YHH has been using size when it comes to defense in the selects, suggesting the bigger defensemen have an edge in the evaluation.  The six HP-16 defensemen selected this year have good size; three of this year’s defensemen average 6’0” and 185lbs; and three average 5’8” and weight 160lbs.  As a point of comparison, on the HP-17 team selected this year, the three largest defensemen average 6’1’ and weight 180lbs.  The other three HP-17 defensemen average 5’10” and weight 175lbs.

1.  00500 (#22 Red) Collin Saccoman (6′ 1″/175lbs/Shattuck U16/10)-In his last two seasons as Shattuck, Saccoman has played in 102 games and scored 68 points.  His bantam AAA team lost in the national semifinals two years ago.  This past season’s U16 team struggled at the end of the season losing 6 of their last 9 games and all of their pool games in the national U16 AAA tourney.  He remains a steady defensive player on the ice and should be combined with Ryan Lindgren (SSM select 15 this year) at some point on a future Shattuck team.  The Sabres should be strong at national tourney time in the coming years.

2. 00501 (#3 Orange) Ryan Zuhlsdorf (5’10″/180lbs/Edina Bantam AA/9)-Zuhlsdorf suddenly emerged for the Edina peewee A team in 2011.  For most of the 2010-2011 season, he played a steady game, but in January 2011, he went on a roll and led the Hornets to the state title.  At that time, he was a big player on the ice.  For most of the past two bantam A season’s Zuhlsdorf has not been the biggest, but played a steady game of hockey for the Edina bantam AA/A teams.  But he always seemed to play smaller than his size until this last January when he kicked it into high gear and was again instrumental in the Hornets wining the Bantam AA state crown.  He is an interesting player to watch.

3.  00502 (#16 Orange) Jack Ahcan (5’6″/160lbs/Bunsville Varsity/10)-Ahcan made the Select 15 team last summer and returns this summer to try again.  If Ahcan makes it to a USA National team, he would be the fourth Burnsville player playing for the USA in the past few years joining Fasching, Kivihalme, and Lewis.  If Brock Boeser and Cole Borchardt make it, that would make six Burnsville players.  The Burnsville training regime at the youth level is paying off.

As a defenseman, Ahcan was the #9 scorer for the Blaze varsity last season.  Ahcan was always a steady scorer for the Blaze youth teams and often teamed up with Boeser running set plays end to end to set up scoring rushes for the Burnsville peewee A teams.

4.  00503 (#38 Orange) Sam Fuss (5’10″/165lbs/Edina JV/10)-Fuss is another steady defenseman.  That is sort of how he developed on the Edina teams and making the HP-16 Minnesota select team will certainly help Fuss next fall making the defending Class AA State Champs Edina varsity.  That is not an easy feat.  He made the select 15 camp last season, but has grown since then.

5.  00504 (#7 White) Tye Ausmus (5’9″/155lbs/East Grand Forks Varsity/10)-Ausmus made the select 15 team last season along with Tweten.  Both players made it to the Class A state tourney as players for the Section 8A champs; East Grand Forks.  Both players were invited last March to participate in a 3-day National Team Development Program Evaluation Camp held at Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Selected players were offered an opportunity to spend the 2013-2014 season playing for the USA U-17 team and spending the year in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  If Ausmus makes the national team, he will be the second Ausmus from East Grand Forks playing for the USA U17 team in the past three years.

Ausmus skated in 24 of the 25 regular season games for the Green Wave at defense and scored 12 points.  But the most impressive stat Ausmus had last season; he spent only 20 minutes in the penalty box.  That is tough to do playing defense in the Mariucci Conference.

6.  00505 (#40 Green) Keith Muehlbauer (6’1/195lbs/Eastview/10)-Keith is a big defense man that has always played well for Eastview’s teams.  He and Driscoll have been the mainstays for Lightning teams over the past four years.  Muehlbauer was the #7 regular season scorer for the Eastview Class AA state tourney team (11 points).  Besides playing at the Xcel in March, Muehlbauer skated in all 25 regular season games.  The Lightning has good goal tending and defense men in the pipeline, they will be contending for several years.

For both goalies it will be their first opportunity to play at the national level; but that does not surprise YHH.  When we cover a good game, it usually means good goalies.  We cover good games and YHH has seen both of this year’s HP-16 goalies over the past few seasons.  Both goaltenders selected this year is physically strong and showed the ability to hold position when under intense attacks.

7.  00601 (#50 Green) Zach Driscoll (5’11/185lbs/Eastview/10)-It has been fun to watch Driscoll find his rhythm in the nets since his peewee days.  Last summer at the select 15’s, he was still making adjustments to his style and it showed at times; but not this year.  In the Class AA tourney game against Hill-Murray, Driscoll stopped 14 of 16 Murray shots in the first period.  His play kept the game close.  Eastview lost 6-3.  He led his team to a 3-2 win over Centennial in the consolation round before being blitzed in the opening period of the consolation championship game against Moorhead stopping 16 of 19 shots on the net in the first period.

Driscoll has played at the top of end of youth hockey within the state for a year now.  For goalies, it is simple math.  Regular Minnesota high school season means 1275 minutes of play in 25 games (plus overtimes).  That is max available game time in the nets.   Only one goalie can play.  Driscoll played nearly 900 minutes in the Lightning goal posting a 12-4-1 record while holding opponents to under 2 goals a game and played in three state tourney games at the Xcel.

Now he has an opportunity to go national.

8.  00602 (#47 Red) Evan Robert (6′ 0″/160lbs/Shattuck U16/10)-Robert’s home is Oakdale MN,  but the last three seasons he has played for Shattuck-St. Mary’s bantam and U16 teams and posted some impressive numbers.  He was in the nets for 76 games (3800 minutes), posted a 55-17-4 record giving up an average of 2.12 goals a game.  In those three seasons, Robert has grown 5” and added 40lbs to his lanky frame.

Robert plays with calmness and agility, has good technical skills and always in position to make the play.  But YHH just likes his “dirty whites” that make him look ready to go head and toe with Shattuck AAA team’s next opponent to play in the Old Arena.

There are two players who have broken out of the pack and it no surprise that they have the HP-16 team from Minnesota.  If you envision the youth hockey development as a horse race with the starting line being squirts and with the finish line being high school graduation; then it is the top of the stretch for the HP-16 players; and Max Zimmer and Matt Freytag have taken a good lead coming off the last turn heading for the wire.  Those two, as ninth and tenth graders, led the a young Wayzata Varsity into the State Class AA semifinals last March before losing a tough game 3-2 game to Hill-Murray (two of the Hill’s goals were set up by an eighth grader and select 15 candidate, Joey Anderson).

All the forwards taken on this year’s HP-16 team were top varsity scorers last season playing on good teams.  Collectively, the eleven forwards selected posted 289 points for a game scoring average of approximately 1.5 points a high school game in the 2012-2013 season.

9.   00701 (#9 Gold) Koby Bender (6’0″/160lbs/Cloquet Esko Carlton/9)
Four players made it from the northern districts.  YHH first noticed Bender playing for the Cloquet Peewee A 2010 Schwan Super Rink Turkey Day Championship game scoring the winning overtime goal.  He made it to St. Cloud last summer and was selected on last year’s Minnesota Select 15 team.  Bender has grown and become more physical in his play; but the real challenge will be next fall.

The Lumberjacks varsity should have a good shot at the state tourney.  Duluth East graduates 12 players from their 20 player state tourney roster including both goalies, half their defense, and their top 5 scorers.  Along with Bender, the Lumberjacks will have a half dozen select-15’s, HP-16’s and HP-17’s returning with their #2 and #3 scorers (Westin Michaud and Karson Kuhlman) from the varsity.

This coming season could be Cloquet’s year to get to state.  Two years from now, Section 7AA will be the toughest, most competitive section in the state.

10. 00702 (#31 White) Jared Bethune (6’0″/170lbs/Warroad Varsity/10)-Bethune carries on a long time Warroad hockey tradition.  Sixty five years ago, Warroad made their first appearance at the state tourney losing to Eveleth in the championship game 8-2.  The next two years, Eveleth beat Williams 4-1 and 4-3 for two more state titles and Williams beat Warroad both years to get to the state.  The two towns are 20 miles apart but have gone in different directions.

In their state tourney visits in 1949 and 1950, the Williams varsity just couldn’t beat a 17 year old Willard Ikola in the nets for the Golden Bears.  Williams is a town of 200 people today and Warroad is a town of 2000.  Williams kids most likely go down the road to Muskeg Bay to go to school.  Longtime residents of northern Minnesota have seen towns dying as part of their lives although it may be a strange concept to people from the cities.  Those long time residents know when they walk away from a cemetery after a burial that the cemetery may not be there in in 30 years.

Bethune made it to St. Cloud last summer as a select 15, but did not make the Select 15 team.  Last season, he led the Warrior Varsity in scoring (45 points in 25 games).  He scored four goals at the HP-16 Festival and added two more at the Final 54.  Simply put, Bethune is a year older, gotten stronger in his skates, and is a better player.

11. 00703 (#11Orange) Brock Boeser (5’11″/175   lbs/Burnsville Varsity/10)-Boeser made the St. Cloud camp as a select 15 last season.  At the 2011 Burnsville Thanksgiving Tourney (Bantam A), Boeser played well but other Blaze played better.  At the 2012 Center Ice Classic in St. Cloud, two months later Boeser scored two hat tricks in three Blaze wins in pool play to lead Burnsville to a third place finish (they lost a tough overtime game 4-3 to Farmington.  In two months, he went from a good players to a team leader and at the Center Ice Classic, Boeser was one of the best players on the ice.  So it was not surprising he made the trip to St. Cloud last year.

In nine months since, Boeser had gone from a good player on a bantam A team to being evaluated for placement on a USA Hockey national team.  He hasn’t stopped.  This past 2012-2013 season, he was the Blaze varsity’s #4 scorer with 29 points in 25 games and at the HP-16 Festival, he was an easy pick to make the Final 54.

Boeser always played a strong game, but he demonstrated at the April Festival the ability to carry a team by moving his teammates out of the “doldrums” and getting them back into playing hockey.

12. 00704 (#43 Orange) Chase Ellingson  (5’5″/155lbs/Breck Varsity/9)-Ellingson played for Spring Lake Park as a peewee and bantam.  Last summer he made the trip to St. Cloud as a select 15 from the District 10 select team.  Ellingson played for Breck varsity in 2012-2013.  Breck won the Tri-Metro Conference title, the Section 2A title and lost a 4-3 double overtime game to Hermantown in the Class A State Tourney semifinals in March at the XCEL.  Ellingson scored 18 regular season points for the Mustangs and played in the Class A state tourney.

Now he has a shot at the USA U-17 team.

13.  00705 (# 53 Grey) Matthew Freytag (5’10″/165lbs/Wayzata/10)-Freytag played in two state tourneys for Wayzata, he was #14 in the Trojan colors in the 2009 Tourney held in New Hope and #15 in the 2010 Tourney played in Faribault.  The #14 jersey at Faribault was occupied by select 15 Luke Patterson.  Rem Pitlick, HP-16 player from Shattuck, centered Freytag’s line both years.

Freytag played for the #1 ranked Wayzata Bantam A team in the 2011-2012 season and made the select 15 team last summer.  Last fall, he moved to the Wayzata Varsity and led the team in scoring (32 points in 25 games).  The varsity team played in the Class AA State Tourney last March and lost to Hill-Murray 3-2 in the Class AA State Tourney semifinals.

Freytag, like his teammate Max Zimmer, will have an opportunity to be in the national spotlight at the NTDP camp this summer.

14.  00706 (#62 Grey) William Garin (5’9″/162lbs/Holy Family/9)-Garin is a product of the 97 Wisconsin Fire.  He went directly from the 97 Fire to playing high school hockey in the 2011-2012 season .  He returned to play a second season for the Holy Family Fire in 2012-2013.  He has been a consistent scorer at Holy Family.  In 50 games over the two seasons, Garin has scored 63 points averaging better than a point a game.

Last summer, he went to St. Cloud as a select 15.  Since then he has grown, added some strength, and has continued to develop.  He should get a strong look at this summer’s NTDP camp.

15.  00707 (#52 Grey) Chase Jungels (5’8″/155lbs/Benilde St. Margarets/10)-Chase Jungels played for the Edina peewee A team in the 2009 New Hope and 2010 Faribault state tourneys.  He made the Edina Bantam A team in the fall of 2011 but ended up that season playing on Benilde St. Margaret’s Class AA state championship team.  He made the Minnesota select 15 team last summer and returns as a HP-16 select this year.

In the past two seasons for the Red Knights, Jungels has played 48 regular season games and scoring 38 points.  Jungels has gotten stronger in the past year and has improved his game especially around the nets.

16.  00708 (#22 Blue) Peter Tufto (5’8/150lbs/St. Thomas/10)-Tufto is not a product of association hockey or is he?  He played for the Chaska peewee A team in 2008-2009 season and played for the 97 Fire (bantam) in the 2010-2011 season.  At YHH, we tend to look on the ice.  So does it matter?

Probably what matters most is that last season he played in the Class A state tourney for St. Thomas Academy scoring four points in three games and at the HP-16 Festival last month at the PIC, he scored a hat trick in Section 4’s 5-4 loss to Section 8 in the consolation championship game.  The following weekend, Tufto scored two goals at the Final 54 games.

17.  00709 (#25 White) Tanner Tweten (6’2″/190lbs/East Grand Forks Varsity/9)-If there is one player Minnesota 16 year old player whose hockey career has steadily risen, it is Tanner Tweten.  Tweten made the Minnesota Select-15 team last season; played in the Class A State Tourney for the Green Wave, and was one of last year’s Minnesota select 15 players asked to try out for the NTDP last March.  He returns to the national spotlight again at the summer camp.

Tweten has always been a steady scorer.  He was the #3 scorer for the East Grand Forks state tourney team last season posting 31 points in 25 games.  He put 2 points on the board at the three game Festival and 2 points on the board at the Final 54.  A big, tough, wing Tweten continues to develop and next year will be only a sophomore on the Green Wave Varsity.

18.  00710 (#18 Blue) Christiano Versich (5’8/160lbs/St. Thomas/10)-Christiano Versich played for the Sibley Bantam A team in 2011-2012 that ended up ranked #13 in the state.  He made the select 15 team last summer.  Last season, he played for St. Thomas Academy’s Class A state champions.  In regular season play, he scored 34 points in 24 games.  Versich was the Cadets’ #2 scorer last season and returns as a member of Minnesota’s HP-16 team this summer.

He has added some weight in the past year and is stronger in his skates.  He is one of those forwards that have a knack for being in the right place to put points on the board.

19.  00711 (#63  grey) Max Zimmer (5’10″/170lbs/Wayzata/9)-Zimmer skated in the 2010 Faribault Peewee A State Tourney and wore #6.  His line seemed to always follow Freytag’s line on the ice that season.  Fans would tend to drop their expections of a goal when that happened.  The only problem with that is the #6 line was a good line and often scored.

This past year, Zimmer caught up to Freytag.  He also played for the #1 ranked Wayzata bantam A team in 2011-2012, made the select 15 team last summer, and played for the Wayzata Varsity team (#3 scorer with 23 points).  He ended the 2012-2013 season playing at the XCEL for the Trojan’s varsity.

Zimmer is a ninth grader this year, 2012-2013.  Matt Freytag is a tenth grader and was borne in early 1997; Zimmer was borne eight months later in late 1997.