For one night in late September, the best American-born, 2019 NHL Draft-eligible hockey players came together in St. Paul, Minnesota for three periods. 10 of the 42 skaters were Minnesotan, the game was played at the Minnesota Wild’s Xcel Energy Center, and a smattering of Minnesota hockey dignitaries floated around the arena. Minnesota. There I said it again.  

Somewhere, Aaron Sorkin is cackling at how he pulled off writing such a homespun script.

While the game itself took on all the intensity of nursing home bingo until the final seven minutes of regulation, the talent on the ice was overwhelming, including projected No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft Jack Hughes. 

Four of the Minnesotans on the rosters will be playing for their respective high schools this fall and winter, including Chaska defenseman Mike Koster, who said his patented, ultra-creative offensive wizardry needed just a tweak before playing against the country’s finest. 

“Your game changes a little bit, but you’re playing with better players,” Koster said after recording an assist in Team Langenbrunner’s 6-4 win. “You can jump in the rush (and) you can feed off them.”

Koster admitted to a few pregame butterflies but added that finding chemistry with a team of all-stars in just 12 hours isn’t as big of a deal as it may seem. 

“I’d say a lot of us had some chemistry before,” Koster explained. “Like growing up we’ve all played on teams together and they had lines figured out (in advance). When you get to this level, you just kind of play.”

Fellow high school standout Ryder Donovan, Duluth East power forward and North Dakota commit, who spent last weekend playing in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League said before the game that he was undaunted by the jump in competition level. 

“I’ve played with these guys before, so I’m not really intimidated,” Donovan said. “It’ll be a lot more competitive, and it’ll be good for me,” Donovan continued. “It’ll be good to get challenged and see where I’m at.”

On the opposite end of the development-route spectrum is Arthur Kaliyev, who just finished torching the OHL for 31 goals and 48 points as a 16-year old rookie with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

“I just played with confidence,” Kaliyev said of his remarkable 2017-2018 campaign. “(I have) great teammates and they were positive,” Kaliyev continued. “Just trying to be positive myself and things have turned out well for me this season.” 

The OHL All-Rookie Second Team pick said that the primary difference between Canadian juniors and a game against the top American skaters is in the physicality. 

“The OHL has bigger guys, (it’s) more physical,” Kaliyev said. “Playing against the best players in the U.S., it’s a little different.”

Kaliyev scored two goals for Team Langenbrunner in the game, including the first tally on an impressive one-timer off a feed from Alex Turcotte. Kaliyev’s OHL counterpart, Peterborough’s Nick Robertson, also assisted on the goal. Both Turcotte and Peterson finished the game with two assists. 

Kaliyev has been projected as a first-round draft pick this coming June in Vancouver.