Hockey Hub Top 100 Players

[The Exiled One]

Mike Antonovich
Henry Boucha
Aaron Broten
Neal Broten
Ben Clymer?
Mike Crowley
Tom Hirsch ?
Willard Ikola
Phil Housley
John Matchefts
John Mayasich
Johnny Pohl
Kyle Rau?
Gary Sargent?
Tim Sheehy
Dave Spehar

[Puckguy19]

Mike Antonovich (3)
Henry Boucha (2)
Aaron Broten - Lock
Neal Broten (5)
Ben Clymer?
Mike Crowley - Lock
Tom Hirsch ?
Willard Ikola - Lock
Phil Housley (4)
John Matchefts - Lock
John Mayasich (1)
Johnny Pohl - Lock
Kyle Rau - Lock
Gary Sargent - Lock
Tim Sheehy - Lock
Dave Spehar - Lock

Good list. Don't disagree with Hirsch and Clymer, but am guessing there may be one or two darkhorses from past eras.

[elliott70]

Mike Antonovich (3)
Henry Boucha (2)
Aaron Broten - Lock
Neal Broten (5)
Ben Clymer?
Mike Crowley - Lock
Tom Hirsch ?
Willard Ikola - Lock
Phil Housley (4)
John Matchefts - Lock
John Mayasich (1)
Johnny Pohl - Lock
Kyle Rau - Lock
Gary Sargent - Lock
Tim Sheehy - Lock
Dave Spehar - Lock

Good list. Don't disagree with Hirsch and Clymer, but am guessing there may be one or two darkhorses from past eras.

Sheehy was teh most dominate layer of the 60.s
He will finish ahead of Antonovich and Boucha.

Mayasich,
Broten or Sheehy number 2.

[O-townClown]

My guesses are: Craig Norwich, Paul Holmgren and Ken Yackel.

The last two are new names. My personal list still has room for two more guys and I have about a dozen potentials. I went to several years of Ken Yackel hockey schools, but I gotta be honest I don't know a thing about what he did in HS!!

It would be too bad if Craig Norwich didn't make the Top 100 at all. Bobby Krieger is another one I remember people talking about in Edina years after he starred in HS.

[Gopher Blog]

I went to several years of Ken Yackel hockey schools, but I gotta be honest I don't know a thing about what he did in HS!!

Ha. You sound exactly the same as me. I remember going to his hockey schools in the summer back in the 70s/80s (can't remember exactly what years) and I really didn't have any clue about the guy. I guess my dad knew enough about him though.

I think I remember them being at Braemar. For some reason, I bet I still have the camp jerseys somewhere in a box.

[Hounds19]

I went to several years of Ken Yackel hockey schools, but I gotta be honest I don't know a thing about what he did in HS!!

Ha. You sound exactly the same as me. I remember going to his hockey schools in the summer back in the 70s/80s (can't remember exactly what years) and I really didn't have any clue about the guy. I guess my dad knew enough about him though.

I think I remember them being at Braemar. For some reason, I bet I still have the camp jerseys somewhere in a box.

Spehar, Bousha top 2 anyone?

[elliott70]

I went to several years of Ken Yackel hockey schools, but I gotta be honest I don't know a thing about what he did in HS!!

Ha. You sound exactly the same as me. I remember going to his hockey schools in the summer back in the 70s/80s (can't remember exactly what years) and I really didn't have any clue about the guy. I guess my dad knew enough about him though.

I think I remember them being at Braemar. For some reason, I bet I still have the camp jerseys somewhere in a box.

Spehar, Bousha top 2 anyone?

Boucha - top 5, I am thinking #4 or #5
Spehar - top 10, I am thinking #7 or 8.

[TTpuckster]

I'm thinking the top 3 will be these 3:

Boucha, Mayasich, Broten.

In any order

An all north top 3.

[The Exiled One]

Who's going to get all five of their post HS points? For reference, Nyrop, Langevin, and Ramsey all got 5. About 15 guys so far earned 4.

Though their HS points will easily make up for it, Mayasich and Boucha will suffer in post HS points. Housley and Broten obviously get five. Anybody else?

[The Exiled One]

Bobby Krieger, a surprise but worthy player, has been named #16. Some pretty well known names will be left out. Who's still in?

[O-townClown]

Bobby Krieger, a surprise but worthy player, has been named #16. Some pretty well known names will be left out. Who's still in?

Exiled:

He's not a surprise at all for those that saw him play or those that heard Edina coaches talk about Krieger and Norwich as the best players to go through the program.

My new operating theory is that Willard Ikola's opinion carried a lot of weight. Maley and Chapaman nominated from the same year. It looks like one made it and the other one probably won't. Maley vs. Ranheim vs. Lauen vs. Nevers vs. Hankinson? He coached them all.

I think Norwich takes the last spot that I (we) can't nail down. That leaves Sargent, Talafous, and all the others on the outside. Krieger is only the 5th player from Edina.

[The Exiled One]

Exiled:

He's not a surprise at all for those that saw him play or those that heard Edina coaches talk about Krieger and Norwich as the best players to go through the program.

Only meant he was a surprise in terms of not being mentioned in the thread. I'm not a resource for HS hockey history at all, but this countdown has been exciting to follow!

[O-townClown]

Exiled, see my posts from November 5th and 6th. I went to Edina and remember hearing stories about old-timers like Nyrop (dad was head of an airline and kids flew to play in Bantam nationals and then won), Krieger (hard to describe, but he had this one move on the sideboard to escape), and Norwich from my youth coaches.

My era saw guys like Gregg Moore, Chapman, Maley, and Mike Lauen. Then I was in HS the same time as Ranheim, Jim Carroll, Jay Moore, and the Hankinsons. Next up were Tom Nevers, Dan Plante (played in the NHL after moving to Edina from Hayward), and others. Dan Carlson. Then all the top players recently.

So deep in the forest I can't see the trees I guess, lots of players from Duluth Cathedral or Hill or any school in the 50s or 60s have been mentioned. Because that predates me, I never knew how they compared to more recent players like Millen, Chorske, and Pelawa.

The more I thought about it, the more I figured out that the list couldn't run out and leave it at three Edina guys total. We're up to 5. If Norwich makes it - and he might - it'll get to six.

I think we all have agreement on everybody but one at this point, right? Who's the last guy?

[The Exiled One]

Exiled, see my posts from November 5th and 6th.

Found it. Good call.

Will anybody earn 5 post HS points except Housley and Broten?

[O-townClown]

No, I don't think so. Aaron Broten probably has 4. Willard Ikola won NCAA titles with Michigan but didn't reach the NHL. Rau won't have more than 1! (If Pelawa got one, maybe Rau does? Otherwise 0.)

[MNHockeyFan]

I'm thinking Craig Norwich will be named fairly soon. He was a dominant high school player and went on to star at Wisconsin (boo!) and played pro hockey for quite a few years after that. Look what they say about him in the story that just appeared on the Girls Hub:

http://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/news_ar ... _id=115187

"Craig Norwich was a heck of a hockey player. A state title, NCAA championship, gold medal and 14 1/2 years in the pros is more than enough to validate that. But after his playing days, the enigmatic defenseman got into construction.

Building hockey programs, that is.

The Edina native and former Wisconsin Badgers standout created the prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary's hockey program in Faribault in 1990, which has since churned out 42 NHL draft picks. He then went west to Vail, Colo., and Los Angeles to start Triple-A programs before returning to the Twin Cities and taking on the St. Paul Academy boys' team in 2005."

[O-townClown]

Krieger was 16, which leaves 15.

1- Mike Antonovich
2- Henry Boucha
3- Aaron Broten
4- Neal Broten
5- Mike Crowley
6- Phil Housley
7- Willard Ikola
8- John Matchefts
9- John Mayasich
10- Johnny Pohl
11- Kyle Rau
12- Tim Sheehy
13- Dave Spehar

I thought I was missing one, but I guess I'm missing two because I'm not sold on Taffe.

Some candidates in no particular order:

Jeff Taffe
Ben Clymer
Craig Norwich
Ken Yackel
Steve Janaszak
Dean Talafous
Gary Sargent
Tom Hirsch
Kris Miller
Ken Gernander
Toby Petersen
Tom Gilbert
Dave Maley

I think Norwich is one of the two. Possibly Ken Yackel. Some others are pretty certain its Gary Sargent.

[BodyShots]

No, I don't think so. Aaron Broten probably has 4. Willard Ikola won NCAA titles with Michigan but didn't reach the NHL. Rau won't have more than 1! (If Pelawa got one, maybe Rau does? Otherwise 0.)

That one surprised me.

[karl(east)]

No, I don't think so. Aaron Broten probably has 4. Willard Ikola won NCAA titles with Michigan but didn't reach the NHL. Rau won't have more than 1! (If Pelawa got one, maybe Rau does? Otherwise 0.)

That one surprised me.

I'm guessing it was because he was a first-round draft pick.

Not sure if they'd give one to Rau as a first round pick, or if they're including his first few weeks at Minnesota--I would guess not since these rankings were probably completed before the season started. Still, there might be a decent case to give him one.

Still, whether he gets that point or not is pretty insignificant compared to the "performance in high school" part. I'd say he comes somewhere in the next five.

[islesskater]

I'm going to guess Sargent and Norwich.

I'd guessed Yackel without knowing a whole lot about his high school career other than that he'd starred at Humboldt in the late 40's. He was all WCHA at the U and was just the second American NHLer in the '50's.

I'd guessed Holmgren because one of my earliest memories of watching the State Tournament was him scoring for Harding from outside the blueline about 5 seconds into the game against my team (Southwest). I think he signed with the WHA out of high school and he was the first American to ever record a hat trick in the Stanley Cup Finals. I know he was huge and mostly a physical player, so maybe he wasn't that dominant in high school.

I remember reading once (and forgive me, I can't recall when or where) that Ikola called Norwich the best player he ever coached.

I find it interesting with Edina that Chapman made the list and Maley won't-- I played against them in high school and certainly don't remember much difference between the two of them. I know Maley came over from Edina West (and maybe even grew up in Wisconsin?) was Chapman an East kid? (thus Ike knew him better?) Maley certainly had the better post high school career. Having said that, I thought Nevers was better than either of them at the high school level.

Toby Peterson graduated early from Jefferson (like Ness), so I don't think he accomplished enough in high school to make this list.

I watched a ton of Hirsch in high school and he was a great player, but I didn't think he'd make this list-- you could argue that both Rick Erdall and Charlie Lundeen were more dominant in the City from that year. Hirsch had tons of potential with his size and it's too bad his career was cut short by injury.

I know a lot of Southwest fans will be disappointed that Bobby Lundeen won't make the list-- he was on the State Championship team of 1970 and was on the cover of Boy's Life Magazine that winter with the caption: "The Best Schoolboy Player In America".

All in all a very fun list and they've done a great job.

[SWPrez]

Grew up playing with Maley and Chapman - both Edina West guys. Maley came over from Milwaukee (Ozaukee County hockey, I believe) as a second year bantam (played Bantam B1). Chapman was more finesse and a scorer - Maley was more power forward with good hands. Complemented each other well.

I agree on Bobby Lundeen - heck, you could lump the whole family as one pick - Paul, Charlie, Bobby, ... - all had great high school careers and went on to solid D1 careers. They were Southwest Minneapolis hockey in the 70's and early 80's.

[O-townClown]

Sargent at 15.

Isles, Prez - thanks for the perspective on some the guys you saw. I'm a little younger. Some great players didn't get nominated (like Dan Tousignant) and many great players didn't make the list (Dave Snuggerud, Jason Miller, Kris Miller).

Isles, we're in agreement on Nevers. 20 goals as a freshman! Any numbers in the old Lake South were meaningful. In a very strange outcome, the Hornets won in 1988 when he was hurt. Had he played on a title team I'm sure he'd be remembered much differently. Ditto Budish.

This has all benn very cool.

[O-townClown]

14 is Pohl

[MNHockeyFan]

14 is Pohl

Ha, if they ever do this for the girls Mrs. Pohl will have bragging rights!

[northwoods oldtimer]

Did my old eye miss a kid by the name of Ryan Kraft out of Moorhead?
If not where is he in the rankings? As I recall he was a very good high school hockey player and quite dominant at that. Was one helluva a player at U of M after high school. Did this kid just slip through the cracks or did I just miss him out of the list?