With the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament approaching, here is a cheat sheet to get you ready for #TheTourney15.
CLASS AA
Section 1AA Representative: Lakeville North 28-0-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #3 Jack Poehling (57) Senior (Committed to SCSU)
2. #7 Nick Poehling (53) Senior (Committed to SCSU)
3. #4 Ryan Poehling (38) Sophomore (Committed to SCSU)
Top scorer in the playoffs: Jack Poehling (12)
Key Wins: Edina and Hill-Murray
Key Losses: None
*Also have defensemen, Jack Sadek (MINN) and Jack McNeely (UNO)
Section 2AA Representative: Edina 24-1-2
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #20 Dylan Malmquist (66) Senior (Committed to Notre Dame)
2. #17 Garrett Wait (65) Junior (Committed to Minnesota)
3. #16 Parker Mismash (39) Senior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Garrett Wait (6)
Key Wins: Eden Prairie x3, Hill Murray x2
Key Losses: Lakeville North
*Edina is going for its 3rd state titles in 3 years in class AA
Section 3 AA Representative: St. Thomas Academy 24-4-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #19 Peter Tufto (63) Senior
2. #20 Christiano Versich (58) Senior (Committed to Colorado College)
3. #21 Alec Broetzman (56) Senior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Alec Broetzman (10)
Key Wins: Duluth East, Hill-Murray
Key Losses: Mahtomedi, Holy Family
* It is St. Thomas Academy’s first appearance in the Class AA tournament; they have 8 appearances in Class A
Section 4AA Representative: Hill-Murray 21-7-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #14 Zach Mills (40) Senior
2. #22 Marko Reifenberger (35) Sophomore
3. #18 Jacob Olson (25) Senior (Committed to Harvard)
Top scorer in the playoffs: Marko Reifenberger (5)
Key wins: St. Thomas Academy, Burnsville
Key losses: Blaine, Eden Prairie
*Mike Yeo’s son, Kyler Yeo, is a sophomore on the team
Section 5AA Representative: Blaine 22-5-1
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #17 Luke Noterman (51) Junior
2. #27 Riley Tufte (51) Junior (Committed to UMD)
3. #22 Easton Brodzinski (44) Senior (Committed to SCSU)
Top scorer in the playoffs: Riley Tufte (8)
Key wins: Eden Prairie, Elk River
Key losses: Anoka, Roseau
* Yes, Easton Brodzinski is the younger brother of Johnny and Michael Brodzinski
Section 6AA Representative: Eden Prairie 18-9-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #11 Casey Mittelstadt (47) Sophomore (Committed to Minnesota)
2. #16 Michael Graham (46) Junior (Committed to UMD)
3. #20 Marc Sullivan (26) Senior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Casey Mittelstadt (3)
Key Wins: Elk River, Wayzata
Key Losses: Burnsville, Blaine
*This is Eden Prairie’s 8th state tournament appearance
Section 7AA Representative: Duluth East 14-10-4
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #19 Nick Altmann (22) Senior
2. #26 Ash Altmann (20) Junior
3. #21 Luke Dow (17) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Nick Altmann (5)
Key Wins: Maple Grove, Hopkins
Key Losses: Blaine, Edina
*Duluth East upset Elk River in double-overtime to get here
Section 8AA Representative: Bemidji 23-3-2
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #5 Jake Leitner (42) Senior
2. #19 Brady Tatro (31) Sophomore
3. #16 Rockford Copiskey (28) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Michael Forseth (6)
Key Wins: Roseau, Moorhead x3
Key Losses: Hermantown, East Grand Forks
*Bemidji is making their first appearance to the state tournament since 1986
CLASS A
Section 1A Representative: New Prague 20-8-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #10 Alex Gregor (48) Junior
2. #8 Ben Witt (40) Senior
3. #7 Zach Davis (33) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Gregor/Davis (7)
Key wins: St. Cloud Cathedral
Key losses: Delano, Hermantown
*This year will be back-to-back state tournament appearances; last year was their first time in school history.
Section 2A Representative: Breck 21-7-0
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #8 Chase Ellingson (39) Junior
2. #17 Tyler Scott (28) Junior
3. #26 Will Blake (27) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Mitch Machlitt (8)
Key wins: Delano, Thief River Falls
Key losses: Mahtomedi, East Grand Forks
*Breck is looking for their 5th state title
Section 3A Representative: New Ulm 18-8-2
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #10 Colin Huffman (54) Senior
2. #5 Brandon Helget (49) Senior
3. #11 Ethan Kraus (44) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Bradon Helget (13)
Key wins: Luverne
Key losses: Fergus Falls, Willmar
*New Ulm average 7.3 goals per game during the section playoffs
Section 4A Representative: Mahtomedi 24-2-2
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #27 Jack Becker (48) Junior
2. #22 Jack Heinsch (34) Junior
3. #5 Kellen Campbell (31) Senior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Jack Becker (12)
Key wins: Hill Murray x2
Key losses: St. Thomas Academy
*First time to state in five years, five years ago they were lead by current Gopher, Ben Marshall.
Section 5A Representative: Spring Lake Park 16-11-1
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #10 Jacob Nystrom (48) Senior
2. #18 Deven Sunell (45) Senior
3. #16 Connor Gagon (33) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Deven Sunell (9)
Key wins: Princeton
Key losses: Luverne
*This is Spring Lake Park’s first ever, state tournament appearance
Section 6A Representative: St. Cloud Apollo 22-4-2
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #7 Tanner Breidenbach (33) Junior
2. #17 Gino Lucia (29) Junior
3. #13 Jason Omann (27)
Top scorer in the playoffs: Jason Omann (6)
Key wins: Alexandria, St. Cloud Cathedral
Key losses: Fergus Falls x2
*Gino Lucia is the nephew of Don Lucia head coach for the Minnesota Gophers
Section 7A Representative: Hermantown 25-2-1
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #7 Ryan Kero (58) Senior
2. #6 Nate Pionk (54) Senior
3. #27 Cole Koepke (36) Junior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Nate Pionk (9)
Key wins: East Grand Forks, Bemidji
Key losses: Hopkins
*Hermantown has 11 state tournament appearances but only 1 state title
Section 8A Representative: East Grand Forks
Top scorers during the regular season:
1. #22 Dixon Bowen (50) Senior (Committed to UND)
2. #19 Tanner Tweten (39) Junior
3. #20 Reed Corbid (26) Senior
Top scorer in the playoffs: Dixon Bowen (6)
Key wins: Blaine, Delano
Key losses: Hermantown
*East Grand Fork won it all last year in Class A
Good luck to all the teams, players, and coaches that have made "the trek to the X." It is a dream come true for a lot of players and we, as fans, are in for a treat this year. The Tourney 15 is loaded with talent and I expect a great tournament from these teams.
Enjoy!