Tier 3 Consolidated Junior A Rankings Post 3
Forest Lake's goalie Aleka Zakirov/Moscow RUS off to a great start
With the Junior A hockey season just two weeks old, most of the Tier 3 teams in YHH’s consolidated Junior A rankings have played enough games for the rankings to make sense. This post is the first Tier 3 rankings for the 2015-2016 season and ranks USPHL and NA3HL teams in a single poll of “regional” teams to Minnesota. Seventeen teams are ranked in this post. Two more (the Minnesota Flying Aces and the Decatur Blaze) have not played enough games to be included. They will be part of the next post. Overall, 19 junior A teams will be ranked and the updated rankings posted every 10-14 days. This ranking post features a USPHL game between Forest Lake Lakers and the St. Croix Valley Magicians. The post also includes league standings as of October 6, 2015 for all teams ranked with comments included by coaches. With each updated ranking, new feature stories added.
Magician Lane Ellason/Superior WI (#26) watches Yannick Zehnder/Zug SUI (#10) stretching to rap the puck in the net (puck can be seen just above Zehnder's stick blade) cutting the Laker lead to 3-2.
Feature Game: USPHL Midwest-Forest Lake beats St. Croix Valley 4-2
Before the game, Laker coach Dennis Canfield spent some time with YHH talking about junior A hockey and his Forest Lake’s team prospects in the coming season. Canfield’s coaching approach is energetic and includes an element of discipline that he pushes off the ice as well as on the ice. He reflected on that in his office off the team’s locker room while his team was getting dressed before the game discussing the things he could bring his players. He is well organized and was relaxed and confident about his team’s prospects this year. He easily reflected on his team’s strengths and weaknesses and said that is what YHH should see on the ice. This year’s Forest Lake team has depth in the offensive lines, but not deep enough. Canfield was aware that the Chicago Cougars had a potential to go three and maybe four lines deep and that he needed to develop strength to match them. But at defense (and goaltending) the Lakers could match well with any team in the league. But as the interview ended, Canfield felt one of the best things he could do for any team he coached was to bring discipline to the players that they could take with them as they moved on in their hockey careers. As YHH left Canfield’s office through the team’s locker, the coach turned to an attentive set of 20 or so players dressed and ready to play and started to speak. The teamed listened in an orderly disciplined manner. What Canfield said were the strengths to watch for on his team, was there on the ice during the game.
Period 1: Up Tempo
The first period was neither a waltz nor a quick step. Both teams took the first two minutes getting loose, than over the next seven minutes the two teams went into an up tempo game with St. Croix Valley gradually establishing more and more pressure on the Laker defense. The Magician pressure led to a Forest Lake holding penalty with eleven minutes left in the period. The Magicians set up, controlled the puck on the power play and got some good shots on the Lakers’ net. But Lakers’ goalie Aleks Zakirov/Moscow RUS made the tough stops. It was something that Zakirov would do all night.
After Forest Lake killed the power play, the Magician started a rush only to take a penalty in the neutral zone that was actually forced by a Laker forward cutting in front of a Magician rusher and locking him up to make it appear that the Magician took him down. It led to a Laker power play goa. Zach Remers/Tampa FL scored on a neat passing play. The “forced” holding penalty set up the score. With 23 seconds left in the Lakers power play, Anton Minaev/Moscow RUS took a pass at the top of the right faceoff circle and hit Remers breaking in on the weak side low. The quick pass caught the Magicians penalty kill forward away from the left crease leaving a ga that Remers filled by skating into it just as the puck arrived. Remers one-timed the puck over Magician goalie Jason Footlick/Redondo Beach CA for the score. The Lakers led 1-0.
With 15 seconds left in the opening period the Magicians tied the game 1-1. Time was running out in the first period and the Laker defense left a gap on the left side of the Forest Lake net. A Magician forward picked the puck up along the end boards and fed Peter Karavos/Rolling Meadows IL in the lower left slot. Karavos banged the puck through Laker goalie Zakirov for the score. The period ended in a 1-1 tie. The Magicians outshot the Lakers 12-11 in the period.
Period 2: Its Miller time.
The Magicians came out fired up to open the second period. Their fierceness led to a great attack on the Lakers net forcing Zakirov to make a big stop. The Magician forwards hesitated as the rebounding puck was picked up by a Laker forward to the right of the Laker goal. The Lakers moved instantly to the attack generating a goal line to goal line rush with Caleb Santa Maria/Decatur GA putting the puck in the back of the net to put the Lakers up 2-1. Ryan Paal/Ham Lake MN got the assist.
Four minutes later, the Magicians turned a hard rush into a Magician interference penalty when they took Zakirov out in a collision in the crease. Thirteen seconds later, it was the start of Miller time. On the Laker power play, a hard shot on the Magicians goalie resulted in a long rebound to the right side of the net off the goalies’ pads. Laker Brian Miller/Woodbury MN rapped the long rebound into the net from the low right faceoff circle to put the Lakers up 3-1. Remers and defenseman Nathaniel Grugin/Greenback TN got the assist.
Thirty seconds later, a hard shot by Karavos trickled off Zakirov’s pads and slid across the crease. The Magicians’ Yannick Zehnder/Zug SUI made the long reach to rap the sliding puck past Zakirov for the second St. Croix Valley score. Zehender’s goal cut the Laker lead to 3-2.
Forest Lake's Zach Remers/Tampa FL had an outstanding game. Remers has the physical skills and hockey savvy and should lead the Lakers this season.
For the next 10 minutes, it was a scoreless game even though there were a number of power play opportunities. A minute after scoring to cut the lead to 3-2, St. Croix Valley drew a bad interference penalty. The penalty was called on a Magician well behind the play spoiling a Saint Croix Valley 3-on-2 rush. The Lakers’ power play struggled and the Magicians killed the penalty. With the second period winding down, the Magicians failed to capitalize on a four minute power play and then the Magicians drew two successive minors. They killed the first, but not the second. A minute into the penalty kill, the shorthanded Magicians came up with a good 2-on-1 rush on the Lakers’ net but failed to beat Zakirov. Again the Magicians forwards hesitated just a second after failing to score and the Lakers’ forward Brian Miller took off with the puck. He beat the remaining two defenders on his rush to score the insurance goal. The Lakers led 4-2. Miller’s goal ended the scoring but not the game.
Forest Lake defenseman misses batting a high rebound with his glove. The puck ended up with Lakers goalie Aleks Zakirov (note his eyes on the puck) coming up with a big save in the second period of the Lakers 4-2 win.
Period 3: Zakirov comes up big
The final period opened with a strong rush by the Magician defense that almost beat Zakirov. A minute later, a Laker penalty put the Magicians on the power play. St. Croix Valley controlled the puck and had five good chances to score on Zakirov, but couldn’t. The Lakers killed that penalty and five seconds later Forest Lake drew a tripping penalty. This time, the Magicians pressured the Laker net for the first minute of the penalty forcing Zakirov to make two tough stops. But after the first minute of the power play, Forest Lake kept the Magicians power play in the St. Croix Valley side of the ice. The Lakers started to control the puck in the Magicians’ zone after the second penalty kill. Two St. Croix Valley penalties helped. Between those two St. Croix Valley penalties, came the play of the game. The Magicians gained control of the puck low in the Forest Lake zone and fired three successive shots within a couple of seconds from right, left, and right forcing the Lakers’ goalie Zakirov to stretch right to make the first stop, dive left to make the second and somehow reverse himself out of the dive to stretch right to make the third stop. He zeroed the Magicians who drew the second penalty shortly after.
At the five minute mark, the Lakers went conservative dumping the puck from the red line into the Magicians zone and sending only one forward deep. It worked keeping the Magicians scrambling on the St. Croix Valley half of the ice. The game ended with a 4-2 Laker win. Zakirov had a great game in the nets for the Lakers. Remers played a good game along with Ryan Paal and Brian Miller. The Magicians’ Peter Karavos was strong at forward and Jared Mickelson played well on defense.
Lakers goalie Aleka Zakirov drives Magician (#16) Cole Buhl/South St. Paul's shot to the boards.
What is Next?
The #4 ranked Forest Lake beat Blaine 7-4 Sunday and will host the Illiana Blackbirds in a two game series at the Forest Lake Ice Arena. The Blackbirds are based out of Dyer In, a city with spans the Indiana/Illinois border. The Blackbirds offense is led by Joe Starevich/Saint John In and Austin Ahlers/Lake of the Hills Il in the early season and have their #3 and #4 scorers (Anthony DiDiana/Elmwood Park Il and Kyle Fahy/Chicago Il) returning. The Lakers should win those two home games. St. Croix Valley is off this weekend and play Forest Lake and the Decatur Blaze the following week. The Magicians should do well against Decatur but their wings will be tested again trying to beat the Lakers’ defense on the rush and the Lakers’ goaltenders. The Blaze have played only three games losing all three to #1 ranked Chicago Cougars. Decatur will play the #8 ranked Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings this weekend.
Post 3 Tier 3 Rankings discussion
The #1 ranked Chicago Cougars play the Blaine Energy at Forgerty Ice Arena this weekend (8:20 PM Saturday and 3:00 PM Sunday). The #2 ranked North Iowa team plays at Breezy Point this weekend (7:30 PM Friday and 7:30 PM Saturday). YHH will be reporting on both teams play next week. The Cougars and the Bulls are favored to win their games. Last season, the Bulls nationally were ranked #10 with the USPHL’s Premier Division taking the top eight spots. The Premier Division teams do not play outside of their division and is considered so dominant that three of the eight Premier teams with losing records were ranked in the top eight with the highest being #5 South Shore Kings (23-27-0). It is an “in-grown toenail” that constantly festers in hockey, the top teams never want to play a team they see as a lesser ranked team. But the result is no truly competitive environment develops. What did the #1 ranked Jersey Hitmen do after a 55 Premier League season last year, they went home.
The addition of the Midwest Division to the USPHL has cast the Midwest Division as a sort of unknown inside the USPHL with some Midwest teams playing crossover games against Elite Division teams from the South Conference. Since a majority of the USPHL teams are from the defunct MnJHL and are Minnesota based teams, it will be interesting to watch how the Midwest teams perform against teams from the South. The guess here is that the Minnesota teams will have more depth and win more often creating more of a dilemma for the USPHL in the coming years. The next move up would be to have the Midwest crossover and play the Elite North teams which are the “jv” teams for the Premier League.
Over in the NA3HL side, the teams are more a focus for moving players up (or down) to the NAHL Tier 2 teams. Still the competitive desire is there on the part of every NA3HL team to win, regardless of who hits the ice on any given weekend. The games afoot as the 2015-2016 Junior A season starts to steam roll. Here is YHH’s rankings first shot done by following a simple principle, go to the rinks and watch the teams play and talk to the coaches to understand their philosophies on how they coach. Put that together, it makes the rankings realistic.
Minnesota Magician and puck go flying in front of the Forest Lake goalie last Saturday night.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Chicago Cougars | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 18 | The Cougars are unbeaten and untied in their first 9 games. They are outscoring their opponents 7 to 1 and will be in the Twin Cities at Fogerty playing Blaine next weekend. Tough test for the Energy. |
| #2 | North Iowa Bulls | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | Three of the Bulls first four wins were over bottom dwelling Chicago Jr. Bulldogs. The reigning Tier 3 champs have a tough two weekends ahead playing at Breezy Point and at Alexandria. The Runestone Arena in Alexandria has been the "ruin" of many good hockey teams in the past. The Bulls roster will settle over the next two weeks and will challenge the Cougars for #1. |
| #3 | Granite City Lumberjacks | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 | The Lumberjacks are a veteran team this year. Their only loss was to the TC Steel 4-1 in an evenly played game where Granite City forwards could not beat former Duluth East goalie Gunnar Howg. |
| #4 | Forest Lake Lakers | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | With a solid defense and goaltenders plus the foundation of a solid offense, the Lakers are pointed up. They should win their next 8 games and be ready to challenge the Cougars November 6 at the Sears Center. |
| #5 | Twin City Steel | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | The Steel are a veteran team and should sweep their remaining seven October games and move up in the rankings. Their only test this month should be their October 23rd game with Granite City. |
| #6 | Dells Ducks | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | The Ducks' David Kaplan has posted 11 goals in 8 games this season. He leads the team in scoring, but The offense shows depth (Sherman Mowery, James Williams, and Alex Radcliffe are all in double digits); but it is their goaltending duo of Tyler Arneson and Jared Young that have impressed in the early going. |
| #7 | St. Croix Valley Magicians | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | The Magicians have a good line led by Cole Buhl and size in the forwards. Their roster is still fluid at this point and likely won't settle for another month. |
| #8 | Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | The Riverkings play could go unbeaten until they host the Chicago Cougars just before Thanksgiving (November 20th). A number of their games will be against Midwest Eastern Conference teams and USPHL Elite league teams. |
| #9 | La Crosse Freeze | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | The #9 Freeze will be challenged by the #11 Whalers in a four game series (three at Wisconsin) in the next two weekends. If they emerge still unbeaten, they will rise. |
| #10 | Breezy Point | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | The North Stars lost their first three games to top West Division teams, then beat Rochester twice and split with the Flying Aces. |
|
#11 |
Wisconsin Whalers | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | The Whalers split with North Iowa and Peoria then lost two to Granite City at Sauke Rapids Mn. They played the top team in their league, the top team in the West and the top team in the Midwest. They should beat the Freeze in their four game set and move up. |
| #12 | Alexandria Blizzard | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Alex plays Granite City, North Iowa, and the Minnesota Flying Aces the next three weekends. The series to see is when the Blizzard hosts North Iowa two weeks from now. |
| #13 | Steele County Blades | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Steele County will be tested in the next two weekends hosting the Dell Ducks and traveling to Chicago's Sears Center to play the league leading Cougars. |
| #14 | Illiana Blackbirds | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Illiana has some top offensive players, but appear to lack depth. Their games at Forest Lake will be the ultimate test in this early season. |
| #15 | Rochester (Mn) Ice Hawks | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Not an auspicious start for last season's MnJHL regular season champs playing in their first season in the NA3HL. They will have their opportunity to right that by winning their next three games against the Chicago Jr. Bulldogs. |
| #16 | Blaine Energy | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | The Energy look to improve through October. They will be playing top competition for the rest of the month starting with #1 ranked Chicago Cougars next week end at Blaine's Fogerty Arena. |
| #17 | Chicago Jr. Bulldogs | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Not a great start for the Jr. Bulldogs. Their next three games against the winless Ice Hawks should give Chicago's defensive corps a chance to recoup. |
| ----- | Minnesota Flying Aces | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | The Flying Aces will be ranked after playing 5 games |
| ----- | Decatur Blaze | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | The Blaze will be ranked after playing 5 games. |
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cougars | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 18 | The Cougar offense is on a roll. Their two wins over the Ducks impressed, their two wins over Steele County were a struggle. They will be in the Twin Cities next weekend playing Blaine at Fogerty. On paper, it should be two more Cougar wins. |
| Dells Ducks | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | The Ducks roster will won't be settled for sometime. They are always looking for better players. Coach Bill Zaniboni has five returning players and believes his team leadership will come from the the two returning goalies especially on the ice. The team is working on skating four solid lines on offensive, the defense is developing but will be tested especially on Halloween. |
| Forest Lake Lakers | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | The Lakers have a very good goaltender in Aleks Zakirov and a strong offense led by Zach Remers and Brian Miller. The Lakers have the foundation to do well over the coming season |
|
St. Croix Valley Magicians |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | The Magicians are still transitioning after taking over the old Hudson Crusaders team. Their roster is still unsettled. They have done well considering the change over interruptions |
| Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | The Riverkings offense is led by Tyler Carey/Sun Prairie WI and Kevin Van Bokkelen/Hudson OH. With five games against Decatur and Marquette Royals in the next two weeks, the Riverking offense should roll. |
|
Steele County Blades |
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
| Illiana Blackbirds | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | The Blackbirds offensive depth will be tested this weekend at Forest Lake. |
| Blaine Energy | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | Energy team has struggled in the early season with the loss of key players due to illness, but coach Chad Ballard sees the team starting to gel. The Energy offense should find another gear in the coming week led by returnee and leading scorer Niko Walsh/Chanhassen Mn. |
| Decatur Blaze | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | The Blaze opened their season against what looks to be the best team in the league and will have a chance to redeem themselves with 3 games against the Riverkings this week |
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
La Crosse Freeze |
6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | The key to La Crosse success this season maybe in their trio of goaltenders (Andrew Wagner/East Lansing MI, Garret Matz/Albert Lea Mn, and Will Graves/Minneapolis Mn). The three have combined in their first six games to hold their opponenst to 1.3 goals a game while stopping 96% of the shots on goal. |
| North Iowa Bulls | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | Coach Todd Sanden is happy with the progress the team has made, but 11 of the Bulls next 13 games are against West Division teams. Even if they win the majority of points in those thirteen games, they are not taking points away from Central Division foes. |
| Wisconsin Whalers | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Rochester Ice Hawks | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chicago Jr. Bulldogs | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | The Jr. Bulldogs played Peoria and La Crosse tough in their first three games of the season losing 5-4 and 5-3, then struggled against North Iowa and La Crosse. If the Jr. Bulldogs defense can improve and their offense start to pressure their opponents, they will improve. Goalie Jimmy Smith/Allen TX has had a good start in the nets. |
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite City Lumberjacks | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 | About half of the Lumberjacks roster this season are players from the St.Cloud area (Minnesota Hockey District 5) and they are off to a good start lead offensively by Lucas Carroll/St. Francis MN and Michael Piehler/Piano Tx with good goaltending from Robbie Goor/Anoka MN and Mac Berglove Elk River MN. |
| Twin City Steel | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | The Steel has another good goaltending duo in Gunnar Howg/Duluth East and John Albers/Centennial HS. The Steel have a balanced offense in the first six games with balanced scoring from from six players. |
| Breezy Point North Stars | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | The North Stars' Josh Laven/Hopkins MN has been on fire in Breezy Point's first seven games posting 11 points/7 goals. |
| Alexandria Blizzard | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Half of the Blizzard's 2015-2016 roster draws talent from West Central Minnesota and North Dakota. Goalie Evan Bisek/New Prague Mn has been the strength of the Blizzard. |
| Minnesota Flying Aces | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | The Flying Aces won't be ranked until Post 4. |
USPHL Midwest League Teams
The USPHL Midwest League is a Tier 3 league that has been formed from former MnJHL’s teams combined with USPHL teams. The USPHL has four Junior A hockey divisions (Premier, Elite, USP3, and Midwest). The Premier is a 12 team league, mostly based in the New York, Boston, Philadelphia area, that plays games within the Premier Division/League. The Elite Division/League is divided into North and South Leagues; the North consists mostly of teams affiliated with Premier teams and the South draws teams from Floridia, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. Those teams will be scheduling some games with Midwest Division teams. The USP3 Division adds another level of Junior A hockey that mixes teams affiliated with Elite South Division teams with teams affiliated with Premier League teams. The three USPHL divisions (Premier, Elite, and USP3) appear to provide three levels of play for Junior A hockey on the East Coast. The Midwest Division is the wild card, not following affiliations.
For the 2015-2016 season, the Midwest will consist of two conferences, a nine team Western Conference and eight team Eastern Conference. Both conference teams recruit from all over with some ties to Tier 2 or Tier 1 hockey. The Eastern teams are generally in the Michigan area, the Western teams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa area. The Western Conference teams are part of YHH’s Regional Junior A rankings since they will all be playing Minnesota teams. The USPHL is new. This season will be its third season. The Midwest Division in new to the USPHL playing its first season and teams from the Midwest Division will be playing mostly Elite South League teams in their first season if they play any games outside the Midwest Division. It will be interesting to watch how the Midwest players fare against other USPHL teams as the season progresses. Something tells this corner of YHH that the USPHL has underrated the Midwest Division teams.
After the first two weeks of play, the Chicago Cougars lead in the Western Conference with a perfect 9-0-0 record. The Cougars winning streak is powered by a strong offense that is averaging 6.5+ goals a game. The Illinois dominated team is led in scoring by Nik Kropp/Northfield IL, Matthew Letmanski/Wheaton IL, and Gavin Nickerson/Corvallis OR. Nickerson posted 142 points/72 goals in 76 games over the past two seasons playing for the West Sound Warriors in the Northern Pacific Hockey League. The Cougars have a single Minnesota player on their roster, Matt Olson/Totino-Grace. Last season Olson split his time between the Minnesota Flying Aces in the NA3PH and the Minnesota Wilderness/Corpus Christi Ice Rays in the NAHL.
After the Cougars, four teams are battling for second place (Dells Ducks, Forest Lake Lakers, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings, and the St. Croix Valley Magicians). All four will be tested over the next few weeks as their rosters start to settle. The Dell Ducks are in second place and look to have a balanced offense backed by strong goaltending. Forest Lake has the foundation of good team to build on as the season progresses. The Riverkings just look good in the early going and could be the Cougars ultimate challenge this season. The St. Croix Valley Magicians (formerly the Hudson Crusaders) are the dangerous unknown team. The St. Croix Valley team will skate out of Hudson WI and has posted a good record while making the transition to new ownership.
The NA3HL West and Central Divisions
The NA3HL has six divisions for the 2015-2016 season. Each division contains teams geographically aligned. Six Minnesota Tier 3 teams are in the NA3HL. Five Minnesota teams (Granite City Lumberjacks, Twin City Steel, Breezy Point North Starts, Alexandria Blizzard, and the Minnesota Flying Aces) comprise the NA3HL West Division. One Minnesota team, the Rochester Ice Hawks, is in the NAHL Central Division with three teams from neighboring Wisconsin and Iowa (North Iowa Bulls, Wisconsin Whalers, and the La Crosse Freeze) and one team from Chicago, the Chicago Jr. Bulldogs. All ten teams are included in this YHH ranking this year. The other 24 NA3HL teams are not included. There are few opportunities to see these 24 teams locally, but one good opportunity to see them all is at the NA3HL Showcase being held at the Super Rink in Blaine MN December 16-19.
Last season, the North Iowa Bulls played in the West Division and edged Granite City for the title. The Bulls went on to win the Silver Cup beating Granite City in four games (3-1 games) for the NA3HL Silver Cup. The Bulls then went on to win USA Hockey’s Tier 3 Junior A championship tournament. The Bulls move this year to the Central Division with three teams from last year’s Central Division and last season’s MnJHL champs the Rochester Ice Hawks.
All five Forest Lake players collapse around the goal on this Magician attack.