This post reviews the Velocity team that will play in the UMHSEL league this fall.  Velocity plays their opening game at New Hope Arena on Saturday, September 6, at 9:00 AM.  They open against Team Wisconsin.  This post is the third UMHSEL team previewed.  The TCF Bank and Starkey teams were previewed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this post.  

Velocity or Team Northwest Offense

Carter Roo was Benilde-St. Margaret’s #2 scorer last season posting 35 points/14 goals in 24 games.  He led Muscle Milk (Team North) in the 2013 UMHSEL season posting 23 points/10 goals in 21 games.  Roo was the UMHSEL’s fourth leading scorer.  Carter played two years at Totino Grace with his brother Taylor (TJ) Roo.  TJ graduated last year.  He played for the Aberdeen Wings in the NAHL last season posting 54 points/22 goals in 56 games as was seventh in the NAHL in scoring.  TJ has since moved to the USHL Fargo Force.  TJ played three seasons for the Velocity (2010, 2011, and 2012) in the UMHSEL.  Carter Roo, Ben Newhouse, and Mark Kaske will captain the Benilde-St. Margret varsity in 2013-2014.    

Jacob Jaremko and Reggie Lutz played on the Elk River Association’s 2009-2010 peewee A team that played in the state tourney in Faribault.  Both played on the 2013-2014 Elk River varsity that lost to Duluth East 3-2 in overtime in the Section 7AA finals at AMSOIL last March.  Jaremko led the Elks in scoring (51 points/19 goals in 23 games) last season.  Elk River had a good mid-summer tourney the end of July at Eagan (this tourney should not be confused with Eagan’s Summer Meltdown).  The Elks won the tourney crushing Duluth East in the championship game 8-2 after beating Cretin Derham Hall 10-1, Holy Angels 5-1, and Holy Family Catholic 7-1 in pool play and after beating Stillwater 6-5 in an overtime semifinal game.  Jaremko was instrumental in all the Elks games.  Lutz was the Elks #3 scorer last year (27 points/9 goals in 18 games).   

Max Zimmer will join Wayzata teammate Matt Freytag at Wisconsin.  He committed to play for the Badgers this past June.  Zimmer was Wayzata’s top scorer in 2013-2014 posting 30 points/10 goals in 25 games.  Zimmer (and Freytag) were two of the sixteen 17-year old players selected to represent Minnesota at USA Hockey camps this July.  Zimmer returns to play for the Velocity a second year.  Last season he posted 11 points/5 goals in 21 games.  Freytag will pass on his senior year of Minnesota high school hockey and play the 2014-2015 season for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.

Zimmer and Freytag will eventually join former Trojan Grant Besse on the Badgers.  All three are products of the Wayzata Hockey Association.  All three played for the Wayzata peewee A team but two years apart.  Besse completed his freshmen season at Wisconsin in 2013-2014 posting 14 points/8 goals in 36 games.  Jack Dougherty/Cottage Grove will join Besse as a Badger freshman this season.  In 2015-2016, Besse and Dougherty should be joined by Freytag and Brock Boeser/Burnsville.  Zimmer will join the following year. 

Mark Lyman was Blake’s #2 scorer in the 2013-2014 season posting 42 points/22 goals in 25 games.  Lyman has played three seasons for the Blake varsity.  The past two seasons, the Mustangs have lost in the Section 2A playoffs to Delano.  This is Lyman’s second UMHSEL season. He played for the Velocity in 2013.  Lyman posted 9 points/1 goal in 21 games.  Zimmer, Alex Stevens/Wayzata and Chase Ellingson/Breck also played for the Velocity in 2013, a team that finished fourth in the league and lost 6-5 to Starkey (Team Southwest) in the playoff quarterfinals.

Cade Gleekel, as a sophomore, led the Blake varsity in scoring last season posting 51 points/25 goals in 24 games.  Gleekel played peewee A hockey for Minneapolis Park (a combined Minneapolis/St. Louis Park team) in 2009-2010.  He was drafted this year by the USHL’s Lincoln Stars.

Zach Sitarz and Velocity defenseman Tyler Vold were Andover’s #2 and #3 scorers last season on a team that went 18-9 and lost a tough 4-2 game to Elk River in Section 7AA semifinals played at AMSOIL arena in Duluth.  Vold posted 42 points/10 goals in 25 games playing defense for Andover.  Sitarz was Andover’s #2 scorer in 2013-2014 posting 50 points/27 goals in 25 games and should be the Huskies leading scorer this coming season.  Andover had a good tourney at the Eagan Summer Meltdown in mid-July.  After a slow start against Benilde in their first game, losing 4-1, they tied Lakeville North I 2-2 and beat Burnsville II 4-2.  Lakeville North is an early season favorite to return to the Xcel next March.  A junior this coming season, Sitarz should be key to the Huskies chances to win the Section 7AA title.  Zitarz was drafted by the USHL’s Fargo Force in 2013. 

Chase Ellingson/Breck and Ben Meyers/Delano were opponents last March in the Section 2A playoffs.  It was a battle of two talented players, a sophomore Ellingson against a freshman, Meyers.  Breck beat Delano 5-2.  Ellingson was the top scorer for the Mustang’s last season posting 48 points/20 goals in 25 games playing his second season for Breck.  Meyers led the Tiger’s in scoring as a freshman last season after leading the Crow River Association’s (now Delano Area Association) bantam A team to the state tourney in 2013.  Meyers made the HP-15 selects from Minnesota in the summer of 2013.  He made the HP-16 Minnesota list of players that went to a USA Hockey development camp in New York this past July.

Meyers continues to grow; developing and improving his game and has been attracting attention.  He was drafted by the Fargo Force this past June in the USHL draft and is on the Forces’ Protected List for their 2013-2014 team.  Meyers could end up playing for Fargo this coming season.  YHH picked him as a Top 50 peewee A in 2012.  He is just a good all-around player that can score.

Tyler Nyman/Centennial has played at the Xcel last March.  The Cougars lost to Eden Prairie 4-3 in the Class AA quarterfinals to end a still successful season.  In Nyman’s first season on the varsity, he posted 17 points/4 goals in 24 games.  Nyman played summer hockey on the a AAA team with Ben Newhouse, Kiefer Bellows, Ryan Zuhlsdorf, Chase Jungels, and Sam Fuss among others.  Nyman's toughest opponent that summer was a 97 Blades team led by Max Zimmer, now a Velocity line mate. 

Josh Passolt/Maple Grove and Alec Baer played the 2011-2012 season for St. Louis Park and left.  Baer played a partial season for Benilde-St. Margaret and left in January 2013 to join Vancover.  Baer posted 18 points/8 goals in 60 games playing for the Giants in the Western Hockey League this past season.  Passolt had two good seasons with the Crimson, posting 71 points/29 goals in 48 games, but he could have missed the second season.  He tried out for the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League last fall and was among the last to be cut in preseason play.  With the Maple Groves top line returning to play Crimson hockey this season plus the addition of talented players from the Osseo/Maple Grove Association’s bantam AA team last year, Passolt’s Crimson team could end up at the Xcel next March.  What will help is Section 5AA rival Centennial losing 11 varsity players from last year’s sectional championship team. 

Gunnar Goodmanson/Buffalo played on the Bison varsity for the last four seasons and has improved steadily.  Last season, he posted 50 points/25 goals in 25 games playing in the Mississippi 8 Conference.  He has also grown since being an eighth grade varsity player and is now 6’0” 160lbs.  Last UMHSEL season, he played on the MEPDL Stars team. 

Velocity or Team Northwest Defense

Tyler Vold/Maple Grove played the 2013 season in the UMHSEL for the Velocity posting 6 points/1 goal in 21 games.  The returning senior was Andover’s #3 scorer in his third season on the Huskies’ varsity.  Overall, Vold has scored 86 points/21 goals in 75 varsity games in the last three seasons with the Crimson varsity. 

Matt Kiersted/Elk River committed this past April to play college hockey for the North Dakota and was drafted by the USHL’s Chicago Steel in May.  He will join North Dakota for the 2016-2017 season.  Kiersted played for USA’s U17 Select team in the Five Nations Tourney held two weeks ago in Germany.  The USA team took second place posting a 4-1 record.  Dayton Ramussen/Holy Family Catholic and Ryan Edquist/Lakeville North were in the nets for the U17 team.  This will be Kiersted’s second season in the UMHSEL league.  He played for the Mpls-St. Paul team (Team Northeast) amd the MEPDL Stars last season.   

Tyler Lindstrom/Breck also played for the MEPDL Stars in the league last season.  Lindstrom has posted 27 points/6 goals in 46 games for the Breck varsity over the past two seasons.  A senior this year, Lindstrom will be leading a talented group of young defensemen (Justin Paulson, Tyler Scott, Dalton Weigel, and Brandon Lietz) for the Breck varsity in the coming season.  

Alex Stevens/Wayzata played on the Wayzata Association’s peewee A 2009-2010  team with Zimmer and Freytag.  A two year player on the Trojans’ Varsity, Stevens was drafted in 2013 by the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers.  In his two years playing defense for the Trojan’s varsity, Stevens posted 21 points/9 goals in 50 games and improved his overall play last winter.  On last fall’s Velocity team, Stevens posted 9 points/3 goals in 15 games.  This summer, Stevens made the HP-17 Final 54 and should do better playing for the Velocity this fall.

Sam Franta/Maple Grove has made the finals of Minnesota Hockey’s High Performance program for the past three summers and is player that has grown to be a stronger defenseman.  The 2013-2014 season will be Franta’s third for the Crimson.  A senior this season, Franta has posted 35 points/12 goals in 49 games over the past two seasons on the Maple Grove varsity.  Marc Sullivan/Eden Prairie has played the last two seasons for the Eagles varsity (posting 13 points/4 goals in 50 games).  He was drafted this summer by the USHL’s Fargo Force.  

Velocity or Team Northwest Goaltenders

Alex Schilling/Wayzata posted a 5-0 record holding his opponents to a sparkling 0.5 goals a game while stopping 97% of the shots on net.  Unfortunately, as a sophomore, Schilling was playing behind junior Vaughan Ahrens (a Minnesota Hockey select in past summers) who was drafted by the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2013.  The Ice won the USHL title last season and folded.  Ahrens’ USHL rights ended up with the Des Moines Buccaneers, but Ahrens appears to be headed to Richfield to play with the Minnesota Magicians in the NAHL.  With the Magicians’ returning a veteran team in their second season, Ahrens will have opportunities to showcase his talent.  So will Schilling.  The door is wide open at Wayzata.

Josh Kuemichael/Hopkins ended last season holding on to a 2-2 tie with Benilde-St. Margaret’s in a Section 6AA playoffs half way through the third period.  The Red Knights managed a score and went on to beat the Royals despite the outstanding play of Kuemichael (stopping 37 of 40 shots on net).  Kuemichael will be in his fourth season for the Royals this year.  He has posted a 18-26-2 record over the past three seasons playing in the tough Lake Conference (Wayzata, Edina, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie) and has steadily improved on his stops (87% in 2011-2012 to 92% in 2013-2014).

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