Forward Avery Hanowski has been on a steady upward trajectory over the past year. The Rosemount native was one of the top athletes on his Bantam AA team in the past, but his stock as a top prospect in the 2010 birth year really started to take off after a successful sophomore season of high school hockey in 2025-26, followed by a selection to represent Team USA at the U17 Four Nations Tournament in Chomutov, Czechia, this past summer. 

The young skater officially made the varsity roster at Rosemount High School in the fall of 2025 as just a 15-year-old. Although it took a few games to get adjusted to the new level of competition, Hanowski quickly propelled up the line chart and started to impress coaches and scouts with how well he adapted to varsity hockey. 

“It was definitely an exciting time, hearing that I made the varsity team and everything at the beginning of the year, but I started on a lower line and had to work my way up,” said Hanowski about his first few games of play with the Irish squad. “Once I started to really play and get going, it was really fun.” 

He added that it wasn’t hard to have chemistry with his teammates and linemates since many of the Rosemount players all played roller hockey together in the summer, so by the time the winter high school hockey season came around, they already felt like they knew each other quite well, and it wasn’t like meeting an entire group of brand new people. 

Hanowski, who was 15-years-old for a large portion of the high school hockey season in 2025-26, ended up scoring 23 points through 31 games for a talented Rosemount team that only had four losses in the regular season prior to playoffs. The Irish squad, a bit controversially, received the No. 1 seed in Section 3AA and proceeded to play exceptionally well in its three section playoff matchups. 

“We felt good going into the playoffs; I think we were on a little win streak [7 games], but we were pretty surprised when we got the No. 1 seed,” said Hanowski. “But when we got it [the No. 1 seed], we knew like, ‘now it’s time to go’, and after those first two games against Apple Valley and Eastview, we were like, ‘we’re ready for this final game’.”

The Irish earned strong shutout victories in both the section quarterfinal and semifinal rounds against Apple Valley/Burnsville and Eastview, respectively, before the ultimate section final match-up against rival St. Thomas Academy, the No. 2 seed. The Cadets and the Irish hadn’t played each other in the regular season, so neither team knew quite what to expect going into the game, and the stakes were high as there was a trip to the state tournament on the line. Both sides knew it wouldn’t be an easy feat to pull out a win. 

“I think the boys were a little nervous going into that game [against St. Thomas Academy] and just not knowing much since we never played them before that season, and we only had a little bit of film to watch and stuff, but after the first few minutes all the boys felt pretty confident that we could win the game and that the game wasn’t out of reach at all,” said Hanowski about the section final match. 

The big game was played at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, the new rink at the University of St. Thomas, and the environment was extremely rambunctious and packed full of fans from both schools. 

“It was nuts, it was probably the most fans I’ve ever played in front of [outside of the state tournament], just like coming out for warm-ups and seeing so many people there, and you come out for your starting lineups, and it was just packed to the brim, which was crazy,” the Rosemount native said about the crazy environment for the section final. 

The match was tied at 1-1 heading into the third period before Rosemount scored a second goal early in the final frame, and later on an eventual empty-net goal to further secure the victory. This meant that the Irish were going to just their second-ever state tournament, and the school’s first appearance at the boys tournament since 1992 - way before any of the skaters on the ice were even born. 

The Irish were the No. 4 seed at the Class AA state tournament and played in a pair of tough games right off the bat at the legendary event. In the state quarterfinal, Rosemount took down Grand Rapids in overtime, 3-2, with Hanowski receiving the primary assist on the overtime game-winning goal from senior Cade Sherman (an Augustana commit). 

“It was crazy [playing at the state tournament, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul - now recently renamed ‘Grand Casino Arena’], you just kind of look around and try to take everything in, and guys on the bench were saying like, ‘look up and it just keeps going,’ and there’s just so many people, but once everyone settled in, it was kind of just like we were back at the RCC [Rosemount Community Center] playing our game,” said Hanowski about the overall team vibe on the bench in the quarterfinal match against the Thunderhawks. 

The Irish then had a tough test to take on No. 1-seeded Minnetonka in the semifinal round. Rosemount took an early 2-0 lead, but Minnetonka clawed back and eventually forced overtime before winning it on a goal from forward Cash Hardie. 

“The Minnetonka game was kind of a roller coaster with emotions and everything, starting off with getting a goal in the first few minutes and then getting another two in the second period, but then they scratched back into it - it was just a tough ending but a hard-fought win for them. They’re a deep team, and they were good,” Hanowski said about the wild, back-and-forth semifinal game against the Skippers. 

After the semifinal loss, Rosemount went on to defeat Edina in the Class AA third-place game by a score of 4-2, so although it wasn’t the game they were hoping to originally be playing in, they still got to end their season on a high note. 

“It was really nice [playing in the third-place contest]. The boys were saying at the start of the tournament that we needed to win the first game and that we can’t be leaving the Xcel right away after making ‘The Tourney’, so then eventually when we were able to go play in the third-place game, our coaches were like, ‘don’t just go and lay an egg, end it on a good note with the boys’,” said Hanowski about the experience of playing against the Hornets in the third-place match. 

With Hanowski showing off quite a bit of talent on the ice as just a sophomore for the Irish in 2025-26, he started to garner the interest of various Division I college hockey programs. He was allowed to be contacted by college coaches on January 1st of 2026, and the University of St. Thomas was one of the very first teams that reached out.

“I had some programs reach out, like St. Thomas was kind of always there. January 1st, they reached out, and then on August 1st they reached out again [the very first day that programs can make verbal offers to those in the graduating class of 2028], and it just felt like they truly wanted me, so I knew it was the program I wanted to be with too, and that’s why I chose them,” the now 16-year-old said about his recruiting process. 

Hanowski made his commitment to the Tommies official on September 27th, 2026. Just a few days after his current Rosemount teammate Channing Goodwin also chose UST. 

“I am proud and honored to announce my commitment to play Division I hockey at the University of St. Thomas. I would like to thank my family, friends, coaches, advisor, and everyone else who helped me along the way. #rolltoms,” he posted to his social media pages. 

“It’s really nice with how close they are [the campus is located in St. Paul, a short drive from Rosemount], and it checks all the boxes that I would ever have or that any player would ever have to make it to the next level,” he said about why he chose the Purple and Gray. “It just helps a lot being only like 30 minutes from home, so whenever I’m at college I could just come home for a dinner or talk to my parents, and they can come watch my games, and everything just works perfectly. It was a mix of everything though: joining the new league helps a lot [the NCHC], and the new rink is just outstanding [the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena], but the coaching staff was just so welcoming, and they’re all such nice people; it just made the decision really easy to make.”

The Tommies have recruited a lot of Minnesotans over the past few years, so Hanowski has heard plenty of good things about St. Thomas from those around him. It helps that his current teammate in Goodwin is also now recruited there for the future and that there are a lot of APX ties to the UST program as well, so there will be a lot of familiar faces on the team once he gets out to college in the next few years. 

Going through the college recruiting process in the summer of 2026 wasn’t the only thing that kept Hanowski busy, though, as the young forward participated in the USA Hockey Boys National 16s Player Development Camp in Amherst, New York, and from there was selected to compete at the U17 Four Nations Tournament with Team USA in Chomutov, Czechia, in August. 

Hanowski and Team USA played in one exhibition match before winning each of their four games at the event, with three of the four matchups going to overtime or to shootouts. The American squad eventually won the championship game against host country Czechia by a score of 5-4 in a shootout. 

“It was really fun. I think we made some of the games a little more stressful than they should have been, but in the end it all ended up working out,” Hanowski joked. “It was super cool though, definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. Just being able to wear the ‘USA’ across your chest and everything - it’s really surreal. You don’t realize until it’s over, like ‘wow, that just happened’.”

It also was a fun experience for the rest of Avery’s family, who were able to come out and watch the games and make a fun family vacation out of the experience. Chomutov is a northwestern city in Czechia, located between the capital city of Prague and the large German city of Dresden. Avery is the oldest of three children, with a younger brother and a younger sister, and hockey seems to run in the family as his father, Jared, is originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, and played college hockey at Bemidji State from 2000-2004. 

“Avery’s game has a high ceiling due to his athleticism, puck skills, and offensive prowess. He’s been a playmaker and scoring threat from a young age, and it’s exciting to see him maintain that impact as he plays at different levels and in different environments,” said APX Director of Player Development Wes Jirovec about the Rosemount native who has trained with the program since 2022. “He comes from a great family with strong values. We’ve seen that foundation shine through the different challenges that Avery has seen in our building. He’s a great kid to have in the locker room, on the bench, and on the ice. It’s important to have that presence that your teammates/peers are attracted to. That matters to us, and that will matter for Avery with every future team he plays for.”

As of right now in mid-October, Hanowski is currently resting an upper-body injury but had originally started the season playing on Team APX at the Upper Midwest High School Elite League. He is excited to return to Rosemount for his junior season of high school hockey this winter.

“Yeah, I think all the guys are super pumped [at Rosemount]. We have a good chunk of guys coming back, and we have all the key pieces we need,” said Hanowski about the upcoming 2026-27 season. “I think we’re going to make a deep run.”

For his future in junior hockey, Hanowski’s WHL rights are to Wenatchee and his USHL rights are to Omaha, so he will have some options on where to play in the future. 

“I’m a big, two-way defensive center that can play in both ends and is smart, but can still make plays on the offensive end, too,” he self-described his style of play. 

Hanowski and the Rosemount squad will open the season on Nov. 27th and 28th at the ‘Tonka Thanksgiving Preview at the Pagel Ice Center against Chanhassen and Minnetonka, respectively. 

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