SB Nation User Blog: WCHBlog

Final US Roster for World Juniors

WCHBlog — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:59:46 -0000

The US released their final roster today. Forward Chris Brown and defenseman Max Nicastro were the last two players cut from the squad.

I can kind of understand Nicastro not making it. They've got 7 pretty good defensemen on the roster and somebody had to go. I'm really surprised that Chris Brown was cut from the team. The US doesn't have many wingers with the mix of size and skill that he has. Maybe Luke Walker fills that role, but I can't see the US giving him as many minutes as Brown could have played. Unless there is some extenuating circumstance, that's a really strange choice.

Anyway, that's the team the US is taking to Canada. Will it be good enough? They've got a great defense, some questionable forwards, and as always, goaltending will probably decide their fate.

Minnetonka vs. Blaine

WCHBlog — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:43:09 -0000

Last night I was willing to brave some light snow, Kevin Gorg, and the mess that is Fogerty Arena's parking lot to get out to see #1 Minnetonka take on #5 Blaine.

Minnetonka scored late in the third period to get a 4-3 win. You can read about the game after the jump.

If Nick Bjugstad didn't win Mr. Hockey last night, he at least made a really convincing argument. For most of the night, it looked like one guy from Blaine going up against about 8 guys from Minnetonka, and the one guy almost won.

After about the first period, it became pretty obvious that Blaine didn't have what it took to keep up with Minnetonka. And that's no disrespect towards Blaine. There were a lot of people that have seen a lot of hockey there last night, and I heard some say that Minnetonka could be one of the deepest, if not best, high school hockey teams theyv'e seen in a long while. So why was it such a close game? I think it had as much to do with Minnetonka as it did with Blaine.

Minnetonka is incredibly deep and incredibly skilled, but they let Blaine hang around last night because there was way too much individual play. If everytime Minnetonka had taken a shot, they had attempted a pass instead, they probably would have had 7 or 8 goals and cruised to an easy victory. That's why I think this was a really good test for Minnetonka. They learned something about their team when it comes to tough situations, and now when they get into the sectional playoffs, they'll be more more prepared for the big games they'll have to play. They're the most talented team in the state, but they've got to learn to become the best team in the state.

As for Blaine, I think they learned that they can skate with any team in the state. They're maybe not quite at the level of a Minnetonka, but they were right there, and if things had a gone a little different, they maybe could have won. If they get into a one-game playoff situation in the state tournament, they could maybe knock off one of the top schools. One thing I noticed is that Blaine really seemed to spread out their top players, moving arguably their second and third best forwards, Eric Scheid and Gavin Tufte, off of Bjugstad's line. I think that strategy works against 90% of their opponents because they don't have the depth to match, but I'm not sure it worked against Minnetonka. Atter Bjugstad's first goal, which was a beauty, Minneonka made an adjustment and started trying to stand him up at the blueline when he brought the puck into the zone and that really slowed him down. It seemed like it was always Bjugstad bringing the puck up the ice and having to make a pass, which made him easier to defend, than if Blaine had someone else bringing the puck up the ice and feeding Bjugstad to utilize that big shot.

One thing that is interesting to me is that Bjugstad aside, Blaine doesn't really have any other serious college prospects on their team, and haven't really in the past couple of years. They've had some good players that went on to junior hockey like Ben Lynch, Joe Beaudette, and Mike Schaber. Ryan Johnson and Steffen Hansen are playing D-3 hockey. But it's been a while since they've had a big name Division I prospect. I think it says something about their coaching that despite that, they manage to be so good year in and year out.

As for Minnetonka, last night didn't really change any of my opinions of their big three defenseman from earlier this year. Prochno is still really, really good, but his size will keep him from being drafted, Hesketh is good, but you still feel like he could be doing more out there, and Holl is the least developed, but probably has the most potential.

Max Gardiner is still hard to judge at forward. In the high school game, he's still doing a lot of skating with the puck in open ice, and that's never going to be his specialty. At the next level, he'll be a guy that does most of his work fighting along the boards and making plays from there. There's not a lot of grinding it out along the boards in high school hockey though. He had a solid game though. He's making a lot of plays and is really a leader for his team.

The big story of the night was freshman Max Coatta, who has been playing on Minnetonka's top line and got a hat trick, after a big game on Saturday in the win over St. Thomas as well. Coatta reminds me of his older brother Sam, who is playing in the USHL this year, and never really got as much attention as he maybe deserved. Coatta is an older freshman('94 birthdate), and is playing around a really talented group, but he's shown a great knack for getting to the net and taking advantage of chances when they come and he'll definitely be a player worth watching. What's scary is he might not even be the best freshman at Minnetonka high school, since freshman Vinni Lettieri, one of the top '95 birthdates in the state, is also attending Minnetonka, but playing bantam hockey this year.

Super Saturday High School Game Reports

WCHBlog — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:43:29 -0000

Last year, I posted all of my high school hockey game reports as FanPosts, but I think they're a little friendlier towards Google if I put them on the main page. I'll hide them behing the jump though so that it doesn't clog up things too much for people that don't really care. If anyone else wants to write about a high school/juniors/college game they went to, they're more than welcome to post them in the FanPosts section.

Anyway, on Saturday, I hit a trifecta of games, starting with Orono taking on Breck, and then traveling down to the last day of the Edina Holiday Classic to see Elk River take on Grand Rapids and Edina take on Eden Prairie.

You can read about those games after the jump...

Orono vs. Breck

This was kind of a bust of a game. Orono isn't a super-strong program, but they're a pretty good Class A school that has been to the state tournament recently and can really test tough opponents. The only problem is that Breck probably shouldn't be considered a Class A school. This is the third year of varsity hockey for a lot of their players, and they're a really strong team.

Orono came out with pretty good jump and controlled play for the first couple of minutes, but Breck had way too much talent for them. Once the Mustangs scored their first goal, the next couple came pretty quickly afterwards. Each of their first three or four goals all came off of nice backdoor passes that the Orono goalie had no chance on. Breck led 5-0 after the first period, 11-1 after two periods, and finished with an easy 13-1 win.

It's tough to say too much about Breck's guys with such an easy win. Tyson Fulton had a really nice game with a bunch of beautiful assists. It was a rough game for Orono, but junior forward Ben Luedtke looked really good. He scored Orono's only goal on a beautiful shot, and rang another shot off the post. He's a kid that is flying under the radar and might be worth watching.

Elk River vs. Grand Rapids

This was a really good game that Elk River managed to just barely hang on and win 3-2. Elk River dominated the early part of the game and built a small lead, but Grand Rapids pretty much controlled the second half of the game. Ben Jaremko scored a breakaway goal in the third period to give Elk River a 3-1 lead, and while Grand Rapids cut it to 3-2, they came up just short of scoring the equalizer.

Elk River's top five guys can play with just about anybody, but they don't have a lot of depth. Their top forward line of Levi Lutz, Chad Hennum, and Ben Jaremko are really solid. I was especially impressed with Jaremko, who has to be one of the faster players in the state. His breakaway goal in the third period came a couple minutes after he had a serious collision with the goalpost on another rush up the ice. He's not the most talented kid, but he's fearless and works really hard.

Defensively, Elk River's top pairing of Ryan Jaremko and Kyle Orrock barely left the ice in the second half of the game while ER tried to hold onto their lead. Sophomore Taylor Bryan was on the other D pairing that rotated with Jaremko and Orrock and he didn't look out of place at all.

Grand Rapids isn't particular deep either, but they've got a nice mix of some really big, strong seniors like John Skrbec and Kyle Kleinedorst and some more skilled juniors like Patrick Moore and Christian Pearson. Pearson centered the second line, but played a really nice game, and got rewarded with two goals, including a nice old school backhander, which you don't see very often anymore. Sophmore Jordan Stejskal looked good on defensive as well.

Edina vs. Eden Prairie

This was the big game of the evening. It was quite an atmosphere with four-digit attendance and a couple of raucous student sections. Edina absolutely dominated the first two periods, building a 3-0 lead, and ended up holding off a late charge by Eden Prairie to win 5-3.

It was probably the first time in a couple years that Edina has come into a game as the underdog, and I think they really relished being the hunter rather than the hunted for once. They came out with way more jump and intensity than the Eagles, and really made a point of playing very physical and finishing every check. I don't think anybody has ever questioned the talent and depth at Edina, but they've never seemed to do those little things to give themselves the edge when it counted most.

A lot of people wrote Edina off after they lost so much talent from last year's team, but I think they proved that they have the ability to take it to any team in the state. For two periods, they absolutely shut down one of the state's top teams and made them look pretty bad. If they play with that type of fire and intensity when it counts, they may even be the best team in the state.

For as big as this game was, it was interesting how few scouts I saw there. All the scouts went to see Minnetonka take on St. Thomas and most of the top players from Eden Prairie and Edina won't be draft eligible for at least another year. Eden Prairie goalie Andrew Ford really stood out, keeping the game at least somewhat close for the first two periods while his team struggled. Goal may be the only area where I think Eden Prairie has an advantage over sectional rival Minnetonka. Eden Prairie's Dan Molenaar continues to look like one of the top juniors in the state.

The Hornets are a really deep team, with good players all over their roster. What's really impressed me most though is how solid goalie John Ankenny has been both times I've seen Edina. I thought goal has been a weakness for Edina the past couple of seasons and kept them from making it far as they would have liked, so getting solid play in goal is huge for them.

USA Trims the Roster

WCHBlog — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:09:21 -0000

The US whittled its roster down to 24 players yesterday after a three-day camp in Grand Forks which included a 4-2 win over North Dakota. The players that were cut were Justin Faulk, Jon Merrill, John Moore, David Wohlberg, Vinny Saponari, and Kenny Ryan. Two more players will be released by the time they announce the official roster on Wednesday.

I'm a little surprised to see Moore get cut just based on all the hype, and I thought they'd keep one of the '92s as a 7th defenseman. I'm not really sure who the last cut will be on defense.I wasn't always in favor of taking John Ramage, but looking at that group, they need someone who can hit people to go with the group of skaters they have back there.

I'm disappointed but not surprised to see Wohlberg among the forward cuts. He played his way into contention last year, and played himself out this year. I still think Luke Walker is the odd man out if he's still recovering from that nasty injury.

Video of Kaunisto/Cooper Hit

WCHBlog — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:39:56 -0000

Video of the hit that got Northern Michigan's Ray Kaunisto suspended for one game two weekends ago has surfaced on YouTube. You can watch it here:

The CCHA's press release seemed to emphasize the hit being a blindside hit as the impetus for suspension, and I'm not sure I see it as being a blindside hit. Kaunisto is a lot taller than Cooper and happened to catch his shoulder in his head. It's very reminiscent of Jade Portwood's hit that broke Nick Leddy's jaw earlier this year. Don Lucia may have wanted a suspension--though as it turned out, Lucia was more lenient on hits to the head when it was his own son injuring people--but the general consensus from that incident was that the hit deserved a penalty, but it wasn't malicious enough to merit a suspension, and that's probably the case here.

High School Hockey Headlines

WCHBlog — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:24:01 -0000

East Side! Cretin-Derham Hall upset Benilde 4-3 earlier this week. The east side of the cities was looking a couple steps behind the southwest suburbs, but that's a solid win for Cretin. Their top line of Jesse Perron, Tony Barbato, and Bob Kinne has been pretty impressive this year.

Defense! Hill-Murray ran together a streak of 11 straight periods without giving up goal, including shutouts over Henry Sibley, South St. Paul, and White Bear Lake. They went against Simley last night, though no word on the score. They've got one of the strongest defenses in the state, led by Chris Casto. Meanwhile, junior defenseman JD Cotroneo is really starting to become a top player.

Roseau! The Rams beat sectional rival Moorhead earlier this week 4-1, in a match-up that usually decides who is representing section 8AA at the state tournament. Shane Omdahl is leading the state in scoring, while Adam Knochenmus isn't far behind.

Still the Worst Place on Earth! In his third year of coaching, former MSU Maverick Aaron Forsythe has his Forest Lake playing somewhere close to where you'd expect a town that big to be. After picking up a big win against sectional foe Grand Rapids, at Grand Rapids, they tied Woodbury in Woodbury last night.

Upset! Eagan defeated Bloomington Jefferson last night. The Jaguars probably weren't going to run their schedule like they did last year, but it's still a surprise to see them go down this early.

What!? Benilde beat Chisago Lakes 13-4 last night, but most surprising was Jacob Meyers giving up 3 goals on 14 shots in two periods of work. Cory Lushanko had a hat trick for Chisago. Lushanko probably isn't a D-1 prospect, but is a fine player that deserves more recognition than he gets.

CC to Add Goalie at Midseason

WCHBlog — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:16:19 -0000

Colorado College will add Owatonna(NAHL) goaltender Mike Shiborowski to their team after Christmas break.

Shiborowski will replace Hudson Stremmel, who left for the WHL earlier this season.

Brittain to Denver

WCHBlog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:28:21 -0000

Alberta goalie Sam Brittian committed to Denver. He'll likely join the Pioneers in 2011 when Marc Cheverie graduates, or potentially next season if Cheverie gets an offer to leave for the pros.

His commitment probably doesn't say much for the future of Denver's goaltender Adam Murray. Brittain was a pretty highly-recruited kid and had a lot of options, including some places where he probably would have faced less competition for early playing time. Of course Denver's track record with goalies, and being one of the only programs with a full-time goaltending coach probably helped as well.

CCHA Suspends Kaunisto

WCHBlog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:28:20 -0000

The CCHA has issued a one-game suspension to Northern Michigan's Ray Kaunisto for a blindside hit to the head area in a game against Lake Superior last Friday.

Team Canada World Juniors Roster

WCHBlog — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:24:48 -0000

Here is the team Canada will take to the World Juniors at the end of the month. Minnesota-Duluth's Dylan Olsen and Harvard's Louis Leblanc both didn't make the final cut, which isn't much of a surprise. They'll be eligible again next year.

The only familiar name with local ties is forward Brandon Kozun, who played for a bit at Shattuck-St. Marys--where, to show you how things change over time, he was a bit overshadowed by two other Canadians in David Toews and Kelsey Tessier.

Canada had a team of their tryout attendees still on the bubble take on a team comprised from a couple of Saskatchewan CIS teams, and the CIS team beat them 4-2.