UMHSEL Report: Shattuck St. Marys

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Shattuck St Mary's prep team in action in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League and enters notes on the 2011-eligible Tanner Sorenson and Peter Traber, as well as 2012-eligible prospects Zach Stepan, Kenny Gillespie, Teddy Doherty, and Teddy Blueger.

Tanner Sorenson (2011), C/W, Shattuck St. Mary's

Smaller forward, but big on skill and sense .. possesses excellent speed and a fluid stride with good extension, both with and without the puck .. very good explosiveness to get to holes quickly and to become an offensive option .. executes smooth turns and is able to get well out on his edges .. uses his speed on the forecheck and backcheck .. plays with a little grit and finishes his checks .. will come across a zone to make a hit from time to time .. able to thrust up into his hits .. makes smooth, hard, crisp passes .. dangerous off the boards with centering passes and can thread them through traffic .. possesses a hard wristshot .. able to fire a hard snapshot with seemingly little effort .. has very good offensive awareness .. fills holes well and times his drives to the net well .. despite his tremendous presence, he still manages to fade away from the play unnoticed for a bit and then come back in and strike when he receives a pass .. plays the point on the powerplay .. does a good job of moving just as he gets the puck so that he isn't stationary .. capable of playing all three forward positions .. undersized at 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, but doesn't play small and is very effective .. played for Shattuck's prep team in 2009-10, too, and averaged over a point per game .. played on the U.S. Under-18 Select Team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August .. committed to Michigan State.

Peter Traber (2011), G, Shattuck St. Mary's

Good combination of size and technique .. able to take away the five-hole quickly .. guilty of dropping unnecessarily from time to time .. does a very good job of directing pucks toward the corner, particularly using his stick .. good rebound control with his pads and puts butterfly saves away from the net .. also directs blocker saves away from the net well .. makes crisp glove saves .. tracks the puck well through traffic .. has good size at 6-foot-1, 184 pounds .. played for Shattuck's prep team in 2009-10, too .. no college commitment of yet.

Zach Stepan (2012), RW, Shattuck St. Mary's

One of Shattuck's top offensive weapons in 2010-11 .. has decent speed with the puck, but not exceptional .. makes smooth turns with the puck and is capable of making tight turns while handling the puck .. displays good speed without the puck .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. adept at receiving hard passes softly .. has good offensive awareness and vision .. able to spot his various options and can create some pretty plays .. willing to drive the net and set up around the net .. receives regular icetime on the powerplay .. has a frame to work with as a 5-foot-11, 160-pound 16-year-old .. able to finish his checks with some force .. also able to withstand attempted checks on him well .. cousin of New York Rangers rookie Derek Stepan .. skated at the USNTDP Evaluation Camp last March, but was not selected to skate for The Program .. skated for the U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the Five Nations Tournament in Switzerland in August and tied for third in team scoring with five points in four games.. no college commitment of yet.

Kenny Gillespie (2012), RW, Shattuck St. Mary's

North-south winger plays a power game .. has good speed and decent stride extension, but his stride could be a little more fluid .. able to drive wide and open up defensemen .. demonstrates good explosiveness .. has good power in his strides, including in his initial steps .. able to get out on his edges reasonably well and can generate some power in his turns .. builds speed out of his crossovers .. able to fire hard, crisp passes .. just under 5-foot-11, but he's well-built at 195 pounds .. plays big and with some physicality .. finishes his checks and can do so with force .. can get physical battling along the boards .. able to step up for big open-ice hits .. youngest player on Shattuck's prep team in 2009-10 .. no college commitment of yet.

Teddy Doherty (2012), D, Shattuck St. Mary's

Small blueliner who skates and moves the puck very well .. a smooth skater with good all-compass mobility .. able to evade forecheckers with smooth spins .. decent speed bursts to get to loose pucks .. pivots are also smooth .. consistently fires hard, crisp, accurate passes .. connects on his breakout passes but is also adept at springing teammates with outlet passes .. willing to join the offensive attack when the opportunity presents .. distributes the puck well in the offensive zone .. maintains a fairly wide base backward and stays down fairly low .. consistently lets his gaps close and will step up to engage with a stick check .. a skilled poke checker .. communicates with his teammates on the ice .. played for Shattuck's U16 team in 2009-10 and led the team in defenseman scoring .. selected to play for the U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the Five Nations Tournament in Switzerland this past August and led all American defensemen in scoring .. committed to Boston College.

Teddy Blueger (2012), C, Shattuck St. Mary's

Young pivot already centering Shattuck's second line .. has a fairly powerful stride and has good speed .. able to execute tight switchbacks to evade opponents .. demonstrates a propensity and willingness to skate the puck into traffic and to drive the net .. uses his stickhandling skills to maintain the puck in traffic .. able to drag the puck around traffic with spin-o-ramas .. makes smooth, crisp passes .. displays some playmaking abilities with centering passes and drop passes .. has a frame to work with as a 5-foot-11, 165-pound 16-year-old .. played for Shattuck's U16 team in 2009-10 and led the team in scoring .. no college commitment of yet.