Willmar boys hockey preview

COACH

Reed Larson, 3rd season

ASSISTANT COACHES

Chad Akerson, Dan Tollefson (JV coach), Jason Bruhn (JV assistant), Alex Berghius (student assistant coach)

LAST SEASON

Last season Willmar went 7-17-2 overall and 2-12-2 in the Central Lakes Conference. Two years ago Willmar managed one win and a tie in the Central Lake Conference and overall went 4-19-1 after losing 7-4 to Little Falls in the Section 4A semifinal round.

OPENERS

Season: Today vs. Morris/Benson Area at Benson, 7 p.m.

Central Lakes Conference: Dec. 5 at St. Cloud Tech

Home Opener: Dec. 9 vs. Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, 3 p.m.

Holiday Tournament: Dec. 27-29 at Willmar (River Lakes, Prairie Centre, Redwood Valley)

VARSITY ROSTER

(Letterwinners in bold)

SENIORS

Josh Aslesen, forward

Andy Boersma, forward

Eric Bangen, forward

Jordan Gauer, forward

Joel Jonsson, forward

Griffin Leitch, forward

Kevin Maxfield, goalie

Richard Norris, forward

Mitchell Schneider, forward

Adam Schow, defense

Zach Vlaminck, defense

JUNIORS

Jordan Benson, forward

Trent Gehrking, forward

Josh Gesch, goalie

Travis Hanson, defense

Andrew Kleven, forward

Matt Kroneberger, defense

Raulin Magnuson, Forward

Jon Mattison, goalie

Josh Mead, forward

Joel Schendel, forward

OUTLOOK

Section 4A will go through the defending champions at Little Falls, which will put out one of the top lines in the state. The Flyers' twin cannons Jared Festler, now a junior, and sophomore Ben Hanowski last year combined for 84 goals (Willmar had 66 as a team). Runner-up Alexandria lost five of its top six scorers but it's safe to say Alexandria will always contend in this section. Fergus Falls lost top scorer Matt Waclawik (31-17-48) among its eight seniors but is likely to make a run again after losing 2-1 in overtime to Alexandria in last years 4A playoffs. In the CLC, Brainerd (14-0 last year) and runner-up Sauk Rapids will be difficult to dislodge from the two top rungs. With 16 letterwinners back plus foreign exchange student Joel Jonsson of Sweden, Willmar can also be considered a legitimate contender to reach the Section 4A championship game. Last in the CLC the past two seasons, an upper division finish would be a significant improvement.

FIRST-NIGHT LINEUP

Red Line: Bangen centering Aslesen, Gauer .... White Line: Jonsson centering Leitch, Norris ... Black line: Schendel centering Schneider, Mead ... Blue Line: Benson, Klevin ....Defense (pairs): Boersma and Kroneberger, Hanson and Vlamnick, Gehrking and Schow... Goaltending: Maxfield, Mattison, Gesch

FROM THE COACH

Reed Larson: "After the first 2½ weeks the players are sore but ready to compete. Our staff has made a commitment to get as much of our team as we feel is possible. We have got the potential to be as successful as any Willmar team in the past. The sky is the limit for this group of players. We have played seven preseason scrimmages and done fairly well in most of them, going 6-1. Although the scrimmages don't mean anything, it really helps to have a little success in a program that has struggled for the last three years."