Page 22 Lake Conference Hockey • Thursday, December 11, 2025 sailor. mnsun. com
MINNETONKA SKIPPERS BOYS HOCKEY
Lake Conference Hockey
Indications are this is Goldy’ s type of team
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com
Whenever Minnetonka High boys hockey coach Sean Goldsworthy has an experienced roster, he is likely to take the Skippers on a deep playoff run.
Already the winner of two state titles,“ Goldy” has that type of team this season.
After preseason scrimmages against Wayzata and Edina at Braemar Arena, coach Goldsworthy said,“ We have a good base with a lot of depth. We are older this year than we were last year and that always helps. Early in the season we will lean on our older guys.”
There are 11 seniors on the Skippers’ varsity roster this season.
What are the chances for a deep playoff run?“ That’ s the hope,” Goldsworthy said.“ We want to be playing at the end of the season. The only thing I don’ t know yet is whether or not we will have a high-end scorer.”
Potential high-end scorers could be senior captains Jordy Johnson or Ethan Sturgis, senior Cooper Rannow, junior Caden Lindsay and sophomore Liam Schultz.
Lindsay, the top returning scorer finished the 2024-25 season with 25 points on 12 goals and 13 assists. Sturgis followed with 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists. Johnson had 19 points on six goals and 13 assists and Liam Schultz
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Senior captains for the Minnetonka boys hockey team are, from left to right: Jordy Johnson, Danny Browning and Ethan Sturgis.
also had 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists. Captain Danny Browning added 15 points from the blue line with seven goals and eight assists.
Anchoring the defense again this season is thirdyear starter Browning.
The captains like Minnetonka’ s chances.
“ It is such a privilege to be one of the captains,” Johnson said.“ Coach Goldsworthy is super passionate and holds everyone on the team to a high standard.”
“ Coach Goldsworthy has always been there for me,” Browning said.“ Through all of the ups and downs of a hockey season, I know he will help me.”
“ I feel very fortunate to be a captain,” Sturgis said.“ Minnetonka hockey is the best program in the state.”
What type of season to the captains envision for 2025-26?
“ Our depth gives us separation from other teams,” Johnson observed.“ We have at least 25 good players.”
“ This is a cohesive team,” Browning said.“ We’ ve all grown up together since Squirts.”
For a Minnetonka hockey player, there’ s nothing better than putting on the white uniform and playing home games at Pagel Activity Center, Minnetonka’ s on-campus ice arena.
“ You’ ll always remember the big games at Pagel,” Browning said.“ Fans watching from the track are hovering over us.”
“ We are so blessed to have two full rinks on campus,” Johnson said. Tryouts at Pagel were spirited with a lot of good candidates. The coaching staff took time and showed patience in selecting the varsity and JV teams.
“ We are getting connected early in the season,” Sturgis said.
“ Everyone has a good attitude and we are growing together as a team,” Browning said.“ Expectations are high.”
“ We’ re taking it day by day with the motto: 1 percent [ better ] every day,” Johnson noted.“ As captains, we want to be really encouraging.”
Sturgis said the way he leads is mostly by example, setting the tone with intensity and hustle in practice that carries over into games.
The Skippers graduated
MEET THE
Skippers
2 – Senior defenseman Trent LaRoche 3 – Sophomore defenseman Eliott Schultz 4 – Senior defenseman Cameron Merrick 5 – Senior forward Connor Jewett 6 – Senior defenseman Zach Markwell 7 – Sophomore forward Tavin Dobchuk 8 – Junior forward Caden Lindsay 9 – Senior forward Cooper Rannow 11 – Sophomore forward Liam Schultz 12 – Senior forward Ethan Sturgis 13 – Senior defenseman Danny Browning 14 – Sophomore forward Cash Hardie 16 – Senior forward Jordy Johnson 17 – Freshman Mason Schemenaur 18 – Sophomore defenseman Gavin Karl 19 – junior forward Connor Taffe 20 – Junior forward Brayden Haffer 21 – Senior defenseman Tate Hardacre 22 – Junior forward Gabe Lindholm 23 – Junior forward Max Aronson 26 – Junior forward Boone Chartier 30 – Sophomore goalie Evan Enck 31 – Senior goalie Chase Jerdee 34 – Junior forward Blake McShane 35 – Senior goalie Tyler Loch
last year’ s starting goalie, Ben Ferguson, but return senior Chase Jerdee, who had a 3-1-0 record with a goals-against average of 2.50.
“ Chase is a big goalie,” Browning said.“ He is big and strong and gives us experience on the back end.”
Senior Tyler Loch and sophomore Evan Enck are the other Minnetonka goalies.
Minnetonka finished fourth in the Lake Conference standings with
a 5-4-0 mark last season when the Skippers’ overall mark was 14-11-2.
The schedule is tough again this year with Edina and Wayzata as games circled on Minnetonka’ s calendar. Both of those teams finished ahead of the Skippers last season and Edina was a state qualifier as the Section 6AA champion.
Minnetonka won its first-round playoff game last year in Section 2AA, then lost to the eventual champion, Shakopee, 5-3 in the semifinals.