Upper Midwest High School Elite League

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Northeast, Wisconsin, Southwest leading the way

The Upper Midwest High School Elite League’s 2007 season is in full swing with 48 games under its belt. Through four weeks of exciting play, three teams are proving to be the class of the league.

Team Northeast leads the standings with a 9-2-1 record and 21 points after winning at least a share of the last two Early Point Tournaments.

Team Wisconsin, meanwhile, owns a 7-4-1 record, placing second in the Sept. 21-23 tournament and in a tie for first with Northeast during the Sept. 28-30 weekend of play.

Rounding out the top three teams is preseason favorite Team Southwest with a 7-4-1 record.

A battle at the top of the standings is set for the Oct. 5-7 slate of games as Wisconsin and Southwest face off on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m., at the New Hope Ice Arena. Fourth-place Team Great Plains (5-6-1) will also look to make some noise in New Hope, taking on both Wisconsin and Southwest during the weekend.

Northeast will look to pick up important points against bottom-half teams Northwest and Southeast during the fifth week of play, but will expect a tight game against Shattuck-St. Mary’s on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 12 p.m., at New Hope.

Wisconsin and Southwest will also face off during the Oct. 12-14 weekend of play at the Brainerd Civic Center. Northeast will wrap up the regular season on Oct. 21, with a battle against Southwest at the Shattuck Arena.

Scouting the Elite League

A record number of junior, college and professional scouts descended on New Hope Ice Arena for the third week of play in the Elite League. From Sept. 21-23, over 100 scouts from across the hockey spectrum were represented to witness some of the best high school hockey players in the Upper Midwest. According to league sources, 24 of 30 National Hockey League teams, 27 NCAA Division I schools, all United States Hockey League teams and many North American Hockey League teams were represeneted at New Hope Ice Arena. Each session during the weekend averaged about 75-80 scouts on hand, proving that the Upper Midwest High School Elite League features some of the best high school hockey players in the nation.

Big scoring weekends

The last three weekends of play in the Elite League have seen several players vault up the scoring list with impressive performances. Below is a look at some of the top scoring outings in the last three weekends:

Weekend 2 (Sept. 15-16)

• Nate Condon (Wausau West): Eight-point weekend (4-4--8) to lead Wisconsin to a 2-1-0 record.

• Ben Hanowski (Little Falls): Eight-point weekend (5-3--8) to help North to a 1-1-1 record.

Weekend 3 (Sept. 21-23)

• Seth Soley (Eau Claire Memorial): Eight-point weekend (4-4--8) to help Wisconsin to a 2-1-0 record.

• Dan Cecka (Hill-Murray): Seven-point weekend (5-2--7) to lead Northeast to a 2-1-0 record.

• Joshua ‘JT’ Brown (Rosemount): Seven-point weekend (2-5--7) to help Southeast to a 1-1-1 record.

• Nate Condon (Wausau West): Six-point weekend (3-3--6) for Wisconsin.

• Tyler Barnes (Burnsville): Six-point weekend (3-3--6) for Northeast.

Weekend 4 (Sept. 28-30)

• Adam Mueller (Roseville): Nine-point weekend (3-6--9) to lead Northeast to a 3-0-0 record.

• Zach Lehrke (Park Rapids): Eight-point weekend (3-5--8) to help Great Plains to a 2-1-0 record.