Best of the West #15: Ben Hanowski, St. Cloud

Ben Hanowski, Forward, 6-2 198 lbs., Little Falls(MN) High School

Role he'll likely play: Hanowski is a pure scorer, and St. Cloud always has room for players like that. It might take some time for him to adjust to playing 5-on-5 at the college level, but he could make a contribution right away on the powerplay. St. Cloud's powerplay went from the best in the WCHA in 07-08 to 8th in 08-09, with the difference being they lost  big, left-handed shooting Andreas Nodl working along the right side of the goalmouth on their powerplay in 08-09. Hanowski seems a natural fit to be plugged into that position.

Why he is ranked here: Hanowski was a tremendous scorer at the high school level, but hasn't really played a lot against tough competition. It may take a while for him to adjust to the bigger, faster competition. But he does possess a scoring ability that few players his size have.

Why he'll be great: Players like Garrett Roe and Ryan Lasch should create opportunities for Hanowski to show off his abilities and pick up a lot of points.

Why he might not: He'll have to adjust to getting only a couple scoring opportunities per game as opposed to getting a couple per shift at the high school level. He'll also have to learn more about the defensive side of the game now that he is in college.

Contrived Rivals-style star ranking: 4 stars