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Hermantown’s 2026-27 boys hockey season has already begun, even though the Hawks will not play an official high school game for more than two months. Several of the most important players expected back from a team that went 17-6-4 last winter are already competing in demanding fall hockey environments that should have them considerably closer to midseason form when the Minnesota high school season arrives.
Beau Christy is skating with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League, while Micklain Martalock is with the Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Hockey League. Forward Kole Lendzyk and defenseman TJ Wojtysiak are playing for TDS Transportation, the defending Upper Midwest High School Elite League champion that opens its fall schedule this weekend at New Hope Ice Arena.
That is a significant amount of high-level September hockey for one Minnesota high school program. Hermantown already returns one of the better collections of proven offensive players in Class A, and several of those players are spending the fall competing against older, stronger or similarly elite players rather than simply waiting for November.
Christy is receiving perhaps the most demanding test of all. He scored 27 goals and finished with 44 points for Hermantown last winter, then was selected by Dubuque in the fifth round, 85th overall, of the 2026 USHL Phase II Draft.
The USHL is the highest level of Tier I junior hockey in the United States, where roster spots and ice time are earned against players preparing for major college hockey and beyond. Every practice and game Christy experiences in that environment should require quicker decisions, greater strength on the puck and an ability to create offense against defenders who give away considerably less time and space.
Martalock is getting his own education with the Minnesota Wilderness after another highly productive season for Hermantown. He scored 23 goals and finished with 40 points last winter before the Wilderness selected him in the 10th round of the 2026 NAHL Draft.
The NAHL is Tier II junior hockey and provides another substantial jump in pace, physical strength and structure from the normal September high school environment. Junior rosters can change quickly during the fall, but what matters to Hermantown is that Martalock is being pushed now rather than waiting until November to encounter demanding competition.
Christy and Martalock were Hermantown’s two leading scorers last season, combining for 50 goals and 84 points. If both eventually return to the Hawks after significant junior hockey experience, Hermantown could be getting back two already accomplished offensive players who have spent part of the offseason learning to play at a faster and more demanding level.
Lendzyk and Wojtysiak are getting a different but equally valuable fall opportunity with TDS Transportation. The Upper Midwest High School Elite League was created specifically to put many of the region’s best high school-age players into high-level competition before they return to their school teams in November.
TDS opens Saturday against Team North Dakota at 11:30 a.m. at New Hope Ice Arena before returning to play Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine at 5:30 p.m. The defending champions close the opening weekend against SIT Mutual Funds at noon Sunday, meaning Lendzyk and Wojtysiak will get three significant games almost immediately.
The Elite League schedule includes 18 regular-season games through Oct. 25, followed by postseason play Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. Every currently listed league game is scheduled for New Hope, meaning northern Minnesota fans apparently will not have an opportunity to watch TDS in Hermantown, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Hibbing or another Northland rink.
That seems particularly unfortunate considering how much northern Minnesota talent feeds the TDS roster. A weekend in Hermantown, Duluth, Grand Rapids or Hibbing would give Northland fans an opportunity to see many of the region’s premier high school players compete together before they scatter back to rival programs for the winter.
Hermantown has already seen the value of the Elite League experience. TDS won last season’s Founder’s Cup championship with several Hawks playing important roles during its postseason run.
Martalock scored the opening goal in TDS’ 5-2 championship victory over The Base, while Alexander Nicklin added another goal. Bryce Francisco made 44 saves as TDS completed a postseason run that began with the club seeded fourth.
This fall, Lendzyk and Wojtysiak get their turn. Lendzyk will receive high-speed offensive repetitions against quality defenders, while Wojtysiak will face skilled forwards capable of turning a poor gap, careless outlet or missed assignment into an immediate scoring chance.
Those repetitions matter because both players are expected to hold important roles when Hermantown reconvenes for the high school season. Lendzyk produced 30 points last winter and represents another established scoring option behind Christy and Martalock, while Wojtysiak will be part of a defensive group asked to assume greater responsibility following graduation losses.
That combination of returning production and fall development is what makes Hermantown particularly intriguing.
Christy finished with 44 points last season, Martalock had 40, Paxson Madill produced 31 and Lendzyk had 30. Those four returning forwards alone accounted for 145 points, giving coach Patrick Andrews a veteran offensive foundation before considering any development from younger players who may earn larger roles.
That is already a substantial amount of returning offense for a Class A team. More importantly, three of those four forwards are currently spending September in high-level hockey environments, with Christy in the USHL, Martalock in the NAHL and Lendzyk in the Elite League.
The difference could become meaningful when the Hawks begin playing games in November. A 44-point player returning exactly as he left in February would be valuable enough, but a 44-point player who has spent weeks competing against USHL-caliber talent could come back more prepared to dominate high school competition.
The same applies to Martalock. A 40-point forward who has been forced to process the game faster and deal with stronger, older players in an NAHL environment could return to Hermantown more difficult to defend than the player who scored 23 goals last season.
Lendzyk also enters the winter with an opportunity to take another significant step. Thirty points already established him as a legitimate offensive contributor, and an extended Elite League schedule gives him dozens of additional high-level practices and games before Hermantown begins counting anything in the standings.
Put those pieces together and Andrews potentially has something most Class A coaches would welcome. He can build an offense around multiple established scorers rather than asking one line to carry the entire burden.
Christy has already demonstrated that he can finish. Martalock can score and create, while Madill and Lendzyk give Hermantown proven production deeper into the lineup.
There are only so many favorable defensive matchups available to an opponent. If Hermantown can construct two consistently dangerous lines, opposing coaches will have to decide where to deploy their best defensive pair and which group they are willing to expose against another collection of accomplished forwards.
That becomes especially important during section tournament hockey when teams shorten their benches and individual matchups become more pronounced. Hermantown has the potential to put proven scoring on the ice shift after shift rather than waiting for one dominant unit to cycle back over the boards.
There is, of course, only one puck, and Andrews will have decisions to make regarding combinations, power-play roles and ice-time distribution. Talented teams still have to become cohesive teams, and offensive numbers accumulated during previous seasons guarantee nothing when February arrives.
Hermantown also has important questions elsewhere on the roster. The Hawks must replace significant defensive experience and establish a goaltending hierarchy following the departure of Francisco, who posted a .914 save percentage last season.
Those questions should not be minimized because postseason hockey has a way of exposing weaknesses no matter how much offensive talent a team possesses. Hermantown’s advantage is that its returning scoring depth could provide valuable margin for error while younger defenders and goaltenders develop during November and December.
A team capable of producing four or five goals on difficult nights can survive an occasional defensive mistake. It can also win while an inexperienced goaltender grows into the position, providing Andrews time to solve problems without every early-season mistake becoming a defeat.
By February, those uncertainties could look entirely different. Young defenders may have matured, a goaltender may have established himself and the offensive combinations Andrews experiments with early in the season may have become settled units capable of carrying the Hawks through Section 7A.
That section remains formidable because Hibbing-Chisholm earned everything that comes with being the defending champion. The Bluejackets finished 28-3-2 last winter, won the Section 7A championship and reached the Class A state championship game before losing 5-4 in overtime to Warroad.
Hibbing-Chisholm also returns two exceptional young players in Cole Swanson and defenseman Whitaker Rewertz. Swanson produced 63 points as a sophomore, while Rewertz finished with 50, giving the Bluejackets two cornerstone players capable of determining important games.
The defending champions did lose enormous senior production, including Tate Swanson’s 71 points and Isaiah Hildenbrand’s 59. That does not make Hibbing-Chisholm anything less than dangerous, but it means the Bluejackets will have significant offense to replace while Hermantown returns much of its proven scoring core.
That is why the Hawks should enter the winter with legitimate Section 7A championship expectations. Hermantown does not need to manufacture a preseason case based on projections because Christy, Martalock, Madill and Lendzyk have already produced at a high level in varsity hockey.
The more interesting development is what several of them are doing now.
Christy is not simply lifting weights and skating through offseason practices while waiting for November. He is being tested in the USHL.
Martalock is not simply preparing to duplicate a 40-point high school season. He is competing in an NAHL environment designed to challenge him against older players.
Lendzyk and Wojtysiak are not spending September playing casual fall hockey. They are skating for the defending Upper Midwest Elite League champion against many of the best high school-age players available.
Eventually, those players are expected to come back together in Hermantown. Andrews then gets the opportunity to take players sharpened in several different fall environments and build them into one high school hockey team.
That is where September could pay dividends in February.
Hermantown’s official season has not started, and nobody should confuse impressive returning statistics with a championship already won. Hibbing-Chisholm remains the Section 7A champion until somebody takes the trophy away.
The Hawks, however, already have enough proven offensive talent to make another serious run. The fact that several of their most important returning players are spending the fall being pushed at the USHL, NAHL and Elite League levels only strengthens the argument that Hermantown could be considerably better when the games that matter most finally arrive.
This is not a team simply waiting for winter to begin. Hermantown’s preparation for February is already underway.
