Greenwave Season Preview

The season opener against Bemidji is just around the corner.  Here is a position by position preview of our Greenwave Varsity this season.

Goaltending


After rotating three goalies for the early part of last season, Hunter Aubol established himself as the starter and gave the Greenwave a chance to win every time he was in the net. Aubol is a very athletic goalie, and never gives up on a play. Backing up Aubol will be senior Beau Scheving who played in 12 games as a junior, and junior Wade Jeffrey. Sophomore Tanner Lindstrom led the Bantam VFW to a state 3rd place last season and has looked solid through the first week of practice.

Defense

The Greenwave return five of their top six defensemen from last year’s team, and have what could be the strongest defensive group in Section 8A. Leading the group will be Sr. Tucker Poolman. Poolman, who competed in the 2010 Elite League, is a heady defenseman who never seems to get rattled. Also returning will be seniors Blake Christiansen and Tanner Dahlen along with juniors Tyler Hajicek and Hunter Mero.

Sophomore Gage Ausmus, will surely add another dynamic to this group. After participating in this summer’s USA Hockey Advanced 15 Festival and the 2010 Elite League, Ausmus is a physically mature, puck moving defenseman. Juniors Cole Peterson and Jake Kliner along with sophomore Nathan Peltier will add quality depth this group.

Forwards

Jake Useldinger graduated in May, leaving the Wave with a big hole to fill up front. Useldinger is off to a good start for the Coulee Region Chill in the North American Hockey League.

Juniors Zach Lawdermilt (22g 15a) and Cory Mack (10g 15a) are the top two returning scorers and the Wave will need them to improve on last year’s numbers. Lawdermilt and Mack are both explosive skaters and will create havoc for opposing team’s defenseman.

After Lawdermilt and Mack the Wave will look to a big group of senior forwards to provide leadership and increase their production from last season. This group includes Adam Knopp, Brady Halverson, Alex Robertson, Josh Moser, Jeremy Wikoff, Kyle Swanson, and Michael Stengl. All seven of these players saw limited action last season, but had a great off-season in the weight room.

Sophomore Tommy Hajicek, younger brother of Tyler Hajicek, led the Bantam VFW in scoring last season and has looked good early. Hajicek has the potential to be a gamebreaking type of forward.