Kansas City Red Hot as Midwest High School Hockey League Prepares for Post Season

BY: Tony Atzeni, Iowa Sports Connection

DES MOINES, Iowa – It feels like we just dropped the first puck of the season but instead we are looking at the post season in the Midwest High School Hockey League (MHSHL). Once again the MHSHL Championship Tournament will be held at the ISU/Ames Ice Rink in Ames. Waterloo won the east division and posted the best overall record in the league while Kansas City prevailed in the west division race over the Des Moines Oak Leafs and now sport a red-hot 22-game winning streak as they head into the post season.

Logan Lopicka (Kansas City) finished as the leading scorer in the varsity division with 59 points which included a league-leading 30 goals and second best 29 assists. Logan had a huge week to climb to the top of the league list with six goals and nine assists in five games which included a double-header on Monday against Lincoln. Alex Thompson (Ames) finished second with 58 points. Joining Lopicka with 30 goals scored are Austin Jackson (Waterloo) and Kaleb Morley (Quad Cities). Joe Burgmeier (Mason City) led the league in assists with 30.

Blair Sanders (Kansas City) finished on top of the varsity division with his 1.48 goals against average after posting five victories over the weekend including a shutout, his third of the season, tying him with Chance Kremer (Waterloo), Kramer Vonville (Kansas City), Thomas Doheny (Des Moines Oak Leafs) and Mike Brown (Quad Cities). Sanders also posted the best save percentage (.929) while Kremer led the league in wins (31) and Robbie Cordes (Des Moines Capitals) was the leader in total saves with 883 in 958 shots for a stellar .922 save percentage.

In the junior varsity division it was Quad Cities the top team in the east and Kansas City in the west.
Tristyn Sabina (Kansas City) won the scoring title while Joey Shuld (Omaha) led the junior varsity goalies with his 1.38 goals against average.

Listed below are the final regular season statistical leaders in scoring and goaltending along with the final standings in both the varsity and junior varsity divisions. Good Luck to all in the tournament.

Midwest High School Hockey League Varsity Standings – Final Regular Season
(Rank/Team/W-L-Overtime Loss/Points)
Posted: February 21st

Note: Top 4 in each division will qualify for the playoffs under the new playoff system implemented this season.
*Division Champions
xTournament Qualifiers

MHSHL Standings – Final Regular Season
East Division
1-*Waterloo (31-1-0) – 62
2-xQuad Cities (20-11-1) – 41
3-xCedar Rapids (17-10-5) – 39
4-xAmes (14-16-2) – 30
5-Dubuque (5-26-1) – 11
6-Mason City (5-26-1) – 11

West Division
1-*Kansas City (28-4-0) – 56
2-xDes Moines Oak Leafs (24-6-2) – 50
3-xDes Moines Capitals (16-13-2) – 34
4-xLincoln (13-17-2) - 28
5-Omaha (10-15-5) – 25
6-Sioux City (8-20-3) – 19

MHSHL Varsity Results
Week of February 16-19

Thursday, February 16th
Waterloo 6, Mason City 1
Friday, February 17th
Quad Cities 4, Cedar Rapids 2
Kansas City 3, Omaha 1
Mason City 7, Dubuque 2
Saturday, February 18th
Des Moines Oak Leafs 3, Cedar Rapids 1
Waterloo 6, Omaha 4
Kansas City 1, Lincoln 0 (OT)
Mason City 7, Dubuque 6
Sunday, February 19th
Kansas City 4, Lincoln 1
Waterloo 6, Omaha 1
Des Moines Oak Leafs 5, Cedar Rapids 4 (SO)
Quad Cities 5, Dubuque 2
Sioux City 5, Des Moines Capitals 0
Monday, February 20th
Kansas City 7, Lincoln 0
Kansas City 4, Lincoln 2

MHSHL Scoring Varsity Leaders
(Rank/Athlete/Team/Goals-Assists/Total Points)
1-Logan Lopicka, Kansas City – (30 Goals, 29 Assists) – 59
2-Alex Thompson, Ames – (29 Goals, 29 Assists) – 58
3-Joe Burgmeier, Mason City – (24 Goals, 30 Assists) – 54
4-Austin Jackson, Waterloo – (30 Goals, 22 Assists) – 52
5-Mark Wishman, Ames – (26 Goals, 24 Assists) – 50
6-Zach Russell, Cedar Rapids – (22 Goals, 27 Assists) – 49
7-Michael Doheny, Des Moines Oak Leafs – (18 Goals, 29 Assists) – 47
8-Cody Maulsby, Mason City – (19 Goals, 27 Assists) – 46
9-Tim Brown, Waterloo – (18 Goals, 27 Assists) – 45
9-Sammy Scibona, Kansas City – (17 Goals, 28 Assists) – 45
11-Kaleb Morley, Quad Cities – (30 Goals, 14 Assists) – 44
11-Jake Lichty, Waterloo – (19 Goals, 25 Assists) – 44
11-David Becker, Waterloo – (16 Goals, 28 Assists) – 44
11-Alex Bailey, Kansas City – (15 Goals, 29 Assists) – 44

MHSHL Varsity Goaltending Leaders
(Rank/Athlete/Team/W-L-OL/Shutouts/Goals Against Average/Save Percentage)
1-Blair Sanders, Kansas City – (16-3-0/3) - 1.48 GAA/.929
2-Chance Kremer, Waterloo – (31-1-0/3) - 1.54 GAA/.917
3-Kramer Vonville, Kansas City – (9-1-0/3) - 1.69 GAA/.909
4-Thomas Doheny, Des Moines Oak Leafs – (22-8-0/3) - 1.71 GAA/.913
5-Mike Brown, Quad Cities – (18-12-0/3) - 2.21/.916
6-Jacob Stack, Cedar Rapids –(17-15-0/1) - 2.36 GAA/.918
7-Robbie Cordes, Des Moines Capitals – (16-15-0/1) - 2.42 GAA/.922
8-Kyle Shemek, Lincoln – (9-15-0/1) - 2.82 GAA/.888
9-Connor Randleman, Omaha – (9-15-0/1) - 2.88 GAA/.904
10-Orion Boylston, Ames – (10-12-0/2) – 3.29/.888

MHSHL Junior Varsity Standings
East Division
1-Quad Cities (17-8-5) – 39
2-Waterloo (14-12-6) – 34
3-Dubuque (11-19-2) – 24
3-Cedar Rapids (7-19-6) – 20
5-Ames (7-20-5) – 19
6-Mason City (5-23-4) – 14
West Division
1-Kansas City (22-2-8) – 52
2-Omaha (21-6-3) – 45
3-Des Moines Oak Leafs (18-10-4) – 40
4-Sioux City (15-12-5) – 35
5-Lincoln (12-12-8) – 32
5-Des Moines Capitals (11-17-4) – 26

MHSHL Scoring Junior Varsity Leaders – Top 5
(Rank/Athlete/Team/Goals-Assists/Total Points)
1-Tristyn Sabina, Kansas City - (21 Goals, 18 Assists) – 39
2-Sam Richter, Waterloo - (19 Goals, 19 Assists) – 38
3-Sam Rice, Des Moines Oak Leafs - (15 Goals, 21 Assists) – 36
4-Alex Burns, Des Moines Oak Leafs – (18 Goals, 17 Assists) – 35
5-Logan Adkins, Kansas City – (15 Goals, 19 Assists) - 34

MHSHL Varsity Goaltending Leaders – Top 5
(Rank/Athlete/Team/W-L-OL/Shutouts/Goals Against Average/Save Percentage)
1-Joey Shuld, Omaha - (12-4-0/4) - 1.38 GAA/.918
2-Nick Steiner, Kansas City - (12-1-5/4) - 1.45 GAA/.926
3-Anthony Galliart, Kansas City - (10-1-2/4) - 1.57/.930
4-Eric Main, Des Moines Oak Leafs - (14-4-1/3) - 1.71/.908
5-Jackson Bruckner, Omaha - (9-2-3/3) - 1.76 GAA/.916