This year’s select 15 team is noticeably physically bigger than last year’s team.

Last year’s 2012 Select 15’s have yet to place any players on the 2013-2014 USA U17 roster.  Four Minnesota players from the 2012 team were invited to this year’s March 2013 evaluations (Ben Newhouse/Benilde-St. Margaret’s), Tanner Tweten/East Grand Forks, Tye Ausmus/East Grand Forks, and Colin Gallagher/Mendota Heights).

However, two HP-16 players from last summer’s HP-16 program made USA Hockey’s 2012-2013 U17 team last season (Jack Glover and Ryan Collins both defensemen from the Benilde-St. Margaret’s 2011-2012 Class AA state champion varsity team).  Glover and Collins were invited to the March 23, 2012 NTDP evaluation camp and both went through the Minnesota Hockey’s HP-16 Performance program last summer before being selected.

This year’s Minnesota select 15 players are being evaluated for the 2014-2015 USA Hockey team and if successful could be invited to March 2014 evaluations.  Currently 27 players are committed to play on the 2013-2014 USA U17 team.  None are from Minnesota.  The current commitments are listed in notes at the end of this post.

For those who love stats, this year’s select 15 team has District 6, with 5 players on the twenty two team roster, as the Minnesota Hockey district with the most players  selected; District 3 with four players selected was second.  District 2, Shattuck, and District 12 each landed two players on this year’s selects; Districts 8, 9, 11, and 16 placed one player each on the team.

Districts 4, 5, and 15 placed no players on the select 15 team.  D4 had less than 10 players making the D4 team this year.  District 5 had 8 players at St. Cloud and has their top players coming through the associations still 1-2 years away.  D15 had 5 players at St. Cloud.

Four of the 22 selected players come from the northern districts, one from the southern districts, none from the western districts (5 and 15), two from Shattuck, and fifteen from the Twin Cities area.

Five associations, Edina (Bellows and Wait), Wayzata (Senden and Patterson), OMG (Huff and Kelly), Minnetonka (Skarda and Hanson), and Roseville (Anderson and Straum via Hill-Murray) placed two players on this year’s selects.  Shattuck placed two players (Lindgren and Edquist).

The Lakeville Association placed one (Mark Johnson) but could claim the two Shattuck players, Lindgren and Edquist.  They are from Lakeville.  Many don’t realize that it is easier to drive from Lakeville to Shattuck (in Faribault) every day then to drive from Lakeville to Bloomington in the morning and evening rush hours.

Six of the nine remaining players (Austen Long/Spring Lake Park, Montana Striet/Rochester Lourdes, Riley Tufte/Blaine, Eric Gotz/Hibbing, Matt Hellickson/Rogers, and Sam Rossini/Burnsville) played varsity hockey in the 2012-2013 season.  Two of the three remaining players played in the Bantam AA State Tourney (Lucas Dow/Duluth East and Mitchell Mattson/Grand Rapids).  The final player, Nick Leitner/Bemidji just played hockey for the Bemidji Bantam AA team and made the Select 15’s.

Note: Not all 22 players have comments after their name at this time.

At YHH there were no surprises at the choice of goal tenders; in part because there was very little choice between the 12 goalies.  They all played well, so it is no surprise that the more veteran goalies (Edquist and Hanson) were chosen.  One surprise was the choice of Ben Meyers as an alternate goalie.  That was a step up for Meyers and a pleasant surprise and it should help him in the coming season.

At defense men position, height seemed to matter before weight.  The shortest defenseman chosen was 5’8” tall (not exactly small for a 15 year old).  Ryan Lindgren was the largest defenseman at the camp and everybody’s favorite to make the team.  His making the team was no surprise.  Some fans may be surprised that Sam Rossini and Casey Straum made the team, but not in this corner of YHH.  Both had played well and used their size well in the corner; both played bigger than their size on the ice at the summer camp.

Jack Kelly/OMG has been on the YHH watch list for three years and continuous to demonstrate that he is a level headed player.  He was no surprise either.  The only question here is will Jack be an Osseo player or a Maple Grove player next year?

The surprises here were Erik Gotz, Matt Hellickson, and Nick Lietner.  Gotz and Hellickson both played well when YHH saw them in the championship game Thursday and both showed that varsity experience.

Note: Not all 22 players have comments after their name at this time.  No comment means nothing at this point.  The important point from YHH view is that each player has a tracking number assigned.  The STC15 followed by number and color helps YHH track pictures of the players taken at the summer camp and link to articles.

1.  00007-STC15 (#2 Gold) Eric Gotz (5’8”/148lbs/R/Hibbing Varsity)

2.  00009-STC15 (#4 White) Matthew Hellickson (5’10″/160lbs/L/Rogers Varsity)

3.  00014-STC15 (#3 Red) Jack Kelly (5’11″/175lbs/L/OMGHA Bantam AA)-Kelly is a smooth skater that keeps his head up, makes a nice break out pass and really challenges opponents in front of his team’s net.  He is a two sport athlete.

4.  00019-STC15 (#4 Royal) Nickolas Leitner (5’8″/148lbs/R/Bemidji Bantam AA)

5.  00020-STC15 (#5 Grey) Ryan Lindgren (5’11″/190lbs/L/Shattuck Bantam)-Lindgren is a defenseman that likes to rush the puck.  He played well in the Festival, played will at the camp and should do well at the NTDP camp.  Shattuck teammate, Jordan Greenway (from New York), has committed to play for the 2013-2014 USA U17 team.  It is rumored that Lindgren has verbally committed to play for the University of Minnesota.  It is no surprise that he made the top 22.

6.  00028-STC15 (#7 Gold) Sam Rossini (6’0″/165/L/Burnsville Varsity)-Sam surprised everybody with his select 15 play especially at the summer camp.  Now he has a chance to follow other Burnsville players to the USA hockey teams.

Two and three years ago, the Edina peewees and the Burnsville peewee’s battled for dominance in District 6 and in the East and South regionals.  In one week, they split three consecutive 5-4 games.  Rossini was playing for Rosemount at the time and the Irish went to state.  Next March, the Edina and Burnsville varsity teams will be battling for Section 2AA dominance.  The question is who will be on those March teams?

7.  00032-STC15 (#6 Grey) Casey Staum (5’10″/145lbs/L/Hill-Murray JV)-Everybody was focused on Hill Murray teammate Joey Anderson, that they overlooked a strong steady defense played by the other Hill Murray player from Roseville, Staum except the evaluators.

1.  00102-STC15 (#35 Gold) Ryan Edquist 5’11″/155lbs/R/Shattuck Bantam AAA-Edquist has the physique of a classical goalie, longer in the body and shorter in the legs.  He is the most senior of the goalies in terms of minutes in the net and it showed.

2.  00103-STC15 (#1 Royal) Thomas Hanson/5’9″/155/L/Minnetonka JV-Hanson played a great half in the final game Thursday in shutting out the Grey team in the second half to preserve a 3-3 tie.  He played hard in a game that didn’t matter.

It is always tough for evalutors to pick the best of the best, but decisions have to be made.  Ten of this year’s forwards are 5’10″ or taller, three are six feet or more.  Only three forwards were under 5′ 10″ (Dow, Skarda, and Striet).

Of the 13, three came to the summer camp off of very good years and a very good festival camp (Anderson, Long, and Dow) and would have been hard to pass up.  Bellows, Wait, and Tufte would have been hard to pass, but some other good players with similiar reputations got passed.  All three left the evaluators nothing to doubt and went out on the ice and played well.

Wayzata’s duo of Lucas Paterson and Mark Senden were no surprise, both played their game and continues to show improvement as they develop.  The only surprise is that why more Trojans were selected.

One of Osseo/Maple Grove’s young guns, Sam Huff, made it through pure hustle.  He joins another OMG young gun, defenseman Jack Kelly, on the team.

Mattson and Striet played well enough to be in the mix.  Mattson’s physical play back checking was a plus.  Johnson and Skarda had good camps.

1.  00201.  STC15 (#8 Royal) Joey Anderson (5’10″/175lbs/R/Hill-Murray Varsity)-Anderson showed just enough talent to advance, he can play better.  It is rumored that he has verbally committed to be a UMD Bulldog.

2. 00222-STC15 (#8 White) Kieffer Bellows (5’11″/195lbs/L/Edina Bantam AA)-Bellows is finally playing hockey as opposed to trying to overpower or trick opponents.  When he focuses on hockey, Bellows can carry a team.  At St. Cloud he did and is one of the big reasons why the White team was the Summer Camp Champs.  There are two pictures of Bellows in this post that are taken about then one second apart.  They show how he has improved.

3.  00243-STC15 (#9 Grey) Lukas Dow (5’7″/140lbs/L/Duluth East Bantam AA)-Dow retreated more to being more of a play maker in the camp, often drawing the defense to him and finding the open man.  He is still going to Marshall, breaking up a good Hound line in the future.

4.  00206-STC15 (#10 Gold) Samuel Huff (5’10″/150lbs/R/OMGHA Bantam AA)-Huff fought hard and caused a lot of mayhem up front for the Gold team, but just couldn’t finish a play off.  Still he came up with a number of good goals at the camp.  Huff is another kid now player that has been on the YHH watch list for a long time.

5.  00229-STC15 (#10 White) Max Johnson (5″10″/165/R/Lakeville Bantam AA)

6.  00236-STC15 (#14 Red) Austen Long (5’10″/165lbs/R/Spring Lake Park Varsity)-Long’s good play at the Festival preceded him on the ice at St. Cloud.  He was in a red jersey, but his opponents must have thought that it had white circles on it the back or that he worked for Target.  Despite constantly pressured, Long used his wings well.  The Long, Wait and Hanson line dominated play when on the ice.

7.  00247.  STC15 (#12 Gold) Mitchell Mattson (6’2″/165/L/Grand Rapids Bantam AA)

8.  00209.  STC15 (#16 White) Luke Paterson (6’0″/155lbs/R/Wayzata Bantam AA)-A lanky wing with just a good working hockey ethic; he played the kind of game at the summer camp that most want to see.

9.  00211-STC15 (#16 Royal) Mark Senden (5’10″/165lbs/L/Wayzata Bantam AA)-After an outstanding festival, Senden teamed up with Montana Streit for the Royals and the two had a great camp.  Senden was always a strong scoring forward and emerged as a top goal scorer at the camp.

10.  00219-STC15 (#14 Lt Blue) Brendan Skarda (5’7″/140lbs/R/Minnetonka Bantam AA)

11. 00234-STC15 (#17 Royal) Montana Streit (5’9″/150/L/Rochester Lourdes Varsity)

12. 00240-STC15 (#17 Grey) Riley Tufte (6’2″/183/L/Blaine Varsity)-Tufte plays a mean power forward that can tear up an opponent’s defense.  He has a hard physical game and can score.  Tufte is one of those players whose development seems to be accelerating.

13. 00224-STC15 (#17 Red) Garrett Wait (5’11″/160lbs/L/Edina Bantam AA)-Wait had a great camp teamed with Long and Hanson for the Red team.  He plays a smart tough wing and a strong defense.  Wait is one of the most improved players since peewees.

1. 00228-STC15 (#10 Grey) Henry Enebak (5’10″/170lbs/R/Lakeville Bantam AA)-Enebak teamed with Duluth Marshall Hilltopper to be Lucas Dow had a great camp and was one of the top skaters in a camp full of top skaters.

2. 00238-STC15 (#14 White) Cody Mclean (6’0″/150lbs/L/Centennial Bantam A)-YHH loved to watch McLean play, he is just a hard worker and an aggressive smart player.

3. 00225-STC15 (#16 Lt Blue) Jake Theis (6’0″/200lbs/R/Chanhassen Varsity)-Another YHH favorite.  Theis is a big strong wing that plays aggressively, uses his size well and can score.

4. 00017-STC15 (#4 Red) Matthew Kiersted (5’10″/150lbs/L/Elk River Bantam AA)

5. 00030-STC15 (#7 White) Harmon Sorenson (6’0″/170lbs/R/Wayzata Bantam AA)-He, Tristian Moss, and Dylan Hewitt (all Wayzata defensemen) had a great camp.  The surprise is none of them made the final 22.  Watch out for these three especially Sorenson when the HP-16 season starts next year; they could still be on the 2014-2015 USA U17 team.

6. 00033. STC15 (#7 Grey) Zachary VanSant (5’7″/135lbs/R/Minnetonka Bantam AA)

7. 00104. STC15 (#1 White) Benjamin Meyers/5’10″/140lbs/R/Elk River Bantam AA-As noted before, Ben being listed as alternate is a nice surprise.  It will be interesting to watch him play next year.

8. 00108. STC15 (#1 Red) Spencer Olson/5’7″/140lbs/R/Anoka Bantam AA
The players will next meet July 9-12 at the Super Rink in Blaine in a pre-national camp environment to allow the players to adjust to the atmosphere they will face in New York.  The hockey becomes serious hockey now with numerous well qualified skaters trying out for USA Hockey’s national teams.  The national camp will run from July 14-20 and each of the players will be evaluated for potential placement on a USA team.

This is the first year for such evaluations for the “new crop” of 15 year old players.  Next year, the process will be repeated for the same group of players who will be 16 years old as part of Minnesota Hockey’s High Performance 16 tryouts.  The destination will be the same, playing on a USA Hockey team and representing USA in international tourneys.  Those who made the trip to St. Cloud this year will  have an advantage; but if history bears out, only half of this year’s Select 15 team will be on next year’s HP-16 team of twenty or so players.  Such is hockey.  In the end, as young adults, the players still grow and are still developing.

Ask parents of a 23 year old college graduate.

Note 1: The 2013-14 USA U17 Team will play in the United States Hockey League, the top junior league in the U.S. It will also compete in three international competitions, including the 2014 World Under-17 Challenge in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.   The roster currently stands at 11 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders, having previously announced commitments by forwards Jeremy Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.), Christian Fischer (Wayne, Ill.), Jordan Greenway (Potsdam, N.Y.), Luke Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.), Luke Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.), Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Jack Roslovic (Columbus, Ohio), Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.), Brendan Warren (Carleton, Mich.) and Colin White (Hanover, Mass.), along with defensemen Nicholas Boka (Plymouth, Mich.), Caleb Jones (Frisco, Texas), Charles McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), and netminder Luke Opilka (St. Louis, Mo.).

Note 2: On May 13, USA Hockey announced six more players have committed to the U17 program for the 2013-2014 season; Dennis Yan/Troy MI, Christian Evers/Waukee IA, Casey Fitzgerald/North Ready MA, Noah Hanifin/Norwood MA, Joseph Masonius/Spring Lake NJ, and goalie Michael Lackey/Washington DC.  That puts the current roster at 27 players (12 forwards, 12 defense, and 3 goalies)