A Gopher Hockey Fan’s Rooting Guide to Da Beauty League

In case you have not been paying attention to the Twin Cities hockey scene over the last year or two, a summer hockey league called Da Beauty League will begin its second season of existence on Wednesday night. Da Beauty League is a 4x4 league that features Upper Midwest professional and amateur players taking part in a six team league to keep sharp in the offseason. Several well known NHL stars will play in the league this summer once again, as well as several college players from the Gophers among others.

The teams play two 30-minute halves, but otherwise use all the normal rules of hockey. The six teams will take part in an eight game regular season on Wednesday nights in July and Monday and Wednesday nights in August before the top four teams play in a single elimination playoff tournament to crown a league champion. The games all take place at Braemar Arena in Edina and begin at 5:10 PM, 6:35 PM, and 8:00 PM. Single night tickets are $10, and kids 12 and under are free.

As the Gopher Hockey fans that we are here, and presumably that you are by reading this, we decided to review the rosters of the six teams and rank them 1-6 as to the “Gopherness” of their rosters. The ranking system is as follows:

• 1 Point: Gopher Hockey alum now playing professional hockey
• 2 Points: Current Gopher Hockey player
• -1 Point: Wisconsin or North Dakota alum
• -2 Points Current Badger or F’ing Hawk
• 0 Points: Alum or current Player from any other school— because who cares

The Full rosters for all six teams can be found on the Da Beauty League Website Here:

#1 RBC Team— 11 Points

LD Alex Goligoski (+1)

LD Aaron Ness (+1)

LD Taylor Chorney (-1—F’ing Hawk)

RD Stu Bickel (+1)

RD Tyler Nanne (+2)

LW Eric Haula (+1)

LW Brent Gates, Jr. (+2)

LW Tommy Novak (+2)

RW Nick Bjugstad (+1)

G Adam Wilcox (+1)

#2 BIC Team—8 Points

Coach Keith Ballard (+1)

LD Paul Martin (+1)

LD Nate Schmidt (+1)

LD Jake Bischoff (+1)

LW Mike Szmatula (+2)

LW Evan Trupp (-1—F’ing Hawk)

LW Casey Mittelstadt (+2)

RW Justin Kloos (+1)

#3 Velocity Team—6 Points

Coach Chris McAlpine (+1)

RD Jordan Schmaltz (-1—F’ing Hawk)

LD Seth Helgeson (+1)

LD Steve Johnson (+2)

LD Ryan Lindgren (+2)

LW Kyle Rau (+1)

RW Drew Stafford (-1—F’ing Hawk)

RW Travis Boyd (+1)

#4 Tria Team—2 Points

Coach Ben Clymer (+1)

LD Nick Leddy (+1)

LD Mike Reilly (+1)

LD Jake Gardiner (-1—Badger)

LW Brock Nelson (-1—F’ing Hawk)

RW Vinni Lettieri (+1)

#5 Tradition Team—1.5 Points

Coach Eric Rasmussen (+1)

LD Ryan McDonough (-1—Badger)

LD Brady Skeji (+1)

RD Jack Dougherty (-0.5 (1 year at WI))

LW Grant Besse (-1—Badger)

RW Hudson Fasching (+1)

RW Jordan Schroeder (+1)

#6 Walser Team— -2 Points

LD Keaton Thompson (-1—F’ing Hawk)

LD Ryan Zulsdorf (+2)

LW Shane Gersich (-2—F’ing Hawk)

RW Brock Boeser (-1—F’ing Hawk)

So as you can see, if you want your fill of Gopher Hockey in the offseason, make sure you check out Da Beauty League when RBC Team Squares off against BIC Team. It will be a regular maroon and gold fest on the ice. Those two teams will face off twice in the regular season once on July 25 and once on August 16. The game is the 8:00 PM faceoff both nights. You should be looking forward to seeing the current Gopher forwards in Gates, Jr and Novak getting ready to test their skills against a who’s who of Gopher defensemen in Martin, Schmidt, and Bischoff.

As for the Walser Team....you have to feel bad for Ryan Zulsdorf. Three North Dakota alums and coached by SCSU alum Mark Parrish. Woof. Lets hope they crash and burn.

If you can’t make it out to Braemar on Wednesday night, KFAN.com will be livestreaming the opening night’s games.

Check out DaBeautyLeague.com for any updates rosters and the full league schedule. Check out a few games this summer...it should be an absolute blast.