The Gophers have completed recruiting for the 2008-09 season. They are bringing in 13 new players, including walk-on goalie Jake Kremer and Hill-Murray center Nick Larson who sat out this past season recovering from a back injury.

Anybody remember a class this big?

Kremer, who turned 20 on May 5, played for the Bismarck (N.D.) Bobcats of the NAHL last season and was the team’s MVP. His numbers were not too impressive. Then again, the Bobcats finished sixth out of six teams in the Central Division of the North America Hockey League, which is a step below the UHSL.

Kremer was 17-24 with five overtime losses and had two shutouts. He had a 3.30 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. He played in 49 games, was second in the league in minutes played and had a league-high 1,475 saves.

“I’m real excited for Jake,” Bobcats coach Byron Pool is quoted as saying on the team’s web page. “I think he will make it real hard for the Gophers not to play him.”

Kremer is coming in to fill the spot of the Gophers’ practice goalie Brent Solei, who played in only one game in four seasons.

“I grew up loving the Gophers and I watched them every time they were on, this is a dream come true,” Kremer said in the same web story. “The university is great; it’s a tough school to get into and it’s an added bonus that it’s so close to home.”

Kremer had 49 saves in a 1-0 shutout in his last game for the Bobcats.

Larson was injured in the last game he played in the 2007 state tournament. He had two cracked vertebrae and spent about six months in a back brace.

“He was in school all year but had health issues,” Gophers coach Don Lucia said.

He came in near the end of the season, Lucia said, and said he still had the passion for hockey and was anxious to play again.

“He’s working out with the team and he’s excited,” Lucia said, “and he can help us. He was a center and that’s something we were short on last season. We’ll be young. We will probably have three freshmen centers.”

Larson was taken by the Washington Capitals in the seventh round of the 2007 NHL draft with the 185th pick. He had 28 goals and 30 assists going into the 2007 Class 2A state tournament and was a Mr. Hockey finalist.

With 13 new players, and junior Ryan Stoa coming back after missing all but two games this season, half of the Gophers’ 28-player roster will be new.

Lucia splits 18 scholarships among those 28 players. Because of players leaving and injuries, the Gophers were down to 22, 23 players this past season. “We were too thin,” Lucia said.

Here is the complete list of new Gophers for next season:  

Class of 2008

Forwards (7)

Name                 ht., wt.                          last team       

Michael Dorr   5-10, 180, wing              Des Moines, USHL

Jake Hansen     6-1, 182, wing                Sioux Falls, UHSL

Nick Larson         6-2, 185, center             Hill-Murray, ‘06-07

Taylor Matson  6-0, 185 center              Des Moines, USHL

Joey Miller             5-11, 195                       Sioux City, USHL

Nico Sachetti            6-0, 186, center     Omaha, USHL

Jordan Schroeder   5-8, 165, center       nat’l dev. team

Defensemen (4)

Sam Lofquist           6-1, 190                     nat’l dev. team

Brandon Martell     6-2, 195                    nat’l dev. team

Aaron Ness               5-10, 170                  nat’l dev. team

Grant Scott               6-3, 205                    nat’l dev. team

Goalies (2)

Jake Kremer          6-1, 190              Bismarck, NAHL     

Kent Patterson     6-1, 180              Cedar Rapids, USHL         

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