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All-Freshman Team

By Craig Peterson, 02/24/20, 8:00AM EST

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Standouts From The Class Of 2023

Now that the regular season has concluded, it’s time to start assessing players’ performances and acknowledging those who stood out from the crowd. The 2019-20 season was a fantastic one for freshmen with a ton of stellar, young players that made significant contributions to their respective teams. 

While there may not be any awards or plaques or certificates, I did want to recognize an entire roster’s worth of ninth graders that excelled on the ice this season and have very promising careers ahead of them. My All-Freshman Team consisting of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies from the Class of 2023 are...

 

Devin McIntyre

Chelsea

17G, 20A, 37P

Logan Nickolaus

Byron Center

6G, 16A, 22P

Riley DeSarbo

St. Mary Catholic Central

18G, 11A, 29P

Brady Breit

Byron Center

14G, 4A, 18P

Trent Benedict

Mona Shores

15G, 14A, 29P

Camden Markham

Houghton

10G, 9A, 19P

Landon MacDonald

Brighton

6G, 5A, 11P

Ethan Phillips

Marquette

9G, 11A, 20P

Peyton Essex

FNV Griffins

7G, 26A, 33P

James Monks

Gabriel Richard

4G, 11A, 15P

Hunter Folgmann

Traverse City Central

8G, 6A, 14P

Sammy Mielock

Forest Hills Central

5G, 8A, 13P

Kyle Barbour

Flint Powers

7G, 24A, 31P

Shane Kwiatkowski

Grand Rapids Catholic Central

3G, 5A, 8P

Mitchell Bogema

Forest Hills Northern-Eastern

3G, 7A, 10P

Owen Dawson

Traverse City Central

3G, 12A, 15P

 

Johnathon Mueller

Saginaw Heritage

3G, 6A, 9P

Mason West

Traverse City West

11W, 2.20 GAA, .916 SV%

Liam Beerman

Marquette

12W, 1.15 GAA, .945 SV%

Kenna Borso

Brownstown Woodhaven

11W, 2.96 GAA, .867 SV%

 

The goalies are the bright spot of the Class of 2023. Mason West has been “the guy” for the Titans with 17 starts; the most among freshmen goalies by far. He’s had some really good performances against Northville, Alpena, Salem, TC Central and Woodhaven which has instilled a ton of confidence in him from teammates and coaches alike. Then, there’s Liam Beerman who plays with a swagger for the Redmen and rightfully so. He finished his first season with a 12-1-0 record (4-1-0 against Top-25 teams), three shutouts and the lowest goals-against average in the state. 

I really wanted to limit my All-Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior Teams to 12F, 6D and 2G, but I’m making an exception already because I’ve got to include Kenna Borso in the mix here. She’s one of the most impactful girls I’ve ever seen in my eight years of MI-HS and has been stout against some top-tier opponents. She earned a shutout against No. 22 Gabriel Richard at the end of the season and a 2.88 goals-against average is solid for the 14-year-old.

Up front, Byron Center has a pair of gems in Brady Breit and Logan Nickolaus. They look like freshmen on the ice; they’re a bit undersized and thin, as one would expect from freshmen but wow do they show some tremendous flashes of great things to come. They might *look* like freshmen but they *play* like seniors walking the draw on offensive-zone face-offs, shooting off the pass, going bar-down on the rush… little guys making big boy plays.

The U.P. always seems to get good mileage out of young guys as well and this season is no exception. Camden Markham may have the most potential out of this entire group, and both he and Ethan Phillips played pretty crucial roles to their respective teams at very early stages in their development. 

Evaluating 14- and 15-year-old defensemen is tough at this level of hockey because it’s an extremely challenging position to learn and play at an effective rate when facing opponents two and three years older. I’ve got my six that I feel stood out from the herd but a lot can change when this position group as a whole develops over the next few years. One player I’m quite confident in though, is Kyle Barbour. He finished third on the Chargers in scoring, played in every facet of the game and logged a ton of minutes including the point person on the power play. I think he will be a game changer for Powers in the years to come and one of the best in the state if he continues to develop.

Of all the classes, I’m most excited about the freshmen every season because they’ve got one asset that many other prospects don’t have: Time. 

It is crucial for this group of 20 players, as well as the other MI-HS freshmen and those absent from their varsity teams still playing 14U and 15U AA/AAA hockey, to take advantage of the time they have. I encourage all of them to use the tools that are at their disposal to continue developing, gain exposure and be proactive in the process. Don’t wait. Try out for the MDHL and Elite Brigade, put your hat in the ring for MHA’s Top 80, play split-season with Copper Country. Whatever it is, get involved, stay involved and continue looking for ways to improve your game.

Who did I miss? Tell me what freshmen had a huge impact on their team this season and what additions we might see to the Class of 2023 next season on Twitter.