Returning Goal Scorers: Edina | New Prague 2009 Champions

I know that having a good nucleus of returning goal scorers from last season does not necessarily equate to a championship this season but the odds of having a good season become greater.

Based on the top 200 goal scorers of 2007-2008 and that only, New Prague will win the Class A state championship and Edina will win Class AA. The caveat is that all of last year's underclassmen return this season.

As of now, I only know of two players that are not returning and that is Mr. Hockey Aaron Ness from Roseau, who now is playing with the Gophers this year, and his goalie teammate, Mike Lee, who is playing for the Fargo Force of the USHL and will not return. There are several that are playing junior hockey but word is that most will return for their high school season. If any of the following players are not returning this season, please let me know by emailing me at followthepuck@gmail.com.

These are not my predictions or my rankings. This is simply for fun and a quick outlook feeding off of information from last season. I'm only commenting on teams that have two or more returning players that finished in the top 200.

Class AA:

1. Edina Hornets - 94 goals
Last year's record: 28-3-0
Finish: 2nd place in the Class AA state tournament - lost to Hill-Murray 0-3

Returning goal scorers:

- Marshall Everson (Sr): 35g (17a)
- Zach Budish (Sr): 21g (29a)**
- Anders Lee (Sr): 25g (18a)
- Connor Gaarder (Sr): 13g (20a)

**Zach Budish tore his ACL during the football season and may miss the entire hockey season

Returning defensemen:

- Max Everson (So)
- David Jarrett (Jr)
- Patrick Regan (Sr)
- Brendan Baker (Sr)

Goalie: Derrick Caschetta graduated | Backup: Jack Trautz (Jr)
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2. Rochester Mayo Spartans - 73 goals
Last year's record: 15-11-0
Finish: Lost to Lakeville South 0-4 in the Section 1AA semifinals
Note: No smirking! Yes, the Spartans lost 0-4 in the Section 1AA semifinals to Lakeville South, the 1AA representative in the state tournament. Believe it or not, they have four players returning that were in the top 200 in scoring. And, yes, granted, almost half of their games were against Class A teams in the Big Nine conference. This is for FUN (and so you can monitor their success this season based on their returnees). We'll just say that I would not be surprised if the Spartans have a very good year.

Returning goal scorers:

- Tom Alexander (Sr) 29g (18a)
- Brad Fisher (Sr) 13g (31a)
- Alex Whitney (Sr) 14g (25a)
- Charlie Thauwald (Sr) 17g (16a)

Returning defensemen:

- Adam Truex (Jr)
- Brandon Buske (Sr)
- Ethan Hoppenworth (Sr)
- Rick Weber (Sr)
- Kevin Oetliker (Sr)

Goalie: Jordan Yaggy (Sr) (.907 save %, 480 saves, 2.90 GAA) is returning this season.
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3. Academy of Holy Angels Stars - 68 goals
Last year's record: 19-7-1
Finish: lost to Edina 2-6 in the Section 2AA Semifinals

Returning goal scorers:

- Danny Mattson (Sr) - 30g (39a)
- Connor Reilly (Jr) - 23g (26a)
- John Haeg (Sr) - 15g (19a)

Returning defensemen:

- Tyler Craig (So)
- Connor Polacek (Jr)
- Mark DeLude (Sr)
- Kris Kwak (Sr)
- Andrew Hartman (Sr)

Goalie: Jon Boerger graduated | Michael Webb (Sr) (.879 Save %, 312 Svs, 2.97 GAA - before playoffs) is returning
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4. Centennial Cougars - 63 goals
Last year's record: 18-8-2
Finish: 2nd place in Section 5AA - lost to Blaine 6-1

Returning goal scorers:

- Tyler Pitlick (Sr) - 23g (27a)
- Jordan Lovick (Jr) - 15 g (31a)
- Willie Hess (Sr) - 25g (10a)

Returning defensemen:

- John Husu (Jr)
- Joe Schmitz (Sr)
- Charlie Aus (Jr)
- Simon Knockel (Jr)
- Chris Kueppers (Sr)
- Andrew Roberts (Jr)
- Brett Stern (Jr)

Goalie: Tyler Strand graduated | Backup: Nolan Larson (Jr)
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5. Hill-Murray Pioneers - 48 goals
Last year's record: 27-3-1
Finish: 2008 Class AA State Champions!

Returning goal scorers:

- Isaac Kohls (Sr) - 18g (25a)
- Tyler Zepeda (Sr) - 13g (29a)
- Nick Widing (Sr) - 17g (19a)

Returning defensemen:

- Chris Casto (Jr)
- Alex Kelly (Sr)
- Jonathan Stadler (Jr)

Goalie: State tournament MVP Joe Phillippi graduated | Backup: Kirk McGinley (Sr)
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6. Roseau Rams - 47 goals
Last year's record: 29-2-0
Finish: 4th Place in the Class AA state tournament - lost 1-5 to Benilde-St. Margaret's for 3rd

Returning goal scorers:

- Tyler Landman (Sr) - 16g (27a)
- Nick Oliver (Sr) - 15g (20a)**
- Adam Knochenmus (Jr) - 16g (17a)

**Nick Oliver currently has a shoulder injury suffered during practice with the Fargo Force of the USHL. He may be out 6 to 8 weeks. He most likely will miss the first couple of weeks of the regular season.

Returning defensemen:

- Tim Tesarek (Jr)
- Kyle Ross (Sr)
- Ryan Weston (Sr)
- Mike Koenig (Sr)
- Erik Mattson (Sr)
- Jesse Braun (Jr)
- TJ Erickson (Jr)

Goalie: Mike Lee is playing for the Fargo Force of the USHL and will not return for his senior season at Roseau | Backup: Allen Makash (Sr) will most likely be Roseau's goalie for 2008-2009 but there are two other players fighting for that starting position, Brady Wrightsman, and junior Ethan Kvidt.
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7. Hopkins Royals - 36 goals
Last year's record: 22-4-1
Finish: lost to Minnetonka 3-4 in the Section 6AA Semifinals

Returning goal scorers:

- Travis Boyd (Fr) - 20g (21a)
- Archie Skalbeck (Jr) - 16g (21a)

Returning defensemen:

- Matt Kallas (Sr)
- Alex Hohertz (Sr)
- Tom Plotkin (Sr)
- Tom McCue (Jr)
- Mike Magnuson (Jr)
- Nick Olson (Sr)

Goalie: Alex Fons (Jr) (Prior to playoffs - .919 save %, 548 svs, 2.30 GAA) is returning.
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Class A is coming later in a different post. New Prague has four top scorers returning this season.