As promised, a closer look at the all-tournament teams from the recently concluded USA Hockey Nationals. First the 19u division. Players with flags by their name played in the World 18u tournament last January.
G Veronika Hadamovsky (Boston Jr. Eagles/Groton School) ‘24 From Groton, Massachusetts
🇺🇸 D Megan Healy (BK Selects) ‘25 Princeton recruit, from South Burlington, Vermont
D Ashley Mandeville (BK Selects) ‘24 Mercyhurst recruit, from Pascoag, Rhode Island
🇺🇸 F Angelina DiGirolamo (BK Selects) ‘24 Princeton recruit, from Woburn, Massachusetts
🇺🇸 F Bella Fanale (BK Selects) ‘25 , from Webster, New York
🇸🇰 F Nela Lopusanova (BK Selects) ‘26 From Zilina, Slovakia
So, BK gets five of the six all-tournament spots and they lost the championship game 3-2 to Shattuck. And Shattuck gets shut out in the post tournament accolades.
@iceburg I see Nela still hasn't committed yet since she is 2026. Any thoughts where she might be headed? I've heard her mention Wisconsin once about a year ago in an article I read.
G Kayla Swartout (Minnesota Hardware/Holy Family) ‘26 From Shakopee
🇺🇸 D Margaret Averill (Assabet Valley/Phillips Academy) ‘27 From Weyland, Massachusetts
D Shayla Beaudette (BK Selects) ‘26 From Aurora, Colorado
🇺🇸 F Caroline Averill (Assabet Valley/Phillips Academy) ‘26 From Weyland, Massachusetts
F Violet Carroll (Massachusetts Spitfires/Williston Northampton School) ‘25 Holy Cross recruit, from Milton, Massachusetts
F Nina Rossi (Shattuck) ‘25 New Hampshire recruit, from Pittsgrove, New Jersey
Shattuck won this division also beating BK Selects in the final. Look for the Beaudette girl to be a target this coming recruiting cycle. It will also be interesting to see if anyone can get the Averill sisters out of the East. Their mother was a decorated player at Princeton.
@iceburg I see Nela still hasn't committed yet since she is 2026. Any thoughts where she might be headed? I've heard her mention Wisconsin once about a year ago in an article I read.
This one’s going to be a dog fight. Rumors are starting to fly around that Mark Johnson may be close to retirement. Mark, It’s great, I never look back 👍🏼
@iceburg I see Nela still hasn't committed yet since she is 2026. Any thoughts where she might be headed? I've heard her mention Wisconsin once about a year ago in an article I read.
This one’s going to be a dog fight. Rumors are starting to fly around that Mark Johnson may be close to retirement. Mark, It’s great, I never look back 👍🏼
knowing the way this works she will go somewhere for a year or two and then and be a Buckeye out of the portal
G Caroline Hurst (Chicago Mission) ‘27 From Plainfield, Illinois
D Sophia Monaco (Chicago Mission) ‘28
D Chyna Taylor (Lovell Academy) ‘27 From Louisville, Kentucky
F Lexis Bornhoeft (Chicago Mission) ‘27
F Aubryn Monter (Lovell Academy) ‘27 From North Ridgeville, Ohio
F Sydney Stoughton (Lovell Academy) ‘27 From Mason, Ohio
Mission won the Championship beating Lovell Academy 2-1 in the semifinal and Assabet Valley 5-0 in the final.
A couple of local players to remember in the Division 2, 14u tournament. The Goblirsch twins (Jenna and Amelia) from Farmington. Both were on the champion Moose team that beat another Minnesota team (the Lakers) in the final. The twins were 8th graders on Farmington’s varsity this past season and were the teams top two scorers.
Jenna (20-15-35)
Amelia (10-20-30)
The other locals on the all-tournament team….
G Bethany Bigalke (Moose) ‘27 Played for Eastview varsity
D Addison Heinicke (Lakers) ‘27 Played for Prior Lake varsity
D Amelia Witherspoon (Lakers) ‘27 Played on Edina state champion 15A team
Minnesota Hockey has released the names of the girls advancing to USA Hockey national camps. I’ll list the players moving on to the Select 18 camp (August 4-9 in Lake Placid, New York) which is where next year’s U.S. team for the IIHF World U18 Championships will be picked from.
2007 Birth Years
🇺🇸 G Nora Hannen (Edina) ‘25 St. Thomas recruit
G Ashlyn Hazlett (Minnetonka) ‘25 Bemidji State recruit
D Mackenzie Jones (Andover) ‘25 Wisconsin recruit
D Josie Skoogman (Hill-Murray) ‘25 St. Thomas recruit
F Jasmine Hovda (Roseau) ‘26
F Teagan Kulenkamp (Centennial) ‘25 St. Thomas recruit
F Senja Leeper (Minnetonka) ‘25 Bemidji State recruit
F Lorelai Nelson (Edina) ‘26
F Macy Rasmussen (Orono) ‘25 Ohio State recruit
2008 Birth Years
D Brooke Gnetz (Woodbury) ‘26
D Jemma McAlexander (Minnetonka) ‘27
D Addy McLay (Hill-Murray) ‘27
D Katya Sander (Holy Family) ‘26
🇺🇸 F Haley Box (Shattuck) ‘26
F Alaina Gnetz (Woodbury) ‘26
F Talla Hansen (Benilde) ‘27
F Maddy Kimbrel (Orono) ‘26
F Emily Pohl (Hill-Murray) ‘27 Daughter of former Gophers John Pohl & Krissy (Wendell) Pohl
F Bailey Rupp (Bemidji) ‘27
F Ellie Stewart (Benilde) ‘26
Links to players selected for the regular USA Hockey camps
Looks like the preliminary list for the USA Hockey Select 18 camp is out. Won’t know if any 2009 birth years from Minnesota will be invited until after the Minnesota HP 15s summer camp (June 8-13 at St. Olaf).
The Minnesota HP 15 camp (2009 birth years) starts tomorrow (Saturday) and runs through next Thursday at the rink at St. Olaf. About 20 players will move on to the national 15 camp but historically one to three players will get a shot to go straight to the Select 18 camp in Lake Placid later this summer and compete for a spot on next year’s U.S. team for the World 18u championships. Last year the lone Minnesota player to go to Select 18 was Haley Box from Shattuck via Holy Family via Eden Prairie. Ms. Box ultimately made the gold medal winning U.S. team.
If only one moves on this year, my guess would be Hill-Murray forward Jaycee Chatleain. The Select 18 camp, as it is presently constructed, is a little short on goal tenders (only three) so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 2009 come out of the Minnesota camp. I’m no expert on all the goalies that will be at the 15 camp, but two possibilities might be Isabella Prosser (Maple Grove) and Kaia Weiland (Lakeville North). Prosser was the backup to St. Thomas recruit senior Dani Strom this past season, but she has had strong showings at the past two USA Hockey national championships in front of USA Hockey eyes. Weiland has been North’s varsity goalie getting the most minutes since her 7th grade season.
If you scroll up three posts you can see the Select 18 roster as it currently stands. You can follow the Minnesota 15 camp HERE
There is a new summer league for the top end high school girls called “The Dangle League”. It seems likely to be run by whatever people started last summer’s college age “Celly League”. The Celly League will be back, but the info isn’t on their web site yet. The Dangle League seems to have attracted the bulk of the local top talent. It will run July 11th through August 19th at Braemar Arena in Edina. I’m assuming the fall Elite League will run as usual.
Took in a few days of the Minnesota Select 15 camp this past week. A lot of interesting talent on display. A few that jumped out to me…..
Defense
Annabelle Buccicone (Centennial) ‘28
Lillian Horton (Edina 15u) ‘27
Kennedy Keepman (Minnetonka) ‘28
Taylee Manion (Hermantown) ‘28
Noelle Noble (Wayzata) ‘27
Forwards
Maddison Boone (Woodbury) ‘28
Jaycee Chatleain (Hill-Murray) ‘27
Audrey Davis (Edina) ‘27
Taylor Hall (Breck) ‘28
Sarah Johnson (Mounds View) ‘27
Sydney Boss Krohn (Minnetonka) ‘28
Gabi Lopez (Orono) ‘28
Gwynn Skoogman (OS Hockey) ‘28 Will be at Hill-Murray
Kayla Starr (Edina) ‘27
Didn’t name any goalies. While I thought the goal tending here was very solid, no one really created separation from the pack to my untrained eye.
In my previous post I named Jaycee Chatleain as the likely player to move on to the USA Hockey Select 18 camp if one is chosen from here. I would expand the pool with Maddison Boone, Audrey Davis and Sarah Johnson as possibilities. The Johnson girl is probably a little under the radar, but I think she might be the most likely. A consistently dangerous forward.
Posted some information on the new Dangle League above. I forgot to mention the future Gophers involved. Layla Hemp is on the Hepp’s Salt Company team and recent commit Sydney Bailey is on the Performance Office Papers team.
Still not sure about the exact rules, but I believe that today being June 15th means coaches can start contacting class of ‘26 prospects. Some commitments may start trickling in soon.
Minnesota 15s (2009 birth years) are shut out from the National Select 18 camp for the first time that I can recall. Players moving on to the 15 National Camp can be found HERE
These past two commits (Avery Hovland and Sydney Bailey) seem to be to fill the gap caused by the decommitments of the Manness twins. I thought we might see a flip or two, but this is the road they took. Both players should be playing at Winny’s “Prospects and Futures” event (ROSTERS) this weekend at Bloomington Ice Garden so I hope to get a little better feel for what to expect from them.
Avery Hovland was part of a very strong West Fargo 15u team two years ago. Several of their best players scattered to different ports in Minnesota (Warroad, Moorhead and Holy Angels) to play their high school hockey, but Avery headed East to NAHA.
It will be interesting to see how teams deal with the 2026 Olympics--which is basically the entire month of February. The Gophers will lose several players at least for the month if not longer depending on what countries do for camps. Murphy if she is still around, Bouveng, Laitinen, Kreisz maybe if Hungary makes it, Primerano potentially if she lives up to the hype.
These past two commits (Avery Hovland and Sydney Bailey) seem to be to fill the gap caused by the decommitments of the Manness twins. I thought we might see a flip or two, but this is the road they took. Both players should be playing at Winny’s “Prospects and Futures” event (ROSTERS) this weekend at Bloomington Ice Garden so I hope to get a little better feel for what to expect from them.
The rosters and schedule for “Prospects and Futures” is up. Layla Hemp is on the “Sky” team, Sydney Bailey is on the “Pink” team but, unless I missed her, Avery Hovland will not be making an appearance. NAHA had two teams entered in the first weekend of P & F earlier this month, but are not returning for this weekend. There is a very good chance that NAHA will be in the area once or twice this coming hockey season.
I was wrong, Avery Hovland is here playing on the “sky” team
Didn't see her play last year at NAHA but know her game well. Her motor never stops. Speed and tenacity. I'd love to know how much heading to NAHA instead of staying in ND played a roll in this. There's a couple of girls who didn't leave ND in similar age groups who are also legit. I love giving her family sh*t because they are huge sue fans, and I always asked when their women's team plays.
Didn't see her play last year at NAHA but know her game well. Her motor never stops. Speed and tenacity. I'd love to know how much heading to NAHA instead of staying in ND played a roll in this. There's a couple of girls who didn't leave ND in similar age groups who are also legit. I love giving her family sh*t because they are huge sue fans, and I always asked when their women's team plays.
Best of luck to Avery.
I did get out this past weekend to check out the latest commits. The bolded part above is exactly what I saw in Avery Hovland. Great straight ahead speed and is at top speed quickly. Pressures the puck carrier and seems tough to play against. Didn’t think I saw top offensive skill, but she was the second leading scorer on NAHA’s 16u team this past season (38-20-58 in 64 games). We should have a clearer picture offensively after seeing how she fares moving up to the 19u team this coming season. She is only 5’4” but has some meat on her bones so hopefully not a huge issue. She did qualify for the National 16/17 Development Camp in July which is a feather in her cap. As far as your question about leaving NoDak helping her getting noticed, hard to say for sure. Going to Minnesota for high school hockey seems to be the latest trend. Recent players Madison Brown (Bismarck to Andover) and Rylee Bartz (Fargo to Warroad) had made a name for themselves in North Dakota, but still found it necessary to move. Class of ‘26 defender Kenleigh Fischer has stuck it out playing for Fargo North/South so far and has been named to the National Select 18 camp this summer and will compete for a spot on the U.S. team at January’s World 18u Championships. The other girls on the West Fargo 15u team Avery played on that moved across the River are Addie Moos (Moorhead), Taylor Reese (Warroad), Karlee Kalbrenner (Warroad) and Riley Iverson (Holy Angels).
The Gophers had their high school camp last week just before Avery and Sydney Bailey committed. Haven’t been able to find what players attended so not sure if they caught the staff’s eye there, but it might be a possibility.
I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Sydney Bailey before she committed last week. She is also listed at 5’4” and is very slender. She is probably the smallest defender I can recall in my time of following the Gopher Women. The only one I can think of that might be in the conversation would be Kelsey Cline. Having said that there are things in her game that give her a chance of success at the D-1 level. Her skating is very impressive. Maybe not the straight ahead speed of Avery Hovland, but quick in a silky smooth way. Her start-and-stop and change-of-direction skills caught my eye. She is much more of a move-the-puck player than a carry-the-puck player. She skates with the puck well when she chooses to but I was impressed with the way she seemed to know where she was passing the puck before she got it. She did take part in the High Performance stuff this Spring. She advanced to the Final 54 weekend but not to the National Camp. I’m really looking forward to getting out to some of her high school games this winter.
Obviously losing the Manness twins was a blow (especially Sara), but hopefully these two players can have solid Gopher careers.
@iceburg Yeah my daughter has played with them all. Fischer is legit, looking forward to see how she does at U18 camp. I figured she would be the first to go to a "big" school out of the girls we've played with. A puck possessing D who can skate. She has the ability to control games.
Sad reality to have to leave ND (for us anyway). When Idalski coached at UND he told Britta Curl she has to get out of here but she stuck to her guns.
There is some talent in ND and more in the pipeline as well.
So excited for Hovland, and can't wait to see her Dad wearing a Gopher colors lol.
Winnipeg area forward Hayley McDonald, who I believe is a top target for the class of ‘26, appears to be leaving Balmoral Hall for Rink Hockey-Kelowna. Balmoral Hall is a Winnipeg prep school. Rink Hockey-Kelowna is the program that incoming freshmen defenders Gracie Graham and Chloe Primerano are from. There is a Rink Hockey-Winnipeg also, but it is a newer program that doesn’t have the reputation of the Kelowna branch yet.
The National Girls 16/17 Camp starts tomorrow in Oxford, Ohio. While 54 top players in these age groups have bypassed this camp and been invited straight to the U18 Select Camp (August 4-9 in Lake Placid) there is still a lot of talent here. Following this week’s camp 12 players (4 forwards, 4 defenders and 4 goalies) will be chosen to fill out the roster for the U18 Select Camp. Following the U18 Select Camp a U.S. U18 team will be selected for a three game series against Canada to be played August 14, 15 and 17 in St. Catherines, Ontario.
Among the players at this week’s camp is recent commit Avery Hovland. She is on the white team.
SCOUT BOOK (scroll down to page 16 for player info)
Development camp season is winding down. The National 15 Camp starts tomorrow in Oxford, Ohio. No immediate interest in these girls as they are all class of ‘27 or ‘28. Supposedly none of these players will move on to the Select 18 Camp, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a goalie move on. Seems like they like to have at least one young goalie to get some experience.
SCOUT BOOK (scroll down to page 20 for player information)
class of ‘25 recruit Bella Fanale is on the 19u all-tournament team at USA Hockey Nationals.
