During our search for players we first noticed Zach last Summer while skating for the MN Blades AAA club.  A gifted skater with a great shot, he got our attention right away. Zach played with The Blades team that represented Team Minnesota in The Brick Tournament in Edmonton last July. District 10, where Zach plays, was one of the toughest leagues in Squirt A hockey  featuring Zach’s team Elk River, #2 Andover, Blaine, Champlin Park, St. Francis, and Princeton. We interviewed several coaches, mostly from District 10, on who was the player they feared most when he got the puck and Zach was the hands down leader.

A multiple SKATE award winner, Zach is more proud of his high scores at school than he is the number of goals in hockey or hits in baseball. Many of his teachers say that he is a very good student, respectful, and always pays attention during class.

In addition to being a great player, Zach was also a great teammate this year. One of only 3 returning skaters to the ER Squirt A team, Coach Nate Droogsma commented on Zach’s demeanor as a leader, “Zach was a guy we relied on heavily to set the tone in practices and games for our team. Many of the other kids looked up to first because they all realize he was the most skilled player on our team, but then later because they realized he was willing to include everyone into the activities. He ran our pregame dryland exercises and helped develop a really nice attitude in our locker room.”  Droogsma went on to say, in all the years I’ve coached, there is nobody easier to coach…he looks you in the eye when you’re talking to him and when you challenge him to be better he goes out and accomplishes it…”

Attend any Squirt Hockey game in Minnesota and when the discussion turns to great players, the first thing people will say, “have you seen the Moose from Rosemount?”  The Moose is Kyle Heffron.  He is a five foot seven inch, 130 pound teddy bear that is a whole lot more than just a big kid with a big shot (there are plenty of those kids here in Minnesota).  The Moose is special. Sure he is big and his size gives him an advantage at this age, but he’s also a fantastic stickhandler with the softest mitts you will ever find in an 11 year kid.

Kyle plays for the best Squirt team in Minnesota, the Rosemount Irish.  Undefeated and winners of the Eden Prairie Tournament, the Bloomington Tournament and the Fargo International. The Irish have had a story book season.  They have several great players (Levandowski, Sabo, Campbell, Kranz to name a few) with great skill and a great sense for team hockey versus individual play.  Watch any Rosemount game and after two or three shifts, you might mutter to yourself, “why don’t they put that big kid at Center?” But after watching them in person several times it hit this writer, for as talented as this team is, they play great defense first.  Checking the stats they’ve allowed less than 30 goals all year.  Kyle was chosen to this list of players because of that statistic, more than any other…he stops the other team first and lets his forwards score the goals.  A concept that many Squirt coaches can’t wrap their head around.
 
In addition to playing hockey, Kyle was a standout player for the Rosemount AA baseball team last Summer, Hitting over .500 for the season. But what makes Kyle the most special is that he is a great kid to coach and a great kid at school.  His teacher told YHH, ”Kyle is looked up to by many students at Rosemount Elementary. As a mentor to under privileged students, Kyle is able to give back to his school and become a role model to so many. It is amazing to witness his compassionate nature each day, knowing how competitive he can be on the ice.”

Kyle lists winning the Fargo International as his greatest hockey memory and Grandma’s banana bread as his favorite foods.  We won’t hold it against Kyle for listing the Chicago Blackhawks as his favorite team and Pavel Datsyuk as his favorite player. He also lists volunteering at Feed My Starving Children and vacationing in Hawaii and the Boundary Waters as non sports related things he really enjoys.

Most player of the year candidates usually have huge numbers of goals and assists.  Gaudy stats and a list of fancy moves are usually things player of the year candidates possess. Tyler Oakland is not your traditional Player of the Year Candidate.  He plays on a great team, Osseo Maple Grove with several great players on his team and his line (Brock Faber and Rocco Marcicinni). We first saw Tyler play last Summer three times. And in each game he made a big play (big assist, big goal, big back check)…nothing fancy, he just got things done to help his team win.  Since the Summer we’ve seen Tyler play several times.  More of the same, big assist, key goal or great defensive play.  His team has an impressive record with over 30 wins and only four losses…leading his team to the District 3 Championship over the Minneapolis Storm, 3-1, with a goal and an assist in the Championship game.

Tyler loves playing hockey because of the speed of the game, but mostly because it’s a great chance to hang out with his buddies. One District 3 coach told me about Tyler, “he is always in the right place at the right time…”

Tyler leads by example, OMG coach Erik Kukkonen said of Tyler, “Tyler is a quiet kid in the locker room, but makes a lot of noise on the ice. He’s the best back checker for the Squirt A team two years in a row. He’s a tireless worker, but has added a scoring touch in his second year. He loves playing the game and comes to the rink happy every day. This helps create a great environment in the locker room for our team.

In the offseason, Tyler plays soccer and football on top of that plays AAA hockey with the highly talented 2002 Euro American team.  Tyler is a great student at Basswood Elementary School in in Maple Grove.

His favorite player is Patrick Kane and one of favorite foods to eat is tacos. His parents are Joel and Sara Oakland and he has two little sisters Emily (8) and Abbey (6).

We’ve seen Bobby play several times both for his AAA club in the Summer and for Chaska Chanhassen and this is what we hear every time we see him, “Who is number 16?”  You can here the buzz around the rink from the parents on the opposing teams.   Beyond his ridiculous statistics, his presence on the ice is the most notable attribute.  He finds or creates open ice and his stick seems to have a magnetic force with the puck.  He makes his teammates look good and opposing goalies sometimes appear lost.  Bobby is the team captain not because of the “C” on his jersey but because of his humble presence and tireless work ethic on and off the ice.   He celebrates a goal by hugging his teammates and hustling back to the faceoff circle. He treats his coaches with respect and leads his team by example.

Not surprisingly, Bobby excels whenever he picks up a ball, stick or club. Bobby’s success on the golf course rivals his success on the hockey rink.  He has three 1st place victories in junior PGA events.  He also has 3 second and 3 third place finishes.    Last summer in the Jr Birchmont golf tournament, Bobby got a hole-in-one in the championship match (7 iron from 142 yards).  Do you think this kid knows how to compete?   His Lacrosse coach asks him to set up other players after he has gotten a hat trick.  Even at this young age, he believes Bobby has the talent to play at the college level. His Lacrosse coach Robert Barnheiser said of Bobby, “With all the hundreds of kids that I have coached in Lacrosse,  Bobby and only two others are the
players that I would pick to get a scholarship at a school of their choice.”
Bobby also stands out academically.  He is part of the gifted and talented program at Minnewashta Elementary.  One of his teachers said of Bobby, “…he is a quick learner and hard worker.  He is well behaved and always polite and respectful in class and kind to the other students.”

Bobby is named after Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr (Bobby Orr Brink).  His favorite player is Steven Stamkos. He loves ice cream and fishing, his favorite fishing spot is on Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota.

Bobby is coached by his dad, Andy, who grew up in Bemidji and starred for the Gophers in two sports: Hockey and Golf. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

I first heard about Grant last Summer when I was talking to a guy from Roseau (of all places) and he told me about this kid from Warroad that was a spectacular player. For a guy from Roseau to talk highly about a kid from Warroad is highly uncommon.  So over time, we got to know Grant and interview other coaches from Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada about Grant’s ability. Tracking his team this year was fun, the Warriors had some very high scores led by Grant and his linemate, Owen Meeker. Urban legend says that Grant had nearly 200 goals this season, scoring enough hat tricks to start his own hat store in Warroad. One District 16 coach said of Grant, “he’s a good skater and has good vision…but his shot is lethal.” In six games at the Fargo International, Grant had a whopping 20 goals and 14 assists all against top end teams from Minnesota and North Dakota.  One District 6 dad sent me a text from Fargo, “have you heard of this Slukynsky kid?” Note: the spelling was no where near correct.
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But hockey is not just about playing games for Grant.  And it’s certainly not all about the goals he scores and the passes he gives.  Grant loves everything about the sport.  He loves playing with his buddies on his backyard rink (and running the snow blower and flooding it), morning practices, going to shooting camps, Hockey Night in Canada, watching all the games – on TV or in person – and all levels, doing the play by play, and analyzing the games.

Grant is an outstanding student both on his report card and in the classroom.  One teacher at his school jokingly asked if they could clone him. Grant has been a student of the month at his school every year since Kindergarten.

Grant is a pitcher on his baseball team and quarterback on his football team.  He loves to golf and often gets in 27 holes on summer days after morning baseball, with his little brother and his buddies.  Grant swam a 1/2 mile in the Warroad River last July.   Grant is an avid fisherman May-September and deer hunts in November. Grant plays trombone in band and volunteers at church, St. Peter’s Episcopal.

Grant was coached this year by Vince Gardner.  Grant has a little brother Hammer and his Mom and Dad are Tim and Jenny.