HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

[RLStars]

I heard he was recruited after the Lumberjacks went to Nationals.

[huville]

Bjerk was offered a walk on position at a Div I school out east after his performance at Nationals. Decided to take Marians offer when he could go and play immediately.

Lukasz was heavily recruited by the coaching staff at Concordia-Wisconsin as was the same with Romanchuk at St. mary's. Both were brought in on recruiting trips and given tours by the assistant coaches.

Anderson has been invited to River Falls try outs. They are invite only, no walk ons. No ones spot on that team is safe as Freeman cut a good amount of upperclassmen last year and they didn't have a good season either.

Justin Neis has a few try outs with pro teams. This kid was probably the most talented player in the league. He was recruited by almost every div III team around here. He was also offered a spot at Adrian. He just doesn't have the grades or money to pay for a private school education. I think he has a very good chance at making one of the teams.

Weisner was recruited after Nationals as well.

Fischer was offered a chance to try out at MSOE but he is a good play maker and I think he has a chance to play 3rd or 4th line freshman year.

[the bigbooya]

OK.......now that the college rosters have started to be published (see the "college hockey stats" website), can those that are fairly familiar with the MNJHL scene list those players from last year who found themselves a spot on the team. The NCHA conference is mostly complete as far as posting rosters go with MIAC lagging somewhat at this time. From what I can tell it looks like the MNJHL league did a pretty good job advancing players. Congrats, pat yourselves on the back and promote it abit!

[CenterIce]

All of the 2009-10 rosters are posted on the US College Hockey Online website. A quick look shows the following MJ players rostered for this year in the two area DIII leagues, the NCHA and MIAC

St. Norbert - 0
St. Scholastica - 0
Eau Claire - 1
Rivers Falls - 1
Stevens Point - 0
Stout -1
Superior - 0
Augsburg -1
Bethel - 1
Condordia -1
Gustavus - 1
Hamline - 0
St. John's - 1
St. Mary's - 1
St. Olaf - 0
St. Thomas - 0

[the bigbooya]

No they are not all listed..........that's why i asked that someone familiarwith the league and players do this do this..........what you are looking at for most of the teams on this website is the carryover from last year's teams minus those guys that were seniors last year..............and that's why I said to go to the college hockey stats website instead........that website is CURRENT!

[CenterIce]

According to the college hockey stats web site, former MJ players rostered this year in the NCHA include:

St. Norbert - 0
St. Scholastica - 0
Eau Claire (no roster)
Rivers Falls - 1
Stevens Point - 0
Stout - 0
Superior - 0
League Total - 1 (Josh Calleja, a 1986 born player from New Richmond, WI who, when he played in the MJ, lead the league in scoring and had twice as many goals as the second leading scorer. Calleja played for a year or two at Stevens Point, then transferred to River Falls).

Most of the MIAC rosters are not up on the college hockey stats web site. Of those rosters posted, former MJ players in the MIAC include:

Augsburg - 4
St. Mary's - 1
St. Olaf - 1

[huville]

What you guys are failing to list is players who played a season or half a season with an MNJHL team then moved on to the NAHL. Sean McNeely played for the Hudson Crusaders in 07-08 before moving up to the NAHL that year. He is on the Stevens Pt. roster but is listed as being from the Alaska Avalanche. He is an advancement of the MNJHL but they don't get the credit.

[huville]

I have done the research and here are all the former MNJHL players, that are on Western D-III rosters for this season.

MCHA Total 15
[b]Adrian[/b]-0
[b]Concordia-Wisconsin[/b]-5
Brad Lukasz-Hudson, Andy Parrott-Hudson, Shawn Oelke-Lights, Andy Kopas-Lakers, Tyler Fischer-Owls
[b]Finlandia[/b]-3
Charlie Benik-Mustangs, Doug Folk-Lakers, Matt Wylie-Hudson
[b]Lake Forest[/b]-1
Zak Browski-Granite City
[b]Lawrence[/b]-1
Josh Desmit-Rochester
[b]Marian[/b]-3
Alex Bjerk-Rochester, Nick Henkemeyer-Lights, Chris Thompson-Rochester
[b]MSOE[/b]-1
Andrew Desmond-Lakers
[b]Northland[/b]-1
Joe Belanger-Mustangs

NCHA Total 12
[b]St. Norbert[/b]-0
[b]St. Scholastica[/b]-0
[b]Eau-Claire[/b]-3
Nate Smith-Owls, Fred Bidinger-Granite City, Tyler Brigl-Dubuque (when they were in the MNJHL)
[b]River Falls[/b]-3
Josh Calleja-Mustangs, Ryan Goodmanson-Rochester, Grant Everett-St. Louis Lightning (now Maple Grove)
[b]Stevens Pt[/b]-2
Kent Detlefson-Rochester, Sean McNeely-Hudson
[b]Stout[/b]-2
Joel Gaulrapp-Rochester, Jesse Johnston-Rochester
[b]Superior[/b]-2
Bryan Dalbec-Mustangs, Pete O'Hara-Lights

MIAC Total 20
[b]Augsburg[/b]-5
Loran Egan-Mustangs, Cory Ellertson-Rochester, Issei Kashima-Rochester, Justin Lochner-Granite City, Ben Roberts-Lights
[b]Bethel[/b]-2
Aaron Jorgensen-Dubuque, Reed Zweber-Hudson
[b]Concordia-MN[/b]-2 09-10 roster unavailable
Kevin Nolt-Rochester, Matt Nordhagen-Owls
[b]Gustavus[/b]-2 09-10 roster unavailable
Pat Dynan-Lights, Josh Swartout-Lights
[b]Hamline[/b]-1
Brett Burgau-Rochester
[b]St. Johns[/b]-2
Jascha Pettit-Owls, Nick Roscoe-Owls
[b]St. Mary's[/b]-3
Chase Marshall-Owls, Bryce Stevens-Rochester, Will Such-Lights
[b]St. Olaf[/b]-2
Brady Sand-Mustangs, Thor Josefson-Rochester
[b]St. Thomas[/b]-2
Cary Wood-Lights, KC Kranz-Rochester

So in total there are 47 players playing Division III in the West that at one time in their career played in the MNJHL. This league does what its supposed to do.

[CenterIce]

Huville, before you get too carried away with the MJ's success, do the math. If just 2 kids from each of the MJ's 9 teams advanced to the three western DIII leagues every year, you would expect to see a total of 72 former MJ players on the 4-year, freshman through senior rosters. You have identified a total of 47, which means that, on average, just over 1 kid per MJ team is added to the DIII ranks each year (9 teams x 1 player each x 4 years = 36). In other words, using your numbers, a kid playing in the MJ has about a 1 in 25 chance of playing DIII hockey. Because the rosters published by the colleges do not list the MJ as the "last league" in which 47 kids played, I'm also guessing that a good number of those you identified played in the MJ only before/after their high school seasons, then went straight to college, or had to play in the NAHL or another junior league before going to college.

[huville]

Actually no, none of these players were just before/afters. All played on a team in the MNJHL at 1 point of their career. A whole season, multiple seasons, a short stint. Without the league, these players would have been cut from NAHL teams and had no where to play. Also this is only Western Division III. I'm sure there are about 20-30 more players out East and that would get you over the 72 mark.

[youngblood08]

How many are on the Varsity squad and not the Club teams at those colleges??

[huville]

All these players are on the Varsity division III team. I did not look for players on JV teams or club teams.

[huville]

Add 2 more to the list. Adam Weisner (Rochester) and Alex Najouskas (Granite City) both have made Gustavus Adolphus

[HShockeyz]

[rinkrat68]

Interesting perspective on both sides of this issue. Here's my take:

I agree that the MJ is not a feeder program to the NAHL. Only a handful of players that I can think of that have made a PERMANENT move to the NAHL or other Tier II programs recently: Seth Ronsberg, 3rd leading scorer for Winkler (Wildcats), Jake Parenteau, 3rd leading scoring D in NAHL for the Alaska Avalanche-St. Paul Lakers (Wildcats staff), and Michael Deslauriers, goaltender(Wildcats) to Steinbach Pistons of Manitoba Jr.
Sean Kenny, Granite City, elected to return to play for Brad Willner and Michael Raynee, Little Falls, lasted a handful of games in the NAHL.
If there are others, I'm sure someone will let me know.
From a recruiting standpoint, if you look at the majority of rosters in the MJ, you will find that most teams are made up of 19-20 year olds, which means that if a player is not aging out, he only has 1 year of eligibility left.
Which in turn means that an NAHL team has limited time to develop that player, as opposed to a 17-18 year old they can work with for several years.
I am one of the very few that agrees with the Minnesota Wildcats developmental strategy of developing the younger players. Although perennially they are the cellar dwellers in the MJ, at least these young players will have a shot at moving up to the next level and have the opportunity to become better players by playing at a higher level and playing a 50 game schedule.
My point is, maybe the MJ should look at limiting the number of over-age player(20 year olds) on each roster to be more appealing to higher levels of Junior Hockey.

[CenterIce]

Following is a copy of an article that appears today on the “American Junior Hockey” web site (www.americanjuniorhockey.com). It lists the combined total number of games played to date this season at the NCAA Div. III level by alumni of each feeder league, as well as their combined total impact in terms of point production. Highlighted are Minnesota and Wisconsin High School, USHL, NAHL, EJHL and MnJHL. In terms of games played, the NAHL and EJHL are close (1,967 for alumni of the 20 NAHL teams and 1,945 for alumni of the 14 EJHL teams). In terms of point production, the EJHL leads the NAHL 1,009 to 896. Minnesota High School is right in the mix with 1,347 former players putting up a combined total of 545 points. MnJHL alumni have participated in 248 games, and put up a combined total of 74 points. Wisconsin High School is not far behind, with 178 player games accounting for 49 total points. Draw your own conclusions:

NCAA Division 3: Where do they come from?

Below is listed the players that are currently on Division 3 rosters and their stats up till the winter break. No goalie stats are included but their 'games played' are included. Interesting way to take a look at the leagues providing the most alumni to Division 3.
League - GP - G - A - PTS


WHA (Defunct) - 3 0-0-0

VIJHL - 81 6-11-17

VA High School - 3 0-0-0

TX HS 14 1-2-3

SK HS 6 0-0-0

RI HS 21 1-3-4

PA HS 64 18-21-39

ny hs 43 6-12-18

ns hs 10 3-5-8

oh hs 3 1-0-1

norway 3 0-0-0

QJAAAHL 91 10-30-40

PJHL 9 0-2-2

ACHA 12 2-0-2

AEHL 3 0-0-0

Austrailia 7 0-0-0

BCHL 614 109-199-308

AlbertaJHL 469 111-202-313

CHA 5 0-1-1

CJHL 490 90-173-263

CO HS 13 0-2-2

CSHL 237 33-59-92

EBJHL 2 0-0-0

CT HS 45 9-10-19

Empire 15 2-7-9

EOJHL 3 0-0-0

GOJHL 373 92-132-224

WI HS 178 20-29-49

MA HS 423 60-60-120

MD HS 12 0-1-1

ManitobaJHL 270 34-74-108

Finland 11 1-5-6

FL HS 9 0-2-2

Germany 10 3-2-5

GMHL 151-27-29-56

HJHL 34 8-14-22

IJHL 13 2-3-5

IL HS 16 3-4-7

IN HS 5 2-0-2

NJCAA 77 17-24-41

KIJHL 17 1-0-1

MetJHL 161 24-41-65

MI HS 49 9-13-22

Midget AA 30 2-3-5

Midget AAA 193 26-45-71

MaJHL 53 5-17-22

MN HS 1374 209-335-545

OJHL 1483 294-514-808

MnJHL 248 30-44-74
MO HS 9 4-4-8

NAHL 1967 341-555-896

ND HS 16 0-4-4

New England Prep 2124 363-543-906

NH HS 16 0-0-0

NJ HS 61 13-15-28

NOJHL 146 17-35-52

NorPac 293 47-58-105

CJHL 490 90-173-263

EJHL 1945 413-596-1009
SJHL 201 57-76-113

Sweden 183 26-50-76

USHL 327 95-164-259

AtlanticJHL 1276 211-320-531

Prep 315 57-95-152

[mjnerd]

Since only a few of you think MJ players do anything with their college careers, Justin Lochner, freshman goalie for Augsburg College, set a new NCAA DIII record on Saturday for most saves in a game with 98. His team came up on the wrong end, but keeping your team in the game for 138 minutes and being outshot 104-57, way to go Justin.

For those who do not know, Lochner played with the Granite City Lumberjacks last season.