Player: Jack Bayless
Team: Minnetonka
Position: Forward
Birth Year: 2000
Grade: 9th
Parents: Frank and Allison

Minnetonka returned a battalion of stars to its team this year from their state title team last year. Players like Luke Loheit, Josh Luedtke, and Clay Hanus. All big contributors with bright high school futures at Minnetonka. Another one of those stars was Jack Bayless, a speedster who has a great scoring knack especially in big games. "Jack's vision and speed is such an asset to our team. He is so gifted with the puck and even more dangerous without it - which  makes him so great at this level," said Tonka head coach Brian Murphy.

In addition to scoring, he's a great defender and one of the most dangerous penalty killers in the state. If a team makes one false move on the power play, Jack can be off to the races for a breakaway. "He is a student of the game, those goals aren't luck," said Murphy. "Jack is a great player but more important he is a great person. He truly understands what it means to be a be a well rounded student athlete on and off the ice."

If the Skippers repeat as champions this year, you will likely see Jack right in the middle of the action.

Player: Ethan Frisch
Team: Moorhead
Position: Defense
Birth Year: 2000
Grade: 9th
Parents: Dan and Nikki

One of the most dynamic defensemen we have seen in a long time in our talent-rich state of top blue liners. Frisch has a well earned hockey resume. This past year he was selected as one of seven Minnesota 2000 birth year defensemen to the USA Hockey National camp. In 2014, he was a finalist for the Wiz Wyatt Player of the Year as a PeeWee and this past fall was chosen first team in the Bantam Elite League with other players his same hockey age.

He gets such high praise for his speed with the puck and and shooting ability. Possessing a quick release shot and great hands are eye catching physical tools. Frisch is also a great leader, the kind of leader that leads more with his actions than his words. "Ethan is a young man of few words, he leads through his approach to practice and games," said Moorhead head coach Dale Lund. "He's a team first guy that has a great attitude in the locker room and on the ice."

The Spuds are headed to state for the second consecutive season - Ethan has been a key component to that success. "He has made everyone around him play at a higher level. I've really enjoyed having him on our team the past two years," said Lund.

Player: Ben Fritsinger
Team: Andover
Position: Goalie
Birth Year: 2001
Grade: 9th
Parents: Al and Kristen

It is very rare for our selection committee to choose a goalie in our player of the year category. After all, we have a Goalie of the Year award each year that spans all three age levels. This year, there were three or four really good Bantam goalies that had outstanding seasons. But one stood out every time we hit the rink...Ben Fritsinger. 

When not at the rink, we'd get text messages, "Ben Fritsinger did us in last night" or "that Andover goalie is amazing" and my favorite "Fritsy, Fritsy, Fritsy...he stops everything." It is texts like this that caught our eye. So we dug into the facts. In 55 games, he won 39 on a team with only four returning second year players and three players with PeeWee eligibility. In those games he had a 1.55 goals against average and stopped nearly 94 percent of the shots he faced.

"He was the MVP of our team, he competed so hard every game with great focus," said Andover coach David Faulkner. "I can't tell you how many times he had players on the other team shaking their head in disbelief."

Coach Faulker wasn't the only coach who had high praise for Ben, "there aren't many goalies like him, he has the compete level of third line grinder but the athletic ability of a first line center," said a district 10 coach of Fritsinger's ability. "I've coached for over twenty years, he's the best goalie I've ever coached and I've coached at the pro level," said Faulkner.

Player: Darian Gotz
Team: Hermantown
Position: Defense
Birth Year: 2000
Grade: 9th
Parents: Dan and Toni

Darian Gotz is pound for pound one of the best hockey players in Minnesota. Gifted with size and speed and a program that has helped him slowly develop into a great player, Gotz had a great season this past year for the Hawks. As a defenseman he had 45 points (28G/17A) in 52 games for the Hawks. "Darian is absolutely the real deal!  He is as good as any D I have ever coached at either high school or Bantam level in Hermantown," said Hawks bantam coach Patrick Andrews. 

High praise for a player considering all of the top blue-liners the Hawks have had the past 10 years. "He has the ability to completely take over games with his defensive ability and with his offensive prowess.  He is a shut down D who played every teams number one guy," said Andrews, "I probably played him more than any coach should but he is just so darn good even when he is tired."

The average fan would notice right away Darian's skill and determination on the ice. But the more you watch him, the more you see some of the finer things that make him a special player. He handles and shoots the puck extremely well on the blue line and he is a general both on the ice and the bench. "He is going to be missed, an irreplaceable talent who has a future as bright as any D who has played Bantams at Hermantown," said Andrews. "He is an absolutely amazing kid, a coaches dream."

Player: Jack Jensen
Team: Eden Prairie
Position: Forward
Birth Year: 2000
Grade: 9th
Parents: Scott and Shannon

Jack Jensen is a great hockey player. Coming into this season, he had won at every level both in-season while at Edina and off-season with the Machine Orange. On those teams, Jensen played in the shadows of some great players, too many to list. 

Last Summer, after not being selected to the USA Hockey camp in New York, Jensen exploded...leading the Bantam Elite League with 22 points and was named Co-MVP with Ben Helgeson. Jack's hard nose game was too much for the other elite players his age in Minnesota. HIs time in the league was a refreshing coming out party for a very well liked player in the hockey community. Well, very well liked by everyone except the goalies. 

This year he moved to Eden Praire and he annihilated the competition in Bantams scoring 75 goals and netting over 100 total points. "Jack is a great two-way player who excels in every situation on the ice. The amount of respect he receives from his peers and the entire hockey community says a lot about his talent on the ice and the way he carries himself off the ice," said EP head coach Niko Kapetanovic. 

Last week, Jack was selected as one of only 11 players in the 2000 birth year to be selected to the USA Hockey National Development Program evaluation process in Detroit. The first ever Minnesotan who played Bantams to do so. "Jack is a fun player to watch with such a high ceiling," said Kapetanovic.