MYHockey News
Week 7 MHR Weekend Wrap
Hockey Canada Photo
Week 7 of the 2023-24 MHR Season featured one of the busiest North American tournament weekends to date as huge events for boys and girls were held on both sides of the border.
The CCM World Invite, held in the Chicago area Friday and through Sunday, included more than 500 Tier 1 and 2 boys teams competing in well over 1,000 games across nine age groups at more than 30 venues. This event included some of the United States’ top Tier 2 programs as well as highly ranked Tier 1 teams, occasionally allowing a top AA club to test itself against a strong AAA program.
Most of the tournament’s games were played at rinks that have LiveBarn and can be viewed on-demand.
Meanwhile, up in the Toronto area, another large boys tourney was played over the weekend as the Shanahan International Tournament welcomed some of the top teams from the U.S. and Canada in the 2014 through 2009 age groups. The event featured 50 boys teams representing both countries competing in more than 160 games from Friday through Sunday in the York and Etobicoke areas of metropolitan Toronto.
Most of these games also should be available for online viewing via LiveBarn.
The 43rd Big Nickel Major AAA Tournament for boys teams in age groups U12 through U18 got underway last Thursday and featured 39 teams playing at three facilities in the Sudbury, Ontario area.
Our Week 7 Games of the Week highlighted one of the top U18 matchups from that event as well as matchups of highly ranked teams from the other two tournaments. Games of the Week recaps can be found below.
Here is a look at some of the weekend’s other big tournaments:
Fromen Injury Law Showcase – Buffalo, N.Y.
Back in the States and not far from Ontario, the Bishop Kearney Selects and Buffalo Jr. Sabres teamed up to host the Fromen Injury Law Showcase, which ran from Friday through Sunday at LECOM Harborcenter and Northtown Center at Amherst and included some of the top U.S. and Canadian boys programs competing at the 14U, 15U, 16U and 18U levels in the Buffalo area.
Games that were played at Northtown Center should still be available for on-demand viewing on LiveBarn.
Roc City Girls Fest – Rochester, N.Y.
Not far from Buffalo, the Roc City Girls Fest in Rochester hosted 96 of the top U.S. Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams in the 14U, 16U and 19U age groups and another 70 teams competing at the 8U, 10U and 12U levels. Some Canadian teams also made the trip to Rochester for the tournament.
In the 19U Tier 1 Division, the second-ranked Bishop Kearney Selects beat No. 13 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, 9-3, in the finals to capture the championship and finish the tournament 6-0-0. Pens Elite finished 3-3-0. The third-ranked Steel City Selects knocked off Ontario Hockey Academy Gold, 4-1, to capture the 19U Tier 2 crown. Both teams finished 5-1-0.
No. 11 Bishop Kearney Selects also won the 16U Tier 1 title by beating No. 5 Pens Elite, 6-1, to finish at 6-0-0. Pens Elite went 5-1-0 on the weekend. On the Tier 2 side, the No. 19 New Jersey Bandits finished a perfect 6-0-0 tourney by beating the No. 47 Sno-King Thunderbirds, 1-0, in the title contest.
In the 14U Division, the No. 6 Bay State Breakers downed second-ranked Lovell Academy, 4-0, to win the Tier 1 Blue championship and finish 6-0-0. Lovell ended up 5-1-0. Rochester Jr. Americans 13U, No. 44 in the U.S. 14U Girls overall rankings, beat Valley Jr. Warriors 13U, No. 17 in the 14U Tier 2 rankings, by a 3-1 score in Tier 1 Yellow championship game. The Jr. Americans concluded the weekend with a 6-0-0 record, while the Jr. Warriors went 5-1-0. And in 14U Tier 2 action, No. 14 Assabet Valley capped off a perfect 6-0-0 showing with a 1-0 win against the No. 24 Steel City Renegades, who fell to 4-2-0.
Canada U18 Women’s National Championship
Another unique event taking place in Canada that started Sunday and runs through Nov. 11 is the Hockey Canada 2023 Canada Women’s U18 National Championship. This tournament is being held in Dawson Creek, B.C., and includes all-star teams representing various provinces, districts and regions of the country. There are eight teams in the tournament, with two representing Ontario; one each representing Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia and Manitoba; and one representing the Atlantic (Maritime) Region.
CLICK HERE for the schedule and scores.
CLICK HERE for the current standings.
Minnesota Boys 16U Tier 1 Championship
Another important game was scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 7, as the Minnesota Boys 16U Tier 1 representative at USA Hockey Nationals in April was set to be determined when top-ranked Shattuck-St. Mary’s faced off against the Minnesota Blue Ox at 8:15 p.m. EST in St. Louis Park, Minn., at St. Louis Park Rec Center.
Results not available when this recap was posted. We will update it with the final result as it is available.
About Games of the Week
Games of the Week previews will be posted every Thursday, Friday or Saturday through the end of the regular season. Game summaries, along with occasional video highlights, will be posted no later than Wednesday of the following week.
With more than 20,000 teams in our database by season’s end, it’s impossible to be aware of all the great games that are scheduled throughout North America each week, so if you know of any upcoming games between highly ranked teams please feel free to email the details a week in advance if possible to scott@myhockeyrankings.com.
Include in your email:
- Team names, location, league affiliations and age group
- Current team rankings (national, state, provincial, etc.)
- Day, time and location of the game or games
- Any other details – past history, statistical info/team leaders, college commitments playing or other interesting information
- Quotes from players or coaches are great, too, but not required
- If the game or games are available on LiveBarn or via another streaming service, please send the link
We will be partnering with Clanko Media throughout the season to bring our readers and followers video highlights of selected Games of the Week, and we also are open to posting highlights of any other games we feature if someone can provide them for us.
Here is a closer look at our Week 7 featured matchups:
MHR WEEK 7 GAMES OF THE WEEK
USA/Ontario Boys 2010 Tier 1 (AAA)
#1 Ontario Markham Majors (3), #4 USA Buffalo Jr. Sabres (1)
Saturday, November 4 at 11:20 a.m. EDT
Shanahan International Tournament
Canlan Sports Complex York – Toronto, Ontario
A pair of top-four North American Boys 2010 birthyear teams faced off Saturday at the Shanahan International Tournament in Toronto, with Markham skating to a 3-1 victory. Markham entered the weekend with an 18-2-0 overall record and having outscored its opponents, 101-22. The Majors went 4-0-0 on the weekend before falling to the Ontario’s No. 30 Eastern Ontario Wild, 6-3, Sunday. That loss snapped a 15-game winning streak. Buffalo carried a 17-6-0 record into the tourney and had outscored its opponents, 110-48, before going 6-1-0 on the weekend. The Jr. Sabres have won 13 of their last 14 contests. They outscored their opponents at the tournament, 32-11, and recorded two shutouts.
Ontario Boys U18 AAA
#9 Toronto Nationals (4), #13 Ottawa Jr. 67s (2)
Saturday, November 4 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
Big Nickel Major AAA Tournament
Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex – Sudbury, Ontario
This was one of the top U18 matchups from the Big Nickel Major AAA tournament in Sudbury. The Nationals brought a 6-4-1 record into the tournament and had outscored their opponents, 35-16, before winning this matchup, 4-2, and posting a 3-2-0 record for the weekend. They lost to the No. 8 Waterloo Wolves twice by 2-1 ad 4-1 scores. Toronto ended the weekend with a 9-6-2 record for the year and holding a 52-28 scoring advantage over its opponents. Ottawa was 9-3-1 heading into the tourney and was riding a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) since a 2-1 loss to the No. 26 Peterborough Petes Oct. 14. Unfortunately for the Jr. 67s, they dropped all four games over the weekend, falling to the Nos. 1, 6, 9 and 27 teams in the province.
USA Boys 2010 Tier 1
#10 Fox Motors (4), No. 12 Chicago Fury (7)
Saturday, November 4 at 11:40 a.m. EDT
CCM World Invite
Mount Prospect Arena – Mount Prospect, Ill.
One of the top 2010 pool-play matchups from the gigantic CCM World Invite in the Chicago area featured a pair of top-12 USA Boys Tier 1 teams. The Fury skated away with a 7-4 victory in this contest as Fox Motors went 3-2-0 on the weekend. Fox’s other setback was a 6-1 decision against the No. 5 Chicago Reapers. Fox Motors is now 24-5-2 on the season and has outscored its opponents, 126-79. The Fury went 4-3-0 at the tournament, including a pair of victories against No. 22 Top Gun and losses to the No. 25 Anaheim Jr. Ducks, No. 44 Omaha Mastery and the No. 5 Reapers. They also beat the No. 26 Milwaukee Jr. Admirals and are now 20-15-1 on the season.
USA Boys 16U Tier 2
#4 Metro Jets (6), #7 Afton Americans (2)
Saturday, November 4 at 12:30 p.m. EDT
CCM World Invite
Seven Bridges Ice Arena – Woodridge, Ill.
One of the marquee Tier 2 matchups at the CCM World Invite Chicago featured these top-seven USA Boys 16U teams. The Michigan-based Metro Jets earned a 6-2 victory in this one en route to a 5-1-0 record for the weekend. Their only loss was a 2-1 overtime setback vs. the No. 12 Lake County Vipers. One of their wins was an opening-day victory vs. the AAA Tri-State Spartans. The Metro Jets are now 23-1-2 and have outscored their opponents, 104-28. Afton entered the weekend at 7-5-1 after dropping three straight games, including a 6-5 shootout loss against AAA CarShield 15U. They posted a 4-3-0 record on the weekend and also fell to the Vipers, 5-4, as well as the No. 38 Chicago Hawks. Afton posted shutout wins over the No. 9 Dallas Penguins and No 40 St. Louis Sting and recorded a 4-3 revenge win against the Hawks. The Americans are now 11-8-1 and have outscored their opponents, 69-54.
