EDINA, Minn. — These are busy times for Brodie Ziemer. But he made a few minutes — before getting in an intense workout, then shuffling off to a landscaping job — to meet a reporter in the Braemar Arena parking lot on a recent weekday morning.
It was less than 24 hours after Ziemer, 16, caused his phone to blow up by announcing that the high-scoring forward from the far-flung southwest suburbs would be headed to the Minnesota Gophers, after at least two seasons playing for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
If you just count the assists he recorded last winter, Ziemer was a point-per-game player for Shattuck-St. Mary’s as a high school sophomore, putting up 59 helpers in 59 games. When you factor in the 49 goals he tacked on, for 108 points, the intense recruitment of this average-sized forward makes plenty of sense.
“He’s a skillful kid who passes when he needs to pass and shoots when he needs to shoot. He plays with his head up,” Shattuck-St. Mary's coach Tom Ward said. “A lot of guys like to play with him because he goes and gets the puck, he doesn’t wait for it, he goes and gets it and he’s got a little waggle to his tail.”
When making his college announcement via Instagram, Ziemer posted a picture of himself in a U of M sweater and hat, taken in the Gophers locker room in 2011. Look closely and you can see Nick Bjugstad’s autograph on the gold “M” on the front of his jersey. Clearly, becoming a Gopher one day was not a new idea.
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“I grew up watching them, so this was my dream, and a pretty easy decision,” Ziemer said.
The decision was a departure from his childhood afternoons on an outdoor rink, when Brodie admits trying to emulate everything his older brother, Brady, did. Brady will be a junior defenseman at St. Cloud State next season and has played 30 games on defense for the Huskies in his first two seasons of college hockey. Their sister, Brier, is a gymnast at Metro State in Denver.
Brodie gave SCSU a visit, but in the end followed his heart to Dinkytown.
“We were so competitive, all three of us, my sister included, growing up,” Brady recalled. “Everything I did, Brodie wanted to be better than me at it, so he worked his tail off constantly and you can see over the years how the work he’s put in has gotten into his game.”
College hockey will be the second big move Brodie plans to make in the next two years. Later this month, he will move to Plymouth, Mich., where he plans to skate for the NTDP for the next two years. He certainly did not pick the easy route when selecting his next hockey option.
“I thought it was probably going to be the most challenging, and what they do there is awesome, developing some of the best players, so it was another pretty easy decision for me,” Ziemer said of the NTDP move.
On the ice, his game is still developing, and improving his skating is his top pre-college goal.
“I’m a little bit of a mix. I feel I’m kind of physical, but I have the skill side,” he said. “And I like to get in front of the net.”
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Ziemer’s commitment to the Gophers comes on the heels of Beckett Hendrickson, John Whipple and Javon Moore doing the same in the past week. Based on their backgrounds, there could be a reunion of sorts in two years on the ice at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“I spent two weeks this summer with Beckett out in Detroit. Javon was on my peewee team. Wipple was my roommate at Shattuck last year and he’s my best friend,” Ziemer said. “So it’s awesome.”
