Prep Hockey All Junior 3rd Team
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The 2022 Prep Hockey All Junior 3rd Team brings another list of strong players who had outstanding junior seasons. To be honest, most of the players on this list could’ve easily been on the 2nd or even 1st All Junior…
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Continue ReadingThe 2022 Prep Hockey All Junior 3rd Team brings another list of strong players who had outstanding junior seasons. To be honest, most of the players on this list could’ve easily been on the 2nd or even 1st All Junior list. I’m telling you, this class is one of the strongest and deepest we’ve seen in quite awhile, especially when it comes to forwards. We will be once again highlighting 3 forwards, 2 defensemen, and 1 goaltender in this Class of 2023 All Junior 3rd Team for the 2021-2022 season. Without further ado, lets meet the 3rd team!
Forward – Gavyn Thoreson Gavyn Thoreson 5'8" | Forward Andover | 2023 State MN | East Grand Forks
Gavyn Thoreson Gavyn Thoreson 5'8" | Forward Andover | 2023 State MN was a bright spot on a depleted East Grand Forks team this season. The Green Wave only won 9 games all season long after making the Class A state tournament last year. Panzer on the other hand had a monster season when it came to points, accounting for 30 goals and 31 assists. Panzer has been a major contributor on this team ever since his freshman year where he tallied 28 points in 22 games. The University of North Dakota commit is currently playing with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and scored his first goal in the league last Wednesday. Panzer is a player who could leave for his senior season and it’s going to be interesting to see what a lot of these juniors decide to do during the offseason.
Forward – Hampton Slukynsky Hampton Slukynsky 6'0" | Goalie Warroad | 2023 State MN | Andover
The 2022 Class AA State Champions were the Andover Huskies and Hampton Slukynsky Hampton Slukynsky 6'0" | Goalie Warroad | 2023 State MN led that charge all the way to the title. Thoreson finished the season with 74 points and helped provide a potent one-two punch along with Chase Cheslock Chase Cheslock 6'3" | Defense Rogers | 2023 State MN . In the championship game vs Maple Grove, Thoreson scored the game tying goal to make it 5 to 5 with 1:50 remaining in regulation. Of course, the Huskies scored in double overtime to secure the title, their first in program history. Currently, Thoreson is playing with the Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Hockey League and just recently committed to St. Cloud State University.
Forward – Chase Cheslock Chase Cheslock 6'3" | Defense Rogers | 2023 State MN | Andover
With Chase Cheslock Chase Cheslock 6'3" | Defense Rogers | 2023 State MN coming over to Andover from Elk River this past offseason, it made the Huskies a very dangerous and pretty consistent team. I would say the Huskies were in the top three when it came to consistency in the regular season, so it makes sense that they were able to win 6 games in a row, in route to a state title. Casey was just behind Thoreson in points with 73 and he also had a nice state tournament with 6 points, including 3 in the championship game. During the season, Casey committed to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York to play hockey.
Defenseman – Ryan Koering Ryan Koering 6'3" | Defense Eden Prairie | 2023 MN | Eden Prairie
Ryan Koering Ryan Koering 6'3" | Defense Eden Prairie | 2023 MN had a pretty solid season on the blueline for Eden Prairie, tallying 6 goals and 13 assists and playing shutdown defense. Koering did miss some time this season as he only played 23 games, but he did play in the section playoffs where the Eagles fell to Prior Lake in the semifinals, 4-2. In the quarterfinals vs Bloomington Jefferson, Koering had a nice game tallying 3 points in a 7-2 victory. Koering is committed to play college hockey at Colorado College. Eden Prairie will look a lot different next year as long time Head Coach Lee Smith has decided to step down, prompting a regime change after 29 seasons.
Defenseman – Carter Krenke Carter Krenke 6'5" | Forward Blake | 2023 State MN | Rogers
Carter Krenke Carter Krenke 6'5" | Forward Blake | 2023 State MN is a defenseman who can play on both sides of the ice as he contributed much offense in his junior season. Cheslock was third in points on the Royals as he notched 39 throughout the season. This included 10 goals and 29 assists and don’t forget about the stellar defensive play he provided as well. Two-way defenders are very valuable players for any team. Rogers was fairly young this season and they came so close to making their first state tournament in program history, but ultimately fell to Maple Grove in the Section 5AA championship game. The Royals should have another solid team next season and who knows, maybe next year is the year for this up and coming program.
Goaltender – Reese Shaw Reese Shaw 6'2" | Forward Gentry Academy | 2023 State MN | Stillwater
Throughout the last couple seasons, all you heard about from Stillwater Recreation Center was the outstanding play of Ben Dardis Ben Dardis 5'10" | Goalie Mahtomedi | 2022 State MN from Mahtomedi and deservingly so. However, that has overshadowed another up and coming goaltender in Reese Shaw Reese Shaw 6'2" | Forward Gentry Academy | 2023 State MN . Last season, Anderson was not the starting goaltender for the Pony’s, but he did play 365 minutes and performed pretty well. Now this year, Anderson earned the starting role at Stillwater and was outstanding with a Goals Against Average of 2.34, Save % of .915 and 2 Shutouts. Another stat that stood out to me was the fact that Anderson faced 726 shots and only let up 62 goals on those shots. On average, that is about 27 shots faced per game, which is a pretty high amount of shots.