Des Moines Buccaneers MN Pulse Check

The Des Moines Buccaneers are not off to a stellar start and have lost three of their last four games, but they do have games coming up against the two teams in their division below them in the standings followed by a game against Fargo which is just two points ahead in the standings. The Bucs have four Minnesotans on the roster including two big headline forwards who left high school hockey after their sophomore seasons.

Ryan Walters left St. Thomas Academy after winning a championship in his sophomore season. He had committed to the University of Minnesota during his sophomore season and was a dominant force in Class A hockey. Walters had 36 goals and 39 assists his sophomore season. During the state tournament he opened up with a hat trick in a win over Little Falls, had two goals and two assists in the semifinals against St. Cloud Cathedral and finished with a goal and an assist in the state championship game where STA beat Duluth Marshall 5-1. He joined Des Moines for 16 games after the state tournament and had three assists for the Buccaneers.

While in the USHL Walters has been a steady scorer but not nearly as dominant as he was in high school. He scored 18 goals and had 26 assists in 60 games last year. A bit of a concern has to be his -30 rating, but Des Moines has taken its lumps. This season he has five goals and four assists in 13 games with a -6 rating.

Walters turned 18 in July so he was eligible for this year's NHL Entry draft but went unselected. From seeing him play his sophomore year in high school it seems as if he would have progressed the way it was looking that he would have been a player NHL teams would want to lock up. So this year is a big year for Walters because more than likely he will get drafted next year and is expected to contribute immediately to the Gophers once he steps on campus.

Mike Fink was also a young heralded player during his short high school career, but unlike Walters Fink played in AA hockey and in one of the state's best conferences for Hopkins in the Classic Lake Conference. Fink scored 31 goals and added 23 assists for a team that wasn't all that good and didn't score a lot of goals. The team's second leading scorer had 13 goals.

Fink started his USHL career with Waterloo, but was traded last year after 25 games and having three goals and six assists. He finished the season playing 24 games with Des Moines scoring seven goals and three assists. So far this season Fink has one goal and five assists in the first 13 games.

Fink will play his college hockey at the University of North Dakota. At one point this year was going to be the year he joined the Fighting Sioux, but he is now in his third year in the USHL.



Taylor Wolfe is a rookie in the USHL after playing a huge part of last season's Eden Prairie state championship. Wolfe was second on the team with points (20 goals, 21 assists). He scored a goal and an assist in the Eagles section championship against Minnetonka. At the time Taylor Wolfe doesn't have a college commitment. Wolfe has the size at 6'3", 200 pounds that coaches drool over so I'm sure we'll hear soon where he is headed. He has two goals and two assists in 13 games this year so far.






Chris Stafne, a Duluth native, joined Des Moines late but didn't miss a game after locking up his college commitment for the hometown UMD Bulldogs. Stafne has a goal and an assist in 13 games this year after playing for both Fargo and Indiana last season. He finished the season with Fargo and played his best hockey late scoring two goals in the playoffs. Stafne is a former standout for Duluth Denfeld. Because Stafne is already 20 years old he will be joining UMD next season and doesn't have the option of returning to juniors.