Royal Blue Offense-Joshua Baker/Bemidji, Nick Behrend/Luverne, Hayden Brickner/Centennial, Noah Cates/Stillwater, Lucas Erickson/Woodbury, Nathan Horn/Elk River, Peter Johnson/Fergus Falls, Scott Reedy/Shattuck-St. Mary’s, and Sam Walker/Edina.

The big name in this group is Scott Reedy.  Reedy ended the last season leading the Shattuck/St. Mary’s bantam team to USA Hockey’s Tier I U14 Title beating the Chicago Mission 4-2 in the championship game played in Green Bay two months ago.    The Sabres finished the season ranked #1 nationally out of 95 Tier I Bantam 99 teams.  In Green Bay, Reedy posted 10 points in the six games played scoring 6 goals.  He scored two of the four goals in the championship game.  Reedy played on the Prior Lake Association’s 2011-2012 peewee A and 2012-2013 bantam AA teams.  The 2012 peewees won the State Championship played in Alexandria.  Reedy was a YHH Top 50 peewee A pick that year.

Another player who played in the Alexandria 2012 State Peewee A Tourney is Elk River’s Nate Horn.  A 2012 Top 50 pick, Horn’s team lost the tough 2-1 semifinal game to Reedy’s Prior Lake team.  Horn played on one of the top lines in the state in that season Max Michaelis and Jax Murray.  That Elk River line could be re-united at the on the Elk varsity team this fall.

Reedy was more of a goal scorer with a style that fit in with differing lines.  Horn played well within a line concept.  Some would say a more disapliined style.  It will be interesting to contrast the styles of the two players who had similar skating skills in 2012.  Reedy has grown in the past year and is now 6’0”.

Where Reedy has been on a fast track, two of his Royal Blue linemates, Peter Johnson and Nick Behrend has followed a differ path.  Johnson plays for Fergus Falls and Behrand plays for Luverne.  Fergus Fall’s plays in the Central Lakes Conference that is comprised of high schools whose supporting hockey associations are mix of District 15 and District 5 associations.  Peter Johnson played for the Fergus Falls Association's youth teams and was on the Otter’s varsity team last season.  He was the varsity's #3 scorer posting 23 points (9 goals) in 25 games.  Johnson played for the District 15 Fergus Falls 2012 Peewee A team that lost to District 5 St. Michael/Albertville 4-3 in the West Regional.  STMA and District 5's Monticello/Annadale/Maple Lake (or MAML) went on to represent the West Region in the 2012 state tourney.

Nick Behrend has played youth hockey for the Luverne Association.  He was on their peewee A team in 2011-2012 and spent the last two years playing on their bantam A team.  This past March, he played on Team South Dakota in USA Hockey’s Tier II 14U Tourney and led the Dakota team into the championship game before losing to the Montana Thunderbirds.  Behrend posted 9 points (7 goals) in the 5-game tourney.

Johnson and Behrend come from development paths associated with “an out-state label” that implies a less competitive hockey environment.  Horn and the Elk River line are products of Twin Cities Association (or “not out-state”) hockey; and Scott Reedy is on an accelerated development path with a commitment to play for the University of Minnesota in 2017-2018.  All four will be playing on the Royal Blue offense this weekend.

Stillwater made the Class AA State Tourney last March.  That has to help boost interest in the Stillwater hockey.  The Stillwater Association’s Bantam AA team lost in the Bantam AA State Championship finals to Grand Rapids a week after the Xcel tourney.  That also has to help boost local interest in hockey.  Noah Cates is one of four players off the Bantam AA team to make the top 102 players in the state and has other family members in playing hockey for the Ponies.  That has to help boost interest in Stillwater hockey.  The convergence of all these good things bodes well for the Ponies Varsity’s future.  With 5 out of 7 varsity top scorers graduating, Cates has the opportunity to jump to varsity and another potential trip to the Xcel with a good showing this week.

If Cates makes the jump to varsity, he could end up playing against Sam Walker and Edina at the Xcel.  Walker is not guaranteed a spot on the Hornets’ varsity.  He is an eighth grader this year.  Edina loses only four forwards from last season’s state champs, but next fall’s Hornets’ varsity will have 9 seniors if they all return.  Walker, a playmaker, can improve his chances this fall with a good St. Cloud camp, but will most likely be a mainstay for the Hornets starting with the 2015-2016 season.

Centennial Association’s 2013-2014 peewee AA team really struggled last season posting a 1-42-1.  That was a surprise for the usually top ranked Cougar peewees. The previous season, the Cougar peewee AA’s with Hayden Brickner made it to the 2013 Peewee AA State Tourney played in Edina.  Brickner was a playmaker/goal scorer as a peewee.  The Centennial varsity has made the trip to the Xcel the last two seasons, but the Cougars’ varsity will be hit hard by graduation this fall losing 11 players (losing 60% of their offensive production from last season).  Despite the visit to the Xcel, the Cougars' varsity were fifth in goals scored in the Northwest Suburban Conference and did not break the hundred mark in their 25 game season.  Brickner is an eighth grader and can skate one more season for the association’s bantam team; he is another player where a good showing at St. Cloud can change the dynamic on the “home front”.

Lucas Erickson played for the Woodbury Bantam AA team last season that made it to the state tourney.  The #5 seed in the East Regions, the Predators swept three games (STMA 4-3, Elk River 3-2, and Minnetonka 1-0) to win the East’s #1 seed to the state before losing to Stillwater 5-2 in the quarterfinals.  A consistent scorer, the lanky forward will be part of the second wave of Woodbury hockey players to hit the high schools.

Woodbury Association has struggled with an identity fielding single peewee AA and bantam AA teams since East Ridge High School opened in 2009. The association's 2009-2010 peewees were the first group to have an opportunity to go to either school.  More of the first wave of 2009-2010 peewees ended up at East Ridge and will be juniors next fall.  The second wave tends to favor East Ridge also.  if the split of the players from the 2013-2014 peewee AA and bantam AA teams again favors East Ridge, it will start to show this fall at the high school level.  This past season both varsity teams had similar records (Woodbury 8-17-0 and East Ridge 9-15-1); East Ridge finished eighth in the Suburban East Conference and Woodbury finished ninth.  That balance could change in the coming years.

Bemidji’s Varsity team just can’t beat either Moorhead or Roseau in the Section 8AA playoffs.  They usually lose to one or the other and watch the state tourney on television.  The Lumberjacks have talent coming through their association that should re-unite with talented returning undergraduate players on the varsity this fall.  Joshua Baker is one of nine Bemidji Bantam AA players on the District 16 team at the festival.  He, Chase Hartje, Alex Pollock, and Ryan Pogue made the top 102.  At the HP-16 level, Jack Johnson, Josh Lusby, Brady Tatro, Nick Leitner, and Cole Hartje made the Final 54.  Tatro was chosen to go to a USA national camp.  Baker should fit well over the next few years with the Lumberjack’s varsity team.  The real question is can they beat Moorhead or Roseau to get the Xcel?

Royal Blue Defense-Grant Anderson/Wayzata, Colin Baird/Mounds View, Joshua Ess/Lakeville South, Carter Howell/Moorhead, James Marooney/Holy Catholic Family, and Alex Severson/Roseau.

Wayzata had seven bantam AA/A players on District 3’s Festival team, three defensemen.  All three are making the trip to St. Cloud.  Grant Anderson was one of those defensemen.  The Wayzata Bantam AA team had a good season ending the year NOW ranked #5 posting a 36-11-8 record but couldn’t get by STMA and Minnetonka in the East Regional.  Anderson is first year bantam and an eighth grader.  With a good showing at St. Cloud, he could gain some national attention.  Next season, he will likely be leading the Trojan’s Bantam AA team to a state tourney berth. 

Joshua Ess played on the Lakeville South Peewee A team with Austin Pratt, Erik Dahl, and Henry Eneback in the 2012 State Tourney.  Lakeville South ended up being ranked #1 in the state that year despite not winning the state tourney championship game.  Ess has always been a solid defensive player and has gotten bigger and stronger over the past two years.  He played for the South’s Bantam AA team last season and is one of three South Bantam AA defensemen to make it to St. Cloud.

Colin Baird has played on the Mounds View Association’s peewee A and bantam A teams.  Baird (and three other defensemen) made the Mustang’s varsity last fall.  The young defensive corps held their opponents to an average of four goals a game. Baird is 6’3” and as a ninth grader, he played 19 games on the Mounds View varsity and is likely to continue to improve over the next three seasons.  Now he has a chance to capture some national attention.  

At Roseau, over the next few years, the call “Alex to Alec” is likely to be heard over and over again on the ice.  Two Roseau players were on the D16 team and both made it to St. Cloud, Alec Severson and Alex Verbout.  Defenseman Alec Severson is a tough 6’1” ninth grader that likes to score or set up scores.  He frequently assisted forward Alex Verbout last season to lead Roseau’s bantam AA team.  The Rams’ bantams ended the 2012-2014 season with a 31-20-1 record.  They lost in the North Regional to Hibbing 4-3 and to Moorhead 4-3 in a tough overtime game.  A week earlier on the same rink, Roseau’s bantams won a berth to the VFW state tourney beating Moorhead 2-1 in a tough overtime game.

What makes the Severson’s season ending ironic is that at St. Cloud his teammate on the Royal Blue team will be Carter Howell who played for Moorhead’s bantam AA team against him in the VFW District 9 and the North Regional tourneys.  Moorhead posted a 29-14-1 record last season, playing eight games less than Roseau (and 21 games less than Anoka’s bantam team).  After beating Roseau in the North Regional, the Spuds lost to Grand Rapids in the next regional game to end their season.

James Marooney made the move from junior varsity to varsity late in the Holy Catholic Family’s season and played the last five regular season games and played in the Fires’ two Section 6AA games.  In the 6AA Sectional, the Fire beat Minnetonka 7-1 (a rough game that resulted in 27 minor penalties being called) and lost to Eden Prairie 6-2 to end the Fire’s season.  With two Fire defensemen graduating, Marooney should be playing for Fire next fall.  St. Cloud is a good opportunity to attract national attention for him.   

Royal Blue Goal Tenders-Matt Fitzgerald joins four other teammates off the Bemidji Bantam AA team at St. Cloud.  Fitzgerald played on the Bemidji Association peewee A team in 2011-2012 and is an eighth grader.  Last season, the Bemidji varsity split playing time between three goalies they had on the roster.  All three were juniors and are returning this fall.  With a good influx of talent starting to accumulate in the forwards, Fitzgerald is likely to remain at Bantam AA or play junior varsity next season.  A good St. Cloud could change that dynamic.

Jaxson Stauber is the son of Robb Stauber who led Duluth Denfeld to a state tourney appearance in the 1980’s, played three years for the Gophers, and ended up playing for the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL.  Jaxson played for Wayzata Association’s youth teams and struggled at times.  Last season, it all seemed to come together when Jaxson made the Wayzata Bantam AA team.  Stauber and Reid Waszczenko posted 29 shutouts/one-goal games in leading the Trojans to #4 NOW ranking and a 40-11-6 record.  However, Stauber and Waszczenko will not likely be competing next fall for spots on the Trojan’s varsity.  Stauber is a freshman at Benilde-St. Margaret’s.  Ironically, Stauber shared the District 3 team’s goal tending duties with Ryan Bischel who is also at the St. Cloud camp playing on the Red Team.  Bischel is also a freshmen at Benilde-St. Margaret’s and played on the Red Knights varsity last season.  The two players will be competing for varsity goalie #1.

What is Next?

The final post in this series will be up this weekend.  It will review the White team at the Festival and includes some notes.