00228.  D8 (#15 Orange) Henry Enebak (5’10″/170lbs/R/Lakeville South Bantam AA)-Enebak is a smooth skating , high scoring, center for the Cougars’ Bantam AA team last season.  The Cougars edged archrival Lakeville North for the D8 regular season league title in 2012-2013.  The South then lost to Lakeville North in the D8 playoffs and ended up playing in the South Regional.   At the South Regional, the Cougars could not get by St. Michael/Albertville to get to state.

The Cougars’ Bantam AA team was loaded with first year players that should return to the bantam AA team next season.  But with the Varsity losing half of their top 10 scorers from last season through graduation, it will be hard to keep the top scorers like Enebak at bantam next fall especially after the Varsity lost to Lakeville North in the Section 1AA championship game last season, just missing going to state.

00229.  D8 (#16 Orange) Max Johnson (5″10″/165/R/Lakeville North Bantam AA)-The Lakeville North Varsity made it to the state tourney through Section 1AA after finishing seventh in the South Suburban Conference with an overall 8-16-1 regular season record.  They lose few players through graduation and Lakeville South remains their nearest competitor and road block to returning to the state.  Max Johnson, a second year bantam, should fit right into the Panthers’ Varsity plans this fall and a good St. Cloud camp will help him to fit into the varsity.

All three Section 1A Select 15’s traveling to St. Cloud played for Rochester Lourdes Varsity and played in all three state tourney games.  Carstens was a ninth grader last season; Chapman and Streit were eighth graders.  The Eagles’ varsity lost everybody from their state tourney entry except Chapman, Carstens, Striet and other two players that were above these three in the Lourdes scoring (79 of the 100 goals scored are gone).

These three will likely be split at St. Cloud and end up on different teams.  That will give them have an opportunity to impress and move up nationally.  At Lourdes next fall, they will be the heart of the Eagles offense.

00231.  D9 (#27 Navy) Tucker Chapman (5’8″/140/R/Rochester Lourdes Varsity)-There are three Carstens (Mason, McKay, and Kane) and two Streits (Dakota and Montana) on the Eagles team; but only one Chapman
00232.  D9 (#29 Navy) Mason Carstens (5’10″/170/L/Rochester Lourdes Varsity)-Carstens scored the insurance goal in Rochester Lourdes 6-4 win over St. Cloud Apollo in the Class A semifinals with less then a minute to go in the game.  He beat HP-15 goalie Nick Althaus for the score.  Mason also assisted McKay Carstens (brother?) to cut Duluth Marshall’s lead to 3-2 in the consolation championship won by Marshall 6-5.

00234.  D9 (#26 Navy) Montana Streit (5’9″/150/L/Rochester Lourdes Varsity)-Streit got the game winner in the Class A consolation semifinal win over St. Cloud Apollo.  His goal put Lourdes ahead 5-4 with three minutes to go in the game.

00218.  D6 (#22 Red) Kevin Fellows (5’9″/153lbs/L/Prior Lake Bantam AA)-Kevin Fellows is always easy to spot on the ice during the game.  He is just a fluid skater and knows how to play center.  He led the Prior Lake Peewee A team to their first state title in 2012 and led the Lakers’ Bantam AA team to a consolation state title last March.  A YHH Top 50 pick last year, it is no surprise that Kevin is on his way to St. Cloud.  He should do well there.

The question is will Kevin remain at Prior Lake or move on to one of the privates.  That maybe a mute question if he does well at St. Cloud and it would be surprising if he didn’t do well.

00220.  D6 (#34 Red) Augustine Moore (5’6″/129lbs/R/Edina Bantam AA)-Moore selection to go St. Cloud sort of changes things back at Edina.  Moore spent his first year at bantams playing B1 hockey and last year playing AA hockey.  He did the same thing at peewees, playing B1 the first year and peewee A the second year.  Now he jumped to be rated among the top 100 as he tries out for a spot on the national team.  He may not make it, but the odds on making the Edina varsity next fall will go up as will his hockey options.

It is called development.  Moore will be a tenth grader next year and has to fill out physically.   With the talent pool deep at Edina, he will need a good St. Cloud camp to improve his options.  A good hustling player on the ice and a nice skater with a good shot, Moore will be an interesting player to follow over the next couple of years.

00221.  D6 (#38 Red) Curtis Hansen (5’8″/168lbs/L/Prior Lake Bantam AA)-Hanson and Connor Clemons are in the same boat.  Both players are talented and both have ability to make the Laker’s Varsity team.  The question is will Hansen make it to the varsity next fall when the Laker coaches are well aware that State Class AA Champs Edina is re-loading also.  They may go for experience when they make the call around Thanksgiving 2013.

Hansen has a shot at the national team because of his strength in the offensive zone and a slot on the Minnesota HP-15 team going to New York for evaluation would put Hanson on a different path.  That would not surprise YHH.
00222.  D6 (#41 Red) Kieffer Bellows (5’11″/195lbs/L/Edina Bantam AA)-Bellows always plays a bruising style of hockey.  We have watched him play each year from a first year peewee to his Bantam AA team last year.  He should be moving up to the Edina Varsity next season with the Hornets losing eight players, but where?  With his size, strength, and shot plus the fact that the Hornets have only one returning defenseman, he could end up at defense.
One thing is certain, a good showing at the St. Cloud Camp, could change direction in Bellow’s career.  A change in direction could mean the Edina varsity could be at best, a one year stopover.

00223.  D6 (#43 Red) Connor Clemons (5’10″/140lbs/L/Prior Lake Bantam AA)-The Prior Lake varsity had a good season last year and with a good bantam AA team moving in to the varsity ranks, they should get better.  They lost a tough game in the Section 2AA semifinals last March to Burnsville 2-1.

Last season, the Prior Lake Bantam AA team split four games with the Edina Bantam AA team, beating the Hornets 2-1 for the East AA Regional title.  Edina won the state high school Class AA crown in March but didn’t play Prior Lake, STMA upset the Lakers in the quarterfinal round.  Going into next season, the Hornets will lose their senior defense through graduation.  The Lakers are also losing their senior defense.

Both teams have replacements in the pipeline, but the players in Prior Lake’s pipe are a year younger then Edina’s players.  To make the situation more complex, both teams have had trouble keeping their top players.

A good St. Cloud camp would show that Clemons should fit right into the Prior Lake team and replace losing their top goal scorers.  Depending on how fast the Laker players develop, Prior Lake should have the edge over Edina in the replacements.  Matt Denman and Hanson, and Clemons are candidates to join the varsity.  Edina will have the numbers advantage in the year older players (HP-16/17’s), but have fewer HP-15’s and no HP-15 defense men.

Regardless of how the two varsity teams develop, Edina and Prior Lake are likely to be the two dominant teams in Section 2AA hockey in the next two years (all the Blaze fans just shuddered).

Clemons will be a tough player for the Lakers in those two years; he is strong for his current size and should grow to be stronger; but like Hansen, Clemons could make the Minnesota team going east for evaluation at the national level.  And like Hansen, that is a career changer.

00224.  D6 (#44 Red) Garrett Wait (5’11″/160lbs/L/Edina Bantam AA)-Wait is another peewee A player that YHH has followed.  At the Bantam AA State Tourney, Wait was one of the best players on the ice, skating a mixture of defense and wing.  He has a good sense of timing.  Younger hockey players tend to just play, fiercely going from point of action to point of action on each shift.  Wait will time his actions and often moderate the speed of his play to set up a team mate for a good scoring chance.

With his skillset, Wait could play either defense or offense.  That makes him a good candidate for the Edina Varsity next fall and another strong candidate at St. Cloud.

00225.  D6 (#52 Red) Jake Theis (6’0″/200lbs/R/Chanhassen Varsity)-A big winger with a long reach and a strong player around the net best describes Theis.  Theis, a ninth grader, was the biggest player on the Chanhassen Varsity team last year and the Storm’s third leading scorer.  He moved to varsity after playing one year at bantam A.

Chanhassen was the Missota Champions two years ago but fell last year to the bottom.  With the Storm losing only two players from their top ten scorers, they should make a run at the Championship this coming season.  But the Storm’s problem is that eventually they will have to beat either Edina or Prior Lake to make it to the Class AA State tourney.  Theis is a player with a lot “upside” as he grows; it will be interesting to see how he is evaluated at St. Cloud.

00207.  D3 (#32 White) Ben Meyers (5’9″/155lbs/L/Crow River Bantam A)-Meyers led his the Crow River bantam A team to the state tourney last March as a first year bantam.  Last year, he led the Tiger’s peewee A team to the Regionals, but missed the state in a region dominated by the 2012 peewee powerhouses (Lakeville South and Osseo/Maple Grove).  Meyers is just an all-around player and plays every shift hard.

With the Delano varsity team losing their top scorers this fall, Meyers is likely to end up on the Tiger’s varsity team playing in Wright County League (against Holy Family) and in Section 2A hockey against Breck and Blake.  At St. Cloud in June, he will be noticed, but will he make it to the next level?

00227.  D8 (#14 Orange) Charlie Monn (5’10″/165lbs/L/Rosemount Bantam AA)-This coming year should be the Rosemount year to ascend in the South Suburban Conference and to win the Section 3AA title to get to state.  That should happen this coming season because in the 2010-2011 season, Rosemount had an outstanding group of peewee players.  The Rosemount peewee A team placed fourth the State Tourney in March 2011 losing to Wayzata in the third place game and the peewee B team lost to Wayzata in the peewee B state championship game on the same Sunday.

Most of this group of players will be playing for the varsity program this year that went 10-16 last season and will be losing 11 players through graduation.  The varsity will be retaining its top scorers including HP-17 and varsity leading scorer Lucas Gillett.

Monn played for the NOW ranked #15 Rosemount Bantam AA team last season that finished third in D8’s regular season bantam A league (behind the two Lakevilles) and lost to Prior Lake in the East Regional.  Most of the Rosemount peewee A 2011 state tourney team played on last season’s bantam AA team.  There were only three who left, but they were all top players ending up in the HP programs (Dylan McDonald/St. Thomas Academy, Sam Rossini/Burnsville, and Jared Mickelson/St. Paul Academy).

Monn’s performance at St. Cloud will go a long way toward determining how he will fit into the Irish varsity in the fall.  He is developing fast and what is helping is the physical size and strength that he has gained in the past two years.

The irony here will be if the Irish Varsity re-captures the play of their state tourney peewee A team (a great passing team), they will be in a fight for the South Suburban title with Burnsville and Rossini and in a fight for the Section 3AA title with St. Thomas Academy and McDonald; and the Irish will be led by Gillette or may be Monn.

None selected

00201.  D2 (#20 Black) Joey Anderson (5’10″/175lbs/R/Hill-Murray Varsity)-For those who love stats, 15 eighth and ninth grade players were on Class A team rosters in last March’s state tourney, but only four were on Class AA team rosters.  Anderson was on the Hill-Murray Class AA team and he was the only eighth grader on a Class AA roster.

Anderson had a great preliminary round for the District 2 Select 15 and the Black team beat District 3 and District 6 relegating the usually two dominant select teams to runner-up pools at the Festival.  Anderson’s play fell off at the Festival (he scored one goal in three games), but he still played well enough to make the trip to St. Cloud.

Anderson has a lot of talent.  He set up two Hill-Murray goals to lead the Hill to a 3-2 win over Wayzata in the semifinal game of the Class AA state tourney.  A Roseville peewee A player, Anderson has done well in the past two years and should get a strong look at the St. Cloud Camp.

00202.  D2 (#33 Black) Brock Larson (5’5″/135lbs/R/White Bear Lake Bantam AA)-When a player wants to make the select 15’s, they come to play.  Larson came to play and he got noticed.  It is that simple.  In the preliminaries and at the Festival, Larson showed up to play.  It was easy to tell, he was always in YHH’s camera gutting out some play in front of the net or scoring.  Larson made the D2 select 15 team, went out on the ice and played a hard game.  He scored goals, set up his line mates, and worked hard physically from the side of the net to the corner in the offensive zone in both directions.

Now he will made the trip to St. Cloud and should impress people at St. Cloud.  The White Bear Lake Varsity does not lose their top scorers to graduation, but does lose four of the top seven players.  The Bears carried seven tenth graders and one ninth grader on the varsity plus their jv players.  Larson skated bantam AA last season as an eighth grader and may be eligible to play bantam AA again.

The St. Cloud camp is the opportunity to turn some heads back home.  His making it to St. Cloud helps, but a good camp would improve his chances to end up on varsity.

00203.  D2 (#37 Black) Luke Ranallo (5’9″/160/L/Mounds View Bantam AA)-Over the years, YHH has watched Mounds View’s youth teams and thought the Mustangs were really going to hit the top levels and the Mustang fans would see that at the high school level.  Instead, the Mustang Varsity has amassed a 53-67-11 record in the past 5 years and have lost in the first Sectional game four of those five years (Stillwater, Stillwater, White Bear Lake, Hill-Murray/beat Tartan, and White Bear Lake).  The Mounds View Association has produced better players than that, but they disappear.

This past year, Mounds View was ranked #6 ahead of teams from Burnsville, Grand Rapids, Eden Prairie, Centennial, Blaine, and Rosemount just to name a few.  The Mustang Varsity is decimated by graduation this year and will be relying on talent from the bantam AA team plus jv.  Opportunities abound for the second year bantams next year.  For Ranallo, a clever puck handler and scorer, that means he should see a lot of ice.  At YHH, we hope to see that core Mustang bantam AA team playing at state in a couple years.

For Ranallo, the St. Cloud camp should be all about what he can do to impress the evaluators for the nationals.  He should end up on the varsity at Mounds View.

00204.  D2 (#41 Black) Derek Sievers (5’11″/175lbs/L/Tartan Bantam A)-Tartan is just Tartan.  The Tartan Association’s program is stable and produces quality peewee A and bantam A teams year and year out.  If a good team wants to test their level of play at the youth level early in the season, call Tartan.  Your team will get tested, maybe beaten, but never overwhelmed.

Lately the Tartan teams at the peewee level have started to overwhelm, but not consistently.  It is sort of the characteristic of District 2 hockey, always balanced.  Sievers has good physical skills but skates end to end and constantly back checks in his opponent’s zone.  His play in the preliminary rounds and at the Festival just frustrated D2’s  opponents especially in their win over District 3.

Sievers should make the Tartan Varsity next fall.  Fourteen of the players on last year’s varsity team is graduating including 8 of the Titans top 11 players.

Section 4AA remains about the same after re-alignment; Irondale joined 4AA and St. Paul Johnson dropped to 4A.  Section 4AA is nearly identical to District 2.  The 2012-2013 Tartan bantam A team was ranked #11 by NOW last season and made it to the East Bantam A regional losing to Edina A 6-3.  On the surface, it would seem quirky, Tartan’s Bantam’s playing A level not AA level hockey and the high school playing Class AA hockey not Class A hockey.

But D2 has only one bantam A league for AA and A teams and the Titans will be playing their Section 4AA opponents every year at the youth level.  Their A level status at the youth hockey level actually helps the A level teams in D2 (Mahtomedi, Highland, and North St. Paul) by keeping enough A level teams within the district to keep the district playoffs meaningful.

For Sievers, the St. Cloud Camp is almost a free opportunity in that anything he does to impress will only advance his career and if things don’t work out at St. Cloud, he will have chances at the varsity level next season.

00226.  D8 (#25 Orange) Cameron Buhl (5’9″/155lbs/L/South St Paul Varsity)-South St. Paul is one program that YHH would like to see come back strong at the youth hockey levels if no other reason, they were always strong rivals of Edina.  The Packers always had a different style of play that is in stark contrast to South Suburban and Lake Conference play.  Their style of play has long been rooted in District 8 teams.

Seeing Buhl make the top 100 15 year’s this year is a treat (and we note that the Packer’s Austin Brandecker is an alternate for the defense).  Buhl had a good season for the Packers last year, playing in 21 games and scoring 4 goals as an eighth grader.  The Packers finished in the middle of the Classic Suburban last year with behind Hill-Murray, St. Thomas Academy, Tartan, and Mahtomedi.  In Section 4 playoffs, they beat Sibley and lost to Mahtomedi 3-1.  Like St. Paul Academy, the Packers benefit from the Section 4A re-alignment.  But can they step up this year and make a move.

The key players on next fall’s Packer varsity team played on the 2008-2009 Inver Grove Heights/South St. Paul peewee A team that finished fifth in D8 regular season and made it to the Regionals played in Cottage Grove before losing to Burnsville.  They are all seniors and after Cameron and Brandecker, HP players are nowhere to be found.

Buhl is a strong stick handler and skater and should do well at St. Cloud, but coming season with the Packers is where the opportunity lies.

00230.  D8 (#8 Orange) Justin Jallen (5’7″/150lbs/L/St. Paul Academy Varsity)-Whenever a Minnesota hockey fan hears private, Benilde-St. Margaret’s, St. Thomas Academy or Hill-Murray leaps to their mind.  These private schools are always playing at the state tourney level.  St. Paul Academy just plays hockey.

The Spartans finished second in the Tri-Metro Conference last season, behind Breck and ahead of Blake.  In second 4A play, SPA lost a tough overtime game to Chisago Lakes 1-0 in a section tourney dominated by St. Thomas Academy.

This year’s re-alignment was very favorable to the Spartans; Chisago Lakes, Providence Academy and potential powerhouse Spring Lake Park were moved out and St. Thomas Academy opted up to Class AA.  Suddenly, SPA seeded #4 last year, Totino Grace, and Mahtomedi are the favorites in Section 4A.

SPA is losing only five players through graduation this fall; but they skate 17 or less in a varsity game, including two goal tenders and 4 of the 5 players graduating are senior defense and goalie.  Jallen, SPA’s fifth leading scorer with 16 goals, #2 SPA varsity scorer HP-16 Jared Mickelson, #1 SPA varsity scorer HP-17 Drew Blackmun, and #3 scorer Jake Westfield will all suit up for the Spartans in the fall.

A good St. Cloud camp by Jallen would bring more attention to the SPA program.  That combined with a state tourney appearance in March should add St. Paul Academy to the list of private schools that would leap to the minds of Minnesota Hockey fans a year from now.

00205.  D3 (#21 White) Jarrett Cammarata (5’7″/175lbs/R/OMGHA Bantam AA)-Cammarata is one of the three OMG “young guns” that YHH has been following since they were peewee A’s.  Jarrett was a stocky, strong peewee with a blistering shot that played strong along the boards and in front of the net.  In the past year he has grown and leaned out (or stretched out) and increased his speed and lateral movement.  And he has always had a great shot, it is just getting more bullet like.  A tough, dependable player on the ice, Cammarata is improving and growing in the right direction.

00206.  D3 (#27 White) Samuel Huff (5’10″/150lbs/R/OMGHA Bantam AA)-Huff is the second OMG “young gun” (Jack Kelly at defense was the third and made it to St. Cloud).  Huff is just a great skater and has become more of a playmaker at center.  He too has grown and thinned out.  The result is that Huff is more active and physical using his body around the net.  Huff’s play really draws the defense to him.  It will be interesting to see how Huff is evaluated.

Both Huff and Cammarata may have a choice of which high school to try out for this year.  With Maple Grove having team troubles last season and a new coach this fall, some OMG players may opt for the “O” or Osseo rather than the “MG” Maple Grove.

00237.  D10 (#31 Green) Matthew  Jennrich (6’1″/138lbs/R/Centennial Bantam AA)-Centennial Association teams battle Elk River Association teams from squirts to bantams.  District 10’s peewee and bantam AA/A leagues have historically had Centennial first or second at the end of the season; Elk River first or second at the end of the season.

At the high school level, the two teams still compete in the Northwest Suburban but play in different sections in post season play.  Elk River plays Section 7AA hockey; Centennial plays Section 5AA hockey.   Centennial has the better deal especially for the next two or three years.  The Cougar’s biggest competitor should be Maple Grove and Blaine.

Maple Grove’s varsity program is struggling and how fast they recover will depend on where the young talent decides to play.  One choice they have is Osseo and Osseo was seeded #8 in last March’s Section 5AA tourney.  Elk River draws perennial state tourney entry, Duluth East in Section 7AA.

Cody Mclean and Graham Brickner were part of the Centennial 2010-2011 peewee A team and will move on to play high school.  Jennrich and Brickner were part of the 2011-2012 peewee A team.  As a first year bantam, Jennrich is likely to play bantam’s next year unless he captures attention at the St. Cloud Camp.

He could.  He was a solid player for the D10 Select 15 team at the Festival.  One of the keys will be how his lanky frame matures.  Jennrich and Brickner’s defensive play was outstanding when they beat the OMG peewee A team with the young guns in a January, 2012 game at the Super Rink.  That game really turned the 2012 season around for the young Cougars.

00238.  D10 (#32 Green) Cody Mclean (6’0″/150lbs/L/Centennial Bantam A   A)-From a YHH perspective, Mclean and Austen Long’s line had a great tourney.  The two played extremely well together; both had a way of busting the defense in the corner of their opponents’ zone through a combination of physical play and a short passing game.  Mclean (and Brickner) are second year bantams and will move on to high school next year.

A good St. Cloud camp could open up some doors.

00239.  D10 (#41 Green) Graham Brickner (5’10″/135/L/Centennial Bantam AA)-Brickner plays tough around the net, but he was always a great end to end skater.  Brickner as a peewee was quick to cover the center ice on an opponents’ rush to the Cougars goal often checking them high in the slot and holding a strong opponent of the puck without drawing a penalty.

A good St. Cloud camp could open up some doors for Graham and he may come with a bonus.  YHH picked Hayden Brickner/Centennial as a Top 50 peewee in 2013.  They may be related.  Both Brickners played for the 2011-2012 Centennial peewee A team.

00240.  D10 (#43 Green) Riley Tufte (6’2″/183/L/Blaine Varsity)-The Blaine Varsity was on a roll last season and entered the 5AA Sectional Tourney with the #1 seed and were upended by Champlin Park 5-4.  Tufte jumped from peewee A in March 2012 to playing varsity in November 2012 for the Bengals.  He saw action in 24 of the 25 varsity games as a ninth grader.  Size may have something to do with that, but when you add the talent to play hockey, a player will make the trip to St. Cloud.

The Blaine varsity lost few to graduation and was loaded with junior’s last season.  Besides Tufte, the D10 Select 15 Festival co-champs had four more Bengals on the team.  Blaine also had two HP-16 and two HP-17 players on the Section 5 teams.  Blaine should be ready to battle Centennial for the Section 5AA crown next March if they can beat those pesky Rebels.

For Tufte, the door is wide open at St. Cloud.  A good evaluation puts him into the national spotlight.