UMHSEL Opens Play
Edina's Sammy Walker gets pinned at the Xcel by Bemidji
The Upper Midwest High School Elite League announced its six team rosters for the league’s 2015 Fall season at the end of July. The league will open play with their first round of three games Saturday, September 12 at the New Hope Ice Arena. Last season, the six Minnesota teams were joined by Team Wisconsin and the Colorado Rampage in the first weekend of play.
The players on the teams are grouped by area and named so (Team North, Team Great Plains, Team Northwest, Team Southwest, Team Southeast, and Team Northeast). Team Wisconsin enters their U18 team. That before and after team usually plays in the USA Tier 1 tourney at the end of the season against Shattuck. Most YHH readers will recognize the players name to the six Minnesota teams, most have been talked about on this site for the past five years and a good number of them have named in the Top 50 peewees at the end of the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
YHH has been covering the UMHSEL in the past five years and will do so this fall. YHH will be there when the league opens play September 12-13 and looking at the players from the previews posted here. The UMSHEL is considered the top “before” league in the USA. Two other Minnesota based leagues, the Elite D league and the Red/Black league are considered the two best in the USA after the UMHSEL. Those two leagues will be subjects of later posts.
This post previews what YHH considers the two top teams Minnesota teams entered, 1-TCF Bank (Team Southeast) and 2-Starkey (Team Southeast). The next post will be up this weekend and will preview two teams, 3-MAP and 4-Luther's
Six Minnesota teams and Team Wisconsin will each play 21 game regular season schedule in the UMHSEL. All the games are played on seven weekends at various sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The UMHSEL holds a playoff in week eight with the six teams, Team Wisconsin, and an Elite D league all-star team seeded into an 8-team bracket tourney. Two all-star teams are picked from the playoffs (Minnesota Red and Minnesota White) to play in a second tourney, the CCM IIT Tournament, the following weekend. Last season, Minnesota Red beat Shattuck 5-2 in the CCM IIT championship game.
Two teams are invited to play in the first two weekend set of games. Their games counted as part of the regular season schedule. On weekend three Shattuck’s Prep Team (and perennial USA U18 Tier 1 champs) joins the league. On opening weekend, the Colorado Rampage U-18 team usually makes an appearance as the eighth team. The second weekend, the Chicago Fury has been appearing as the eighth team. The USA U17 team usually plays a three game set as part of league action in week six.
Each year, there is some player movement. Some of the players currently on UMHSEL rosters will be struggling to decide to play in the UMHSEL or tryout for junior A teams. Some players from last fall's league have already moved on. The past two years, three players have left Minnesota to play on the USA Hockey's U17 team (Nate Knoepke/Lakeville South, Grant Mismash/Edina, and Scott Reedy/Prior Lake); and five Minnesota players have left to play on the USA Hockey's U18 team (Matthew Hellickson/Rogers, Joey Anderson/Roseville, Ryan Lindgren/Lakeville, Kieffer Bellows/Edina, and Jake Oettinger/Farmington).
Other notable players not on UMHSEL rosters this fall are Mikey Anderson/Hill Murray (Joey Anderson’s brother), Max Zimmer/Wayzata, Matt Kiersted/Elk River, Koby Bender/Cloquet, Mitchell Mattson/Grand Rapids, Jack Becker/Mahtomedi, Riley Tufte/Blaine, Michael Graham/Eden Prairie, Nick Swaney/Lakeville South, Ryan Edquist/Lakeville North, Will Garin/Holy Family Catholic, and Garrett Wait/Edina. Most appear to be headed to USHL teams.
Anderson is currently on the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks roster. Matt Kiersted is playing for the USA U17 Selects this summer and along with Max Zimmer are currently on the Chicago Steel roster in the USHL. Koby Bender may end up in the NAHL, Mattson is on the USHL Bloomington Thunder roster for the up coming season and will play college hockey at North Dakota the following season. Mike Anderson/Hill-Murray and Becker (already drafted by the NHL's Boston Bruins) could end up on the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede roster. Riley Tufte and Michael Graham are currently on the USHL's Fargo Force roster (Tufte is playing for the USA U18 team in the Hlinka Tourney this weekend).
Nick Swaney/Lakeville South is currently on the Waterloo Black Hawks roster, Ryan Edquist/Lakeville North was drafted by USHL Sioux City Musketeers in 2014, Will Garin/Holy Family Catholic was drafted by the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the first round two months ago. Garrett Wait was drafted in 2014 by USHL's Waterloo team. Though all these players have moved on, there is still plenty of talent on the current rosters. The UMHSEL remains the top fall league in the USA.
1.TCF Bank (Team Southeast)-Team Southeast has been in first place or tied for first at the end of the last five UMHSEL regular seasons. In the fall of 2010, the Bankers leading scorer was A. J. Reid/St. Thomas Academy. Reid went on to play two years of junior hockey before joining the the Air Force Academy team. He will be a junior this year for the Falcons.
Despite returning only four players from the 2014 Banker team, TCFers will likely be in the battle again for the top spot this fall with a team comprised of South Suburban Conference, St. Thomas Academy, and Hill-Murray players. Three things make them the favorites again. First forwards Ryan Poehling, Henry Enebak, and Max Johnson, all three top players from Lakeville North’s unbeaten Class AA champions last March, are on the roster. Second, this team is stacked with top players offensively including Marko Reifenberger/Hill-Murray, Casey Mittelstadt/Eden Prairie, John Siebenaler/Farmington, and Derek Hammer/East Ridge.
The Bankers, along with Starkey have the best defenses in the league this fall. The Lakeville South duo of Jack Olsen and Josh Esse had a good Eastview Summer Tourney at the end of July and handled well a tough Duluth East offense that often dropped a big defense man low at the crease. The two were very comfortable on the ice together. The second Banker potential pair of Farmington’s Tyler Jette and Erik Holmstrom has gotten stronger and bigger over the past year. Their play will compliment an Olsen/Esse duo well. The third pair of defensemen maybe the best of the three, Robbie Stucker and Jason Smallidge. The two St. Thomas Academy players will likely be the core of the Cadet defense next season. Add to the defensive corps, goalie Thomas Hanson/Minnetonka (who somehow ended up on the TCF Bank team) along with Michael Hughes/Tartan and the Bankers have one of the best defenses in the league.
With their offensive talent, TCF will have no trouble skating four lines and will have a good mix of differing talent. Ryan Poehling will be a big threat at center or wing; Henry Enebak had an outstanding summer high school tourney and is improved in size and strength; Max Johnson remains a strong second line center that can do damage; Casey Mittelstadt has always been there especially as a playmaker and low goal (around the net) scorer; Siebenaler looks ready to go prime time; Dylan Mills/Hill-Murray is another talented forward; and Hammer had a great 2014 last season replacing Ryan Poehling on a line with Poehling’s twin brothers Nick and Jack.
St. Thomas Academy's Billy Jerry attacks the Duluth East goal at the Xcel last March in a tight overtime game won by the Hounds.
| Name | P | Team | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Stucker | D | St. Thomas Academy | Stucker, a lanky 6'2" defense man, skated third line for the Cadets at the Xcel last March and was drafted in 2014 by the USHL's Waterloo Blackhawks. He will have a good opportunity skating in the UMHSEL this fall to show what he can do. |
| Tyler Jette | D | Farmington | Jette was the Tiger's #4 scorer (28 points/10 goals in 25 games) last season playing in the tough South Suburban Conference. The 6'3" senior was drafted in 2014 by the USHL's Bloomington Thunder. |
| Jack Olsen | D | Lakeville South | Olsen is a 1999 born player and was drafted in the USHL's Phase 1 draft two months ago by the Fargo Force. Last season, he posted 29 points/11 goals in 24 games for the Cougars. He had an outstanding Eastview summer tourney at the end of July. |
| Erik Holmstrom | D | Farmington | The 6'1" Holmstrom continues to grow and develop. He was Farmington's #4 scorer last year (27 points/23 assists in 25 games) and drafted in 2014 by Waterloo. Seniors Holmstrom, Jette, and Devin Bernu formed the core of a tough Farmington peewee A team that made it to the 2011 State Championship game losing to Edina in front of a packed Rink 3 crowd at BIG. |
| Josh Ess | D | Lakeville South | Ess had a strong Eastview summer tourney paired with Cougar teammate Olsen. Cedar Rapids picked Ess in the 2015 future's draft. |
| Jason Smallidge | D | St. Thomas Academy | Smallidge was the only junior on St. Thomas Academy's starting five in last season's finale at the Xcel. He was drafted by the Omaha Lancers in the USHL draft two months ago. |
| Dylan Mills | F | Hill-Murray | Dylan Mills, a sophomore this year, centered the Hill's #3 line at the Xcel last March. Reifenberger centered the Hill's #1 line. With the second line center graduating, the two will battle for #1 at the Hill next November. Mills was drafted by Waterloo two months ago. |
| Tyler Smith | F | Burnsville | Players surprise as they develop. Smith skated for the Blaze peewee A and bantam AA and varsity teams the past four years. Then boom, like a rocket he ends up as a junior in the UMHSEL. Players develop over time and time cannot be hurried. |
| Marko Reifenberger | F | Hill-Murray | Reifenberger, a junior this year, will lead a strong Pioneer team that should end up in the championship game at the Xcel despite losing ninth grade defenseman Mikey Anderson to the USHL. |
| Cameron Buhl | F | South St. Paul | Buhl had a good USA Hockey U17 camp (6 points/4 goals in 5 games) on top of a 40 point season at South St. Paul. |
| Billy Jerry | F | St. Thomas Academy | Jerry, a River Falls WI native, was the Cadet's second line center last March at the Xcel. He posted 43 points and should be the STA's scoring leader next March at the Xcel. |
| Max Johnson | F | Lakeville North | After the Poehlings last season, it was Max Johnson (37 points/14 goals) teamed with Enebak. If Johnson returns, North could retain their South Suburban title next season. |
| Casey Mittelstadt | F | Eden Prairie | Mittelstadt is playing for the USA U18 Select Team in the Hlinka Tourney held in Czech Republic and Slovakia this past weekend. Always a playmaker and a goal scorer, Mittelstadt has gone from being a Top 50 pick in the spring of 2012 to being a Gopher in the fall of 2017. Time flies. |
| Ryan Poehling | F | Lakeville North | Ryan Poehling skated with his brothers on Lakeville North's Class AA champions top line. Sans brothers in the UMHSEL this fall, he should do better. |
| Cade Borchardt | F | Burnsville | Cade's older brother Cole skated on Burnsville's line two years ago with NHL first round pick Brock Boeser. Cole was seriously injured in a car accident and can't play hockey, but Cade has carried on. His work has landed him in the UMHSEL and is another player that YHH is rooting for to find success. |
| John Siebenaler | F | Farmington | Siebenaler as a peewee was a good scoring wing on the Tiger's top line as a peewee in the 2011 District 8 playoffs. But an injury at defense forced him to move to defense for the Tiger's state tourney run. In the championship game against Edina (Kieffer Bellows, Ryan Zuhlsdorf, Garrett Wait, etc), they Tigers lost, but not because Siebenaler didn't play good defense. Instead, the Tiger offense without Siebenaler struggled in that game. It would be great to see Siebenaler shine in the UMHSEL this fall. |
| Henry Enebak | F | Lakeville North | Enebak rolls along. YHH has watched him develop since being a peewee playing in the 2012 State Tourney. Always a skillful offensive player, he just gets bigger and stronger and better. |
| Derek Hammer | F | East Ridge | Hammer was the top center in District 8 as a peewee A for Woodbury and had some terrific games leading East Ridge in scoring the past two seasons. This year should be his time. |
| Michael Hughes | G | Tartan | Hughes split time in the nets last season and stopped 92% of the shots on net playing for the Titans in the new Metro East Conference. |
| Thomas Hanson | G | Minnetonka | Hanson is a good solid goalie that make the Bankers the pre-season favorite in the UMHSEL this fall. |
2-Starkey (Team Southwest)-Starkey will have a strong veteran defense this season with four of last year’s defensive corps returning (Matt Anderson, Matt Denman, AJ Robbel, and Casey Staum). Benilde-St. Margaret’s senior defensive leader Peter Heimbold and Edina’s Clayton Phillips will be joining them. This is a talented group that understands defensive and an offensive tactics capable of playing a solid defense while sensing when to move to the attack. Add to the defense corps, two solid goaltenders in Drew Scites and Ryan Bischel and Starkey’s defense should improve on goals given up (drop from over 4 goals per game to around 3 goals per game). That would be enough to put them on top at the end of the season.
Last season, Starkey’s finished third in the league scoring 90 goals. Their top goal scorers (Marshall Barnes, Dylan Malmquist, Garrett Wait, and Gavin Payne) have moved on. But they gain Edina’s #3 line from the Hornets’ State Tourney team last March (center Sammy Walker teamed with Bram Scheerer and Ben Copeland). Casey Dornbach centered Edina’s #2 line at the Xcel and has been teamed with Kevin Fellows on last fall’s team. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Jefferson’s Noah Ganske teamed with the two. BSM’s Zach Risteau could be matched with Minnetonka’s duo of Dominic Picciano and Brendan Skarda for another line. That would match Alex Gregor, Connor Clemons, and Riley Martin on a fourth line that could be one of the high scoring lines in the league.
Starkey’s hopes to remain in contention for the title this fall will clearly rest on three offensive things; how well the Edina forwards score, how well a veteran line like Dornbach/Fellows/Ganske can be found and play together, and how much scoring they get out of combinations of Gregor/Clemons/Martin. Their defense should keep Starkey in most games, their offense will have to up production and get closer to 100 goals to have a successful season.
Connor Clemons celebrates scoring for the Minnesota Magicians in their 3-2 upset of the Minnesota Blades in Minnesota's District U16 playoffs last March. Clemons (#22) beat Blades goalie Thomas Hanson and defender Isaac Johnson (#6)
This deflection by Edina's Casey Dornbach (#7) goes wide at the Xcel. One of Starkey's leading scorers last fall, Dornbach returns for a second season.
| Name | P | High School | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Phillips | D | Edina | As a ninth grader, Phillips was the Hornets' second line defense at the Xcel last season. Drafted #1 by the Fargo Force in the USHL draft, Phillips should be the #1 Hornet defense man next season. |
| Peter Heimbold | D | Benilde-St. Margaret's | Heimbold will be skating his third season for the Red Knights. A senior this year, Heimbold was always a solid player on the ice. Over the past few years, he has become more mature and excudes leadership. |
| Matt Anderson | D | Holy Family Catholic | Anderson made the big leap from playing peewee A hockey for Shakopee to playing varsity hockey at Holy Family in 2012. In the past three years, Anderson has played 75 games posting 53 points/11 goals. Now a junior, Anderson has the next three seasons before joining the UMD Bulldogs in the fall of 2018. |
| Matt Denman | D | Prior Lake | This will be Denman's second year playing for Starkey. Last season he posted 12 assists in 21 games and in his junior season at Prior Lake, he posted 25 assists in 25 games. Always an offense oriented defense man, as senior he should do well in 2015-2016 especially with Jack Harris as a partner. |
| Casey Staum | D | Hill-Murray | Staum skated with Mikey Anderson as the #2 defensive duo for the Pioneers at the Xcel. With the #1 duo gone and Anderson in the USHL, Staum will be key for the Hill's defense this season. |
| AJ Robbel | D | Jefferson | AJ Robbel and Brock Boeser were a good combination two years ago in Minnesota Hockey HP program. Robbel has continued to improve and will be playing his fourth season for the Jags. A senior this year, Robbel is coming off a great season last year and a good summer. The Jags will be tough in the Metro West. |
| Connor Clemons | F | Prior Lakes | Clemon had a good summer in the HP program and is coming off a national camp. Clemons partnered with Curtis Hanson last season at Prior Lake and led the Lakers in scoring (37 points/20 goals). |
| Sam Walker | F | Edina | Sammy (Sam) Walker, the Hornets' #3 center last season is coming off a good summer having made Minnesota's HP-16 team, being one of the top scorers at national camp, and selected on one of the camp's all star team. |
| Ben Copeland | F | Edina | Copeland, always a solid player as a peewee, continues to develop. Teamed with Walker and Scheerer last season on the Hornets' varsity, Copeland posted 17 points/6 goals in 25 games. |
| Noah Ganske | F | Jefferson | Ganske had a good season on the Jefferson varsity and followed that with a good showing in July's summer hockey tourney's. A player who's size and style is similiar to Blaine's Riley Tufte, Ganske is another new face to watch in the UMHSEL this season. |
| Riley Martin | F | Hopkins | Martin was the Royals' #3 scorer last season and is likely to be Hopkins' #1 scorer this season. |
| Bram Scheerer | F | Edina | As a sophomore, Scheerer skated on the Hornet's #3 line at the Xcel last March with Ben Copeland and Sammy Walker. All three playing for Starkey should give the team one solid line this fall. Scheerer made the HP-16's this season and is getting stronger. |
| Zach Risteau | F | Benilde-St. Margaret's | Risteau made the Minnesota Hockey's HP-17 list and was drafted by the Chicago Steel in the fifth round two months ago. The #4 scorer last season for the Red Knights, Risteau will inherit the #1 slot on offense this season. |
| Kevin Fellows | F | Prior Lake | Fellows has always been a great skating center. He led the Lakers in scoring as a ninth grader two seasons ago, but has struggled. Now a junior, he should start to roll. |
| Casey Dornbach | F | Edina | Dornbach centered Edina's #2 line last March at the Xcel with two senior wings. If Garrett Wait does not return, Dornbach will be the only returning varsity senior from the Hornet's top two lines. Casey was the spark plug on the Edina's top peewee A line (Bellows and Wait at wings) in the 2011 peewee a state tourney. |
| Alex Gregor | F | New Prague | At the Peewee B West Regionals played at the MAC in St. Cloud in 2011, New Prague's Alex Gregor was in a semifinal battle with Wayzata Blue. The Blue could not score when Gregor was on the ice and he was on the ice almost 100% in the last half of the game. Blue won (7-5?) scoring when Gregor ended up in the penalty box. Never a flashy player, Gregor just scores goals an makes the right play over and over again. |
| Dominic Picciano | F | Minnetonka | The 6'2" sophomore forward was on the ice for the Skippers in a tough 2-1 loss to Eden Prairie in the Section 6AA finals. He scored the lone Skipper goal and has attracted attention since. |
| Brendan Skarda | F | Minnetonka | A senior this year, Skarda was the Skippers' #2 scorer last season. He should be #1 this season as Minnetonka moves to Section 2AA. Unfortunately so does Eden Prairie and Holy Family Catholic. The three teams will join Prior Lake in a battle for the Xcel ticket. |
| Drew Scites | G | Prior Lake | Scites, a move-in from out of state, was banned from post season high school play just before Section 2AA playoffs started. Edina won the 2AA title, the Lakers lost to Burnsville. Scites had a good 2014-2015 season with the Lakers splitting time in the nets, continues to improve and should be tested this fall. |
| Ryan Bischel | G | Benilde-St. Margaret's | A sophomore goalie last season, Bischel split his time in the nets. This year for the Red Knights, Bischel should be #1. In a bit of irony, Bischel was in the nets for the Wayzata Blue peewee B1 team against Alex Gregor's New Prague team at St. Cloud in 2011. |
Hopkin's Riley Martin (#22) was the difference in this early season game last year posting one goal and two assists in the Royals 4-1 win over Apple Valley.