Feature Story

Minnesota captures Nike Bauer NIT crown

 

By John Russo

 

After two successive years as the “bridesmaids”, Minnesota recaptured the championship of the very prestigious high school/midget Nike Bauer National Invitational Tournament on the weekend of Nov. 2-4 at the New Hope Ice Arena.

Eight top teams, described by most scouts as the strongest field in the tournament’s six year history, gathered to play three days of fast-paced hockey.  They included the Malmo Redhawks, Dallas Jr. Stars, Team Illinois, Michigan Stars, LA Jr. Kings, Shattuck St. Mary’s, and two Minnesota teams from the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.

The past two years’ tournaments were won by perennial national powerhouses Team Illinois and Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep. This year, Minnesota’s “outstate” contingent breezed through the tournament, giving up only three goals in three games, while ringing up 19— including six in the final’s 6-1 win over a fast and talented LA Jr. Kings team. Shattuck  St. Mary’s shut out the Malmo Redhawks of the Swedish Elite Division 5-0 to take third.

The Minnesota skaters were chosen from the fall Upper Midwest High School Elite League’s seven teams (Shattuck is  the eighth) — and were broken into two teams. 

The “metro” contingent did not fare as well, dropping close games, 6-4 to finalist LA Jr. Kings in the first round and 5-3 to consolation champions Michigan Stars in the second round. They rebounded with an impressive 6-0 win over Team Illinois on Sunday.

The Minnesota “outstate” team had five players from Wisconsin: goaltender Andrew Martin (Stoughton), defenseman Tim Smith (Superior) and forwards Nate Condon (Wausau West), Seth Soley (Eau Claire Memorial) and Jeff Costello (Milwaukee Catholic Memorial); two players from North Dakota:  defensemen Ryan LaDouceur (Grand Forks Red River) and Eric Meland (Grand Forks Red River); seven players from outstate Minnesota: defensemen Drew Olson (Cloquet) and Aaron Ness (Roseau), and forwards Anthony DeCenzo (Hibbing), Ben Hanowski (Little Falls), Justin Jokinen (Cloquet), Zach Lehrke (Park Rapids) and Corey Leivermann (Mankato West); and five players from metro Elite League teams:  goaltender Joe Phillippi (Hill-Murray), defensemen Luke McManus (Rosemount) and Chris Student (Benilde-St. Margaret’s), and forwards Matt Bergland (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) and Rob Maloney (Eastview).

Gopher fans will see much of Condon and Ness as they have made commitments. Both are seniors (Ness finishing high school a year early).

This diverse group of players was handed over to head coaches Ed Christian and John Russo — as well as assistant Dean Grillo with their one day of preparation being two short scrimmages on Thursday evening. Things got more interesting when top scorers Jake Johnson (Duluth Denfeld) and Bryce Ravendalen (Warroad) had to step out to correct minor nagging injuries and DeCenzo re-injured an ankle in the first game. Going with three lines over a four-day period didn’t appear to phase this group as they basically outpaced every team they played. They obviously bought into a strong team concept early as four, five and six short-pass combinations moving up the ice quickly became their trademarks.

Their other trademark was stingy teamwide defense. Opposition teams had little success in the middle and the goaltending was outstanding. Andrew Martin was perfect in the tournament, going five periods without giving up a goal. Joe Phillippi had the more challenging shots and was also exceptional.

After being behind early to Dallas, Minnesota shifted to a higher gear and gave up only one goal over the last eight periods of the tournament.

While Justin Jokinen was the leading scorer for Minnesota, every player on the team picked up points and every line contributed at least four goals.

In the final game, Minnesota scored three times each in the first and second periods, then bolted the door in the third to assure a victory.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s won the third-place crown by beating the Michigan Stars 3-0, losing 4-3 to LA Jr. Kings, then shutting out the Malmo Redhawks 5-0.

The Swedish team came to Minnesota for a week-long experience. They were able to get through the first round of the tournament (4-2 over Team Illinois), but ran into tough going, getting shut out by Minnesota (8-0) and Shattuck (5-0) in the second and third rounds.

The Michigan Stars went 2-1 and won the consolation championship (5-3) over the Dallas Jr. Stars. The Michigan team is comprised of players from a fall elite league in Michigan that was recently formed with the assistance of the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.  Michigan now has nearly 200 high school hockey teams — more than any other state, including Minnesota. 

The Minnesota players all now go back to their respective high school teams, so fans will have a chance to see these outstanding young players all winter.

 

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