I thought it would be worthwhile to list the top ten peewee A players I saw this season.  But first, I want to relate a true story.  In a program that I was involved with 20 years ago, there was an outstanding peewee player.  He had such an outstanding shot, that once I threw him out on the ice just as a puck came loose in our offensive zone.  He picked up the puck 5 feet inside the blue line and fired a hard shot that hit the upper part of the goalie’s stick and snapped it off.  The startled goalie played on with the shattered stick, but the refs quickly whistled the play dead and brought the pieces to our bench.  I seriously gave thought to having the kid sign the pieces.  He was going to be a star in my mind.  He never was.  He barely played high school.

This past season, I saw all the teams play ranked in the top 80 except Crookston, St. Francis, Brainerd and Warroad (Hudson is a Wisconsin team) on Mnrankings.com.  Of the remaining 21 listed on that site, I have seen only six teams.  For players on those teams I have not seen, my apologies for I can not include you, so if you go on to become the next NHL star, send me a broken stick, signed, saying Fred you were wrong.  It won’t be sold on Ebay.

On all of the teams I saw there were good players that could skate and some could skate with those listed here.  But these players are outstanding because of a number of attributes.  Speed is one factor, but not most significant one.  An understanding of the play and game situation such that the player makes the right play at the right time is the most significant to me.  That requires a good stick, an awareness of how to play the puck on the ice and in the vertical, an innate ability to make a leading pass at the right speed through traffic, and a quick shot.  The players listed below met that criterion.
 

No.1: #24 Apple Valley-Hudson Fasching is a big winger that plays defense and center when called on.  He played in one of the toughest districts in the state and drew the attention of special coaching by his opponents.  One coach canceled a tournament to practice with a dad (former D1 player) skating in the practice wearing #24 before they played Apple Valley in a key game.  He would blow the whistle and yell “where’s #24”.  The team would have to stop and point to #24.  The opponent coaches needed to do that, to essentially gang tackle him, to contain his play.  It is unfortunate that Apple Valley played with a short bench most of the season and could not rest him more.  Most of Apple Valley loses last season were in the final minutes of the game.

Fasching went on to skate two years for Apple Valley High School and skate two years on USA National Teams.  He was drafted #118 in the NHL draft last July by the Los Angeles Kings and will eventually join the Minnesota Gophers.
No.2:#12 Wayzata-Grant Besse is another winger with an exceptional shot and good skating ability.  He is very strong in his skates and is difficult to knock off the puck.  His game awareness is keen, but it reflects a style of play like that of a bird of prey.  He pounces on opportunity and makes the opponent pay by turning them into goals.  But he needs to be better aware of opportunities among his teammates in the course of action and to broaden his play.

Besse went on to play in the peewee A state tourney in 2008 at Willmar and played 113 games for Benilde-St. Magaret’s High School scoring 272 points (163 goals).  He was named Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey in 2013 and was drafted #147 by the Anaheim in the last NHL draft.  He will play college hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers.

No.3: #9 Woodbury-Jake Guentzel is a great center on the best peewee A line this year.  He understands how to move the puck and how to position himself to make the play.  Those skills combined with a stick handling ability that makes one wonder if his stick is made of glue and it makes him one of the best playmakers in the state.  But his play falls off when his line’s continuity is upset and he seems to struggle a little.  He has one mean shot, more then once this year he has scorched a goalie on a hard upper corner shot (right or left) backhanded.

Guentzel played for Hill-Murray high school.  He opted to play last season for the Souix City Musketeers in the USHL posting 73 points with 29 goals in 60 games.  He was drafted #77 in the NHL draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

No.4: #14 Eden Prairie-Kyle Theilmann is a good sized defense man that seeks to control the play when he is on the ice.  He does it by not leaving his position, but using his position to control the other team’s play especially on breakouts.  Like other good defense men, he has a formidable capability to rush the puck and take the shot, but unlike others he does not leave the defense weakened and susceptible to counter attack.

Theilmann played three years for the Eagles varsity team. 

No. 5: #7 Lakeville South-Kyle Osterberg is the “pocket rocket” of the peewee centers this year.  He just can fly on the breakout and when the defense thinks they have caught him at last and pushed him outside to the corner, he snaps of a hard perfect pass to a teammate in the slot.  The first time he did this, it looked like a lucky play.  But then he did again and again in other games.  That combined with ability to get of a hard wrist shots at awkward angles makes him a top player.

Osterberg played two seasons (2010-2011 and 2011-2012) with the USA National Development team.  Last season he played for the Omaha Lancers in the USHL scoring 24 points in 46 games.

No.6: #11 Hastings-Willie Raskob is big defenseman that plays like a shark.  When I first saw him, I thought I heard the theme from “Jaws” drumming.  He doesn’t play defense as much as he prowls like a great white off an East Coast beach.  When he attacks he has a variety of hard shots to kill the goalie.  His defensive play is better then average, but he is given so much respect by his opponents, that his presence on the ice slows down the opponents attack.

Raskob played four years for the Shattuck-St. Mary’s team.  In the last two years on the Shattuck’s Prep team, Raskob played 114 games scoring 79 points (24 goals).  Raskob has committed to play UMD hockey in the coming seasons.

No.7: #8 Little Falls-Matt Stumpf is another big defense man.  He not only attacks offensively, rushing the puck from his own zone, but physically.  He delivers punishing hits to his opponents.  He is solid in his skates.  Because his skating is so good, he takes punishing hits and hits back often on the initial hit.  The result is the player delivering the check is often driven back and checked out of the play.  He has a quick hard shot and knows how to use it.
Stumpf played 99 games in four years for the Little Falls varsity scoring 78 points and 17 goals.

No.8: #19 Eagan-Zach Schultz is a big center that drops back to defense to use his outstanding shot.  He has one of the hardest shots from the blue line, that combined with great skating and puck handling skills, puts him on this list.  He has good game awareness, but tends to take the shot at times.  He needs to learn to move to either right or left by reading the defense when rushing the puck.

Schultz played 70 games in three seasons for the Wildcat varsity team posting 33 points (14 goals). He played in two Class AA tourneys as sophomore and as a junior.  In his senior year, the Wildcasts were beaten in the Section 3AA finals 4-1 by Ryan McNamara’s Eastview team.

No.9: #8 Northfield-Andrew Scofield is a center that epitomizes the criteria of an outstanding player used here.  He is not a fast skater and one wonders if he is working hard out there.  But he has such game awareness that he does the right thing.  That combined with an outstanding scoring ability puts him on this list.  In the D8 playoff game against Farmington, he single handedly held the Tigers at bay for almost four minutes when the Tigers had a 5 on 3 man advantage.  He focused his play and held the Tigers scoreless and shot less by using his game awareness.  He thwarted the Tiger attack and forced them to re-group time after time.  The problem is he either tires or loses focus as he did in the middle of the Sibley D8 playoff game.  After dueling with Sibley’s star evenly through the first half of the game, he made a needless check that opened the ice in front of his goal for a Sibley goal and the Raiders never recovered.

Scofield played hockey for Northfield as an eighth grader and led the team in scoring.  In his freshman, sophomore, and junior years he posted 100 points (64 goals) in 69 games playing for the Raiders.  He led the team in scoring in those three years.  Last season, he played for the Twin Cities Northern Lights Junior Tier III opting to pass his senior year at Northfield.  The Northern Lights lost in the Tier III champioship game to the North Iowa Bulls last April in a national tourney played in Rochester.  

No.10: #11 Cloquet-Beau Michaud is a forward playing defense for the Lumberjacks.  He is not big, but has a big shot.  He is a great skater and knows how to score.  Against Jake Guentzel and Woodbury in the peewee A state tourney, he demonstrated an ability to hit either upper corner at will and scored three goals in less then a period to bring the Jacks back into the game.  His shots were so hard, the crowd had trouble following the puck.

Michaud has three brothers playing hockey in the Cloquet area.  In three seasons with the Lumberjacks’ varsity he posted 117 points (46 goals) in 74 regular season games.

As I said there are a number of outstanding players.  The following are some honorable mentions.

1. #6 Wayzata-Dani Cameranesi was the fastest skater in the Peewee A state tourney in 2008.

Cameranesi was selected the 2013 Minnesota Ms Hockey player of the years.  She has played for the USA U18 team and led the Blake team to the Class A state championship game (she had a remarkable 24 shots on goal in that tourney).

2; #88 Eastview-Ryan McNamara, if he is a returning player, he may center what could be an outstanding Lightning peewee A team next year.
McNamara skated three years for the Lightning varsity and led them to the Class AA state tourney last March.  In 75 games, McNamara posted 80 points (37 goals) for the Lightning.

3. #19 Little Falls-Spencer Fenske is a great defenseman with a lot of size.
Fenske skated four years for the Little Falls varsity scoring 78 points (27 goals) in 97 games.

4. #17 East Grand Forks-Tommy Hajicek is a hardworking, innovated, center for the Green Wave.

Hajicek scored 100 points (42 goals) in four seasons (97 games) for the Green Wave leading them to the Class A state tourney last season.

5. #1 Minnetonka-Sydney Rossman is a solid goal tender for the Skippers.
Rossman was named Lets Play Hockey’s goalie of the year last season.  She has played solid in the nets for Minnetonka the past three seasons as the Skippers won three straight Class AA titles.  Rossman has commtted to play college hockey at Quinnipiac.

6. #16 Fargo Flyers-Cole Wurzer is another great defenseman, but he needs a little a room to maneuver.

Wurzer skated three years for Fargo Davies High School at defense.

7. The Buffalo Peewee A Defensemen-Buffalo’s defense was really fun to watch.  They played an offensive style that was in the face of the opponent’s defense designed to maximize pressure on the opponent’s net.  Two players, Cale Ehresmann and Wilson Anderle played forwards for the Bison varsity last season; and two players, Vaugh Jundt and Justin Laven played defense.  The Bison varsity posted a 12-12-2 record playing in the Mississippi 8 Conference and playing Section 8AA hockey.  Anderle and Laven will be seniors this year; Ehresman and Jundt graduated this past June.

8. The Edina Peewee A Team-The Hornets had a team of outstanding skaters playing an outstanding team concept and they were State Champs.  The Hornets beat Wayzata that year in the state championship game 4-3.

Anthony Walsh got the winning goal with Dan Labosky getting the assist.  Edina jumped out to a 3-0 lead halfway through the game on goals by Johnny Austin (assist to Chris Rectenwald), Parker Reno (Labosky assist) and Jeff Lushine.  Wayzata came back to score three unassisted goals.  Chase Haller got the first; Grant Besse got the second; and Anthony Tabery got the tying goal.

On their way to the state title, the Hornets eliminated Hudson Fasching’s Apple Valley team in District 6 playoffs.

Johnny Austin played for Blake High School for three years and then played last season for Benilde-St. Margaret’s.  He joined former teammates from the Edina Peewee A team, Dan Labosky and T. J. Moore and his opponent in the championship game Grant Besse at Benilde.  Still playing defense Austin put 26 points on the board (4 goals) for the Red Knights.  Labosky led the state in assists (51) last season and was a candidate for Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey.  T. J. Moore was a top goal scorer for the Red Knights for three seasons after playing defense as a peewee.

Vinni Lettieri played for the Edina peewee team that year, moved to Minnetonka and led the Skippers in scoring in his sophomore and junior years.  Lettieri opted to play for the USHL Lincoln Stars his senior year and has committed to play at the University of Minnesota.

Six Hornets off the 2008 Peewee State Champs played for the Edina varsity that won the Class AA State Championship last March; Parker Reno, Anthony Walsh, Matt Nelson, Bo Brauer, Tyler Nanne, and Ryan Hatch.  All except Nanne (a junior last season) will graduate.  Nelson will play for the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL this season and has committed to Princeton.  Reno was another Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists joining Labosky and has committed to play hockey at RPI.

None of the players on the Edina peewee A team that year were taken in the first seven rounds of the 2013 NHL Draft.