We are back for another conference preseason preview; where we highlight the top returning players at each position and also preview the best teams in the said conference. The conference this week will be is technically not a conference but it is a grouping of teams not in a tourney- independents. Rochester Lourdes, Gentry Academy, Holy Angels, Dodge County, Minneapolis, Southwest Christian/Richfield, St. Paul Johnson, Duluth East, Ely, St. Paul Highland Park, La Crescent-Hokah are all independent schools. There are a lot of solid teams that are independent, like Dodge County, Duluth East, and Dodge County. Today we are covering the three forwards that are worthy of recognition in this conference for their returns. This conference has a lot of solid forwards this year, and pretty hard to narrow it down to three but here we are.
#1 Barrett Hall Barrett Hall 6'0" | Forward Gentry Academy | 2022 State MN | 6’0 Forward | Class of 2022 | Gentry Academy
Barrett Hall Barrett Hall 6'0" | Forward Gentry Academy | 2022 State MN is one of the top returning, as he is ranked as the 10th best forward in our class of 2022 rankings. In 19 games last season, Hall had 23 goals and 15 assists for 38 points. Hall was averaging 2 points a game last season, which is really solid. Hall is returning on a very talented Gentry Academy squad, and he has a pretty good chance at playing juniors or in college after high school. Hall scored multiple goals in same game vs solid teams, like East Grand Forks, Breck and Little Falls; he was a very streaky scorer last year and had 8 games with multiple goals. This is a huge stat and it shows how much of a difference he can make with his scoring ability. Watch for him to propel into the top ten of this class this year.
#2 Carter Hermanson Carter Hermanson 6'2" | Forward Holy Angels Academy | 2022 State MN | 6’2 Forward | Class of 2022 | Academy of Holy Angels
Carter Hermanson Carter Hermanson 6'2" | Forward Holy Angels Academy | 2022 State MN is ranked a the 17th best forward and the 34th player overall in the class of 2022 rankings. Hermnason really put himself on the radar with the season he had last year, averaging 1.84 points per game. Hermanson had a pretty high number of assists last season, as he had 23 assists in 19 games. His 12 goals in 19 games to add to that is pretty decent as well. Carters brother Noah is also very close to being on this list, but the independents has a lot of good players/teams. Noah had 17 goals and 15 assists last season for 32 points. They are both returning this season and are a duo to really watch out for this year. I can see them doing bigger and better things than last year for sure.