League gives high school players opportunity to expand their season,

play with good talent, and get in front of scouts

by Bryan Zollman, Let’s Play Hockey

When the Upper Midwest High School Elite League ends later this month, it will mark another year of serving the high school hockey player in a myriad of ways.

The league was founded by John Russo in 2002 and has since served as a developmental league for the top high school players in Minnesota, providing top-level competition, more games, and invaluable  exposure to college, junior, and NHL scouts. In addition to Russo as founder, several other people have played key roles in the development of the Elite League including Jack Blatherwick, Bo Snuggerud, Ben Hankinson and Tom Ward, all who shared a common goal of providing increased opportunity for high school players.

“The Elite League provides an opportunity for top caliber high school players in the fall to play with and against other top players,” said Bo Snuggerud, one of three current directors who run the league along with Robin Lindquist and Mark Phillippi.

The league originally started as an Olympic Development Program with the objective of providing development opportunities for high school-aged players in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Around this time is when many players started opting for junior hockey during their senior seasons rather than finishing out their careers with their high school teams.

The league consists of a 20-game fall season schedule and a three-game playoff. Each year the league scouts Minnesota high school hockey players, conducts extensive tryouts and consults with high school coaches to select the top 120 players to compete against each other for eight weeks followed by the annual IIT Showcase with international exposure.

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One of the greatest benefits of the league is to give high school players an opportunity to play in more highly competitive games against high-caliber competition. With the junior hockey season beginning in September, junior hockey became an intriguing proposition for high school players with remaining eligibility to instead make the jump to juniors with hopes of speeding up their development and landing on a college hockey roster. The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) rules allow players to play juniors before and after the high school season. The hope is that a strong Elite League schedule will encourage more of the top players in the state to stick with their high school programs instead of opting to play juniors.

“The high-quality Elite League venue further provides high school hockey players an alternative so that they don’t feel pressured to leave their high school communities to go to junior hockey prematurely,” said Snuggerud. “It provides high school players an opportunity to play more games than just their high school season and against competition stronger than their typical high school schedule provides.”

The MSHSL allows for a 25-game regular season schedule during the winter season. All teams will play at least one playoff game with some teams playing up to six if they make the state tournament. Adding an Elite League schedule on top of that allows players to approach the 50-game mark, which is comparable to playing a full season of junior hockey. The North American Hockey League (NAHL) plays a 59-game regular season schedule and the United States Hockey League (USHL) plays a 62-game schedule (not including playoffs). Players who play in the NAHL or USHL prior to and after the season can usually get another 15 games in, maybe more depending on playoffs.

The increased number of games at the junior hockey level is the carrot dangled in front of players who are looking to up their game by playing more games against tougher competition. There are stories of players who “leave early” that benefit from making the jump. But what is rarely  talked about are the players who “leave too early.” Jumping to a league full of 20-year-olds for a 16 or 17-year-old is a giant leap, and sometimes the bigger the leap, the bigger the fall.

“When one analyzes the data of landing on an active NHL roster or NCAA D1 scholarship correlating to benefit of ‘leaving early’ from the high school ranks a player’s bags would never be packed,” said T.R. Holler, a regional scout for Red Line Report. “Digest that barely 4 percent of registered high school players will achieve either status and 96 percent will compete at the high school level and move on to other options or academic pursuits post-graduation. However, the dream is alive and well and every player’s situation is unique.”

High School hockey in Minnesota is unique, its benefits spanning much wider than just development. Most kids grow up playing together from when they are six years old and stay together though their youth years leading into their high school careers. Along the way a bond is formed and playing through until the end with your buddies is an experience not lost on even those who could have easily made the jump to junior hockey.

“There was no way I was leaving,” said Ryan McDonagh, a graduate of Cretin-Derham Hall who has played a lengthy NHL career that includes a Stanley Cup with the Tamp Bay Lightning. “I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything. Being able to graduate and be home with my family for one more year was perfect for me.”

Tom Gilbert was a 2001 graduate of Bloomington Jefferson and went on to play 11 years in the NHL.

“My senior year was about the opportunity to play with my buddies,” he said. “It was the best time. Those are friendships that last forever.”

Too often aspiring players give that up for the sake of developing at a faster pace. But speeding up the process doesn’t always translate into a Division I tender or a professional contract. Sometimes it can even stall development, or set a player back because he is thrust into an uncomfortable situation for a teenager. Playing juniors usually requires moving away from home and staying with a billet family. It requires distance learning and social circles can get quite small once a kid is removed from a high school setting.

“Maturity, travel comfortability, family structure are just some of the factors that are in play,” said Holler. “Personally, I would never advise to rush development. What good ever comes out of rushing anything in life? Most often, rushing will stunt a player’s progress. However, there are diamonds in the rough, those that succeed early and prove to be mature in mental and physical aspects on and off the ice that are ready for next levels. It really depends on the individual.”

Currently the NHL is home to several Minnesota-born players who played their senior seasons at their respective high school, including Sammy Walker (Minnesota Wild/Edina HS), Casey Mittelstadt (Colorado Avalanche/Eden Prairie HS),  and Riley Tufte (Boston Bruins/Blaine HS).

Another important nugget of the Elite League is that it is heavily scouted, so players who choose to stay in high school have plenty of eyeballs on them. NCHC coaches were in St. Paul in early September for media day and part of their trip was to scout the Elite League for future Division I prospects.

“The league is widely known as the most scouted high school event in North America,” said Snuggerud.

Holler, who profiles and ranks NHL draft prospects for the Red Line Report, has been scouting the Elite league for the past nine years and said he has never been disappointed by the level of play or the amount of prospects he is able to watch leading into their draft year.

“Not only do the kids have an opportunity to compete versus top talent, but they also often play with their own high school teammates and, at the very least, with regional rivals battling longtime state rivals.” He said. “It’s a great tune-up prior their forthcoming season that illustrates their individual strengths and weaknesses.”

The numbers of Elite League alumni in the NHL speaks for itself. Whether the goal is to play junior hockey, college and ultimately professionally, the Elite League is an important step in the ladder of success for aspiring hockey players.

“In my nine years of viewership the Elite league has helped produce 96 NHL draftees with 12 players currently active on NHL/AHL rosters as the Elite League provides the highest regular attendance of NHL, NCAA, and Junior League scouts in a dedicated venue,” said Holler.

Noah Cates, who scored a memorable spin-o-rama overtime goal against Hill-Murray in 2016 to send his Stillwater team to the state tournament as a junior returned for his senior season with the Ponies in 2016-17. After his senior season he played 11 games with the Omaha Lancers. Prior to his senior season he played 21 games in the Elite League. Add that to the 28 games he played in high school he played 60 games total in 2016-17.

In 2022-23 he played all 82 games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“The Elite League is an awesome development league to try new things and work on your game against the best players in Minnesota,” Cates said.

Of course, not all players who play in the Elite League will play at the next level like Cates. Regardless, the league offers the opportunity for players to have fun while developing their skills for their upcoming high school season. The league also helps players develop relationships with other players from around the state.

“The Elite League was great,” said Will Borgen, a 2015 graduate of Moorhead and now a member of the Seattle Kraken. “Us northern teams, we really connected as players because we ended up staying in hotels together on the weekends. Making all these friendships with guys who end up being enemies during the high school season, it was really a lot of fun.”

Part of the “development” of the Elite League is developing special memories and relationships.

“I had a blast in the Elite League and got to play with and against so many great players,” said former Edina star and Mr. Hockey Sammy Walker. “I felt that at that time it was best for my development. And I’ll never regret staying in high school and playing in the Elite League. We won the championship that year which made it so much better.”

The 2024 Elite league continues through October with league playoffs Oct 25-27 followed by the annual IIT Showcase Nov 1^st-Nov 3^rd  at New Hope Ice Arena.

Visit hselitehockey.com for more details.