The Green Team

Green Offense-Blake Berquist/Duluth East, Cory Checco/Rochester John Marshall, Jordan Drobinski/St. Michael-Albertville, Soren Frakie/MNVA, Sam Hentges/Totino Grace, Michael Kaufman/Stillwater, Luke Manning/Stillwater, Jack Parks/Lakeville North, and Gavin Stanger/River Lakes.

Recently, the Canadian based Western Hockey League held their 2014 Draft.  Erik Dahl/Shattuck was the second Minnesota player taken in the draft; Barron Thompson/Apple Valley and a 2012 Top 50 pick was the first Minnesota player drafted.  Thompson, who left Achiever Academy last season and ended up playing for Omaha, was drafted #57 by Regina and traded to Victoria immediately.  Blake Berquist/Duluth East was drafted #169 by the Everett (Washington) Silvertips.  A number of the players at the St. Cloud camp were drafted by the WHL last month.  After losing in the North Regional, Berquist’s Greyhounds won the VFW championship played in Fergus Falls new arena beating STMA 7-1.

But Berguist was not part of East’s 2013 Bantam AA state championship runner-up team.  Five of the 2013 runner-ups played for the East Varsity last season.  Berquiist  and some of his teammates for this past season should be joining those five on the varsity next fall.  Being drafted by the WHL and having a good St. Cloud camp will help Berquist in the fall.

Jordan Drobinski is part of the St. Micheal/Albertville Associaton’s surge that is about to hit high school.  A solid, strong, center as a peewee, Drobinski often set up or was in the middle of the offensive action for the Knights a peewee.  With STMA varsity poised to make a run in Section 7AA next year, Drobinski needs to have a good St. Cloud camp to become a part of that run in the fall.  Drobinski and Soren Frakie were both YHH Top 50 picks.  Both played a strong center.  Frakie played for the Blaine peewee’s and was instantly recognizable as a peewee with his size and skill (the silver colored skates helped).  Frakie has been home schooled and has played for the Blaine Association’s teams the past few years.  Last season, he played on the Blaine Bantam AA team that had a good season and finished NOW ranked #21 in the state.  He is one of three players that made the top 102 from that Blaine team.  Blaine’s varsity team is losing their top scorers through graduation and if Frakie ends up at Blaine, he could rejoin some of his teammates from the past three years.

Sam Hentges was the #3 scorer for Totino Grace junior varsity last season posting 29 points (16 goals) in 24 games.  Hentges and Cameron Fagerlee skated for the Irondale peewee A team in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.  Hentges can score.  With Totino Grace graduating 10 players from last season’s team (8 of 10 were top scorers), Hentges should make the jump to varsity next year and be among the Eagles leading scorers.  Hentges was a YHH Top 50 pick in 2012.

 Michael Kaufman and Luke Manning played last season for the Stillwater Association bantam AA team that lost to Grand Rapids 3-2 in the 2014 Bantam AA State Tourney at the Thunderhawk’s home arena in Grand Rapids.  The Stillwater Bantam AAs finished NOW ranked #2 in the state.  Kaufman and Manning played together on the 2011-2012 peewee A team, separated in 2012-2013 (Manning played Bantam AA and Kaufman played peewee AA), and rejoined for the 2013-2014 season at Bantam AA.

Both ninth graders made the top 102 this summer.  Manning moves to high school and Kaufman can play his second year at Bantam AA.  The Stillwater Varsity had a good run late in the season edging Section 4AA rivals White Bear Lake 2-1 and Hill-Murray 2-1 to go to the Xcel; but 5 of the 7 top scorers for the Ponies are lost to graduation. So there is room at the top.  With both Kaufman and Manning on the same team at St. Cloud, it will be interesting to watch how they play.

After playing two years on the Rochester Association peewee A team and one year on the Bantam AA team, the 6’1” 180lbs Cory Checco jumped to the Rochester John Marshall varsity team.  In 2013-2014 season, he was the Rocket’s #2 scorer posting 23 points (11 goals) in 25 games.  The 2012-2013 Rochester Red bantam A’s struggled.  Rochester’s single bantam AA team has to feed four Rochester high schools (Century, Mayo, Marshall, and Lourdes).  Lourdes, the only private school, dominated Class A Section 1 hockey until last season; the three public schools have won only one Class AA Section 1 game in the last five years besides beating each other.  Checco has gotten bigger and stronger since playing peewees.  This is his chance to show what he can do nationally.    

Another Lakeville North Panther that made the trip to St. Cloud is Jack Parks.  Parks played for the Lakville Association’s North Bantam AA team last season.

A sign that District 5 hockey has improved since St. Cloud Association joined the league is the number is the number of D5 players in the 102 seemed to be increasing.  Gavin Stranger played for the River Lakes Association Bantam AA team and struggled in D5’s regular season.  In the playoffs, the Stars lost twice MAML 6-0 and Buffalo 3-0.  Three of the D5 bantam teams advanced to the Bantam AA regionals (STMA, Buffalo, and St. Cloud).  The three teams collectively posted a 3-6 record in the regionals, but none advanced to the state tourney this year.  Stranger, a lanky peewee in February 2012, is now 6’3 and has improved significantly since playing for the Stars' peewee A team.

Green Defense-Zachary Cadalbert/White Bear Lake, Jack Harris/Prior Lake, Reid Hill/Duluth East, Luke Johnson/Edina, Spencer Meier/Sartell, and Jack Olsen/Lakeville South.

Jack Harris played on the Prior Lake Peewee A state champions in the 2011-2012 season.  Harris is the fifth player (Kevin Fellows, Scott Ready, Ryan Murray, and Chase Gackle are the others) off that team to play in the Festval in the last two years.  Last season Harris played on the Laker Bantam AA team made the finals of the South Regional.  They lost to Eden Prairie 3-2 in the regional championship game and to White Bear Lake 3-1 in the elimination final game.  With four of six varsity defense returning, Harris will have his work cut out for him in the fall.  The Lakers’ varsity should be a strong challenge to Edina in Section 2AA this year as the players off the 2012 start their high school careers.

Luke Johnson did not make peewee A or bantam AA his first year at those levels.  He made Edina’s A/AA teams in his second year.  Now Johnson is one of five Hornet players of the Bantam AA team to make it to St. Cloud this year.  Not bad considering the Edian bantam AA team played .500 hockey during the season and made a late push to get to state taking third place.  Spencer Meier’s Satell 2012-2013 Bantam A team made the Bantam A state tourney a year ago.  The 6’1” Meier made the Sartell varsity in the fall and posted 19 points (all on assists) for the Sabres last season.  Three of Sartell’s top five scorers will graduate and not return.  Next fall; they will be replaced by some of the talent on the Bantam A team.  Sartell’s varsity will still be young next season, but they should improve on the .500 record.  Sartell should challenge Alexandria and St. Cloud Cathedral next year for a ticket to the Xcel.

All three Lakeville South Bantam AA defense on the District 8 team made the trip to St. Cloud including Jack Olsen.  With the varsity losing three defensemen from last season’s team; things may work out for all three players.  South’s Bantam AA was ranked #4 at the end of the season posting a 39-11-3 record.  The Cougars lost in the South Regional to Osseo/Maple Grove in the semifinals 4-2 and to Edina 7-1.  The Varsity struggled last season posting 9-18-0 record giving up a 124 goals in 27 games.  The Bantam A’s gave up 131 goals in 53 games.  The potential is there for the Cougars’ Varsity to improve their defense next season and move up.  They will need an improved defense when they face Lakeville North in the Section 1AA playoffs.

Reid Hill played defense for Duluth East Association’s Bantam AA team that lost to Edina in the 2013 Bantam AA State Championship game played at Edina.  Hill, a bigger peewee, is now 6’2”.  With the Varsity losing three defensemen from last year’s team, Hill will contend for a varsity slot this fall.  Hill was drafted #235 by the Everett Silvertips in the WHL’s 2014 draft so he has attracted some national attention.  Zachary Cadalbert has skated the last two seasons on the White Bear Lake Association’s Bantam AA team.  As a result, Cadalbert played in two state tourneys.  He plays a solid defense and will only get stronger.  With the Bears only having one or two spots on the varsity defense in the fall, a good showing by Cadalbert at St. Cloud will only help.

Green Goal Tenders-Jake Begley/Hill-Murray and Kirk Meierhoff/Duluth East.  Kirk Meierhoff was in the nets for the Duluth East Bantam AA team when they lost to Edina in the 2013 Bantam AA State Championship game 4-3 in a double overtime game.  He had a good festival and ended up in St. Cloud.  This fall the Greyhound Varsity has two senior goalies returning for the 2014-2015 season, but the varsity slots will be wide open when Meierhoff is a junior.  A good St. Cloud camp could change that thinking.

Jacob Begley was Mahtomedi’s peewee A goalie for two seasons before joining Hill-Murray.  The Hill and St. Thomas Academy have been #1 or #2 in the Classic Suburban Conference for the last 5 years.  Most of 2013 was spent by the other Classic Suburban high schools trying to escape from St. Thomas. They formed the Metro East conference and after the dust had settled, Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy are in the Metro East Conference.  They will most likely contend for the #1 and #2 spot in the first Metro East title chase next February.  That may not mean as much to the old Suburban Classic’s Class AA schools.  STA got placed in Section 3AA; Hill-Murray, Tartan, and North St. Paul remained in Section 4AA.  Still it sets up a potential dual rivalry between Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy in the Class AA State at the Excel next March.  Begley is likely to be suiting up for one of those games in the future.  

What is Next?

The Royal Blue Team will be previewed next.