8 southeastern Minnesotans making impact at top-10 college hockey programs

The college hockey regular season is nearing its home stretch, and a handful of southeastern Minnesota natives are playing key roles for top-10 ranked Division I men’s or women’s teams — some on the ice, some on the bench.

Here’s a look at some area players who are helping top-10 teams this season:

Haskins joined the defending national champion Pioneers after playing the past two seasons in the USHL, for the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2020-21 and for the Madison Capitols last season. He scored 33 goals and had 90 points in 118 career USHL games. The 6-foot-1, 172-pound forward from Rochester has played in 10 games this season for Denver (19-7-0), which is ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com national poll and sits at No. 5 in the PairWise rankings. Haskins is teammates with former Austin Bruins captain Lane Krenzen at Denver.

The Byron native, former Dodge County star and former Associated Press Minnesota High School Player of the Year has been a mainstay in the lineup for the No. 2-ranked Gophers (18-6-1), who sit at No. 1 in the PairWise rankings. Lamb has played in 24 of Minnesota’s 25 games, and has two goals and four total points so far, as a true freshman. The New York Rangers draft pick has 36 shots on goal and has blocked 15 shots this season.

The junior forward is tied for eighth on the Nittany Lions in total points (13) and fifth on the team in assists (10) this season. Penn State is 18-7-1 overall, ranked No. 3 in the PairWise and No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll. The 22-year-old Lamppa played high school hockey at John Marshall from 2015-17, then played one season with the Austin Bruins and two with Waterloo of the USHL. Lamppa has six goals and 23 points in 66 career games at Penn State.

The Owatonna native and former Rochester Grizzlies goalie has yet to play in a game for the No. 2-ranked Gophers, a prospect he knew was likely when he accepted the role as the third goalie for the national powerhouse. The 2022 NA3HL Goalie of the Year has dressed and been on the bench for the Gophers for more than a half-dozen games and, by all accounts, is one of the first players on the ice and last off at practice each day. Wiese went 27-4-2, with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage last season, when he backstopped the Grizzlies to the NA3HL national championship.

The Rochester John Marshall grad and second-year head coach at Western Michigan — his alma mater — has his team rolling. The No. 10-ranked Broncos (No. 9 in the PairWise) are 16-9-1 and have won six consecutive games, all on the road, including sweeps of National Collegiate Hockey Conference rivals North Dakota and Colorado College. WMU is the highest-scoring team in the country, averaging 4.3 goals per game. The Broncos went 26-12-1 last season and came within a win of reaching the Frozen Four for the first time.

The reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner is looking every bit like the best player in women’s college hockey again this season. The Lake City native has 20 goals and 47 points in 25 games for the No. 3-ranked Gophers (20-3-2 overall). She also leads the Gophers in shot percentage (19.8%), power-play goals (6) and short-handed goals (3).

The Gophers’ senior goalie and Mayo High grad has appeared in seven games this season, posting a 3-0-1 record, a 1.56 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Pahl has a 14-3-1 career record at Minnesota with a 1.77 GAA and .930 save percentage.

Stewart, a Rochester native who played at Shattuck St. Mary’s in Faribault, is a senior defender for No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth (No. 8 in the PairWise). Stewart scored her first two college goals last season. This season she has a goal and three assists for the Bulldogs (18-6-1), as well as 23 blocked shots, the fourth-best total on the team.