frederick61 wrote:Tanner asked if I had seen Hopkins play. I have not. I haven’t seen Hopkins play. But I plan to. They haven’t many games scheduled since they placed third in their Thanksgiving tourney (lost to Forest Lake 3-0). I hope to get to the Pavilion for their game with Maple Grove on the 11th.
I do know that Hopkins tied Wayzata 4-4 in mid-November, about a week after losing 1-0 to Orono. It is that Orono loss that caused me to draw the conclusion that Wayzata is going to dominate. If Orono had played Wayzata close, then I would have a different view. However, I am aware that Hopkins, not Wayzata swept D3 peewee regular season and playoffs last year. Wayzata had to sneak into the regions with the #3 seed. So anything can happen.
Frederick 61 wrote "However, I am aware that Hopkins, not Wayzata swept D3 peewee regular season and playoffs last year. Wayzata had to sneak into the regions with the #3 seed. So anything can happen"
Frederick61-
Who won the Peewee A State Championship Last Year???????????????
southernhockey1 wrote:Frederick 61 wrote "However, I am aware that Hopkins, not Wayzata swept D3 peewee regular season and playoffs last year. Wayzata had to sneak into the regions with the #3 seed. So anything can happen"
Frederick61-
Who won the Peewee A State Championship Last Year???????????????
Wayzata did. I was at Tartan when they beat Apple Valley 3-2 and I also saw the two semi's that went into overtime and watched Duluth East miss an open net just before the Wayzata team won. But Wayzata placed third in D3 playoffs. If D3 didn't have three reps in the region last year, they wouldn't have won anything. But they played well as a team. You might also note that the two Wayzata B teams played in the peewee B state championship game. The Gold and the Blue beat two Edina teams in the regional finals to qualify. Last year was a successful year for the Wayzata peewees.
Once again, please check the facts. Had District 3 not sent 3 teams to Regions last season, Wayzata still would have gone . They lost to Hopkins in the District Championship 3-2...
Wayzata played in the West Region last year in the Blue Division at Mound. I was there. I remembered that they were the #3 seed. I did not get to the D3 playoffs last year, but I did check out the Minnesota Hockey website and confirmed that Wayzata was the #3 seed in the West Region. Sometimes it can be mistakenly written down wrong, but that is how it was documented. I also remember that Hopkins beat Maple Grove in the finals of the D3 playoffs, but can't confirm that.
I did not mean to start an argument guys- Frederick is correct southern. It is true they played Hopkins in the championship game and lost but the district tourney was double elimination and the next day maple grove beat wayzata in the back door bracket championship and thus were seated third in the regions.
As for Wayzata this year- pretty darn good, just not as great as everyone thinks.
So you are missing my point. Hopkins and Wayzata would have been the two seeds from District 3 if there wasn't a third seed. MG would have been eliminated in the semifinals.
First, Hopkins beat Wayzata in the forward bracket championship. Now at this point, after hopkins beat wayzata, Wayzata and Maple Grove once again had to play each other. This game was to decide the second and third seeds representing district three at regions- in the backdoor championship.
In a double elimination tournament, there are always two teams with one loss each that must play each other after all other losers are eliminated!
Well........ Maple Grove beat wayzata (both had one loss at this point), and....... thus Maple grove (one loss)was declared the second seed at regions and Wayzata (two losses) was seeded third.
What Frederick correctly stated is that if only two teams from district 3 had been allowed to participate in regions, Wayzata would have stayed home after their last loss to Maple Grove.
The deer processor came through. The meat was ready, but my timing was off with the relatives that lived in that area. Either I go Friday and watch the Moorhead Tourney and miss visiting them or I change my plans and go early next week and miss the tourney. Some battles you win, but this was lost before I started. That left Owatonna or Shakopee tourneys or both. For Friday, I chose Shakopee because it would be more convenient and because I wanted to see Sibley. They are 3-0 in D8 and were just coming off a 3-2 loss to D6 Eastview.
Shakopee is one of the newer arenas. It is a little west and south of the high school.
As a town, Shakopee struggled to grow because the wide Minnesota River Valley bordered it on the north, the city side of the river. But more importantly, the river valley forced commuters to take either a lousy 101 two lane bridge to and from the cities or the old Bloomington Ferry Bridge; a narrow two lane bridge with a steep hill on the Bloomington side. There were a number of days I was trapped at the lights on 101 just east of what is now Valley Fair waiting for lights to change in Bloomington so I could cross the Ferry Bridge.
The long traffic delays usually happened when the Minnesota River rose in the spring. There are grim green signs near the 101 bridge that mark high water for various floods in various years. All the marks were above the the approaches to the bridge. Now 169 now cuts a wide swath above and across the river valley just east of Shakopee. The city has boomed. At one point a year ago, it was the second fastest growing town in the US. It still maybe.
The town was always long and narrow with new car dealers on both East and West sides. But 169 runs a mile south and the main drag has become quiet. I stayed on 169 to Marschall and exited to the north, turned left at first light and followed the road west until you hit Fuller. At that point you can see the arena complex across a field on the right.
The arena has a single sheet of ice for this D6 association team. They were holding two tournaments, peewee A and B. Eight peewee A teams were playing the quarter finals on Friday starting at 5:00. I had only seen one team, Crow River, play previously. Mankato and Albert Lea from D4, Sibley from D8, Johnson and Como from D1, MAML and Crow River from D5 and Shakopee from D6 were all in the tourney.
The Shakopee Rink is a nice one for fans once seated in the rink, but when you enter you do not walk through a lobby. That surprised me the first time. You walk through the front doors and a short distance inside are another set of doors. Walking through those you come directly into the rink area. The concessions and lobby area are down the steps behind doors at rink level.
Sibley had drawn St. Paul Johnson in the opening round. The Govs were struggling this year having beaten only Como in D1 play. The tourney games were 3-14 minute stop time periods. And Sibley quickly put Johnson away scoring the first four goals in four minutes. The first period ended 6-0, the final score 16-0. The Sibley coaches were not trying to run up the score, the Govs just struggled.
Most people wouldn’t write about a loss like this, it would seem like rubbing salt into the losing team. I almost passed this up, but I couldn’t shake the image of the Johnson kids out on the ice trying to make a match of the game. They weren’t giving up. Nor were the three mustached coaches on the Johnson bench. This is part of Minnesota Youth hockey. Some might say it is a wasted part, but I believe it isn’t. It is a learning experience for both winners and losers.
You can’t compete without knowing that you can’t win every game. Your team is going to lose. But you don’t have concede the loss before the game is over even when the score is 10-0. That’s was the score in the middle of the second period when the Johnson coach (that reminded me of Wilfred Grimly-the Quaker Oats guy) started a debate with one of the refs over a call. Then it occurred to me that he threw the fit to get his team going, he thought they could win. He was doing he could. And the Guvs played harder.
So I tip my hat to him and to all the Guvs on this team. They may not have earned a victory, but they have earned my respect.
The second game matched Mankato and Crow River. The first period started with a bang as Mankato scored in the first 10 seconds. The game then slowed and was marred with penalties. Mankato added a goal with 6 minutes to go and the period ended with them ahead 2-0.
The second period was entertaining with a lot of up and down action but the score remained unchanged until 9 minutes were left in the game. A Crow River wing picked a rebound off the goalie and batted it by the downed goalie, 2-1. Mankato then drew a penalty.
Playing short handed, they scored 30 seconds later on a rush when a defenseman knuckleballed a puck past an outstretched goalies pad, 3-1. Crow River came back with a goal on a tip with four minutes to go, but could not get the tying goal. They lost 3-2. I left after that for some personal stuff. But Shakopee did beat Como 7-2 and Albert Lea beat MAML 5-4 to complete the first round play.
Owatonna is not that far from the cities especially if you have clear sailing down Interstate 35. On a Saturday morning, the freeway was clear. The Owatonna Peewee A tourney was being played at Four Seasons Centre arena in Owatonna. Once you clear the 35W/35E junction in Burnsville, it seams like a half hour drive even though there is a sign south of the McStop that says 38 miles. I didn’t speed and in the 5 degree temperature in the 7:00 morning, I just wanted heat. South of Highway 19 exit, I saw two deer grazing on a snowy field. On the return, I would see about a dozen wild turkeys scratching at dirt along the right of way ignoring passing cars as they fed.
I had been to the Four Seasons Arena before. They have two sheets of ice, one warm and one cold. I couldn’t remember which was which, but I hoped the games I wanted to see were in the warm rink. With two sheets of ice, Owatonna was having one peewee A tourney. It had an eight team bracket play. The first two quarter final games were played Friday night. Cambridge-Isanti beat the host, Owatonna, 7-1. North St. Paul beat Armstrong 6-5. That meant this morning I could see Rochester Black play Des Moines, Burnsville play Omaha in the remaining quarter final games and one semifinal game between C-I and North St Paul.
Owatonna, like Shakopee, is a growing city. It has I-35 with a Cabela’s and Medford shopping near-by. The town itself is set mostly on the east side of the freeway. I always liked it because the downtown area (or at least what I call downtown) is a square with a park and a block north of the square is a small bible college. Isaiah 35 (I-35) has a verse “And a highway will be there”. That was in the news recently because some people consider I-35 that highway, a holy highway. A middle part of Isaiah 35 contains the verse “The simple will not stray from it.” I have lived in a small town and life was simple. I enjoyed it. I like Owatonna. It all fits together.
But I don’t like their ice. The two sheets were as I remembered them. Fortunately the first game was on the warm side, but the warm side is a big arena that seats over a 1000 people. All the seats were marked and had back rests. The ice and sight lines are okay, but the size pushes one back away from the game. Something you experience in any larger arena. I sat down behind one of the players benches. The National Anthem had just ended as I walked in. The players were being announced and I settled in. Des Moines was playing Rochester Black in the quarter final game and it was a good game. A parent told me the Des Moines team was one of the better teams in the Des Moines area. The games were 15 minute stop time periods.
About half way through the first period, a Des Moines forward scored on a rebound to put them up 1-0. A loud locomotive horn blasted away in celebration. It was about 8:30 AM and I almost fell out of the seat. Instinctively, I ducked a little to avoid a train that I thought would roll through under the score board. I suddenly noticed that all the sound effects were train noises, not the usual AC/DC rock from the 70’s and 80’s. During pauses in the play there were bells clanging and trains rumbling while lines changes. Two loud horns later, the first period ended with Des Moines up 3-0. Buttoning up I moved to the Burnsville-Omaha game next door.
I couldn’t take the lack of heat. Fortunately Burnsville scored early and then methodically proceeded to add goals. I gladly gave up the arena and returned to the large rink. It was on the break, the ice was being cleaned. The score at the end of the second was 4-2. The third period was entertaining with the kids skating well on both teams. Des Moines added to its lead about the 10 minute mark and Rochester came back with another goal. The score was Des Moines 5 hornblasts; Rochester 3 hornblasts.
With a little over 4 minutes left in the game and the face-off in the Des Moines end, the Rochester coach attempted to sneak an extra forward out on the ice, pulling the goalie. One ref counted six forwards and whistled the player back to the bench, but the kid loudly protested they had pulled the goalie. With the cover broken, Des Moines put in an empty netter 30 seconds later, its 6th horn blast. The game ended 6-3. It was a good game.
I took a sneak peak at the Burnsville game, saw the score was 7-0 and quickly returned to the large rink acting as a train station for a semifinal game between Cambridge-Isanti and North St. Paul. C-I has a good team, I had seen them before in the Burnsville Tourney. But this was the first time for North St. Paul. NSP is a physical team that have some good skaters. But C-I had the speed edge. Both teams shot the puck well, but NSP have some of the hardest shots I have seen for a peewee team.
NSP started the game quickly, scoring on a tip in off a rush to go up 1-0 less then two minutes into the period. C-I came back with two goals, one a solo break that trickled slowly in after the initial save, the second on a rebound into the open net after the initial save. On a short side deflection and a misplay of the puck by the C-I goalie and with less then 2 minutes to go in the period, NSP had regained the lead, 4-2. But C-I came back on the NSP when the defensemen broke down and allowed the C-I forwards to rush the goalie and bang in the rebound before they could get back in the play. The first period ended 4-3 or seven hornblasts.
Period 2 opened with C-I scoring on a long shot from the neutral zone to tie the game 4-4. A tip in on a shot from the point put NSP up again at 5-4, but another rush through the NSP defense by the C-I forwards tied the score 5-5 ending the second period. It stayed that way through the third period, neither team scoring. That meant the game would be settled in a 5 minute overtime four on four (running time) period or eventually a shootout.
I wondered how the coaches would play their lines in the OT and was surprised to see they kept their most successful players out until the third shift. With running time, this meant that less then 2 minutes remained in the OT before they skated success against success. With those lines out, C-I put on the pressure in NSP zone but couldn’t pull the trigger. NSP did when a puck bounced free along the board. The loose puck was picked up a NSP player on a breakaway. He slid the puck in, NSP 6, C-I 5. A good game, train noises and all. Then I left.
It was noon and I was hungry. There are 3 great places that I know to get a sandwich if you are south of the cities, a chicken sandwich at the Farmington Steak House in Farmington, a fish sandwich at the Whistle Stop Café along Highway 61 near Frontenac and a bacon double cheeseburger at the AW in Faribault. I headed for the AW. It is different then most fast food places because in the center of the dining is a circular fireplace. I knew I would be able to get my back warm.
When I started this thread, I knew there would come a day when I would see what I call “an ugly hockey game”. To me, “an ugly hockey game” is a game that no longer hockey, but it is about other things. The refs, the fans, the players or the coaches can make it so. They happen and in ways that I can never predict. But I made up my mind that when I did see one, I would describe it as accurately as I could.
Personal things took me out of action this Sunday morning. I couldn’t get away until noon and that meant I had to pass up the Shakopee Tourney (peewee A final was at 11:00). But the Owatonna final was at 1:00 and that would work. Besides I thought North St. Paul would play either Des Moines or Burnsville. It would be a good game, physical size against speed.
The third place game was still going when I arrived. Des Moines was beating Cambridge-Isanti 5-0. The final score was 6-0. This meant to me that Burnsville was going to give the North St. Paul team fits. They did.
The train noises were replaced with soft country music. I found a seat in the middle of the arena between the two teams fans just as the Burnsville team skated out on the ice. The game started fast. NSP struck first within the first few minutes of the first period to go up 1-0. But Burnsville came back to score a quick tying goal. That frustrated the NSP team. Whenever NSP would score, Burnsville would strike back quickly. But in the first, the Blaze added two goals without NSP answering. They led at the end of the period 3-1. The ice was cleaned after the period. The arena seemed peaceful as I listened to some country music ballads. No train horn blasting, no bells clanging, no trains rumbling by in the loud speakers.
It was quiet as the ice was resurfaced.
NSP came out determined in the second period and scored to close the gap to 3-2. But before they could gain any momentum, Burnsville came back and scored again, 4-2. Then the game turned ugly.
Some early remarks by the NSP fans had made the Burnsville crowd edgy. Now the NSP players became very physical in their attempt to get back in the game; but some of their physical play was clearly outside the rules. Burnsville players were getting hit long after they would make a pass and the Burnsville fans were getting upset, not vocal just upset. The refs would let it go. Then in a melee, the refs would call a NSP penalty that was barely discernable to the fans as if to make up for a missed call. This made the NSP fans vocal about the bad calls.
Clearly Burnsville fans could see the unfair hits and no calls. Just as clearly the NSP fans could see no penalty when an NSP penalty was called. This was the classic ingredients for trouble. The refs had created a situation where the players, the coaches and the fans all thought they were being “jobbed”. Worst, everybody thought they were clearly right.
Still the game moved along. I started to hold my breath. When Burnville scored its sixth goal to put the game away in the last 6 minutes of the third period, it blew the emotion restraints off the NSP fans and perhaps some of its players.
The NSP fans cheers became not positive (great shot, good save) but negative (hit him, do your job ref). The refs started to step in and make the calls, but it resulted in piling up NSP penalties. With less then 6 minutes to go they ejected an NSP player, a few minutes a Burnsville player lay crumpled on the ice in front of the NSP goalie. After some delay, he was helped off the ice directly to the locker room.
The game resumed. Burnsville scored a power play goal. As more NSP penalties were called, the NSP fans became more vocal. The refs had now slowed the game down as they sorted through their calls. One NSP fan yelled at them to get the game over with. There was 2 minutes of running time left. On the power play, there was another collision in the NSP zone in the near corner. I didn’t see it. A Burnsville player ended up flat on his back, motionless. But a split second before the collision, a NSP fan called out “hit him”.
To me that call, "hit him", had little impact on what actually happened on the ice, but it was the straw that broke the back for the Burnsville fans. The game had become ugly and it was no longer about the kids on the ice, even the hurt kid. The Burnsville fans started to jib words at the NSP fans.
The NSP fans fell quiet. I could see that they as a group did not want to see the kid hurt and I could see the Burnsville fans were angry having two of their players hurt. They were both right in their own minds. I could understand how both of them felt.
The horn went off ending the game with players, coaches and refs milling around on the ice (it was running time). The Burnsville team was attempting to celebrate, but they couldn’t. The announcer came on to try to get the awards started, but the kid in the corner was still flat on his back. He hadn’t moved. The Burnsville fans were shooting admonishments at the NSP fans who were quickly wishing they could do what I did.
I left. There may have been an awards ceremony, who knows. I expect in that no one in the arena really cared. Who’s fault was it? The refs, the fans, the players, and the coaches will all leave this game thinking they are right. The final score was 7-2 and I didn’t care. What happened at that game wasn’t hockey. It was a good game before it became ugly. Now it was just an ugly game.
As I drove away I saw the ambulance pull up. Most kids take those hits and trips to the emergency ward and show up for practice the next day. That’s what happens most often. Every once in a while, one kid takes those hits and is severely hurt. I hoped that is not what happened tonight and said a little prayer for both Burnsville players.
I was at the NSP-Burnsville game. The NSP team was not playing hard hitting hockey..they were playing intent to injure hockey. The NSP coaching staff should be embarrassed with the way several of their players were out to just maim the Burnsville squad and yet nothing was apparently said.
It was truly a disgrace to the game of hockey.
I was not at the BV-NSP game and I have no dog in that fight. I am a D6 guy and I think the soft way that PWA games are called in D6 league games contributes to events like the NSP/BV fiasco. D6 teams Edina and Minnetonka had similar experiences in Duluth this weekend.
In D6 PWA league games, almost every hard hit is called a penalty, whether it is clean or not. Any player finishing a check is called for interference. I saw "roughing" called in open ice when a defensmen hit a forward in the chest with his shoulder. The defensman was big and the forward was little. The hit was clean. No one was hurt.
As a result, D6 teams are not used to playing (and parents watching) the hard physical hockey that most of Minnesota plays. So when they go to a tournament and are involved in a physical game, everyone gets offended by the physical play. This is especially true when teams are finishing their checks. Parents think their kids are not being protected. Emotions spiral. 12-year-old boys get juiced up. The game gets ugly. Like F61, I have seen great hockey games get ugly when everyone thinks they are right. In fact, in their own districts, they both are probably right.
In my opinion, the D6 PWA games should be called with a better distinction between a clean hit and a dirty hit. Just because a check is loud or a big guy hits a little guy, does not mean it is a penalty. Its a more difficult way to call a game, but the refs in D6 are experienced and are up to the task.
For the time being, PWA D6 parents have to understand that our league games are called "soft" and that when we go outside of our district, the games will be more physical and less penalties will be called. D6 coaches should prepare their players accordingly-for both types of games.
There is never any excuse for players to play dirty. To hear that fans from NSP were acting that way shows why their team is so dirty...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I will agree that bad refs can lose control of a game but we should never forget; it's a kids game! There is never any excuse for parents to lose their control, especially at the peewee level. It's also a coaches job to make sure that they keep their players under control and that's even more important when a game starts to get 'ugly' (whether it is due to refs or fans). I hope those Burnsville players are all right and I hope that NSP parents and coaches are ashamed of what happened.
I was at the WSP Sibley/Johnson game in Shakopee this week end where the Johnson team lost 16 to 0. I did keep track and yes the Johnson team lost big but the three mustached Johnson coaches continued to play all three lines equally. There was times that Sibley put what they call the best Pee Wee player in the state McFadden every other shift and even played a suck hole play twice after the score was 11 to 0. I have gained more respect for the Johnson team for trying to develop players and less respect for Sibley team & Coaches and other so called top 20 teams for running up scores to climb up the ratings. It all comes down to who wins at play-off time and in District 8 I have to wonder if Sibley will be around. ( Just My opinion)
The 2 Burnsville players injured in Sunday's Championship game with NSP, were both back at practice last night. They weren't taking any checks, but they were both on the ice. Great News!
One of our players was severely injured during the consolation championship game against Armstrong Sunday in the Owatonna tourney. He was about 4 feet way from the boards and was railed full speed from behind into the boards by an Armstrong player. Luckily he got his head up. He lay motionless on the ice for about 7 minutes then after 7 minutes he started twitching his legs. That was a huge relief. Even so, he was taken away on a stretcher and the Armstrong player was ejected. After that, everyone on my team, (Rochester) just wanted to crush people. People were hitting each other extremely hard and punching in front of the net and so on.. I myself was cross checked in the mask and got a bloddy nose. Everyone just became very angry. It was about to turn very ugly but the game was over. We had lost. It really didnt matter because we had heard our friend/teammate would be ok. eventhough he did not skate at practice on Monday, he was in the stands and will be ready to go Friday night against AAP/IGH.
Broke Goalie Dad wrote:The 2 Burnsville players injured in Sunday's Championship game with NSP, were both back at practice last night. They weren't taking any checks, but they were both on the ice. Great News!
This is good news! I am glad to hear that. I hope they both go on to have a successful season.
hockeyfromrochester wrote:One of our players was severely injured during the consolation championship game against Armstrong Sunday in the Owatonna tourney. He was about 4 feet way from the boards and was railed full speed from behind into the boards by an Armstrong player. Luckily he got his head up. He lay motionless on the ice for about 7 minutes then after 7 minutes he started twitching his legs. That was a huge relief. Even so, he was taken away on a stretcher and the Armstrong player was ejected. After that, everyone on my team, (Rochester) just wanted to crush people. People were hitting each other extremely hard and punching in front of the net and so on.. I myself was cross checked in the mask and got a bloddy nose. Everyone just became very angry. It was about to turn very ugly but the game was over. We had lost. It really didnt matter because we had heard our friend/teammate would be ok. eventhough he did not skate at practice on Monday, he was in the stands and will be ready to go Friday night against AAP/IGH.
I didn't see that game and I am sorry to hear that your teammate was hurt. I think I speak for most adults when I say we don't like that kind of play, an ugly game. But you will be playing another physical team in SSP/IGH. I suspect your coach already knows that, so listen to him. Also tell him for me that I thought his use of the goalie at the end of your game with Des Moines showed real imagination. He is to be congratulated.
It was a cold morning. I planned to just jump in the car and leave, but considering the car’s age and the below zero temperature, I decided to warm the vehicle up and leave. The drive would be simple, down 35W to the “McStop” exit (or 70) and go east. At the dead end, turn left and go one block, turn right and don’t stop for a half hour. I did.
The bank sign about a mile outside Farmington said -11 degrees. Colder then I thought and I was running late. And I ran into a major problem in Farmington. A train was stopped, blocking all the east/west streets including 50. The train was not moving. As I danced around the city in my car trying to find passage, I passed two police cars heading in the direction of the train. I wondered if the train’s engine had died in the cold weather. I headed two miles south, found an open RR crossing and headed east picking up 50 again just outside of Farmington.
Though interrupted this time, I enjoy the drive from Farmington east on 50. It passes a colorful Budda (at least I think it is a Budda) “church”, a 15 foot tall man in yellow shorts, a graveyard so close to the road, that you could hit multiple headstones and do significant damage to your if you ever slid off. The graveyard is outside of Hampton. Beyond Hampton is New Tier, a town with a sign proudly announcing the red colored church on the hill in the small town as being 150 years old. To me, it meant that the rolling mounds of farm land had been cultivated and seeded for at least 150 years. They looked great whether covered with snow or corn.
My favorite town along the way is Miesville. The other towns have a church prominently displayed as you enter, but not Miesville. They have a baseball stadium, complete with wood stands and lights for late games. The stadium is home of the Miesville Mudhens. One thing I have promised myself is to take in a Miesville Mudhen baseball game. Beyond Miesville you hit Highway 61, like the Dylan song. And down Highway 61 is Red Wing.
Red Wing is one of those towns that had survived with a charm. It is long and finger like in the street layout to accommodate the river, the railroads and the bluffs and mesas that surround the town. It has the old St. James Hotel and the Sheldon Theater (still kicking myself that I missed Doc Watson playing there a year ago). This Saturday, it’s attraction was a peewee A tourney that featured D8 teams including Woodbury.
I was mad at myself when I arrived. Between my warming the car and the train, I missed the first game. It may have been the best with Red Wing beating St. Paul Johnson 4-2. It would have been nice to see the Guvs again. The second game between Mahtomedi and Northfield was just starting.
The Prairie Island Arena is relatively new. For youth hockey, it is a nice size and the arena is located near the high school. The front entrance makes the building look small. It isn’t. It is a walkout type of arena where everyone enters on the upper level. The players walk down to the rink level and the fans remain on the upper level. The seating looks as if it can seat about 500, but the capacity says more. It is a nice arena with good sight lines and good lighting. Despite metal seats, even on a cold day, the rink side seating was comfortable. The rink displayed typical banners, but every where there was signs of Johnny Pohl who led the high school into the state tourney more then once in the 90’s.
There was also a different banner hanging on the far end. On one side was a Minnesota state flag and on the other a Mdewakonton Sioux Community flag, a sovereign nation. The format for this tournament is bracket play, with each game consisting of three 15 minute stop time period. I was surprised to find that the ice would only be cleaned between games instead of every two periods. That meant the third period of each game would become an endurance test.
This game started with Mahtomedi putting itself in a hole by drawing penalties that forced them to skate short handed for the first ten minutes as Northfield tried to hammer in a goal. They didn’t and at full strength the Zephyrs rapped in a rebound with four plus minutes left to go up 1-0. They added a second goal 15 seconds later. The first period ended 2-0.
The first period had been a choppy game, but the second turned into a good up and down period of hockey. Mahtomedi added a power play goal at the nine minute mark and one more near the end of the period to lead 4-0 at the start of the third. Northfield put pressure on the Zephyrs and at the six minute mark of the third got on board on a power play goal to close the score to 4-1. But two minutes later, the Raiders drew another penalty and Mahtomedi added a goal to put the game out of Northfield’s reach. The final score was 6-1.
The third game was between Woodbury and Waterloo, Ia, which is about 150 mile drive south of Red Wing. Woodbury opened the scoring quickly getting the first goal at the four minute market. But the remainder of the period settled into some good hockey until Woodbury caught Waterloo in a line change and ended a two on none rush by rapping the goal past the goalie. The first period ended 2-0.
The goalie played well for Waterloo, but Woodbury is an excellent team at taking advantage of opportunities. They added two more goals, one another tip in off a two on one rush, to take the lead to 4-0 at the nine minute mark of the second period. Then Waterloo stormed back on two goals in less the a minute. One goal was scored when the puck climbed the goalies stick into the net. With four minutes remaining in the third, Woodbury struck back on another rush and a tip in on the off side of the net at the four minute mark, 5-2. They added another similiar tip in with a minute to go and the period ended 6-2.
Woodbury added another tip in off a rush in the first minute of the third to make the score 7-2 and the game was over. The play became more ragged as the teams tired. Woodbury added a goal at the nine minute mark on a nice individual rush by one their forwards. The score ended 8-3 as Waterloo added one more.
As a nice touch, the tourney organizers had an individual trophy for the “best” player of the game for each team. For this game, they gave it to #30 a goalie for Waterloo, who with some surprise skated up and accepted it. He was on the bench and didn’t play. I hope they straightened it out.
Cottage Grove and New Prague played in the final game of the quarter finals and the first was a good period of hockey with both teams skating and working hard. New Prague scored first at the seven minute mark. They won a face-off in the Cottage Grove end and scored on a rebound to go up 1-0. The period ended that way.
But these 15 minute stop periods become a test of endurance and the New Prague team started to sag. Cottage Grove came on in the second period and scored 4 unanswered goals to put the game away. They added a fifth at the 6 minute mark of the third period to go up 5-1. That’s when I left.
District 8 emerged the winner in this tourney, winning 3 of the 4 games. The sole non-district 8 team in the semifinals is Mahtomedi (D2). I have other plans tomorrow, so I won’t see the finals (the semifinals are being played tonight). Playing in the two semifinal games are Red Wing/Mahtomedi and Woodbury/Cottage Grove.
On the return, it felt warmer. The same bank sign outside Farmington said 17 degrees. It was, by 28 degrees. That's good.
This was a different Sunday. Normally I would return to a tourney somewhere and watch the finals. Not this day. Sunday morning found me exiting 494 Westbound at Bush Lake Road and heading north to Minnesota Made hockey arena. The arena is located in Edina just east of Bramar, home of the Hornets. I had been there for the Eden Prairie Tourney and in the arena's short life have been there often. It seems to draw a lot of peewee teams and is home of peewee AAA teams both summer and winter.
The draw at Minnesota Made was not a tourney, but a sequence of peewee A games starting with Edina playing Maple Grove, then Apple Valley playing Moorhead and finally the Wisconsin Fire AAA team (95) playing St Louis Blues Jr. AAA team.
Snow crunches when it the temperature gets cold, usually below -20 degrees. When I walked into Rink 2, the teams were in their warm-ups and the ice was crunching as the players skated. The whistle starting the game sounded. Maple Grove took it to Edina from the start, applying pressure and tying up Edina in its own zone. They played well. Edina could get the odd rush only to get pinned again.
On one of the rushes, Edina caught the Maple Grove goalie without his stick and made it pay, scoring by rapping the puck in off a melee in front. But Maple Grove came back near the end of the period to end a cleanly skated first period in a 1-1 tie.
For the first two plus minutes of the second period, Edina dominated holding Maple Grove hostage in its own zone. Edina then drew a penalty and playing short handed continued to apply pressure. It was an ominous sign of things to come. Both teams skated off penalties and the second period ended 1-1. But something bothered me.
I finally figured it out. Somebody told me that a number of the Edina players played AAA summer hockey. That did not bother me. I think it is great if a youth player is willing to make the effort to improve his skills. After all, didn’t the “Great One” have his own backyard rink? No, what bothered me was that early in the season, Edina had shown great passing skills as a team. Now they were relying more on the physical game combined with individual rushes. I have seen youth teams go through this before, they take those summer skills and are great teams for the first two months of the season. Then the other teams start to catch up and they struggle.
Edina was going physical and for the second game in a row (that I saw) they were struggling. The third period was 17 minute running time. At the 13 minute mark, a ref caught an Edina defenseman on the puck in his own crease and whistled a penalty shot. Maple Grove promptly scored on the penalty shot and move up 2-1. If that didn’t make matters worst, two minutes later and Edina forward drew a high sticking penalty. But as in previous power plays, Maple Grove struggled.
Trying to hold the zone on the penalty kill, a defenseman lost control of the puck picked up by an Edina forward who scored a short handed goal, top shelf-left side, from the slot. The game was tied 2-2. Thirty seconds later, an Edina forward on a rush scored a second short handed goal, top shelf-left side, from inside the left face-off circle. Edina led 3-2 and Maple Grove was still on the power play.
The two short handed goals took the gas out of Maple Grove. Edina in a series of rushes finally clanked a top shelf-left side pipe with the puck bouncing to the off-side wing who rapped in a fourth Edina goal. The Edina team was playing like the Edina team of last year. As the clock wound down, they drew yet another penalty. As the Edina player skated to the penalty box, an Edina parent next to me astutely observed out loud, “hey, we are on the power play”.
The Moorhead-Apple Valley game was only so-so. Moorhead won 3-2, but it felt like a “get out of town” game. The friendship game of a tourney played early in the morning with the only thing good about it was the teams got to “get out of town”. I would like to see these teams play each other another time in a more significant game.
The final game of the day was the Wisconsin Fire playing the St. Louis Blues AAA team. The Blues were in town in a series of games. This would be the Blues second game of the day. I had learned earlier that their team was formed in September and they played through April. They played about 75 games a year, practiced twice a week. Their games and practices were 90-120 minutes. They played all their games on the weekend. I shuddered at the thought of driving 600 miles plus to St. Louis tonight.
In their game against the Fire, they played their positions well, but lacked the skills of the Fire players. I believe that will come. But not today.
The Fire are a good team, but to me are not a top notch peewee team. By the time I left, the Fire were up 6-0 with 9 minutes to go in the third. I asked somebody why the Wisconsin Fire played here (Minnesota Made). It turns out that the team is a mix of Minnesota and Wisconsin kids and skated out of Minnesota Made. No matter. What mattered more was there were few fans at the game. No one was yelling “Go Fire”. I missed that.