UMHSEL Report: Team Southwest

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey caught the UMHSEL in action both during the regular season and the playoffs and enters notes on the 2011-eligible Steven Fogarty, Dan Molenaar, Kyle Rau, and Connor Girard, as well as the 2012-eligible Max Coatta.

Steven Fogarty (2011), RW, Edina/Team Southwest

Has good size and likes to dangle .. has decent speed with the puck .. displays decent speed bursts .. builds speed in his crossovers and can get out over his edges .. able to make tight turns with the puck .. has ultra quick hands to make toe drags and lateral moves across his body .. likes to try and drag the puck around opponents, although his success rate was about 50 percent at the Upper Midwest High School Elite League level .. also tried to beat a lot of opponents in close, with only moderate success .. lives by his stickhandling and dies by his stickhandling .. does generate some "highlight-reel" plays, though, too .. likes to handle the puck and is more of a "shoot first" player, but is still a decent playmaker with some offensive vision .. makes smooth, crisp passes .. able to connect on passes through traffic .. decent one-touch passer .. fires crisp wristshots .. drives the net with and without the puck and makes things happen, either scoring goals, creating rebounds, or creating plays .. puts in a decent effort on the backcheck and is a threat to strip the puck .. has good size at 195 pounds and just under 6-foot-2 .. selected to Minnesota Red for the Elite League National Invitation Tournament (NIT) .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Edina and is in his senior season .. led Edina in scoring in 2009-10 with 21 goals and 19 assists in 31 games and helped lead them to the AA State Championship .. committed to Notre Dame, possibly as early as 2011-12.

Dan Molenaar (2011), D, Eden Prairie/Team Southwest

Among the very best defensemen in the Elite League .. smooth skater with good cruising speed .. able to make tight circles with the puck to evade forecheckers .. poised with the puck and remains calm when pressured .. makes hard, crisp, accurate passes .. able to get his passes off quickly in transition .. a threat to spring teammates with long-distance passes if he sees the opportunity and puts it on the tape .. some teammates had difficulty handling his hard passes .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. has a quick release from the point due to his skating and stickhandling prowess .. does a good job of keeping his wristshot from the point low .. not a big defenseman at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, but uses his body well to shield the puck .. backward acceleration is fairly powerful, which allows him to keep a short gap .. also is a fairly powerful backward skater in general .. isn't an overly physical defenseman, but can step up on opponents in the neutral zone and at the blueline .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Eden Prairie and is a senior .. led Eden Prairie in defensemen scoring in 2009-10 at over a point per game .. no college commitment of yet.

Kyle Rau (2011), LW, Eden Prairie/Team Southwest

One of the top offensive forces in the Elite League .. has good speed with the puck and has an extra gear for speed bursts .. hustles to loose pucks .. not big at 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, but engages physically to battle for the puck .. also uses his speed on the forecheck and finishes his checks .. capable of laying out some hard hits along the end boards when finishing his checks .. is a heads-up stickhandler and can assess his options .. poised with the puck and makes smooth, crisp, accurate passes .. has good offensive awareness and finishes his chances .. sports a good wristshot, a quick snapshot, and a hard one-timer .. led Team Southwest in scoring during the Elite League regular season with 16 goals and 7 assists in 19 games .. did not play during the Elite League playoffs .. played for Sioux Falls of the USHL during the Elite League NIT and tallied 3 assists in 2 games for the Stampede .. selected as an alternate for Minnesota Red for the NIT, because he was not expected to participate .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Eden Prairie and is a senior .. was one of the top scorers in the state in 2009-10 with 40 goals and 41 assists in 28 games .. committed to Minnesota, possibly as early as 2011-12.

Connor Girard (2011), G, Edina/Team Southwest

Had one strong viewing, one decent viewing, and one poor viewing .. decent pushoffs and can reset fairly quickly .. also able to get up and across quickly and smoothly .. in one viewing, however, effort seemed lacking and was slow to get up after going down .. does a good job of eliminating rebounds on shots to the chest protector .. usually does a good job of keeping his torso upright in the butterfly .. able to butterfly his legs out pretty far and close the five hole .. normally stays poised in his net and remains calm on breakaways and dangerous chances .. generally does a good job of tracking the puck and maintaining his angle .. did have one bad viewing where interest and focus seemed lacking and his form broke down .. rebound control with his pads also suffered in the negative viewing .. does a good job of directing blocker saves toward the boards .. has sufficient size at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds .. when he's on his game, he's quite good, but when he's off, not so much .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Edina and is in his senior year .. backstopped Edina to the AA State Championship in 2009-10 .. no college commitment of yet.

Max Coatta (2012), RW, Minnetonka/Team Southwest

Small, speedy, skilled, and fearless .. has a powerful stride with good extension that produces very good speed .. has both good speed and quickness with the puck .. able to instantly pressure on the forecheck with impressive speed bursts .. has good agility with the puck and can weave through traffic .. able to make powerful, tight turns because of how low he gets in his turns .. confident with the puck and remains calm .. doesn't give up on pucks .. able to pull the puck in toward his body well and get shots off .. has a crisp wristshot and a decent snapshot .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. an adept saucer passer .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck .. hustles into corners for loose pucks .. uses his speed on the backcheck and can body opponents from the side .. smaller at 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, but plays a fairly fearless game .. finished second in Team Southwest scoring during the regular season with 5 goals and 12 assists in 21 games .. selected as an alternate for Minnesota Red for the Elite League NIT .. plays Minnesota high school hockey for Minnetonka and is in his sophomore year .. one of the top-scoring freshman in the state in 2009-10 with 23 goals and 23 assists in 31 games .. no college commitment of yet.