Published: July 22, 2008 01:36 am         

West goalie stops shots on national stage

Tyler Bruggeman knows what it’s like to play under pressure.

The Mankato West hockey goaltender felt it when he was stopping 40 of 41 shots in the finals of the Section 1A tournament last February to put the Scarlets into the state tournament for the first time in school history.

He felt it a week later when he was introduced on the Xcel Energy Center ice.

He even felt it earlier this month when he became the first Mankato hockey player to attend one of USA Hockey’s national player development camps.

“It added a little pressure,” Bruggeman said. “I wanted to make a good showing.”

The West High School senior-to-be was one of 24 goaltenders to participate in the Select 17 Festival, which was held July 7-13 at St. Cloud’s National Hockey Center.

The camp is conducted in front of college and junior-hockey coaches and scouts, so all 220 players there were trying to make a good impression.

“Everyone up there thinks the game so well,” Bruggeman said. “That’s what separates them from the rest of the pack. ... It was mostly a shooting gallery, but I was consistent.”

He also found out where he stood among the country’s top 17-year-old goaltenders and what it might take to reach his ultimate goal of playing college hockey, something, he said, he’s wanted to do since the first time he saw the lights go down at the Alltel Center and the spotlight shine on Minnesota State’s starting goaltender.

“There’s the top 24 goalies in nation out there,” he said. “To be part of that shows I’m doing something right. But, based on my performance, there were guys who did better, so it showed I need to keep working.”

Bruggeman was underrated during the high school season. Many of his 26 wins came comfortably, as the Scarlets ranked among the state’s top-scoring teams with high-flying forwards Corey Leivermann, Ricky Litchfield, Ryan Anderson and Bruggeman’s twin brother, Andrew, who was third on the team with 27 goals.

But Tyler Bruggeman came up big when he had to, especially in that section final game in Rochester when West topped Rochester Lourdes 3-1 despite getting outshot 41-19. Bruggeman also recorded a shutout in the Scarlets’ lone win in the state tournament against Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato.

This summer, Bruggeman is participating in goaltending camps as well as playing in the high school summer league. He’s also had a couple of tryouts with United States Hockey League (Junior A) teams and got a second invitation to audition for the Fargo Force later this summer.

“(This summer’s opportunities are) no comparison to last season,” he said. “We were a family then, and did it with a bunch of guys. This is more individual, but it’s good for me and good for Mankato hockey.”

Bruggeman quickly added that he’s not alone in his opportunity at the select camp, making sure to include fellow West student Katy Kvasnicka’s invitation to the girls Select 15 Festival in the discussion.

Kvasnicka, a forward, will begin her camp Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.



Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Access his college hockey blog through mankatofreepresshockey.blogspot.com/