | Forward |
Thomas Gunderson | North Stars | Forward |
Beckett Hendrickson | Bruins | Forward |
Danny Nelson | Penguins | Forward |
Sam Scheetz | Bolts | Forward |
Drew Stewart | Bruins | Forward |
Jake Verwest, North Dakota.
Andrew Saxe, Sharks.
Player | Team | Position |
---|---|---|
Andrew Saxe | Sharks | Goalie |
Gavin Anderson | Bolts | Defense |
Dylan Vornwald | Penguins | Defense |
Brayden Berg | North Stars | Forward |
Olan Endres | North Dakota | Forward |
Alex Lunski | Bolts | Forward |
Dylan Vornwald, Penguins.
Ben Miller, Bolts.
Ben Miller
Bolts
Miller piled up eight goals and 11 points during the Bantam Elite League season for the Bolts, good for fourth on the team. The Hill-Murray skater provided emotional leadership in the locker room and on the bench for the Bolts, showing up to the playoffs to support his squad despite suffering a late-season injury that kept him out of the games.
Ben Norris
Bruins
It’s hard to fathom one of the league’s leading scorers as “unsung,” but Norris’s 14-goal, 27-point performance in 15 games snuck up on everyone, including those to input game stats. Norris tallied at least one point in every game but one this season, and hit the four-point threshold twice while gelling with linemates Beckett Hendrickson and Hagen Burrows.
Thomas Herman
North Stars
The rugged Moorhead native found his distribution touch during the BEL season, racking up 12 assists and 18 points for the champion North Stars. A team-first forward, Herman tallied three points in multiple games and held a point-streak of nine contests to start the season.
Zach Boren
North Dakota
Boren’s physicality, coupled with his dogged play in the offensive zone, led to a season with eight goals and 19 points, tied with Olan Endres for second among North Dakota skaters. The grinder’s effort helped North Dakota allow the third-lowest goal total in the league. Offensively, Boren recorded two or more points in eight games.
Zach Boren, North Dakota.
Joel Hanson
Penguins
The towering forward from Minneapolis netted eight goals an 10 points this season for the Penguins, which tied Hanson for the team-lead in goals and tied him for second in total points. Not flashy or demonstrative, Hanson quietly went about his business during games, including a highlight performance against Wisconsin, in which Hanson notched a hat-trick in the Penguins’ victory.
Gabe Otis
Sharks
Despite playing over 100 minutes less than counterpart Andrew Saxe in the Sharks’ net, Otis finished the BEL season with the sixth-most shots faced, and posted better goals-against-average and save percentage numbers than a half-dozen other goalies who faced fewer shots. Otis allowed just 22 goals during the season and recorded a .901 save percentage, tops in the league.
Ty Bashaw
Wisconsin
The Fond du Lac native dished out eight assists and added a pair of goals for Wisconsin, playing the role of an effective grinder for the team. Bashaw had a five-game stretch in which he had at least one point, leading Wisconsin to four wins in those five games.
Ty Bashaw, Wisconsin.