After going 31-0 and winning the Class 2A state championship in 2014-2015, the Lakeville North  boys’ hockey team lost its top four defensemen.

Now the Panthers need a new goaltender.

Senior Ryan Edquist, the team’s starting goalie all of last season, said Thursday he will play with the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League in 2015-2016. Edquist will head to Madison, Wisconsin, on Aug. 30 and will start practice on Sept. 7.

Lakeville North coach Trent Eigner said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by his goaltender’s departure.

“There was a certain amount of discussion all summer long as to whether or not Ryan would be coming back,” Eigner said. “It is something we were bracing for. We hoped we’d get him back but not terribly surprised he earned the opportunity to go play in the USHL.”

Edquist’s backup, Pierce Wilson, graduated, so the Panthers’ only returning goaltenders from the high school program are Buzz Eigner, Trent's son, and Carter Springer, both of whom played exclusively on the junior varsity last season. 

Eigner said he wouldn’t be surprised to see another goaltender join the mix. 

“Just like Jake Oettinger and Ryan Edquist were interested in our program, it wouldn’t surprise me if there is interest out there,” Eigner said.

Edquist joined the Panthers last season after playing his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault. He committed to the University of Minnesota during his sophomore year. 

Jake Oettinger, Edquist’s predecessor, transferred from Farmington and took over the starting position two seasons ago. Oettinger left Lakeville North after the 2013-2014 school year and went to the USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Edquist then saw the opportunity to move back to Lakeville where he grew up. 

Edquist's Lakeville North debut was far from stellar. Against South Suburban Conference and Class 2A, Section 1 rival Farmington, Edquist gave up five goals.

Although he had a shaky start to the season, Edquist finished the regular season with eight shutouts and a .937 save percentage, the third best in the state. He finished fourth in the state with a 1.43 goals-against average. 

The loss of Edquist only worsens the Panthers' situation on defense. Lakeville North’s top four defenders from its state championship season - Jack Sadek, Jack McNeely, Angelo Altavilla and Luke Seper - all graduated. Sadek, a Minnesota Wild draft pick, is headed to the University of Minnesota, McNeely to Nebraska-Omaha and Altavilla to Nebraska-Lincoln to play baseball. Seper, who hasn't committed to a college, will likely play junior hockey this season.

The Panthers' offense, however, should still scare opponents. Nick and Jack Poehling, Lakeville North’s top two scorers from last season, graduated. But, their brother, Ryan, returns for his junior season. Ryan Poehling, who has committed to play at St. Cloud State with his brothers, finished fourth in points with 49 (16 goals, 33 assists) in 31 games.

Joining the youngest Poehling are Max Johnson and Henry Enebak. The duo from last season's second line finished third and fifth in points (Johnson had 50 and Enebak 47). 

“We’ll just be a different team (this season),” Eigner said. “We’ll maintain the ability to be very dangerous offensively, but we will need to understand how we want to defend our own end of the ice. We won’t have the luxury of leaning on four anchor defenseman like we did last year.”

Eigner considers himself fortunate to have coached a player such as Edquist, being able to rely on him, as well as the solid defensive group. Even when Edquist is in Madison, Eigner hopes the goaltender still can contribute to the future success of Lakeville North hockey with the legacy he left. 

“He had a really, really confident way about himself and his preparation,” Eigner said. “Hopefully it rubbed off on the other younger players who got to see him play a lot in practice last year.”


Ryan Edquist