Andersen named to Team Wisconsin

• Karl Andersen

Karl Andersen

Talk about it

Wildcat senior Karl Andersen is one of 20 state players named to the Team Wisconsin squad that will compete in this weekend’s CCM Minnesota Hockey High School National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in Plymouth, Minn.

The tournament will feature teams comprised of the top high school players from Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan and Massachusetts. Team Wisconsin won the inaugural NIT championship last year after competing at the now-defunct Chicago Showcase the previous 25 years.

Andersen joins Hudson seniors Ryan Dau and Spencer Korum, as well as Eau Claire Memorial’s Saxton Soley, Alexander Dahl and Hunter Scott, as the only Big Rivers Conference representatives on the 20-player team.

Team Wisconsin will open tournament play against the Minnesota All-Stars Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at the Plymouth Ice Center. They will face Michigan Friday at 8 p.m. and the Minnesota 18U Selects Saturday at 10:15 a.m. before first through third place games are played Sunday.

Andersen was chosen for the team based on his play at the Wisconsin Senior Class Tournament in Waupun two weeks ago and 12 hours of tryouts last weekend at the Mose Lamb Ice Arena in Tomah.

Andersen helped the Section 1 team, under Wildcat head coach Brooks Lockwood, to a 2-1 record at the Senior Class Tournament and led the team in goals scored with five. He had three goals and three assists in the team’s 10-1 win over Section 5 and accounted for both goals in the 7-2 loss in to Section 8 in the title game.

Andersen’s Wildcat teammates Garrett Jensen, Neal Edge, Cooper Maxwell and Ben Novak also played for the Section 1 team at the Senior Class Tournament.

Andersen was named to the All-Big Rivers Conference second team for the second straight year, and earned Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association All-State honorable mention for the first time for his play with the Wildcats this season. He set a new River Falls school record for total points in a season with 59, breaking the mark set by his older brother Ross just two years ago. He finished the year with 29 goals, including three game-winners and dished out 30 assists while posting a team-high plus/minus rating of 10.

Scouts from several NHL teams and collegiate programs are expected to attend this weekend’s NIT tournament in Plymouth. Last year, 80 percent of Division I programs and every USHL team had scouts in attendance.

Tags: sports, wildcats, hockey, prep