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Midwest Xposure hits lucky No. 7

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Last Updated on Thursday, 17 January 2013 17:38

The Midwest Xposure Tournament has had great competition in its first six years, but that competitive level is about to go even higher. Xposure, Co-Director and Fall Upper Midwest High School Elite League Director, John Russo, has announced that all Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota Elite League players will be discounted $100 apiece for 2013. That puts them in the Xposure for $249.

That, says tournament co-director, Tom Ward of Shattuck-St. Mary’s, “will increase the number of Elite League players up to roughly 90 and increase the quality of the tournament.  Shattuck-St. Mary’s already puts a dozen or more players in the tourney. Russo commented that “this is a league sponsored event, so it is fitting that we invest some of the Elite League fees back into the players.

That being said, that leaves the other 100-120 spots in the Xposure for other exceptional high school (and Midget) players. Many high school players have gotten “discovered” at the Xposure over the years. For the last few years, there generally also have been a few  players each from10 to 12 other states and 2-3 Canadian provinces.  One year, several European players attended from Sweden. Minnesota and Wisconsin high school players still make up a majority of players that will fill out the teams, however.

Tournament directors send applications to regional players that attended the USA Hockey National Advanced camps, as well as to the top fall Elite Development League players — that will be next year’s Elite League regulars — and the top players from all Minnesota high schools.  Registrar Larry Horstman, indicated that he “makes sure that there are plenty of spots for Minnesota high school players — after all, this is a Minnesota tournament.”

The Xposure Tournament brings in Junior, college and NHL scouts from across North America and provides profile books of players to all. All games are video taped and are available for a small fee and can be mailed to junior teams or colleges upon request. MNHockeyHub (view at MNHockeyHub.com) is on site and handles the stats for all games. All games are refereed by the USA Referee Development Program (same as USHL, NAHL, and Elite League).

The five-game tourney tucks in neatly between the high school season and the beginning of the Minnesota Hockey/USA Hockey Advanced camp try-outs. It’s a good opportunity for players to get their pace of play up before the try-outs. It’s also a fun environment.

It’s a good time to give the junior scouts a chance to see players in a top notch venue — before their drafts and decisions on who will be invited to summer junior camps. The colleges will be looking for prospects or trying to decide who will get their last few scholarship offers. NHL scouts stop in to see the top prospects.

Elite League coaches (as well as others) will be on the benches and will be evaluating the younger players for possible try-outs for the fall 2013 Elite League.

While Minnesota players used to flock to Vancouver or Toronto for their post season tournaments, the costs of participation, travel and lodging have made the local tourney a $1,000 per player savings at only $349. “Not only are we massively less expensive for the Minnesota and Upper Midwest player, but our limited enrollment makes our competition better as well,” said co-director, John Russo. “I’ve been coaching, operating impactive hockey training, managing the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, and writing coaches advice in Let’s Play Hockey for over 25 years; this Xposure process falls right into the quality spectrum of the other activities. It’s important to Tom Ward and I that we have a superior program for a good price.”

What are the chances of a midget or high school player getting into the Xposure Tournament? “We are expecting around 400 applicants again this year, so about half of them will get in”, commented Larry Hortsman. “We’ll have about one-half of the rosters filled with Upper Midwest Elite 2012, as well as 2013 players; the rest will be wide open.

The number of scouts has remained strong over the previous years. The Xposure is operated on the two arenas at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School campus in Faribault. 

The tournament web site can be used for application and will show all the teams, games, and details:  www.xposurehockey.com.