2021/2022 Minnesota Girls High School Hockey

[ARM]

The sibling thing is a little weird (4 sets - Wethington, Lindsay and Hemp...

And Zumwinkle. Looking farther back, the Gophers have traditionally had sister acts: Kennedy, Curtin, Brodt, Lamoureux, Potomak. Probably some that I'm forgetting. At least for the local kids, one advantage is that you can reduce the number of parents that you have to interact with.

 

[Bonzo]

Would you put her at maybe one notch below someone like Sadie Lindsay, who also has a more-talented, younger sister? Minnesota has always had a presence of similar players on its roster. I don't know if some of them over the years are misses, or if the thinking is that you can bring in several on partial scholarships, and somebody like Whit Graft or Abigail Boreen will wind up being a far better senior than she was as a freshman. A team obviously needs more than 18 players, for practice and depth even if most teams don't skate a 4th line, so you have to stretch those scholarships somehow.

I'm trying to think back over the years ... has there been an Edina HS player who has gone on to be great at the NCAA level? Some have had good careers, like Reber and Bowlby. But for as strong as they've been for a lot of years, I'm not remembering one who was a 1st-Team AA type of player. V. Jungels could be, but that might be tough at Wisconsin, particularly if she is playing second fiddle to Harvey.

Bowlby was a 1st team AA last year (reference: USCHO article from March 19, 2021). However it does not appear she will be a repeat selection.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Would you put her at maybe one notch below someone like Sadie Lindsay, who also has a more-talented, younger sister?

Yes...

I'm trying to think back over the years ... has there been an Edina HS player who has gone on to be great at the NCAA level? Some have had good careers, like Reber and Bowlby. But for as strong as they've been for a lot of years, I'm not remembering one who was a 1st-Team AA type of player.

That is somewhat surprising but the Edina youth hockey program is hard to match. Andover's is pretty close. It makes for a lot of depth for their varsity team. It is amazing to think of the kids who were in their youth system that wound up at other programs like Breck, Blake, BSM, etc.

 

[Steamboat]

Late goal gives Andover State AA Girls Hockey title in ‘Instant Classic’ against Minnetonka

(includes game highlights in a terrific state championship game)
https://kstp.com/minnesota-sports/l...ey-champs-in-instant-classic-with-minnetonka/

Thanks for the link. There were some outstanding goals scored by both teams. I would say that the future of women's hockey is bright by what was displayed in this game. Hopefully a true pro circuit will have developed by the time these young ladies are through their college careers.

 

[used2lurk]

Agree about the fraught terrain, but he should own some of it. The sibling thing is a little weird (4 sets - Wethington, Lindsay and Hemp, in addition to Jungels), but one component of the Tella story is around early recruiting. He was the worst in college hockey about taking verbals from babies - looking at the most recent grades, all 5 of his original '22 class were 8th graders (I believe), and both of his original 2 '23s. That group were probably (at least among) the 7 best 8th grade players at the time, but they were all early calendar year birth month kids (other than Vivian - the rest were therefore AAA super stars with that tail-wind) and have been passed by classmates as that advantage sunsetted. The group has also been winnowed down to 4. A few of them had their lives disrupted by being committed at that age (behavior, love of the game, etc.). Their and their family's own some blame for that, for sure, but also partly on him. He also missed out on the emergence of some stronger players. He's a good guy, the Gophers are a very good team and strong program and will continue to be, and these Europeans he's gotten look legit, but he has earned some criticism for his recruiting. And the Jungels situation is a symptom.

This is a decent analysis and I think that the least heralded of the 22's seems to be having the biggest impact at this time. Audrey W appeared to be the throw in when originally recruited but she has always been an extremely hard worker and has continued to improve every year in HS and college. Her 2 teammates who had more accolades in HS now play for Yale (ex-Gopher) and Cornell (Lily D is a Freshman due to no Ivy season her freshman year). Lily is 1/3 up for ECAC rookie of the year and is an elite offensive player. Another 2022 that got away who continued to improve as a player in HS and now college is Olivia Mobley. She is the 2nd leading scorer (1st in goals scored) on #6 Quinnipiac (by 1 point) and is a beast of a power forward.

Some thoughts on the 2023 class are the surprising (to some for sure) emergence of Emily Zumwinkle. Many verbally questioned her commitment to the Gophers in HS but she appears to have played some solid minutes and been an impactful freshman D. Happy for her as she had to have some tough times as Grace's sister (and Audrey as Madeline's). Hemp was expected to be good and she has been. The one that probably got away was Rory Guilday who is the #1 D for Cornell. I think that she was injured and missed her Fresh or Soph year of HS and since then has become an elite two way D. Every time I have seen her play or practice in person she impresses and is the best D on the ice.

It is interesting the girls who have gone east and are impacting out there. The Cornell girls (Izzy Daniels, Lily Delianidis(sp), & Guilday), the Quinnipiac forwards (Peart, Mobley, Stieghauf) and probably others I cant recall at this time. I believe that Jungels is going to be a rock solid addition to the Badgers. More offensive punch than Bowlby (with less premium offensive players around her imo) and the ability to change a game on both sides of the ice. Wethington, Nicholson, Guilday, and Jungels are the best D from each of the last 4 years in MN (more good ones in the pipeline too). It will be fun to see how all 4 continue and end their college careers.

Anybody have any strong opinions on the best MN 23's?

 

[PuckLover]

This is a decent analysis and I think that the least heralded of the 22's seems to be having the biggest impact at this time... Some thoughts on the 2023 class are the surprising (to some for sure)...

I was referring to high school graduation years, so I think you mean '20 (Audrey Wethington class), and '21 (Emily Zumwinkle class). My comments were on '22 and '23 - two years following. I think your comments on Audrey and Emily emerging as solid depth contributors for the Gophers is spot on - less talented than others, but two very hard working kids.

Delianedis and Mobley are very strong '20 (not '22) forwards at the college level from Minnesota (including Audrey). Guilday is clearly the best D from the '21 class - all three possibly misses.

The biggest misses for the Gophs in the '22 class are the ones they lost recently - Enright and Jungels. But Matthews (tOSU) and Tuttle (Mankato) might prove to be better than the ones they took, and Maddy Christian (PSU) might have a chance to be a better version of Kaiser (modest skills, but physical, tough and a disruptor). Katelyn Roberts (PSU) is also a wild card - she could be a very good college player, in my opinion. At D, Peschel (tOSU) is a huge miss.

The '23 class is built around Lindsay, who is a very good player, but has been passed by Boerger (St. Thomas), at least. Lindsay also seems very unlikely to remain a center at the college level (because of modest defensive ability/strength), which will be an adjustment. I think Morrison (Dartmouth), Higuchi (Yale), and Sajevic (St. Thomas) each has a chance to be better college players than Lindsay (with varying degrees of likelihood), and I think all three are likely to be better than the other MN forward going to the Gophs (O'Hara). I think Retrum (PSU), Sadura (UMD), Brown (St Thomas), Goettl (uncommitted) and Broz (uncommitted) have a chance to be better than O'Hara, too. At D, the Gazdik twins (Mankato) and Hause (St. Thomas) are all clearly better than Klepinger, and have an edge and physicality that Josie Hemp does not.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

I was referring to high school graduation years, so I think you mean '20 (Audrey Wethington class), and '21 (Emily Zumwinkle class). My comments were on '22 and '23 - two years following. I think your comments on Audrey and Emily emerging as solid depth contributors for the Gophers is spot on - less talented than others, but two very hard working kids.

Delianedis and Mobley are very strong '20 (not '22) forwards at the college level from Minnesota (including Audrey). Guilday is clearly the best D from the '21 class - all three possibly misses.

The biggest misses for the Gophs in the '22 class are the ones they lost recently - Enright and Jungels. But Matthews (tOSU) and Tuttle (Mankato) might prove to be better than the ones they took, and Maddy Christian (PSU) might have a chance to be a better version of Kaiser (modest skills, but physical, tough and a disruptor). Katelyn Roberts (PSU) is also a wild card - she could be a very good college player, in my opinion. At D, Peschel (tOSU) is a huge miss.

The '23 class is built around Lindsay, who is a very good player, but has been passed by Boerger (St. Thomas), at least. Lindsay also seems very unlikely to remain a center at the college level (because of modest defensive ability/strength), which will be an adjustment. I think Morrison (Dartmouth), Higuchi (Yale), and Sajevic (St. Thomas) each has a chance to be better college players than Lindsay (with varying degrees of likelihood), and I think all three are likely to be better than the other MN forward going to the Gophs (O'Hara). I think Retrum (PSU), Goettl (uncommitted) and Broz (uncommitted) have a chance to be better than O'Hara, too. At D, the Gazdik twins (Mankato) and Hause (St. Thomas) are all clearly better than Klepinger, and have an edge and physicality that Josie Hemp does not.

These are just opinions of mine and so take them with a grain of salt so to speak. Delianedis has a ton of skill but there were some on ice behaivor issues in high school (losing control, temper type things) that were a red flag for me. I'm good with the Gophers "missing" on her since they already have that currently with #16. Mobley, I would agree, is a miss. I also agree about Gulday being the best of the 21's, but Emily Zumwinkle has been a pleasant surprise.

Of Jungels and Enright, I'm ok with lossing Enright not so much with losing Jungels. Enright would have had to fit in a lower line roll with Minnesota (she may have to do that with the sinners as well). Remains to be seen how that will go. I like Franco's and Kaiser's flexibility in filling roles as the team needed in high school which is good prep for them to fit into the Minnesota lineup. Sloan Matthews, I like a lot. She seems like the ideal fit for what the muzzinator has going at OSU. Peschel, as you say, is a miss but the Finnish player coming next year could aleviate that. Maddy Christian will do well at PSU but I still would rather have Kaiser. Katelyn Roberts has good skill but what may hold her back is her skating.

I like Klepinger a little more than Hemp right now. Klepinger passing is very good as is Hemp's but Klepinger has a better shot from the point. Don't agree with you about Hause and The Gazdik sisters being "clearly better that Klepinger or Hemp but I guess time will tell.

Again with the forwards, time will tell. You do have a few passing or having a chance to pass Ava Lindsay. Maybe she has a chance to "pass" them back next year?

 

[Timothy A]

Jungels could be, but that might be tough at Wisconsin, particularly if she is playing second fiddle to Harvey.

The top 4 d at UW will be Buchbinder, LaMantia, Harvey and Jungels. Jungels will get a regular shift on even strength and play on special teams. Typically the highly regarded Minnesota D have no trouble transitioning to play regularly at UW.

 

[PuckLover]

Maddy Christian will do well at PSU but I still would rather have Kaiser.

I like Klepinger a little more than Hemp right now. Klepinger passing is very good as is Hemp's but Klepinger has a better shot from the point. Don't agree with you about Hause and The Gazdik sisters being "clearly better that Klepinger or Hemp but I guess time will tell.

Again with the forwards, time will tell. You do have a few passing or having a chance to pass Ava Lindsay. Maybe she has a chance to "pass" them back next year?

You sound like you have a good basis for your opinions, but I do disagree on a few areas:

Kaiser vs. Christian - possible - time will tell. If you think Delianedis had baggage, Kaiser carries a steamer trunk.

My comment was they were clearly better than Klepinger, not both her and Hemp. Klepinger has much better vision than Hemp and a better shot, but is slow, and prone to falling down at inopportune times (3-5x in every game I saw this year). She has the potential to be a defensive liability at higher paced hockey. I would take Hemp (or Gazdik's or Hause).

Lindsay is a very good player, but, candidly, she hasn't improved much in two years. Her speed doesn't stand out and she's turned into a high shot volume kid throwing pucks from distance who doesn't score much (22 goals in 31 games). But it's possible she improves. She definitely needs to get stronger.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

You sound like you have a good basis for your opinions, but I do disagree on a few areas:

It's all good, I enjoy having this discussion with someone like you who follows (probably even more than I do) Minnesota girls high school hockey.

Kaiser vs. Christian - possible - time will tell. If you think Delianedis had baggage, Kaiser carries a steamer trunk.

Sheesh, it's no wonder, carrying that kind of load, she looked gassed half the time I was able to see her this year.

My comment was they were clearly better than Klepinger, not both her and Hemp. Klepinger has much better vision than Hemp and a better shot, but is slow, and prone to falling down at inopportune times (3-5x in every game I saw this year). She has the potential to be a defensive liability at higher paced hockey. I would take Hemp (or Gazdik's or Hause).

Thanks for the clarification. No better example was Klepinger falling trying to keep up with Sara Kaiser on Andover's winning goal in the championship game. I do like how Klepinger moves moves the puck and I do think that will translate well to the Gopher program. Strenth and conditioning can be improved with the resources available in a top college program.

Lindsay is a very good player, but, candidly, she hasn't improved much in two years. Her speed doesn't stand out and she's turned into a high shot volume kid throwing pucks from distance who doesn't score much (22 goals in 31 games). But it's possible she improves. She definitely needs to get stronger.

The getting stronger is true of most high school players that are headed to college. Lindsay skates well enough and has an excellent wrist shot. Those are things to build on. Then it becomes more about her desire to work hard and makes improvements in her game.

 

[used2lurk]

Puck and others...sorry about my screwed up grad years...my brain was toasty while composing that late at night.

There is some pretty great content on MN Girls HS Hockey here if you want to take a gander sometime:

http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

Here is a great link to a spreadsheet that J4241 put together with scoring from this past season. There is a lot of data here that does not tell the whole story but is informative on what kids (many of whom are committed to D1 programs) did vs top tier competition. Nearly every 22 and 23 mentioned prior are on the google doc. Check it out if you are interested:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...gVxB1a_DsLIZ46JCZWzkQ8I6g/edit#gid=1892171511

The big takeaways for me from data and what I have seen with my own eyes is that Jungels is and performed at a very elite level. While the Hornets this year were a top 2 or 3 team they would have been a pretender rather than contender without Jungels and their stellar goalie Corniea (Princeton after next season). The Skippers had a lot more elite offensive talent but did not score like many others against Top Ten talent. What Sloan Matthews did for Wayzata was also very remarkable.

The best pure scorer for 2023 might be Ellie Morrison from Blake. She could be the best pure scorer out of Blake since Carlie Bullock. Neither known for their defense and the aforementioned Lily Dilianedis was better defensively in 11th grade but the hands and release of Morrison are special. Higuchi is a nice player for Blake too but I would want Morrison for my college team from 2024-2028.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Puck and others...sorry about my screwed up grad years...my brain was toasty while composing that late at night.

There is some pretty great content on MN Girls HS Hockey here if you want to take a gander sometime:

http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

Here is a great link to a spreadsheet that J4241 put together with scoring from this past season. There is a lot of data here that does not tell the whole story but is informative on what kids (many of whom are committed to D1 programs) did vs top tier competition. Nearly every 22 and 23 mentioned prior are on the google doc. Check it out if you are interested:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...gVxB1a_DsLIZ46JCZWzkQ8I6g/edit#gid=1892171511

The big takeaways for me from data and what I have seen with my own eyes is that Jungels is and performed at a very elite level. While the Hornets this year were a top 2 or 3 team they would have been a pretender rather than contender without Jungels and their stellar goalie Corniea (Princeton after next season). The Skippers had a lot more elite offensive talent but did not score like many others against Top Ten talent. What Sloan Matthews did for Wayzata was also very remarkable.

The best pure scorer for 2023 might be Ellie Morrison from Blake. She could be the best pure scorer out of Blake since Carlie Bullock. Neither known for their defense and the aforementioned Lily Dilianedis was better defensively in 11th grade but the hands and release of Morrison are special. Higuchi is a nice player for Blake too but I would want Morrison for my college team from 2024-2028.

Thanks used2lurk. Appreciate the input.

 

[PuckLover]

That's a rabbit hole - ton of info! That spreadsheet - looks like that was all hand assembled from hockeyhub data. It would be cool if something like that were available for college stats (quality of opponent adjusted offensive output), or kept a little more officially for the Minnesota high school kids. If elite prospects kept game level data - or myhockeyrankings kept player data - those are platforms that might be able to do something like that. Not sure the way it was done is optimal (segmenting by top 10, next 10, and everybody else), but an interesting window into the Minnesota kids.

I agree Morrison is one of the elite goal scorers in that grade (though this season looks to have been shortened by injury). Kind of weird to say when the leading goal scorer (VanBatavia, who is also a '23) in the state had 83 in 28 games (vs. Morrison's 22 in 16 - though none in the last 3 - injury affected?), but it goes to show how wide the quality of hockey is within Minnesota. But being the top college player from this (or any) class will be more a function of drive and commitment through their college career. And there are a few others in that class that are very good players (including some of the aforementioned Boerger, Lindsay, Sajevic, Retrum, Higuchi, Sadura, Broz, Brown, Goettl, O'Hara and others). My guess is looking back there will be some kids who are not thought of as highly as others now or by the end of their high school careers that flourish through college as they work harder to improve, and others drop off. That seems to be how it usually works.

In the '22 class, Enright is obviously a pretty special talent - will be interesting to see if she ends up with the best college career, or someone like Burgen or Matthews (or Kaiser, Tuttle, Christian, etc) stays on the grind and improves more from here.

 

[PuckLover]

Obviously the upcoming college games are the focus, but I remembered this from our discussion of high school last winter:

The best pure scorer for 2023 might be Ellie Morrison from Blake.

As I said in my first reply - perhaps. College success will be a function of work ethic post-high school. But this is pretty cool - not seen much in the girls game:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pIO...ew?usp=sharing

(from the MN high school forum - http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38838)

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Getting to about time to start a new thread for the 2022/2023 high school season...