MYHockey News
Week 22 MHR/LiveBarn Games of the Week
More postseason action is on the docket this weekend for our MHR/LiveBarn Week 22 Games of the Week. This weekend’s featured games include playoff matchups from the Prep Hockey Conference, and the Tier 1 Atlantic Youth Hockey League as well some Minn-Kota District Tournament action.
The Prep Hockey Conference is holding its playoffs this weekend at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Fairbault, Minn. Featuring top-ranked school-based prep and academy-style programs from the United States and Canada, this weekend’s PHC Playoffs had the potential to provide matchups between two of the top-three USA 18U Tier 1 Boys teams, the top-ranked USA 18U overall and No. 1-ranked Canadian Independent Prep team and the top-two 18U Tier 1 USA Boys teams.
It also is possibile that the No. 1 and No. 3 USA 18U Tier 1 Boys teams could meet in the finals if the top-two teams don’t play, but no matter what, the PHC Playoffs will provide nothing but great matchups with these six teams competing:
Shattuck-St. Mary’s – #1 USA 18U Boys Overall, #1 Tier 1 National Bound & #1 Prep
Culver Academy – #2 USA 18U Boys Tier 1 National Bound, #3 Prep, #5 Overall
Mount St. Charles – #3 USA 18U Boys Tier 1 National Bound, #7 Overall
Northwood School – #15 USA 18U Boys Overall, #4 Prep
South Kent Selects Academy – #18 USA 18U Boys Overall
St. Andrew’s College – #1 Canada Prep
Our highlighted game from the PHC is a semifinal matchup Saturday between Tier 1 National Bound No. 3 Mount St. Charles and No. 2 Culver Academy. The other semifinal will include Shattuck-St. Mary’s and either St. Andrew’s or South Kent.
All of this weekend’s PHC action can be seen on HockeyTV. CLICK HERE for the schedule, scores and stats.
Minn-Kota District Tournament action heats up this weekend as some teams compete for district titles and Regional Tournament berths while others hope to capture a championship while improving their Regional Tournament seedings. District Tournament action will be held all over the region throughout the weekend, and you can CLICK HERE for a rundown of the tournament action from each district.
For our Games of the Week, we are featuring one matchup each from the Peewee and Bantam AA age groups. Our Bantam AA showdown is for the District 8 championship, with the No. 9 Rochester Mustangs taking on the 14th-ranked Rosemount Irish in Eagan, Minn., Saturday, while our Peewee matchup has No. 9 Osseo-Maple Grove taking on No. 28 Wayzata in Game 2 of their best-of-three District 3 championship series Saturday in Wayzata. OMG won the series opener, 5-4, Feb. 20.
The Atlantic Youth Hockey League (AYHL), one of the top Tier 1 AAA youth leagues in the United States, also is holding its playoffs this weekend. With teams located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Connecticut, some AYHL playoff winners will earn automatic berths in the final round of the Atlantic District Tournament, which will be contested in the weeks ahead to determine which teams will represent the district at the USA Hockey National Championships in April. The AYHL offers competition from ages 10U through 18U.
This week we are featuring one game from the AYHL Playoffs in the 2010 age bracket. Our AYHL Game of the Week Sunday pits the top-ranked Philadelphia Jr. Flyers against the No. 13 North Jersey Avalanche in a round-robin matchup.
CLICK HERE for the AYHL Playoff schedules.
Week 22 MHR/LiveBarn Featured Games of the Week
#2 Culver Academy vs. #3 Mount St. Charles
Level: USA Boys 18U Tier 1
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
Location: Shattuck-St. Mary’s School – Fairbault, Minn.
Event: Prep Hockey Conference Playoffs
Stream: HockeyTV
Culver knocked off the Northwood School, the overall 15th-ranked USA Boys 18U team, 3-0 in the quarterfinals Friday to advance to this semifinal against Mount St. Charles. MSC earned a bye into the semifinals by winning the PHC East Division regular-season championship while Culver finished second in the West Division, eight-points behind top-ranked Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Shattuck also earned a bye and awaits the winner of Friday’s game between St. Andrew’s College and South Kent in the semifinals. SSM was 11-3-0-0 in the regular season with one overtime win and one overtime loss. Mount St. Charles was 7-7-0 with an OT win and an OT loss, while Culver went 8-6-1 with one OT win and two OT losses. Culver got a pair of goals from Romulus Riego de Dios and 28 saves from Vaughan Makar in its opening-game win over Northwood. These teams have met twice this season, with Culver earning one-goal victories each time. The Eagles recorded a 4-3 victory Nov. 14 and a 2-1 win Jan. 21. Culver got third-period goals from Lawrence Keenan and Jacob Padgett in the first meeting to overcome a 3-2 third-period deficit. Padgett scored twice in the game, with Riego de Dios assisting both tallies, and Makar stopped 27 MSC shots. Mount St. Charles got a goal and an assist from Chase Pirtle, with Blake Montgomery dishing out two helpers. Makar also picked up the win in the Jan. 21 contest as Culver came from behind again in the 2-1 decision. Riego de Dios set up Padgett once again for the tying goal in the second period, and William Spradlin netted the game-winner in the final frame. Pirtle assisted Thomas Neu’s first-period marker for MSC. Keenan, a defenseman, paced the Culver offensive attack during the regular season with six goals and nine assists to tie Riego de Dios for 10th place in the PHC scoring race. Pirtle and Patrick Murphy led MSC in league scoring with seven goals and seven assists apiece. Makar made 10 starts in goal for the Eagles, recording a 2.59 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Cody Butikis made 12 starts for Mount St. Charles, posting a 2.73 GAA and .892 save percentage.
#9 Osseo-Maple Grove vs. #28 Wayzata Trojans
Level: Minn-Kota Peewee AA
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 2:05 p.m. ET
Location: Plymouth Ice Center – Plymouth, Minn.
Event: Minn-Kota District 3 Championship Series
Stream: MNHockeyTV
Osseo-Maple Grove took Game 1 of this best-of-three championship series by a 5-4 margin in overtime Feb. 20. If Wayzata can rally to capture Game 2, there would be a deciding contest Sunday. Regardless of the outcome, both teams will advance to the Regional Tournament. These teams met twice during the regular season, with OMG recording 4-0 victories in each contest. Osseo-Maple Grove is 24-15-5 on the year and has outscored its opponents, 159-110. Including the Game 1 victory, OMG is unbeaten in its last five outings (4-0-1), dating to a 6-3 loss to the No. 4 Minnetonka Skippers Feb. 5. They also fell to the Skippers, 4-0, the previous day and dropped the two games leading up to those losses. Minus that four-game skid, OMG has posted a 24-11-5 record during the rest of its season. Right before that four-game losing streak Osseo-Maple grove beat the third-ranked Woodbury Predators, 3-2. Despite posting a record of 8-35-1 to date, Wayzata pushed OMG to the brink in Game 1. The Trojans have been outscored, 249-133 this season and entered the championship series having lost 13 straight games.
#9 Rochester Mustangs vs. #14 Rosemount Irish
Level: Minn-Kota Bantam AA
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: Eagan Civic Arena – Eagan, Minn.
Event: Minn-Kota District 8 Championship Game
Rochester beat No. 42 Waseca and No. 35 West St. Paul to set up this championship matchup against the No. 14 Irish. The Mustangs shut out Waseca, 6-0, before holding off West St. Paul, 3-2. Rosemount beat No. 26 Lakeville South, 7-2, and No. 31 Cottage Grove, 5-1. These two teams are meeting for the fourth time this season, with the Mustangs holding a 3-0 series lead. They have outscored the Irish, 13-2 in those three contests. The closest game was decided by a 3-1 margin Nov. 27. Rochester is 29-14-5 on the season and has outscored its opponents, 183-105. Rosemount is 31-20-4 and has outscored its foes, 217-163. The Irish score an average of 3.95 goals per game while allowing 2.96. Rochester scores at a 3.81 goals-per-game clip and allows 2.19 goals per contest. The Mustangs have recorded shutouts in two of their last three games and have allowed zero or one goal 16 times this season. They are unbeaten in their last nine games (7-0-2) after enduring an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1). Rochester is 29-7-4 if you throw that eight-game stretch out. Rosemount enters the championship game on a five-game winning streak since a 4-1 loss to No. 3 Osseo Maple Grove Jan. 21.
#1 Philadelphia Jr. Flyers vs. #13 North Jersey Avalanche
Level: USA Boys 2010 Tier 1
Date: Sunday, February 26
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
Location: IceLine – West Chester, Pa.
Event: AYHL Playoffs
Stream: LiveBarn
The first-place Jr. Flyers and second-place Avalanche meet in the final game of round-robin play at the AYHL Playoffs. Philadelphia, the nation’s top-ranked team, finished regular-season play with a 26-0-2 record and 54 standings points. The Jr. Flyers outscored their opponents, 227-36 in league play and by an astounding 370-98 in posting an impressive 53-5-3 overall record. North Jersey went 22-4-2 (46 points) and outscored its opponents, 165-70, in AYHL play. Overall, the Avs are 32-8-5 and have outscored their opponents, 235-124. North Jersey handed the Jr. Flyers one of their three ties this season when the teams skated to a 5-5 draw Oct. 22. Philly rebounded to crush the Avs, 13-4, later that day, however, and beat them by a 7-3 margin Oct. 30. The two teams played again Nov. 13, with the Jr. Flyers winning, 9-3 and 3-0. Philadelphia enters the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak and having outscored its last six opponents, 48-5. The Jr. Flyers’ last loss was a 3-1 setback vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Dec. 31. The Avalanche enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1), during which they have allowed more than one goal just twice.
