Pace of transferring worries some in high school hockey leadership

Top-ranked Wayzata played Jan. 7 at Minnetonka, No. 2 in Class 2A, in a marquee regular-season boys hockey game, the kind Trojans coach Pat O'Leary said doesn't come around too often.

Above the intense action on the Pagel Activity Center ice hung banners honoring seniors from both the Minnetonka girls and boys programs. Of the combined 13 smiling faces, five transferred from other high schools — an example of player movement happening with enough frequency to concern hockey leadership.

At least 17 boys hockey players traded one high school program for another heading into this season, up from an estimated 10 in 2021-22. A two-year look at girls rosters shows at least nine transfers in 2021-22, followed by an estimated five before this season. Transfer data is not officially tabulated.

Players leaving Minnesota high schools early for other hockey opportunities remains the primary concern among boys hockey advocates. At least 40 players departed before the 2022-23 season. Still, the transfer topic rankles hockey leaders.

"Families are unwilling to accept a program for what it is, and stay to try and build it up to make it better," said Claire Goldsmith, Girls Hockey Coaches Association president and first-year Minneapolis coach. "There's no loyalty to the program that helped get them where they are."

Mike MacMillan, executive director of the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association, said, "The strength of our game is everybody, not just the teams at the top."

Players transfer for myriad reasons: academics, family dynamics and friendships with players from offseason teams or clubs. Players sometimes leave struggling programs for a shot at more on-ice success and postseason glory. Lakeville North gained four players this season who departed from Burnsville amid uncertainty about the future of the Blaze, which was participating in a co-op called Metro-South. And then there are those moving from one strong program to another.

The Andover girls team lost notable players after appearances in the 2020 and '21 Class 2A state tournament championship games. Madison Kaiser went to Holy Family in Victoria. She now skates for the Gophers. Her future teammate in maroon and gold, Josie Hemp, also departed Andover and currently is a senior at Minnetonka. Both Kaiser and Hemp were on the Huskies' 2020 state championship team. And Hemp's younger sister, Layla, enrolled at Minnetonka as a ninth-grader before last season. A goaltender, she played with the U.S. Women's U-18 team in January. Despite those defections, Andover won the 2022 state title.

Regarding the Hemps, whose older sister Peyton helped Andover win the 2020 state title, Huskies coach Melissa Volk recently told Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse: "It must have been a good family move for them. I just coach my players.''

Breck wasn't so lucky. The private school in Golden Valley lost girls hockey players both during and after the 2020-21 season. Coach Steve Persian resigned with eight regular-season games left in late February 2021. Shae Messner had already left the three-time defending Class 1A state tournament champions for Holy Family. She now plays at Dartmouth. After the season, future Gophers Elly Klepinger and Ava Lindsay took their talents to Minnetonka, where they are seniors this season.

"People are quick to jump to conclusions as to why," Minnetonka girls hockey coach Tracy Cassano said. "But until you walk in other people's shoes, you don't know. As coaches, you coach the kids that walk through the door. You don't have control over that at a public school."

Among boys hockey programs, Benilde-St. Margaret's and Wayzata both received three transfer players from other Minnesota high schools before this season. All three of the transfers to Wayzata came from Hopkins, a program more than a decade removed from a winning record. Two of those departing were brothers Cade and Finn De St. Hubert.

Cade played center on the Trojans' second line against Minnetonka, and Finn was part of the first pair of defensemen. O'Leary lauded Cade, who scored in the Trojans' 3-1 victory, as "a real old-school hockey player. He plays how we like to play — strong and hard. When you're winning championships, you've got to have those kinds of guys."

After the game, Cade acknowledged both sides of transferring, which he and Finn did in part because of family dynamics. The brothers were workhorses at Hopkins based on their ability and because of a thinner talent base. Now they are part of a deeper Wayzata team and don't log the same amount of ice time.

Cade is aware of the unintended consequence of each shift — a player with longer tenure in the community's hockey program isn't getting a desired opportunity.

"That is something we've thought about, but I also think we had to earn our spots," he said. "We were players who didn't grow up in the association, so maybe they had an edge over us. But I do feel bad for the kids who didn't make it or aren't playing where they would want to play."