Minnesota Players Performing Well in USHL

[nopuckluck]

Some familiar names from Minnesota doing well in the USHL:
As of 3/7/2011

[b]FORWARDS[/b] USHL Team GP G A TP Plus/Minus Hometown College Commitment

Ambroz, Seth Omaha 43 20 18 38 6 New Prague Minnesota

Herbert, Caleb Sioux City 39 16 20 36 -13 Bloomington Minnesota - Duluth

Isackson, Christian Sioux Falls 46 13 21 34 -2 West St. Paul Minnesota

Reilly, Connor Sioux Falls 48 10 21 31 -5 Chanhassen Minnesota

Kohls, Issac Muskegon 43 13 13 26 -4 Forest Lake Niagara

Coatta, Sam Sioux Falls 48 9 16 25 -3 Minnetonka Union

Scheid, Eric Lincoln 45 10 15 25 4 Blaine Alaska Anchorage

Decowski, Cal DesMoines 46 8 16 24 -12 Andover Minnesota - Duluth

Taft, Charlie Muskegon 44 12 11 23 3 Edina

Gunner, Cole Tri City 42 7 16 23 -10 Richfield Air Force

Fulton, Tyson Waterloo 46 10 12 22 -16 Brooklyn Park Union

Gaede, Max Sioux City 42 8 14 22 -22 Woodbury Minnesota State

Zepeda, Tyler Waterloo 41 9 12 21 -9 Woodbury

Johnson, Matt Tri City 44 9 10 19 -3 Stillwater Ohio State

Crandall, Justin Omaha 444 7 11 18 6 Lakeville Minnesota - Duluth

Mattson, Danny Youngstown 35 7 11 18 -11 Minneapolis Bemidji State

Krause, Adam Sioux City 48 8 8 16 -10 Hermantown Minnesota - Duluth

Patterson, Brett Sioux City 42 7 9 16 -9 Eden Prairie Dartmouth

Boyd, Travis USNTP 20 4 11 15 3 Hopkins Minnesota

Lapic, Tyler Chicago 42 3 11 14 0 New Prague Wisconsin

Oliver, Nick Fargo 44 6 6 12 -2 Wannaska St. Cloud State

Rehkamp, Joe Fargo 47 3 8 11 -8 Plymouth

Reilly, Ryan Sioux Falls 36 3 8 11 -4 Chanhassen Minnesota

Lane, Tanner Fargo 46 3 8 11 -6 Detroit Lakes Nebraska Omaha

Hansen, Matt Cedar Rapids 32 3 5 8 -1 St. Cloud Colorado College

Osterberg, Kyle USNTP 24 2 5 7 -5 Lakeville Minnesota - Duluth

Carlson, Dan USNTP 18 2 3 5 8 Corcoran

[b]DEFENSE[/b] USHL Team GP G A TP Plus/Minus Hometown College Commit

Mattson, Nick Indiana Ice 45 5 23 28 26 Chanhassen North Dakota

Fallen, Tommy Cedar Rapids 41 3 20 23 13 Plymouth Yale

Marshall, Ben Omaha 43 7 15 22 24 Stillwater Minnesota

Casto, Chris Lincoln 45 4 17 21 7 Stillwater Minnesota-Duluth

Prochno, Andrew Sioux Falls 47 5 16 21 -3 Shorewood St. Cloud State

Prow, Ethan Des Moines 45 7 11 18 -10 Sauk Rapids St. Cloud State

Thompson, Blake Waterloo 44 5 12 17 -13 Eden Prairie

Welinski, Andrew Green Bay 41 6 7 13 16 Duluth Minnesota-Duluth

Palmquist, Zach Waterloo 46 3 9 12 -26 South St. Paul Minnesota State

Larson, Tony Dubuque 33 2 9 11 11 Ham Lake Alaska Anchorage

Windle, Sam Des Moines 44 5 6 11 -8 Maple Grove Bemidji State

Docken, Derek Dubuque 46 0 9 9 13 Northfield Alaska Anchorage

Doerring, Blake Des Moines 45 0 9 9 5 Chanhassen Vermont

Corrin, Willie Fargo 40 0 8 8 3 Int'l Falls Minnesota-Duluth

McLean, Alex * Omaha 17 0 8 8 E Duluth Ohio State

Hansen, James Waterloo 38 1 5 6 -4 Maple Grove n/a

Stern, Brett Green Bay 25 1 5 6 11 Lino Lakes Minnesota State

Skjei, Brady USNTP 25 0 4 4 -8 Lakeville Minnesota

Van Voorhis, Matt USNTP 22 0 3 3 -1 Edina Denver

Maetche, Jared Omaha 19 0 1 1 0 St. Cloud n/a

Hesketh, Troy Sioux City 25 0 1 1 -11 Chanhassen Wisconsin

[b]GOALIES[/b] USHL Team GP W L SV % GAA Hometown College Commit

Gothberg, Zane Fargo 19 13 6 0.908 2.16 Thief River Falls North Dakota

Hjelle, Brady Cedar Rapids 41 30 7 0.922 2.23 International Falls Ohio State

Wilcox, Adam Green Bay 20 14 4 0.921 2.23 South St. Paul Minnesota

Shibrowski, Michael DesMoines 34 17 11 0.904 2.86 Edina Colorado College

McNeely, Matt USNTP 8 3 3 0.902 3.39 Burnsville Minnesota Duluth

Bruggeman, Tyler DesMoines 16 5 9 0.895 3.32 North Mankato

* Injured Reserve List

[Reggie]

Tony Larson and Derek Docken won a championship with the Dubuque Fighting Saints this year!

[BBB]

Not that impressed considering there are a lot of big names on that list. A good number of Mr Hockey finalists a/o guys who put up huge numbers in high school. Its suprising to see how many of those guys were at the 5-7 goal range 45-50 games in as 19 year olds in a USHL that continues to bring in 16-17 yr old kids.
Not one point per game player from Minnesota yet guys from other states are putting up 60-70-80-and even 90 points. The scoring leader is from plano texas and the other big scorers are out of georgia, florida, and a 140 lb high school kid from new jersey? It's kind of embarrassing to me and it shows why players who play in tougher leagues in high school are much more prepared for college. Maybe thats why our big names out of high school like bjugstad and Brock Nelson took a full season to get used to the WCHA and a player out of Las Vegas wins the WCHA rookie of the year award while Minnesota trained players don't even get any consideration. Did I read that California had more kids invited to the World Jr tryout than Minnesota did? Well at least we had more than texas, but only by a few.

[youngblood08]

Maybe they just aren't promoting the "right" Minnesota kids to the USHL?

[observer]

Interesting post BBB. I've been thinking about holes in our model as well. Watching 19 year old players in the NHL playoffs got me thinking about what makes them different than our 19 old players. The young men aren't any different, as capable young athletes, but their development paths were. Canadian 14 year old gets drafted and starts their development in the Canadian Junior Leagues. I know hockey is the Canadian National sport and some of our best athletes are focused on football and basketball but something else is happening during the years from 15-18 that we're not duplicating.

[MrBoDangles]

Interesting post BBB. I've been thinking about holes in our model as well. Watching 19 year old players in the NHL playoffs got me thinking about what makes them different than our 19 old players. The young men aren't and different, as capable young athletes, but their development paths were. Canadian 14 year old gets drafted and starts their development in the Canadian Junior Leagues. I know hockey is the Canadian National sport and some of our best athletes are focused on football and basketball but something else is happening during the years from 15-18 that we're not duplicating.

It's not the 15-18 years, It's the 6-18 years.

Our kids play 30+ games at the Squirt level. Honeybaked plays 70+ with scrimmages at the Squirt level. How much harder is it for the kid playing half the games to get to an elite level?

I remember you getting very vocal when I brought up topics about more options like Tier 1. Is the everyone's equal, community (communism) based Hockey, representing all of our kids well?

[MrBoDangles]

Interesting post BBB. I've been thinking about holes in our model as well. Watching 19 year old players in the NHL playoffs got me thinking about what makes them different than our 19 old players. The young men aren't and different, as capable young athletes, but their development paths were. Canadian 14 year old gets drafted and starts their development in the Canadian Junior Leagues. I know hockey is the Canadian National sport and some of our best athletes are focused on football and basketball but something else is happening during the years from 15-18 that we're not duplicating.

It's not the 15-18 years, It's the 6-18 years.

Our kids play 30+ games at the Squirt level. Honeybaked plays 70+ with scrimmages at the Squirt level. How much harder is it for the kid playing half the games to get to an elite level?

I remember you getting very vocal when I brought up topics about more options like Tier 1. Is the everyone's equal, community (communism) based Hockey, representing all of our kids well?

I forgot about the hour long community based games ........ we'll go from around half to a third.

[karl(east)]

It's not the 15-18 years, It's the 6-18 years.

I think this is dead-on. If the problem were at the high school age group, we should see the players who bolt for juniors putting up way more goals than those who stick with the traditional MN HS model. We really don't see that.

[The Other Bash Brother]

As a coach I can promise you that increasing the amount of games is not what will increase skill. Only properly run practices can do that.

[MrBoDangles]

As a coach I can promise you that increasing the amount of games is not what will increase skill. Only properly run practices can do that.

Take a very skilled pond Hockey player and try putting them in a regulation indoor game for the first time .... Lost is the word. Yes, you can "practice" 2 on 3's and breakouts in practice, but nothing compares to real game experience. A mix of both with plenty of games is essential.

Take 16 kids and give them 100 hrs of practice and 25 games...
Take the same 16 kids and give them 100 hrs of practice and 60 games a Winter. I'll bet the farm that they'll seperate quickly(I promise ).

Probably why them fancy streetball players aren't able to play Division 1 or NBA basketball.. They've never learned the full court - team game.

I take it that your teams play no games then since they're a waste of time??

[The Other Bash Brother]

I said that Properly run practices are the way to improve SKILL. Not hockey sense. I agree a balance is necessary, but there are far too many people who think that Playing a game everyday is better than practicing.

[deacon64]

I said that Properly run practices are the way to improve SKILL. Not hockey sense. I agree a balance is necessary, but there are far too many people who think that Playing a game everyday is better than practicing.

Diddo, right on. What is better traveling in car and putting over 4-5 hours into a game that skate 15 to 20 minutes and touch the puck for less than a minute. Just think about it 5 minutes in the driveway puck handling is better than a single game for improving puck handling skills. Those are the facts.

Most if not all the great players from years past were rink rats not travel checkbook hockey rats of today.

[MrBoDangles]

I said that Properly run practices are the way to improve SKILL. Not hockey sense. I agree a balance is necessary, but there are far too many people who think that Playing a game everyday is better than practicing.

Yes, and full ice games are going to be the thing to get a sense for the full ice game.

Interesting subject...

What has held Minnesotans back from being elite scorers in the NHL? The practice hours are on par with the Canadians.. The climate is just as cold if not colder than most of Canada..

The one difference is that the Canadians, at minimum, quadruple our kids in the number of games over their youth.

Practice a ton and step into a full five on five game for the first time at eighteen.....

Practice a ton and step into their twelve hundreth game as a eighteen year old.

Competition is a big key.

[MrBoDangles]

Not that impressed considering there are a lot of big names on that list. A good number of Mr Hockey finalists a/o guys who put up huge numbers in high school. Its suprising to see how many of those guys were at the 5-7 goal range 45-50 games in as 19 year olds in a USHL that continues to bring in 16-17 yr old kids.
Not one point per game player from Minnesota yet guys from other states are putting up 60-70-80-and even 90 points. The scoring leader is from plano texas and the other big scorers are out of georgia, florida, and a 140 lb high school kid from new jersey? It's kind of embarrassing to me and it shows why players who play in tougher leagues in high school are much more prepared for college. Maybe thats why our big names out of high school like bjugstad and Brock Nelson took a full season to get used to the WCHA and a player out of Las Vegas wins the WCHA rookie of the year award while Minnesota trained players don't even get any consideration. Did I read that California had more kids invited to the World Jr tryout than Minnesota did? Well at least we had more than texas, but only by a few.

It's a problem when non Hockey states(tier 1) are putting out higher caliber players than frigid MN.

[youngblood08]

Maybe but how many Cali kids made the team? How many Minne kids were on the team last time they won World Juniors?

[MrBoDangles]

Bump

[BBB]

Maybe but how many Cali kids made the team? How many Minne kids were on the team last time they won World Juniors?

Yes we had a good # of Minnesotan's. A back up goalie, Lee. Gardiner was the only one who went through the whole MN hs system but he was a late bloomer in a major way. The 3 forwards all got out of MN hs hockey asap. Stepan to SSM, captained the team. Kristo and Schreoder were the other two. My point is that the guys from other states are forced to play against 19 and 20 yr olds when they are in high school happen to benefit from it. I guess it was alarming that when USA hockey decided to offer invitations to the world jr camp, maybe the top 50 players under 20, that they invited more Cali kids than MN.
Did you watch the tournament this year? Our golden boys, Rau and Bjugstad absolutely tore it up against the garbage teams and were nowhere to be found the other games.
I looked up the stats. Rau against the better teams (Canada, Fin, Czech, Switz) 0 g 0 a 0 pts. Bjugstad against those teams. 0 g 0 a 0 pts. Maybe our players aren't as great as we think?
Stepan was the tournament MVP during the last gold medal. The only other gold medal USA won Parise happened to be the captain and MVP as well. It kind of makes you wonder how dominant MN could be against other states if our top high school kids played in a tougher league. My guess is that we would make up more than 10% of the world jr tryout camp.

[homer87]

Jay Dickman?

[nahc]

We are doing ourselves no favors by changing the rules here in Minnesota because of a single incident and also not allowing checking until Bantams.........we will fall further and further behind these other states who play tier 1 hockey.......but we will at least feel good about ourselves with the rule changes.........!!!

[demongoed]

Delete

[observer]

6 Minnesotans named to USA junior select team. Nice jump for players that haven't donned the Red, White and Blue previously. Congrats!

http://www.usahockey.com/TeamUSA/JrACha ... oster.aspx

[Sats81]

Jake Randolph absolutely shredding the USHL right now. On a torrid pace. This kid can play. Definitely an underrated player. UNO got a good one there.