Weekend Two Results: Grand Rapids

Week two in the UMHSEL saw the teams split their games between Grand Rapids MN and Stevens Point WI.  The games in Northern Minnesota went as projected.  The Muscle Milk team that lost its first three games played in week one at New Hope, came alive on the friendly ice of the Grand Rapids arena and went 2-0-1.  The single weekend blemish, a 4-4 tie with league leading MAP, resulted from a MAP score in the last 30 seconds of the game.  Muscle Milk beat beating MSP 4-3 and Luther’s 6-3.

MAP blew their game against Luther’s wide open with a 5 goal second period to win12-4.  They played the game with a short bench, four players not showing.  But it did not matter.  The MAP line of Jacob Jaremko, Chase Ellingson, Reggie Lutz had a banner game.  Jaremko figured in seven of the 12 goals MAP scored posting 7 points/6 assists; Chase Ellingson posted four points/2 goals; and Reggie Lutz got 3 points/2 goals.  Jaremko continues to lead the league in scoring.  He is 7 points ahead of his line mate, Ellingson (20 points to 13).   MAPers Henry Enebak/Lakeville North and Ben Meyers/Delano had a good game.  Eneback had scored two goals and picked up an assist; Meyers scored a goal and had an assist.

After beating Luther’s defense up Saturday morning and beating Mpls-St. Paul Magazine 4-2 Sunday, they ran into a tough game with Muscle Milk.  As predicted, the bottom dwelling Muscle Milk led late in the game.  MAP had to score three third period goals to salvaged a 4-4 tie.  Two of the goals came late third period goal to overcome a 3-2 and a 4-3 MM lead.  The tie was enough to keep MAP in first place in the UMHSEL going into Week 3 play at the Showcase.

Defensively, the MAP defense was a no show.  The play of goaltenders Josh Kuehmichel (stopping 50 of 52 MSP shots on net) and Alex Schilling (stopping 39 of 43 Muscle Milk shots on net), gave the MAP their two wins on the weekend.  In the three games, the MAP defense gave up 126 shots (while shooting 94 times) and still managing to outscore the opposition 20-10.

Luther’s defense played steady, but goalie Taner Brender/Grand Forks Central still struggled in the nets.  The shots on goal against the league leaders favored MAP slightly 33-31.  Bender gave up all 12 goals.  Through the first two periods, Luther’s outshot MAP 21-20 and trailed 8-2.  Chaz Smedsrud/Luverne scored a goal and assisted on another for Luther’s.  Bemidji’s duo Brenden Bushy and Jake Leitner each scored a goal; Brock Mongomery/Grand Forks Red River got the fourth goal.  Luther’s salvaged a 4-4 tie with MSP in a wild affair that saw 103 shots on net.  Luther’s goalie Jacob Dittmer stopped 50 of MSP’s 54 shots to preserve the tie.  MSP’s goalie, Matt Snow/St. Thomas Academy, shook the rust from the opening weekend and stopped 45 Great Plainer shots.

Mpls-St. Paul Magazine team had a tough weekend.  Besides tying Luther’s 4-4 and losing 4-3 to Muscle Milk, they lost Sunday’s game to league leading MAP 4-2.  The MSP defense scored 6 of the 9 goals the team scored on the weekend.  Defense Seamus Donohue had a hat trick in their 4-4 tie with Muscle Milk and moved into the league lead in goals scored (7).  Defensemen Reise Zmolek scored twice and Griff Slightam scored once. 

Weekend Two Results: Stevens Point

At Stevens Points, the TCF Bank team was the story.  The Bankers played their two weekend games (they had lost a game played Tuesday to Starkey 6-5) with 12 and 14 skaters and won both beating the Chicago Fury 3-0 and Team Wisconsin 6-1.  Against the Fury, Nick Swaney/Lakeville South, Peter Tufto/St. Thomas Academy, and Derek Hammer/East Ridge scored; against Team Wisconsin, Tufto (2), Hammer, Nick Reis/Cretin Derham Hall, and Will Duda/Benilde-St. Margaret’s scored.  Dyllan Lubbesmeyer/Burnsville stopped 35 shots to earn the shutout against the Fury; Ryan Edquist stopped 23 of 24 shots to get the win against Team Wisconsin.  Lubbesmeyer’s play last weekend made him the top goalie in the league going into week three.

Team Wisconsin should have been the story; they won their two games Saturday and should have beaten the short bench Bankers on Sunday.  In the Badgers 7-4 win over Starkey, they outshot Starkey 45-30 and got scoring from seven different players (Dylan Ross, Ty Pelton-Byce, Casey Esselman, AdamParsells, William Jerry, Collin Peters, and Alec Broetzmen).

Week Three Preview

The UMHSEL will move to the Super Rink for week three.  The games will be played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but will get lost amid the din of all the games.  Most of the games will be played in Rink 3 and will attract scouting attention.

At the Showcase this weekend, league leading MAP plays one game each day.  They open Friday against the second place TCF Bank team, play Shattuck-St. Mary’s on Saturday and Starkey’s on Sunday.  The Mappers will have two tough games and a will play a young Shattuck team that could prove to be a tough third game.  Their offense had a great weekend at Grand Rapids.  The Jaremko/Lutz/Ellingson line posted 17 points/7 goals in the three games played.  Enebak/Meyers/Zitar line had a solid weekend and the Gleekel/Lyman/Nyman scored the key goals in their 4-4 tie with Muscle Milk.  In the MAP game with Shattuck at Blaine this week, MAP's Enebak could face former Lakeville South peewee A teammate, Austin Pratt, for the first time at the U18 or High School level.  Facing tough games, MAP is likely to find itself in third place by the end of week three.

Team Wisconsin was on a roll at Stevens Point last weekend and needed a win over TCF Bank to take over first place.  They lost 6-1.  This weekend, they could make up for that loss by winning all three games.  Team Wisconsin plays two games Saturday at the Super Rink, Muscle Milk and Luther’s.  The Badger’s play Mpls-St. Paul Magazine Sunday.  They will be favored in all three.  Their goaltending is improving (Henry Cutting and Nathan Siclovan).  Their defense led by Tony Stillwell has been improving, and their offense which features a balanced attack led by top goal scorer Collin Peters (6 goals) and top point getter Ty Pelton-Byce (8 points) has the capability to score quickly at any time.  The Badgers are a fun team to watch with their quick striking offensive style.  It would not be surprising to see them in first place after this weekend.

Shattuck will be an unsettled, younger team, this year.  They will be playing their first games of the season and will face Mpls-St. Paul Magazine, TCF Bank, and Muscle Milk.  They should struggle in all three games (Shattuck preview at end of post).

Two other teams, besides Wisconsin, have a shot at overtaking MAP this weekend; TCF Bank and Starkey.  Both teams play MAP and one team is likely to win.  Both teams play Luther’s and both are favorites to beat the Great Plainers.  TCF Bank has one big problem called Shattuck-St. Mary’s.  They will catch the Sabres in their first game of the season, but the defending national champs are an unknown at this point and could pull an upset.

One of the key games to watch (besides Shattuck playing TCF Bank in the opener) will be Team Wisconsin versus Muscle Milk.  The MM’s proved dangerous last weekend at Grand Rapids, but can they carry that same play to the Super Rink.  A win over the Badgers turns the MM’s UMHSEL season and will help them carry the weekend in their last two games against Starkey and Shattuck.  A loss to Team Wisconsin could send the MM’s back towards the bottom.

Luther’s goal tending struggled last weekend.  Their defense held up keeping the shots on goal low; but the teams save percentage (76%) shows the goal tending is struggling.  Offensively, the Great Plainers have not found consistent play in more then one line (Smedsrud/Leach/Jake Leitner).  Roth and Richards’ line is improving.  Goaltender Jacob Dittmer is having a good UMHSEL season and looks very steady in the nets. 

Shattuck Prep Team (U18 Tier I National Champs)

Last season’s Shattuck Prep Team had six returning players.  This year’s Shattuck team will likely have no returnees.  Nine of the eighteen players graduated.  Most of the remaining players are headed to junior hockey and on to college including last year’s sophomore and Sabre Prep scoring leader Clayton Keller/Swansea IL.

The Sabre’s Prep team’s defense from last season is gone.  Shattuck lost Ryan Lindgren/Lakeville MN this season to the USA U17 team.  Jordan Klehr/Lino Lakes MN should be playing for the USHL’s Souix Falls Stampeder.  Lindgren, a sophomore defenseman (15 points /3 goals in 51 games) and Jordan, a junior defenseman 25 points/6 goals in 53 games, leaving means the Sabres will have only one potential returning defenseman (Collin Saccoman/Stillwater MN).  Goalie Jeremy Brodeur/Essex Falls NJ will not return to the Sabres.  Brodeur will play for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League.

Offensively, Shattuck should have eight returning forwards (Colt Conrad/St. Alphonse MB, Ryan Norman/Maplewood MN, Roy Radke/Geneva IL, Larry Jungwirth/Bloomngton MN, Clayton Keller/Swansea IL, Rem Pitlick/Wayzata MN, and Alex Rodruguez).

Norman was the Sabres’ #2 scorer last season (71 points/27 goals in 53 games), but he is headed to play for the Lincoln Stars in 2014-2015.  Norman was drafted #1 by the Stars (#13 overall) in the USHL’s 2012 draft.  Conrad (41 points/14 goals) is likely to play the 2014-2015 season for the USHL’s Waterloo Blackhawks as is Pitlick and Jungwirth.  Pitlick was drafted #1 by the USHL’s Waterloo Blackhawks in the 2013 draft.  Jungwirth (46 points/15 goals in 53 games) was drafted by the Blackhawks in the 2013 draft.

Radke is headed to the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League; Keller will join the USA National U17 team; and Rodruguez (64 points/23 goals in 53 games) will be playing for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Pitlick has committed to play hockey for Minnesota in the 2016-2017 season.  Keller has committed to Boston University for the 2016-2017 season.  Rodruguez has committed to play hockey for RPI in 2015-2016.

Last year’s bantam national champs players could jump to preps

The Shattuck roster at the Showcase usually has a mix of players from the Sabre’s U16 and midget teams.  But those teams have been “scouted” and the top players have moved on.  The result is a number of players from last year’s Sabre’s national champion bantam team could jump to the prep team.

The Bantam’s top five scorers (Scott Reedy/Prior Lake MN, Brannon McManus/Newport Beach Ca, Logan Hutsko/North Caldwell NJ, Grant Mismash/Edina MN, and Austin Pratt/Lakeville) are all candidates and could be on the ice at the Showcase this week. Bantam defensemen Tyler Inamoto/Chicago IL and Alex Mella/Stamford CT could also be at the showcase.  Reedy and McManus has committed to play college hockey at Minnesota; Hutsko has committed to Penn State.  Reedy and Mishmash were YHH top 50 picks as a peewee in 2012.

Prep, U16, and Midgets heavily recruited

Despite Shattuck’s U16 team struggling last season (meaning they did not win the national title), Shattuck has lost players.   Goalie Ryan Edquist has moved to Lakeville North; defenseman JD Greenway to the USA National U17 team; one of their top scorers Jacob Paganelli/Verona NJ will play for the Bloomington Thunder in the USHL this season.  Another top scorer, Nick Karamanis/Courtenay BC, may also join the Bloomington Thunder.  It is an unusual year for the Sabres and that will make their appearance at the Showcase interesting.

Leading U16 scorer, Ben Lown/Newport Beach CA, along with forward Mitch Dolter/Woodbury, defenseman Sam Oden/Edina MN and goalie Drew Speckman/Fairfield CT should return.  The Midget AAA team has a number of returning seniors that should make the Prep team this year including defensemen Brandon Zajicek/Albertville MN, Connor Martin/Owatonna MN, and Mitchell Kimball/Owatonna.  The Sabres lost their top Midget AAA scorer, Sean Harrison (111 points/51 goals) to the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the British Columbia Hockey League.   The AAA midgets #2 scorer Joachim Weberg may not return.  Goalie Alex Corley/Westminster CO will join Harrison on the Cowichan Valley Capitals.