Golden Gopher Nate Schmidt (St. Cloud, Minn.) leads all Division I defensemen in scoring with totals of 6-19--25.
Last Updated on Thursday, 31 January 2013 11:28
Minnesota natives are finding success at the Division I level of college hockey this season
By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
In last week’s edition of Let’s Play Hockey, Kevin Kurtt wrote about the numbers of native Minnesota hockey players and their representative numbers around the various leagues. I have believed for some time that we in Minnesota overachieve in the over-all numbers of players we nurture for the levels of Division I college hockey – which is awesome. That said, I also believe we often have lacked in providing the highest quality elite players. In my opinion, for some time, Minnesota has produced lots of good players, just not enough excellent players, especially at the goaltender level and especially elite players for the NHL.
This year, I am watching more college hockey than ever before and I am witnessing an interesting trend. More Minnesotans are at the top end than usual, but maybe not as many in the upper-middle. If you look at where many of the better players are coming from overall, it is a more varied group than ever before and includes kids from non-traditional hockey areas like California, Arizona, Florida and Texas. There is simply more player competition than ever before.
But the numbers of Minnesota players excelling, performing at the highest of levels on the national scene are pretty good. Here is a mid-term report on how we are doing at the upper end, Division I college level and it is pretty impressive.
The leading scorer in the nation is Ryan Walters. A native of Rosemount, he leads the nation with 39 points on 15 goals and 24 assists to lead his high scoring Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Walters leads a pack of three other Minnesota-born lads in the nation’s top five in scoring.
Also in the top five is St. Cloud State’s Drew LeBlanc. A native of Hermantown, he comes in as the No. 2 scorer in the nation with 35 points on 7 goals and 28 assists. I still remember Huskies coach Bob Motzko telling me this kid was going to be so much better than other people thought. Coach Motzko could not have been more right.
The third Minnesota native in the top five is Eden Prairie’s Danny Kristo. He is a senior at North Dakota and is second in scoring on his team with 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points. He trails teammate Corbin Knight who is tied with LeBlanc for second in the nation in scoring. Together they provide a lethal one-two punch on the offensive side of things for UND.
Minnesota’s Kyle Rau, formerly Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey from Eden Prairie and a tenacious everyday player – much of the style of the Wild’s Zach Parise – comes in at No. 15 in the nation with 28 points on 13 goals and 15 assists. Rau has two teammates also in the top 40 in scoring; they are Nick Bjugstad (Blaine) and defenseman, Nate Schmidt (St. Cloud). Minnesota may have the best high-end scoring balance in all of college hockey.
Western Michigan is in first place in the CCHA as we head down the final stretch of conference play and their leading scorer is Dane Walters of Como Park. It is great to see an inner-city lad doing so well. Dane is WMU’s team captain and leads his sixth-ranked Broncos with 11 goals and nine assists. Conference rival and perennial national contender Notre Dame is led in scoring by Edina’s Anders Lee with 14 goals and nine assists. Dane and Anders are leading scorers on two of the very best programs in all of college hockey.
Also worthy of mention is Max Gardiner from Minnetonka. Max is playing out at the brand new Division I program at Penn State and is their second leading scorer. Eighth-ranked Yale, one of the finest academic institutions in America, also boasts a great skating, high scoring hockey team. Their leading scoring defenseman is Tommy Fallen of Plymouth. It is great to see Tommy doing so well. He had to prove himself with two years of junior hockey just to earn the opportunity. UMD’s Tony Cameranesi (Wayzata) is the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer as a freshman. Impressive!
On the goaltending side, three of the very best goalies in all of college hockey are from Minnesota. Quinnipiac’s Eric Hartzell of White Bear Lake, now a Hobey Baker nominee, has led the nation in goals against at times. Currently he is second in the nation with a 1.46 goals-against average. He leads the nation in the most important category of all, wins, with 18.
Ohio State’s Brady Hjelle, a native of International Falls, is just a smidge behind, coming in as the nation’s No. 3 rated goaltender with a 1.60 gaa. I have seen Hjelle play a couple of times this year and each time he has been simply outstanding. Golden Gopher Adam Wilcox, from South St. Paul, is currently rated No. 5 in goals against at 1.70 and is second in wins with 17.
These three goaltenders, in my opinion, are as good as any in America. All are near or above the .930 save percentage. They are impressive. The interesting thing with the Minnesota representation of goaltenders is that after these three, there really are no Minnesotans on the national radar, but these three are awfully good.
I took a look at the USHL where the nation’s top talent goes to develop. Some good stuff there as well. Waterloo’s Taylor Cammarata of Plymouth leads the entire USHL is scoring. In 34 games, he has 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points, four more than the second-leading scorer.
The really interesting stat to me again is in the goaltending. Minnesota boasts three of the top six goalies in the USHL. Michael Bitzer of Moorhead is second in the USHL with a gaa of 2.19 and a save percentage of .915 for the Lincoln Stars. I am not surprised by his great play, nor is anyone else who watched Bitzer play his high school career at Moorhead. Fifth in the league is Lakeville’s Charlie Lindgren who has a 2.56 gaa and a .906 save percentage for Sioux Falls. Sixth in the league is Baudette’s Alex Lyon who has a 2.59 gaa and a .916 save percentage for Omaha. Alex is a smart kid, too, and is committed to Yale.
I started the year with an article about whether or not we Minnesotans produce our share of elite goaltenders. Based on current performance, the trend is very much on the upward climb … and I think over time, we are going to see some of these goaltenders in the NHL. I am sure of it.
