BOYS: The Valley
2023 Record
11-4, Section 6 semi-finalist
Lost Notables
Sam Arendt: 30G, 18A
Jackson Gilmore: 67% FO
Jake Rossman: 45 GB, 58 CT
Aaron Bangh: 36 GB, 38 CT
Returning Notables
Carter Harris: 26G, 9A
Tyson Bell: 21G, 8A
Alex Gilbertson: 19G, 9A
Jameson Zackery: .576 SV%
Zach Hood: 15G, 9A
Instant Reaction
In year two as a co-up Eastview/Apple Valley (The Valley) found their way as a top 10 mainstay for most of the year before falling to eventual state runner up, Prior Lake, in a tough section 6. The Valley returns quite a bit of their varsity roster in 2024, but, they will need to replace some BIG names from the 2023 class. Sam Arendt, on the offensive end, was one of the most electric players in the state. He was one of those gifted players that had an unorthodox style that could just take over a game. They relied a lot on his contributions on offense and will certainly need to replace his 48 points. On the defensive end, they lost their three starting close defenseman, the biggest being Jake Rossman. Jake was an eraser and leader on the defense, a super athlete and competitor. Along with him, they lost Aaron Bangh and Will Townsend who were both strong steady poles helping them have one of the better defenses in the state.
Another key finding is that they lost their main face-off guy, Jackson Gilmore who took the majority of the draws, and was only spelled by Rossman who is also gone. They will need to find a replacement at the X.
They also are going into 2024 with a new Head Coach, Jack Davis, who was an assistant the past two seasons. I don’t expect too much of a strain on the leadership change, however, as Davis is a great leader and will most likely keep the rest of the staff in tact.
The good news for the Lightning is that while they lost some big names they get a lot of their offensive guys back that have extensive varsity experience. Carter Harris is one of the best offensive players in the state. Bell, Gilbertson, Hood and Nelson are also solid players that will get an increased role in the offense and should be able to produce. I do expect their team identity to change a bit with the loss of Arendt and his style of play, but, I don’t think the Valley will drop off too much on the offensive end. They also get LSM Haehnel and starting goalie, Zackery back to help bring the new poles up to speed.
The Future
With the co-op, there should be a decent stable of players coming up from the youth program and last year The Valley’s JV team was pretty solid. I am sure there were some swing players, but, overall had a strong group of young players on that team.
Jack Randby and Will Greene are both senior defenseman this year with a little bit of varsity experience who I would anticipate having a chance to take one of the starting defense spots.
2024 Schedule
In addition to their SSC schedule which will be strong, they have OOC games against Hill-Murray, Duluth, Jefferson, Holy Angels, and Northfield. I expect them to be competitive in the SSC and probably be favored in most of their out of conference games. Jefferson is a team on the upswing and may be their toughest test out of conference. They usually play the Jaguars every year and history has proven it to be a very tough, low scoring, defensive battle. I think with the graduation of so much on the defensive end maybe that game bumps up in tempo this season - we will see!
In Conclusion
The Valley is a well coached team with a strong tradition. With two high school teams feeding the program they should have a decent group of athletes to work with and a strong coaching staff to put the plan in place. Once again, adding to the already loaded section 6, The Valley will be another tough team in that section to get through.