Many would think that this phase is the final phase of the process for the 15s. For 2015, that part is true. But the reality is, this is the first phase of USA Hockey's selection of their US National Development U17 Team that will take the ice in the Fall of 2016. The USNDTP coaches begin evaluating these players this Summer in New York. 

After this Summer, the coaches will begin to narrow their list to fifty players who get invited to a tryout next March in Michigan. The past two years, 19 players have been invited to the tryout (10 in 2014 and nine in 2015). Of those players four played for the U17 team (Ryan Lindgren, Joey Anderson, Matt Hellickson, and Jake Oettinger). All four are expected to return next season to represent the US on the U18 team plus the addition of Kiefer Bellows will make five Minnesota '98 birth years on that team.

Next year's U17 team will feature three '99 Minnesota players Nate Knoepke (Lakeville), Scott Reedy (Prior Lake), and Grant Mismash (Edina). 

The 2000 class is another strong class of players from Minnesota. YHH could see as many as 10 players chosen tryout again next Spring. Each of the positions has some real show stoppers. The Goalies are especially strong...Todd Scott, Isaiah Dilaura, Keegan Karki and Jake Sibell all can play. Ethan Frisch and Ben Brinkman have been impressive on the blue line and up front US coaches will have a tasty crop  of Minnesotans to choose from next Spring. Dev McCabe, Gavin Hain, K'Andre Miller, Jaxon Nelson and Blake McLaughlin all have star quality.

-USA Hockey has six at-large choices to the camp, three of those were used for Minnesota players. Jack Lagerstrom (Edina, Shattuck St. Mary's), Keegan Karki (St. Cloud, St. Cloud Cathedral), and Jack Perbix (Elk River). 

-Will Brown (Colorado) and Ty Black (Texas) are two players that mostly honed their youth skills in Minnesota. Brown at Eastview and Black at Lakeville South.

-Ty Emberson (Wisconsin) played his Summer hockey for the 2000 Machine Orange.

-Mason Salquist (Grand Forks, North Dakota) played in the Bantam Elite League last Summer and Spencer Weisgram (Fargo, North Dakota) will play in the BEL this Summer. 

-Rising Stars...Demetrious Koumontzis from Edina has been a player that gets better and better every time he hits the ice. Darian Gotz from Hermantown is the type of player that scouts have really started to monitor more and more.

-A few 2000 players of note not headed to New York...Dawson Klein from Lakeville is a high end blue liner that was injured in the Spring. Tommy Winges (St. Thomas Academy) and Brady Ziemer (Holy Family) are great D-Man talents that were left off the final list of 22 chosen by Minnesota Hockey in St. Cloud.

-Jake Oettinger was not selected to the National Camp when he was a 15 and after one great season for Lakeville North and a stellar tryout in Ann Arbor, was chosen to the USNDTP in the Spring of '14.

-Casey Mittelstadt was not selected to the National Camp as a 15 or 16 year old. He is committed to play for the University of Minnesota in the Fall of 2017.