Re: 2011-12 Minnesota Season Thread (Pride On Ice Returns!)
Kloos Provides Instant Offense
Justin Kloos was cradling the puck behind the goal line.
Two strides later he was gliding into a sliver of an opening in the slot.
With a quick flick of the wrists, the puck was rocketing under the crossbar.
Goal.
Scoring plays develop quickly when Team Southeast’s Kloos is on the ice. Blink an eye, and the Lakeville South senior very well might have deposited another puck in the net. Or, just as likely, delivered a pinpoint pass to set up a goal.
The first of Kloos’ two goals came just 42 seconds into Team Southeast’s eventual 5-5 tie with Team Southwest on Sunday, Oct. 9, at New Hope Ice Arena. He scored again with 22 seconds left in the second, wrapping the puck around the left post just before the net was knocked out of place.
Justin Kloos scored two goals and added an assist in Team Southeast's 4-4 tie with Team Southwest. Photo by Helen Nelson
Generally, time and space is limited in the frenetically paced Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League. The laws of physics, and hockey, seem to change when Kloos is operating with the puck. Speed and elusiveness are hallmarks of the 5-foot-8, 177-pound senior’s game, yet the University of Minnesota recruit also has the uncanny ability to dial the game into slow motion when he is in scoring position.
Kloos’ three-point afternoon against Team Southwest gives him 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists) in 15 games. Team Southeast’s Jake Guentzel of Hill-Murray, Kloos’ linemate for much of the fall, ranks second in the league with 28 points.
“We play pretty well together, we see each other a lot,” Kloos said about being paired with the 5-8½, 150-pound Guentzel. “It has been fun. We’re both small, creative forwards. Create offense, that’s kind of our mentality.”
Kloos and Guentzel were linemates for parts of three seasons as grade-schoolers playing for the Triple A Icemen.
“I think teams try to play a little more physical on us, because we’re kind of the crafty offensive forwards,” said Kloos, who scored 41 goals and added 49 assists last season in 27 games and is the state’s top returning scorer heading into the 2011-12 season. “Other than that, we have a bunch of good players on our team, so I don’t think they are locking on to our line.”
Team Southeast (10-2-3) leads the Elite League standings with 24 points, two ahead of Team Northeast (9-3-3).
Last season Team Southeast went 12-7-2 and finished one point behind Team North in the regular season standings.
“I just wanted my team to win,” Kloos said about his Elite League goals entering the season. “If our team has a better record that it did last year, then overall it is a success.”
With six games remaining in the regular season, Kloos’ 34 points already tops the 33 registered by 2010 scoring champion Tony Cameranesi of Team Northwest.
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