The Final 54 Festival brings the top 54 players born in 1999 (HP-16) and the top 54 players born in 1998 (HP-17) together in one weekend of hockey.  The HP-16 players are divided into three teams of 18 players (16 Red, 16 Blue, and 16 White) and the HP-17 players are divided into three teams (17 Red, 17 Blue, and 17 White).  Each HP-16 team plays the other two HP-16 teams Saturday and one HP-17 team Sunday.  The purpose of the Final-54 tourney is for Minnesota Hockey to decide on their (USA’s Minnesota District’s) list of players to attend USA National Camps this summer.  The purpose of the CCM NIT tourney played simultaneously with the Final 54 at the PIC, is to provide scouts one last review of high school talent in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and Michigan before the scouts’ respective leagues conduct their drafts in the coming month. 

Three years ago, the 2012 USA U17 team consisted of 1996 born players.  That twenty player team had four Minnesota players on the roster, defensemen Jack Dougherty/St. Thomas Academy and Jack Walker/Edina and forwards Cullen Munson/Edina and Austin Poganski/St. Cloud Cathedral.  After playing on the 2012 USA U17 team in August and September, Dougherty was chosen to attend USA’s NTDP.  He skated the 2013-2014 season for the U17 team in the USHL and also skated on the USA’s U18 team in 2014.  In the NHL 2014 draft, Dougherty was picked in the second round by the Nashville Predators.  Last season (2014-2015), Dougherty skated defense for the University of Wisconsin.

Walker has spent the last three years skating for the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League.  This past season, Walker scored 55 points/18 goals playing defense in 70 games for the Royals.  Munson was drafted by Souix City Musketeers in USHL’s 2012 draft and is now playing for Janesville in the NAHL.  The Jets are in the NAHL division finals playing Soo this weekend.  Munson is leading the Jets in scoring in the playoffs and will skate for the Army starting the fall of 2016.  Austin Poganski played the 2013-2014 season for the Tri-City Storm, was pick in the 4th round by the St. Louis Blues in the 2014 NHL Draft.  Poganski skated for North Dakota University last season.  He also skated for the USA U18 and U19 teams.

All four players (Dougherty, Walker, Munson, and Poganski) made Minnesota Hockey’s 2012 HP-16 National Camp Attendee list.

HP-16 Saturday Game Summaries

In the first HP-16 game Saturday, the Blue beat the White 5-0 behind the play of Lucas McGregor/Centennial.  McGregor assisted on three of the five Blue goals and scored the fifth goal to lead the Blue.  McGregor assisted on the only first half goal, assisting Casey Kallock/East Grand Forks.  In the first five minutes of the second half, Kallock scored again assisted by McGregor.  Late in the second half, Blue strung three goals together.  Hayden Brickner/Centennial scored the third goal; Issac Johnson/Minnetonka scored the fourth assisted by McGregor; and McGregor scored the fifth goal.  The Blue goalies, Matthew Fitzgerald/Bemidji and Mitchell James/Green Bay Jr. Gamblers U16 combined to make 31 stops to preserve the shutout.

Red beat the Blue 2-1 in the second game of the day.  Red defenseman Grant Anderson/Wayzata scored halfway through the opening half to put Red up 1-0 at the break.  Three minutes into the second half, Blue defenseman Casey Kallock dropped low into the left faceoff on a Blue attack in the Red’s zone, picked up a loose puck, and snapped a quick wrist shot past Red’s goalie Reid Waszczenko/Wayzata.  Waszczenko played tough the rest of the half, stopping the next dozen shots.  Five minutes later, Red’s defenseman Carson Kosobud went low left on a rush into Blue’s zone and ended up firing a quick pass to a breaking Nick Putnam/St. Michael-Albertville on the right who blistered a one-timer into the Blue net for the winning goal.  After that, Red’s Waszczenko stopped a fierce late game attack by Blue shutting the Blue attack down.  Red won 2-1.

In the final HP-16 game Saturday, Red and White tied 5-5.  White’s Tyler Watkins/Hermantown scored the first goal in the opening minutes of the first half; Red’s Matt Jaglo/Green Bay Jr. Gamblers U16 tied the game three minutes later.  Cory Checco/Rochester John Marshall scored to put White up 2-1 only to have the game tied 2-2 by Red’s Sammy Walker/Edina a minute later.  Each team scored three goals in the second half.  The Red’s Walker and Luke Johnson/Edina scored in the opening two minutes of the second half to put Red up 4-2.  Halfway through the last half of play, White started a ralley the put White up 5-4 with two plus minutes left to play.  Checco got his second goal for the White.  Peter Tabor/Edina and Matt Anderson/Holy Family Catholic scored.  Anderson’s goal put White ahead.  With under a minute to play, Dylan Mills/Hill-Murray scored the tying goal for the Red.  The game ended 5-5. 

At the end of the day, the Red won one game beating Blue 2-1 and tied White 5-5.  Blue split their two games beating White 5-0 and losing to Red.  White lost one game and tied the other.  In the nets, the Blue goalies Matt Fitzgerald/Bemidji (97%) and Mitchell James/Green Bay Jr. Gamblers U16 (96%) had the best save percentage.  The Blue team gave up two goals in Saturday’s games.  Red’s top point getters were Walker and defenseman Grant Anderson/Wayzata; the Blue team’s top scorers were McGregor, Kallock, and Patrick Reddan/Holy Family Catholic; and the White’s top scorers were Checco, defenseman Anderson, and Benjamin Almquist/Holy Family Catholic.  Lucas McGregor who finished the day with 3 goals and an assist to lead the HP-16’s in points with four; Casey Kallock who finished the day as the top HP-16 goal scorer (3 goals).

What is next?

Sunday is cross over day as the HP-16’s and HP-17’s play each other.  In single games, pre-scheduled, 16 White plays 17 Blue, 16 Red plays 17 White, and 16 Blue plays 17 Red.  Both the HP-17 White and Blue teams soundly beat the HP-17 Red Saturday and tied each other.  After Sunday’s games, Minnesota Hockey will chose their 2015 HP-16 National Camp Attendee list.