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Seems to be lighting the lamp early on big time. Is he a big kid? Is he gonna keep it up?
I don't care what section or quality of play...I think he has 9 of their 14 goals or something...that ain't bad.

no height or weight posted on hockeyhub but i'd estimate he's about 6 ft 6'1''. West's schedule this year is very favorable to think that he could be potential top scorer in the state.

especially with their crosstown rival giving up 18 against holy catholic and west plays traditonally plays east twice a year, some other favorable matchups will be wascea,austin, and lesueur henderson

it'll be interesting how he matches up against tougher competition like lourdes, albert lea and faribault

It's too bad they could not have placed him on the east to help the struggling program, we sure could use him this year.......

Is he a foreign exchange student?

yes, from Finland..

the kid looks good. pretty tall. hes got great hands and a good shot. however he does not play defense. it looks like west just waits to chip it out to him in the neutral zone for a breakaway

Defiant wrote:It's too bad they could not have placed him on the east to help the struggling program, we sure could use him this year.......

Ville was originally supposed to attend East but his host family dropped out and no one else was able to house him.

two more goals yesterday...host family dropped out?...I'll house him! lol...we could use him up north!

5 more goals tonight. He has more goals than anybody else has points.

will have an interesting match up for thrusday as west goes to faribault which maybe the best team west has played so far this season will be interesting to see how he will perform

Saw him play. Offensively very good. Defensivelly... well offensively he is very good.

downwithcloquet wrote:5 more goals tonight. He has more goals than anybody else has points.

You can teach a kid (most anyway) to play defense...its a whole lot tougher to teach them to put the 'biscuit in the basket' like this kid seems to be doing. Faribault should be a much better test but I bet he gets at least two.

Good call Ken. Rantanen had a hat trick (2 PPG) and one assist tonight in a 6-3 West win. Plus, I don't know where the "doesn't play defense" statements are coming from. He hustles and stays in position on D; his line has only given up one 5 on 5 goal all season.

Could someone who has seen him play give me your take on the kid. Do you think he has D1 potential obviously he can bury the puck but where do you see him playing next year, NAHL, USHL, or somewhere else?

Just curious on where he stacks up against the rest.

Defiant wrote:It's too bad they could not have placed him on the east to help the struggling program, we sure could use him this year.......

East usually ends up getting only the foreign exchange students that can barely skate. They had much better luck with an ex-Minnesota kid who moved back into the area from another state after being gone for quite a few years. He made friends with some of the East players over the summer and decided to enroll at East instead of West. He became a starting defenseman that first season and the next year he was one of the many important parts of the team that went to State. He even got to score a goal in a State tournament game. Dream come true for him. How cool is that.

I went to the game in Faribo Thursday. This kid has great hands. He is the best offensive player I have ever seen in southern Mn. Defensively he could use some work but it is not that bad. As far as his future, D1 talent no question. If Jutting is on the ball he will be wearing a MSU jersey in the near future. From the little I have seen, USHL next year.

Dog_Log17 wrote:I went to the game in Faribo Thursday. This kid has great hands. He is the best offensive player I have ever seen in southern Mn. Defensively he could use some work but it is not that bad. As far as his future, D1 talent no question. If Jutting is on the ball he will be wearing a MSU jersey in the near future. From the little I have seen, USHL next year.

Since one of Juttings kids is already on the West varsity and another one on the way, I'm guessing he's pretty aware of Rantanen. This foreign exchange program could be a great way for him to funnel foreign hockey players through West to MSU.

Played against him , he wasnt that special.
I would say that he maybe has future in D1 or junior leagues.

ballhog wrote:Played against him back in finland, he wasnt that special.
I would say that he doesnt have future in D1 or junior leagues.

Whens the last time you scored 19 goals in 5 games.

well looking at the stats, he had 8 games and only 1+1 in u18 national league qualifications last season... he excelled in the first division, but the difference between national and 1. division is huge.

comparing to erik haula, who plays for the U of M, haula had 43 points in 29 games in u18 national league, though he was 17 at the time. he also played for the u18 national team during the same season.

and then the answer for your question: never, but i'm a d

well looking at the stats, he had 8 games and only 1+1 in u18 national league qualifications last season... he excelled in the first division, but the difference between national and 1. division is huge.

comparing to erik haula, who plays for the U of M, haula had 43 points in 29 games in u18 national league, though he was 17 at the time. he also played for the u18 national team during the same season.

and then the answer for your question: never, but i'm a d

He scored 56 points for Kiekko-Espoo U18. Regardless of the difference in level of competition, 56 points in 25 games is still an average of 2.24 points per game, which is really good. Considering Ville is also on pace to break the goal scoring record (65) with an average of 3.8 goals a game, I think he'd be quite the recruit personally.

In qualifications it's easy to be kept out of score sheet if, as you said, the difference is big between the teams. And besides, 8 games is kind of a small sample size if you compare it to a whole season. I remember maybe ten years ago in the Finnish juniors 1st divisions played a guy named Jussi Makkonen, he got taken to the Finnish team U16, and it was just after that he started to get some hype. Couple of years ago he was the best goal scorer in the finnish elite league and Pittsburgh tried to get him but he chose Minsk (KHL). And this Rantanen has done better in the 1st division. Definitely there is a chance for him to get to being pro.

This or that, I'll be looking close how this situation evolves. This seems kind of rediculous that the difference in the level of competition is this high. I'm wondering if he'll really play this whole season there. What is the record for goals scored and when was it done? Has anybody become a pro from these leagues?

I get what ballhog is saying. For example, Ben Roush plays for Shattuck's AAA Midget Major team. He's leading that team in scoring with 35 points in 27 games. Tyler Bruneteau has only 12 points in 25 games. The big difference is that Tyler is on the Prep team.

By some measures, Mankato West's schedule strength is in the bottom 16% of the state's 154 teams. It goes without saying that he couldn't accomplish his current point totals were he playing for Lakeville North or Buffalo.

Still though, there's no reason to believe he couldn't move on to the NAHL or USHL next year and earn a college scholarship. Maybe there's even a school willing to gamble on him at this early stage... but like Joey Benik and others before him, it's still likely a gamble.

The Exiled One wrote:I get what ballhog is saying. For example, Ben Roush plays for Shattuck's AAA Midget Major team. He's leading that team in scoring with 35 points in 27 games. Tyler Bruneteau has only 12 points in 25 games. The big difference is that Tyler is on the Prep team.

By some measures, Mankato West's schedule strength is in the bottom 16% of the state's 154 teams. It goes without saying that he couldn't accomplish his current point totals were he playing for Lakeville North or Buffalo.

Still though, there's no reason to believe he couldn't move on to the NAHL or USHL next year and earn a college scholarship. Maybe there's even a school willing to gamble on him at this early stage... but like Joey Benik and others before him, it's still likely a gamble.

Long line of the undeserving........ Festler, Hanowski, Benik. Key point is that if Tyler Bruneteau was playing for a Mankato West type team, people would be saying the same thing about him.

MrBoDangles wrote:Long line of the undeserving........ Festler, Hanowski, Benik. Key point is that if Tyler Bruneteau was playing for a Mankato West type team, people would be saying the same thing about him.

Festler and Hanowski are similar to Benik, but not the same. Both Jared and Ben would still have been able to secure WCHA scholarships if they had waited until juniors to commit. The jury is still out on Benik.

Of course, this year Ben and Jared look just as crappy as the rest of the Huskies, but that's neither here nor there.