| Liam Hupka | Minnetonka HS | Minnesota HS | R | D | 6’3″ | 184 | Eden Prarie, MN | 2005 | 2022-2023: C |
MN-HS: Minnetonka vs Hill-Murray, January 9, 2023: Hupka is one of the biggest players on the ice and is tough as nails in front of the net not allowing any opportunities for the opposing teams. He picks up sticks and drives players away from the net to allow his goalie to see shots that may be taken. Liam plays a solid responsible game in the D zone. Liam does have some good speed for a big man and is very tough to knock off the puck while he is moving up ice. Liam has some precision passing abilities in finding tight area tape-to-tape passes. He also read the ice well for quick up stretch passes. With his slick passing Liam was able to tally three assists on the night. Does a nice job of sealing off the blue line and keeping the puck low making it difficult to break out. Grade: B+
MN-HS: Thanksgiving Preview, December 2, 2022: Hupka is a strong-willed, efficient defenseman that makes contributions in all situations. Defensively he makes difficult assignments look effortless as he plays well positionally and keeps calm under duress. In this game, he supplied a lot of pressure on opposing forwards and kept the play away from the slot area. His offensive game is a bit undervalued as he continues to develop this aspect of his game. He demonstrated this by contributing a powerplay goal on a cannon of a shot from approximately 45 feet. If he can add a little deception to his offensive game, he could be in line for a major uptick in points as the tools are there to succeed. Grade: B+
MN-HS: Minnetonka vs Andover, November 26, 2022: Hupka totaled 26:36 in ice time including 4:22 while on the power play and 5:02 while shorthanded. He is listed at 6’3″ but he seemed to defend longer than that as he played his stick on the ice and was very good at disguising his poke check. In the defensive zone he controlled his corner limiting cycling by simply manhandling his opponents into the walls. In front of his net he had little trouble clearing shooting lanes and he did a nice job of keeping his eyes on the puck while opposing defensemen walked the blueline or changed shooting lanes. He scored a power play goal on a sweeping snapshot and he fired rocket one-timer just before that. Offensively he moved his feet to alleviate pressure and created passing lanes for easy breakouts. Although not a dangler he showed the awareness to change shooting lanes from the point without over handling the puck. He finished the game +2 with a goal, 3 power play shots, 1 grade “A” opportunity, 3 hits one of which was a reverse shoulder check that sent the forechecker flying and had 2 shots blocked at the top of the crease.
USHL: Green Bay Combine, July 2, 2021: Hupka is a tall, rangy prospect out of Minnetonka HS who is still very raw at this stage but showed some upside with his athleticism and instincts. The former 2nd round WHL pick in the US Draft has a long reach and uses it to his advantage poking pucks away and forcing opponents to the outside by angling them towards the boards and taking away passing lanes to the middle. He has an awkward stride but has deceptive closing speed to tighten the gap and make an open ice hit and he’s got a clever hip check he’ll use when opponents try to drive wide on him. He keeps his shots low from the point and makes a firm pass up to his forwards in the neutral zone on the tape. He’ll need work on his stride, his agility and his puck play in order to reach his full potential but the tall, rangy defender has real upside as he grows into his frame and irons out the kinks because he knows where to be on the ice, he reads plays well, has a long reach and ability to shut down opponents with his size and body positioning. May not get picked because he’s still a ways off but he’s got a lot of long term potential. Grade: B-
U14: Minnesota Bantam Elite League, September 4, 2019: It was a strong weekend for Liam as he played a very smart and simple game. With and without the puck he was calm in terms of reading the play in front of him. Defensively he showed a nice stick breaking up plays and staying on the right side of the puck. Hockey sense was strong and he showed upside.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
