Boys Hockey: Tigers deep and experienced

Justin Novak all-Missota Conference last season (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Based on last weekend's trip to the Iron Range, the Tigers are ready to roar into the 2013-14 season.

In three scrimmages against Hibbing, Virginia and International Falls coach Keith Revels' team outscored the opposition by a lopsided 16-2 count.

"We got solid goaltending from Nick Schoening and Gage Overby," Revels said, "and the defensive group shined all weekend. The forwards found the net and moved the puck very well."

Revels returns 15 players that saw significant ice time last winter in a .500 season (13-13-1) that included a strong finish and an appearance in the section semifinals.

"We are deep in returnees and have a lot of talented newcomers pushing for playing time," Revels said. "We have five of six defenders back as well as two experienced goaltenders and lot of potential scorers."

Eight of the veterans are members of a strong senior class, that includes netminder Schoening; forwards Landon Neilson, Tanner Grubb, Jack Erickson, Chris Fitzgibbons and Dallas Tucker and defenders Corey Rudrud and Alex Aubrecht.

Other returnees include juniors Overby (goalie), Benton Olson (defense) and Justin Novak (forward) and sophomores Grady Hauswirth (forward), Devin Bernu (forward), Erik Holmstron (defense) and John Siebenaler (forward).

 Novak and Erickson led the team in scoring last winter with 30 and 28 points respectively and both made the all-Missota Conference team.

Jack Erickson all-conference in 2013 (photo by J. Lindquist)

Junior forwards Austin Martinesen, Jake Trippel and Matt Olund as well as sophomores Cooper Zimmer (forward), Tyler Jette (defense) and Wyatt Jensen (forward) also figure to push for varsity ice time this winter.

Although the Tigers have had no trouble finding the net in their pre-season scrimmages, Revels said one thing this year's team will have to prove is its ability to consistently put goals on the board.

"At times we had some difficulty finishing last year," he said. "We didn't close well and lost a number of tight games."

Revels said he's not big on predictions but did offer he has been impressed with what he has seen from his team in the early going.

"I am confident we will compete at a high level in both the conference and section," he said.

New Prague is the defending Missota Conference champion and Lakeville North and Lakeville South have dominated the section tournament in recent years.

Revels is joined on the bench by a trio of assistant coaches: Todd Karich, Shawn Anderson and former Tiger skater Jared Rowan.

The Tigers kick off their 2013-14 season Thursday night with a non-conference home game with Rochester John Marshall at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Saturday they entertain Hastings in an afternoon game that starts at 3:00.

Gage Overby 6-6 won-lost record last season (photo by Jim Lindquist)