New Hope place this weekend to see new wave of college talent

Here is a slightly edited release from the organizers:

Teams from five states and Canada will compete in the Bauer National Invitational Hockey tournament November 6-8 at New Hope Arena.

Defending champion Shattuck-St. Mary’s leads a field of eight teams that include two Minnesota squads (Red and White, made up of players from the just-completed Upper Midwest High School Elite League), Culver Academy of Indiana, Team Wisconsin, an all-star team from the Michigan Developmental Hockey League, the Dallas Jr. Stars and an all-star team from a prep school league in Manitoba.

There are four future U of M Gophers and four future University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on tournament rosters.  Also in the field are players who will go to play for MSU-Mankato, St. Cloud State, the University of Wisconsin, the University of North Dakota, Princeton, Cornell, Miami of Ohio and the Air Force Academy. In addition to these 17 players, another dozen players are on the “Players to watch” list recently produced by the NHL’s Central Scouting Service.

“Every year the NIT brings the stars of tomorrow to New Hope for three days of great hockey,” said John Russo, founder and commissioner of the Elite League. “This year we have an especially impressive group of players from all over North America.

First-round games being played on Friday include:

5:15 p.m. – Minnesota White vs. Culver Academy, North Rink

5:45 p.m. – Shattuck-St. Mary’s vs. Dallas Jr. Stars, South Rink

7:45 p.m. – Minnesota Red vs. Team Wisconsin, North Rink

8:15 pm. – Michigan Developmental Hockey League vs. Manitoba Prep

The semifinals will be at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Last year’s NIT featured seven players who were selected in the NHL Entry Draft this past June. Scouts and coaches from more than 100 NHL teams, colleges and junior programs have registered to attend the tournament.

The future Division I players:

Player, Position Hometown NIT Team College Attending

Joe Basaraba , F Ft. Frances, Ont. Shattuck-St. Mary’s Univ. of Minn-Duluth

Justin Crandall, F Lakeville Minnesota Red Univ. of Minn.-Duluth

Joe Faust, D  Bloomington Minnesota Red Princeton

Max Gaede, F Woodbury Minnesota Red Minn. St.-Mankato

Max Gardiner, F Deephaven Minnesota White Univ. of Minnesota

Zane Gotheberg, G Thief River Falls Minnesota Red Univ. of North Dakota

Kirill Gotovets, D Minsk, Belarus Shattuck-St. Mary’s Cornell

Caleb Herbert, F Bloomington Minnesota Red Univ. of Minn.-Duluth

Troy Hesketh , D Chanhassen Minnesota White Univ. of Wisconsin

Justin Holl, D Minnetonka Minnesota White Univ. of Minnesota

Christian Isackson, F W. St. Paul Minnesota Red Univ. of Minnesota

Adam Krause, F Hermantown Minnesota Red Univ. of Minn.-Duluth

Jimmy Mullin, F Cincinnati, OH Shattuck-St. Mary’s Miami of Ohio

Brock Nelson, F Warroad Minnesota Red Univ. of North Dakota

Andrew Prochno, D Minnetonka Minnesota White St. Cloud State University

Connor Reilly, F Chanhassen Minnesota White Univ. of Minnesota

Blake Saylor, F Centennial, CO Culver Academy Air Force Academy