Lake Superior Conference: Teams to Watch Out For
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We are adding an extra article to the coverage for the Lake Superior Conference this year. Just a refresher, the Lake Superior conference contains the teams Hermantown, Grand Rapids, Cloquet, Duluth Denfeld, Duluth Marshall, and Proctor. We will be taking an in-depth look at the top 2 teams in this conference and do our best to predict their record and top scorers. We are going off of player losses, how the team did last year, and what players they return. This conference is pretty top-heavy, but they have one for sure title contender!
#1- Hermantown
Last Season Conf. Record- (7-1) Overall Record- (19-2-0)
Lost in State Quarterfinal to Dodge County
Key Player Losses: Ethan Lund Ethan Lund 5'10" | Forward Hermantown | 2021 State MN – Forward (48 Points), Aaron Pionk- Forward (40 Points), Aydyn Dowd– Forward (39 Points), Cole Antcliff- Forward (37 Points), Joey Pierce Joey Pierce 6'0" | Defense Hermantown | 2021 State MN – Defenseman (21 Points)
Key Players Coming Back: Sam Rinzel Sam Rinzel 6'4" | Defense Chaska | 2023 State MN – Junior Forward (61 Points), Tanner Luedtke Tanner Luedtke 6'0" | Forward Lakeville South | 2023 State MN – Junior Defenseman (29 Points), Wyatt Carlson Wyatt Carlson 5'8" | Forward Hermantown | 2023 State MN – Junior Forward (24 Points), Dominic Thomas- Senior Forward (18 Points)
Projected First Line: Forwards- Sam Rinzel Sam Rinzel 6'4" | Defense Chaska | 2023 State MN – (61 Points), Wyatt Carlson Wyatt Carlson 5'8" | Forward Hermantown | 2023 State MN – Junior Forward (24 Points), Dominic Thomas- Senior Forward (18 Points)
Projected First Line: Defenseman- Tanner Luedtke Tanner Luedtke 6'0" | Forward Lakeville South | 2023 State MN (29 Points), John Ross John Ross 5'9" | Forward Spring Lake Park | 2023 State MN (10 Points)
Many times when a team loses that many key players, you expect them to drop off in terms of production and wins. That is not the case here with Hermantown, as I think they will actually be better. I think Hermantown will win the ’A’ state title for multiple reasons. 1. Gentry Academy is moved up to ’AA’. 2. The star power of Sam Rinzel Sam Rinzel 6'4" | Defense Chaska | 2023 State MN and Tanner Luedtke Tanner Luedtke 6'0" | Forward Lakeville South | 2023 State MN 3. Down year in talent from ’A’ teams besides Hermantown and Northfield. 3. Pretty easy path to get to the state tournament. Hermantown has a very hard schedule this year and plays a lot of ’AA’ teams and they will compete with them. Hermantown has one of the tougher schedules in history. Hermantown is going to be crazy good this year and I don’t see a scenario that they arent in the state tournament. With Plante, Hanson and Carlson all returning and will be a year older they will be easily the top scoring ’A’ team in the state. They also have a really solid goalie in Garron Opsahl. This year if Hermantown doesn’t win state it will be a disappointing season; they outmatch everyone in ’A’ this year.
Predicted Playoff Finish: Win Section 7A and win ’A’ State
#2- Grand Rapids
Last Season Conf. Record- (5-1) Overall Record- (15-2-1)
Lost in Section 7AA Championship to Andover
Key Player Losses: Jack Peart Jack Peart 5'11" | Defense Grand Rapids | 2021 State MN – Defenseman (35 Points), Hunrer Bischoff- Forward (26 Points), Braeden Holcomb- Forward (21 Points), Wyatt Pilkenton Wyatt Pilkenton 6'4" | Goalie Grand Rapids | 2021 State MN – Goalie (14-2-1, 1.52 GAA, .920 Sv PCT)
Key Players Coming Back: Joey DelGreco- Senior Forward (25 Points), Garett Drotts- Senior Forward (18 Points), Easton Young– Senior Defenseman (17 Points)
Projected First Line: Forwards- Joey DelGreco- (25 Points), Garett Drotts- (18 Points), Hayden DeMars
Projected First Line: Defenseman- Easton Young– (17 Points), Ren Morque- (9 Points)
Grand Rapids is a very solid team this year and will likely be ranked in our preseason top 10. They lose a top player in Mr. Hockey Jack Peart Jack Peart 5'11" | Defense Grand Rapids | 2021 State MN , but return 3 of the top 4 defensemen from last year and also two of the top three forward lines return. There are rumors from a source that Grand Rapids is adding a solid Duluth East transfer, he will make them a lot better as well. This team is pretty deep and just needs some player to step up and score and also need a new goalie to step up as well. This team has all the makings of a top 10 team, but they are in a hard section with other top 10 teams Andover. As of now, I think Andover looks like the better team on paper and I will be predicting a loss in the section 7 AA final for Grand Rapids. We will see how they develop this year and if guys can step up for their losses.
Predicted Playoff Finish: Lose in Section 7AA Final to Andover
#3- Duluth Denfeld
Last Season Conf. Record- (3-4) Overall Record- (10-6-1)
Lost in Section 7A Championship to Hermantown
Key Player Losses: Kade Shea- Forward (32 Points), Nate Burke- Forward (12 Points), Jacob Snyder- Goalie
Key Players Coming Back: Simon Davidson Simon Davidson 6'0" | Forward Duluth Denfeld | 2022 State MN – Senior Forward (32 Points), Connor McClure Connor McClure 5'9" | Forward Duluth Denfeld | 2022 State MN -Senior Forward (27 Points), Andy Larson- Junior Forward (27 Points), Sam Kartch– Junior Forward (20 Points)
Projected First Line: Forwards- Simon Davidson Simon Davidson 6'0" | Forward Duluth Denfeld | 2022 State MN (32 Points), Connor McClure Connor McClure 5'9" | Forward Duluth Denfeld | 2022 State MN (27 Points), Andy Larson (27 Points)
Projected First Line: Defenseman- John Bloomquist (2 Points), Dominic Brennan (4 Points)
This has to be amongst the top Duluth Denfeld rosters on paper. They just return so much firepower and depth on offense it is insane. They return almost 3 full lines of forwards from a pretty decent team last year. Simon Davidson Simon Davidson 6'0" | Forward Duluth Denfeld | 2022 State MN is a huge player to watch out for amongst Hs hockey this season, he is a very key player to this Denfeld squad. We know Denfelds offense will score at ease, but they lose their goalie and a couple of their top defenseman. They will be ranked amongst the top in ‘A’ this year, but being in Hermantowns section is very tough. Denfeld needs to catch one break on Hermantown in sections and stun the state, just don’t see it happening. Nonetheless a very solid Denfeld squad this year; watch out for them to make some noise in season.
Predicted Playoff Finish: Lose in Section 7A Final to Hermantown