Feature Story

Elite League bears perfect fruit

 

By Melissa Zeleny

 

Imagine, if you will, visiting a local orchard in search of that perfect bushel of apples. Much to your surprise and delight, when you arrive, you find that someone has scoured every orchard in the state and chosen the ripest, the reddest, the most delicious specimens and they were all in one place. A veritable kingdom of perfect fruit if you will. Between the months of September and November the same is true of high school hockey in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

Now in its sixth action-packed season, the Upper Midwest High School Elite League began play Labor Day weekend with a training camp at the Brainerd Civic Center Arena.  The season runs for nine weeks, capped off by the Nike Bauer National Tournament Nov. 2-4, at the New Hope Ice Arena with in-season play taking place at various venues including the Super Rink in Blaine, the Fargo Southwest Arena, the Brainerd Civic Center, Shattuck Arena, Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center and Greenheck Arena in Waseau, Wisconsin.

For anyone who follows the icy sport in this great state of hockey, the coaching and player rosters read like a “who’s who” in past and present hockey history. Under the guidance of Program Director Dr. John G. Russo, the Elite League is comprised of seven core teams made up of players from the metro area, stretching to towns as far northwest as Thief River Falls, south to Mankato and true north to Duluth and Cloquet as well as some “Great Plains” towns which include Roseau, Warroad and the Fargo and Grand Forks vicinities.  Along the way, the Elite league also picks up some players and teams from Wisconsin and Shattuck-St. Mary’s, as well as teams from other countries.

Coaching staff includes veteran coaches and Golden Gopher Alumni Reed Larson, Chris McAlpine and Joe Dziedzic, Coleraine native Pat Guyer, Northern boy Ed Christian and former St. Cloud State captain Eric Johnson.

This year’s Elite League roster once again includes the most talented and promising players in the area. Not only are these the best apples of the bunch, but the Elite League gives spectators a chance to see Roseau’s state tournament players (juniors Mike Lee, Aaron Ness, Tyler Landman and Nick Oliver) take on members of Edina’s “Fab 5,” including newly transferred Anders Lee.

The geographic split of teams also gives players from smaller towns and programs the opportunity to face off in different settings, placing Benilde-St.  Margaret’s teammates and close friends Matt Bergland (Team Southeast) and Patrick Borer (Team Northwest) on opposing teams based on their hometowns while also allowing players like Charlie Raskob from Holy Angels’ growing program to skate on a line with Cretin-Derham Hall’s Tommy Zimmerman and Rosemount’s JT Brown (Team Southeast).

At the start of the season, the expectation was that Teams Southwest and Great Plains, who are the most loaded on paper, would appear as the forerunners. Surprisingly, McAlpine’s Hill-Murray heavy Team Northeast has emerged as a frontrunner and currently leads the league with 21 points with Northwest and Southeast trailing with eight points a piece. Southeast coach Eric Johnson expects to see players like Cretin-Derham Hall senior forward Ryan Bohrer, a high powered top scorer step up in upcoming games and also looks to Woodbury senior forward David Eddy, who Johnson describes as a “fantastic athlete” with “fantastic hands, and a great attitude” for some stellar playmaking.

On Team Northeast, Dziedzic plans to stay his planned coaching course with forwards under his leadership and defense and goaltending direction falling to assistant coach Derek Herlofsky. Despite their last place status, both Dziedzic and Herlofsky agree that Armstrong senior forward Cory Thorson and Rogers junior defenseman Nick Jensen have been steady and consistent in every game and complement Blake junior forward Josh Birkholz with very steady play, mentioning that they expect his play to continue improving over the next few weeks.

As the games progress, expect to see some action from Park Rapids’ leading scorer Zach Lehrke (Team Great Plains), strong leadership from Eastview’s matured players, including senior Corey Fienhage (Team Southeast), scoring from Duluth Denfeld’s Jake Johnson (Team North, as well as some physical presence from Brainerd’s Drew Olson and Duluth East’s Joe Arbor (Team North).

“The players …come from all over the state, the best in Class A and AA,” Elite League commissioner John Russo said. “These are the players who hockey fans will be following for years to come, at the college level and beyond.”  

With scouts in attendance at almost every game, these star apples are ripe for the picking! All games are open to the public. For schedules, rosters or more information visit hselitehockey.com.