Hockey Nerd

The MYHockey tournament directory has recently been updated and populated with hundreds of tournaments for the 2009-10 season. Additional tournaments are being added weekly. Please don't hesitate to add missing tournaments by using the "Add New Tournament" link located at the bottom of every tournament page.

A comprehensive list of competitive tournaments helps MYHockey locate thousands of competitive game scores by teams in the system. The list also helps teams locate appropriate tournaments in which to play. Listing a new tournament takes only a couple second.

MYHockeyRankings.com also encourages you to take a look at the MYHockey Rankings Tournament Series.

The MYHockey Rankings Invitational Tournament Series schedule has been posted. The 2009-10 line-up should once again prove exciting.

The MYHockey Rankings Preseason Challenge Tournaments will be held in Chicago the weekend of September 25-27. Last years winner all started the season strong and finished the season in the top 10 of their respective divisions. The competition was excellent last season with most championship games being decided by a single goal. Advanced Tournaments does an incredible job of making sure these are the most competitive preseason tournaments available. Invitations for this tournament were emailed last week. Some teams have changed coaches and/or managers and may not have received their invitations. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the guys at Advanced Tournament if you think you have been missed. MYHockey Rankings Tournament web site.

The MYHockey Rankings Midwinter Classic Tournaments will be held January 16-18, 2010. Invitations will be sent out around November 1st. These tune-ups should get teams back in the groove after the holidays and get them ready for post-season run.

Putting on a great tournament is a ton of work. I know because I have done it. While a great experience, it is extremely difficult to manage at the same time I run MYHockey. That’s why the MYHockeyRankings.com Tournament Series is run by Advanced Tournaments. Jim and the guys at Advanced Tournaments are simply the best at running these kind of tournaments. They understand and use MYHockey, going the extra mile to make tournaments competitive and exciting. Whether you are a top 10 team looking for the best competition or a bunch of up-and-comers, Advanced Tournaments is the best at scheduling and hosting competitive tournaments. With tournament series in Chicago, Southern California (new!), western Michigan, Indianapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Rochester and Washington DC, they are a great option.

I highly encourage you to take a look at the MYHockey Rankings Tournament Series or the numerous other series run by Advanced Tournaments. Hope to see you at the rink this fall.

Some Junior Hockey Notes...

Congrats to the Indiana Ice for winning the Clark Cup over the Fargo Force. The Clark Cup is given to the USHL Champions. Fargo took the opening game in Indianapolis, but the Ice responded with three straight wins, including 6-0 and 5-1 wins in Fargo to finish off the series. The Ice followed up
this accomplishment by showing even more class during the USHL draft last week. Check It Out.

The St Louis Bandits captured there third straight Robertson Cup as champions of the NAHL. The Bandits defeated the Wenatchee Wild 3-2 in OT. Congrats to the Bandits.

For those in the US who get the NHL Network (channel 215 on DirecTV, 403 on the Dish Network) the Memorial Cup games are being televised. The Memorial Cup is the Canadian Major Junior National Championship featuring the the winners of the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) along with a host team. This year the tournament features the Kelowna Rockets (WHL), the Windsor Spitfires (OHL), the Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) and the host Rimouski Oceanic (Quebec).

If only the NHL Network would televise USHL and NAHL Finals...

On the NHL side, we are down to four. Should be some great semi-final series. Anyone get the impression that the NHL almost got what it wanted? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it's a fact that the NHL doesn't like Western teams come playoff time because of the schedule. Chicago and Detroit dispatched Vancouver and Anaheim respectively. A couple times I had to wonder if something had come down from the league office. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that two of the Original 6 are still alive and that I don't have to stay up to 1am watching any more games. That said, I'm sure they would have had Boston finish off Carolina. While I'm a big fan of the underdog, I must admit that I was hoping Boston would win (and win the Cup). New England could use a Stanley Cup. It's a great thing for youth hockey.

In late April the Tier 1 Elite League announced an updated set of Midget 18U divisions. They expanded from an original 10 programs to 20 at the Midget level for the 2008-09 season. For the 2009-10 season the Tier 1 Elite League has dropped a couple programs and added seven to make 5 divisions of five or 25 total teams. The new divisions are as follows:

Detroit:
Belle Tire
Compuware
Honeybaked
Little Caesars
Victory Honda

Chicago:
Chicago Fury
Chicago Mission
Chicago Young Americans
Madison Capitols
Team Illinois

Mid- Am:
Cleveland Barons
Ohio Blue Jackets
St Louis Blues
Russell Stover (Kansas City)
Dallas Stars

West:
Colorado Rampage
Colorado Thunderbirds
LA Kings
LA Selects
PF Changs (Phoenix)

East:
Boston Advantage
Buffalo Regals
Philly Jr Flyers
Pittsburgh Hornets
Team Comcast (Philly)

On May 9, 2009, the NAHL (Junior league) announced the formation of a second nation-wide Midget AAA hockey league called the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL). The 20 teams comprising the NAPHL Midget 18U for the 2009-10 season are as follows:

1. Boston Jr Rangers
2. Carolina Jr Hurricanes
3. Chadders Hockey (Salt Lake City)
4. Florida Panther Alliance
5. Green Bay
6. Indianapolis
7. Lansing Capitals
8. Marquette Electricians
9. Milwaukee Jr Admirals
10. Nevada Stars
11. Omaha AAA Hockey Club
12. Phantom Fireworks (Youngstown)
13. Pikes Peak Miners (Colorado Springs)
14. S2 (Kalamazoo)
15. San Jose Jr Sharks
16. So Cal Titans
17. St Louis Selects
18. Team Maryland
19. Texas Tornado (Dallas)
20. Thunder Hockey (Atlanta/Nashville)

These are 45 of the top 75 Midget 18U teams in the country. The other groups of teams in that top 75 are mostly East Coast Pre/Post (21), Prep (3), Alaska (3) and a couple others. Add to it the Upper Midwest Elite HS League combined with MN, ND and WI high school seasons, and some of the elite Prep School leagues and you have virtually all of the competitively played high school/midget aged hockey in the country.

Best of luck to the new and expanded leagues and the players who decide to make this commitment.

This past weekend the Ontario Hockey Federation finished the season conducting their championships. With that, MYHockey calls it a season for all levels except midgets. The Telus Cup, Canada's Midget AAA National Championship, will be played in Selkirk, MB April 20-26. There will be one more midget update after the Telus Cup.

A quick recap of what's happened over the past couple weeks. First, winners of the OHF Championships:

• Midget AA - London Jr Knights Gold
• Bantam AA - Mississauga Braves
• Peewee AA - Mississauga Braves
• Atom AA - Soo Greyhounds
• Atom AAA - Elgin Middlesex Chiefs

Boston University won the NCAA Division 1 men's hockey championship 4-3 over Miami (OH). What a game! Boston University was, with maybe a little argument from Notre Dame, the best college hockey team in the country this season. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Miami, a team that was supposed to be in the middle of a rebuilding year. Not only that, while Boston University had won a handful of National titles in hockey previously, Miami had never made the frozen four, much less the championship game. Falling behind, the young Miami Redhawks faught back to take a commanding 3-1 lead late into the third period. Boston U pulled their goalie with about three minutes to go, but for two minutes, neither team capitalized. Then, with just under a minute, Boston U pulled within a goal. They kept up the pressure and tied the game with 17 seconds remaining and then scored the game winner in OT on a partially blocked shot from the point. It was an amazing comeback in a tournament of great comebacks and last minute goals. Congrats to Boston U and their fans.

Also worth noting, in the IIHF U18 World Championships held in Fargo-Moorhead, USA beat Canada 2-1 in one semi-final and Russia beat Finland 4-0 in the other setting up a USA vs. Russia final on Sunday, April 19, 2009.

While many of you are playing spring hockey, lacrosse, soccer and baseball, the NHL will keep us entertained until mid-June. While all 16 teams still have a shot at the cup, early indications are that we'll likely see Boston and Detroit in the finals. While I love underdog, and these two teams are anything but, I kinda like the idea of two original six playing for the Cup. Not only that, these two cities have tremendous youth programs that will be rejuvenated by watching their local pros play for or win the Stanley Cup. Hopefully those of you in the USA get Versus and can enjoy most of the action.

I'll stay in touch periodically over the summer. MYHockey will continue to improve, giving you unparalleled access to youth hockey information during the 2009-2010 season. Come back and keep an eye out for sneak previews into new features we'll be releasing in the coming months.