This week, we settle back into a more normal youth hockey routine after a big holiday weekend in the United States. It seems like for American Thanksgiving teams in the U.S. either use the weekend as an opportunity to take a break and spend time with family or to pack up and travel to a large tournament in a faraway place.

With that weekend in the rear-view mirror, some parts of the continent are done with club hockey for the time bring, so prep-school and high-school action is picking up in those areas. In other parts of North America, league play is in full swing and the next few weeks will bring us many holiday tournaments and great matchups between teams from different regions of the continent.

In Minnesota and neighboring states where high-school hockey is king, the highest-level of hockey played at the Peewee and Bantam levels is “AA,” but many of those “AA” teams can compete with top AAA programs from other parts of the country. Our Minn-Kota rankings went live several weeks ago, and this weekend two of our Week 11 Games of the Week are Peewee and Bantam AA matchups from the Spirit of Duluth Youth Hockey Tournament.

That tournament features 16 top Bantam AA teams and 16 top Peewee AA teams competing in four pools at each age level. In the Bantam Division, 11 of the top-15 Minn-Kota AA teams are participating, while at the Peewee level, five of the top-seven and six of the top-13 clubs will be playing.

Another of our Week 11 Games of the Week comes from USHL American Cup in New York. The American Cup, coordinated by the junior Tier 1 United States Hockey League, includes top AAA USA and Canada Boys teams competing at the 14U, 15U, 16U and 18U levels.

The tournament includes 36 teams, several ranked among the top programs in the U.S. and Ontario, competing across the four age groups. The weekend event also features two junior games between the defending league-champion Youngstown Phantoms and the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Thursday and Friday.

The USHL is the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier 1 junior league in the U.S. and one of two sanctioned “tuition-free” junior leagues. The league has 16 member teams and sends the vast majority of its players on to play at the NCAA Division I level or to professional hockey. The Phantoms have three NHL draft picks on their roster, while Muskegon has one of the top-rated 2024 draft prospects.

The weekend provides a unique opportunity for youth players to observe the highest level of United States junior hockey in person and provides them with exposure to some of the USHL’s coaches and scouts.

For our final Week 11 Game of the Week we head to New York for a matchup between two of the state’s top 12U girls teams. New York’s top-ranked Adirondack 46ers (Tier 2) take on the third-ranked Skaneateles Lakers (Tier 1) in a three-game series this weekend. The 46ers are ranked 35^th in the USA Girls 12U overall rankings, and the Lakers are ranked 46^th.

 

Other Games & Events of Interest

Starting Thursday, 16 of the top USA 10U and Canadian U11 teams will be competing at the Sarnia International Silver Stick AAA finals in Ontario.

Some of the top pool-play matchups in Sarnia include:

 

Thursday

Philadelphia Hockey Club vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens

Toronto Jr. Nationals vs. Team Illinois

Friday

Burnaby Winter Club vs. Cleveland Barons

Little Caesars vs. Toronto Marlboros

Team Illinois vs. Toronto Marlboros

Burnaby Winter Club vs. Philadelphia Hockey Club

 

Saturday

Toronto Jr. Canadiens vs. Cleveland Barons

Little Caesars vs. Toronto Jr. Nationals

 

In addition, we have top-10 USA Boys weekend matchups at the 14U and 2011 age levels. In 14U Tier 2 play, the No. 6 Highland Park Falcons face off against the seventh-ranked St. Louis Sting in a pair of games featuring Central States Developmental Hockey League rivals. The 2011 matchup pits the USA overall No. 1 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers taking on ninth-ranked Islanders Hockey Club in two contests Sunday. 

The CSDHL is one of the top Tier 2 leagues in the United States. Five of the nation’s top-14 teams in the 14U Tier 2 Boys category are in the CSDHL.

Both teams are hot coming into the weekend as the Sting are unbeaten in their last 15 (13-0-2) and the Falcons are 10-3-2 in the same span. St. Louis won tournament championships recently at the CCM World Invite in Chicago and the Nations Cup in Detroit. The Sting won an earlier matchup between the teams by a 5-0 margin in September. Highland Park is 20-5-3 on the season, while St. Louis has compiled a 23-6-5 record.

 

Sting vs. Falcons Game Schedule

Saturday, Dec. 2 at 12:00 p.m. EST – #6 Highland Park Falcons vs. #7 St. Louis Sting at Lake Forest Academy

Sunday, Dec. 3 at 10:10 a.m. EST – #6 Highland Park Falcons vs. #7 St. Louis Sting at Lake Forest Academy 

Both games can be viewed on LiveBarn.

We also will be providing game highlights of the 2011 matchups between the No. 1 Jr. Rangers and ninth-ranked IHC courtesy of Clanko Media. Those games are scheduled for Saturday at Sunday at 11:30 a.m. EST at Chelsea Piers in Stamford, Conn., and Sunday at 3:50 p.m. at Stamford Twin Rinks. Both can be viewed on LiveBarn. 

Mid-Fairfield enters the weekend with a 37-2-2 record and having outscored its opponent, 221-53. The Islanders are 21-6-2 and have outscored their foes, 122-46.

 

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 0 featured matchups:

 

MHR WEEK 11 GAMES OF THE WEEK

Minn-Kota Peewee AA

#1 Minnetonka Skippers vs. #5 Osseo Maple Grove

Friday, December 1 at 3 p.m. EST

Carlton Ice Arena – Carlton, Minn.

The marquee matchup of pool play in the Peewee AA Division at the Spirit of Duluth Youth Hockey Tournament features the Minn-Kota first- and fifth-ranked teams. Minnetonka moved into the top spot this week thanks to its 13-2-0 record after going 5-0-0 and outscoring its opponents, 29-7, over Thanksgiving weekend. One of those wins was a 4-2 decision against the No. 2 Stillwater Ponies. The Skippers have outscored their opponents, 91-38, for the season and recorded four shutouts. They shut out their last two opponents, No. 18 Egan and No. 6 Moorhead, by a combined 13-0 margin. Minnetonka enters the tournament in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that dates to a 7-4 loss to Stillwater Oct. 29. The Skippers’ only other loss was a 9-5 season-opening setback vs. the seventh-ranked Edina Hornets Oct. 18. Osseo Maple Grove is 8-1-2 heading into the weekend and has run up a 49-18 scoring advantage in its games. OMGHA is unbeaten in its last nine contests (7-0-2) since a 4-3 loss to Minnetonka Oct. 28. They have beaten No. 11 Eden Prairie three times and also knocked off No. 7 Edina and No. 8 White Bear Lake once each.

 

Minn-Kota Bantam AA

#4 Wayzata Trojans vs. #10 Grand Forks Aviators

Saturday, December 2 at 1 p.m. EST

Superior Ice Arena – Minnetonka, Minn.

The Trojans and Aviators face off on Saturday in one of several top-10 Bantam AA Matchups during pool play at the Spirit of Duluth Tournament. Grand Forks also takes on the top-ranked Moorhead Spuds Friday night, and the sixth-ranked Stillwater Ponies face the No. 8 Minnetonka Skippers earlier Friday. Wayzata enters the tournament with a 12-3-2 record and having outscored its opponents, 79-40. The Trojans dropped their most recent outing, 3-1, to Stillwater Nov. 26, snapping a three-game winning streak since a 5-4 loss to the No. 3 Edina Hornets Nov. 18. Their other loss came against seventh-ranked Prior Lake Savage by a 3-2 margin Nov. 11. Wayzata has defeated No. 8 Minnetonka, No. 12 White Bear Lake and No. 5 Rosemount. Grand Forks comes into the weekend at 11-5-0 and holding a 78-48 scoring advantage over its opponents. The Aviators have put together a six-game winning streak since their last loss, a 5-4 shootout decision against the No. 5 Rosemount Irish Nov. 12. Grand Forks has gone 6-0-0 since opening the season by posting at 5-5-0 record in its first 10 contests.

 

USA/Ontario Boys Tier 1/AAA 15U/U16

#4 USA Long Island Gulls vs. #6 Ontario North York Rangers

Friday, December 1 at 10:30 a.m. EST

Tim Horton’s Iceplex – Rochester, N.Y.

Streamed on LiveBarn

Two of North America’s top under-16 Boys teams face off at the USHL American Cup in Rochester, N.Y., Friday morning. Long Island is the fourth-ranked USA Boys 15U team, and North York is the No. 6 Ontario U16 club. The Gulls already have played more than 40 games, compiling a 33-5-3 record prior to the weekend and outscoring their opponents, 163-70. They took on USA No. 3 Mount St. Charles, No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and No. 10 Bishop Kearney Selects Nov. 17-19 in their most recent outings, posting a 1-1-1 record that included an overtime loss to MSC. Long Island had won five-straight games and eight of their previous nine prior to those contests. The Gulls have gone 14-4-2 vs. teams ranked among the USA’s top 20 and 8-4-2 against top-10 teams. North York heads to the American Cup with a 23-7-0 record and having outscored its opponents, 122-58. The Rangers dropped their most recent outing, 5-3, to Ontario’s top-ranked Vaughan Kings. Prior to that loss, they had won 13 of their previous 15 games. One of the losses during that stretch came at the hands of USA’s top-ranked Chicago Mission by a 4-2 margin. Four of North York’s seven losses have come against either the Ontario or U.S. No. 1 team. The Rangers have gone 5-3-0 vs. Ontario’s top-10 teams, recording victories against the Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 7 clubs.

 

USA Girls Tier 2 12U

#1 New York Adirondack 46ers vs. #3 New York Skaneateles Lakers

Saturday, Dec. 2 at 11:45 a.m. & 7 p.m. EST

Maxcy Hall Arena – Potsdam, N.Y.

Malone Civic Center – Malone, N.Y.

Sunday, Dec. 3 at 9:15 a.m.

Malone Civic Center – Malone, N.Y.

Civic Center Games Streamed on LiveBarn

Two of the top-three teams in the New York 12U Girls overall rankings face off for a three-game series this weekend. The games played at Malone Civic Center can be viewed on LiveBarn. Adirondack also is the USA’s overall No. 35 team, and the Lakers are ranked 46^th. These teams met previously for a pair of games Oct. 14, with the 46ers winning both by 5-3 and 6-5 scores. Adirondack enters the weekend with a record of 21-4-3 and having outscored its opponents, 120-39. The 46ers have recorded 10 shutouts and held eight other opponents to a single goal. They are unbeaten in their last nine outings (6-0-3), dating to a 4-2 loss to Ontario’s No. 7 A team, the Kanata Rangers, Nov. 11. Adirondack beat the Rangers, 3-2, later that same day. Skaneateles is 13-14-5 entering the weekend and won its last two outings by a combined 12-2 margin to halt an 0-4-1 skid. The Lakers have outscored their opponents, 93-75, despite being one game below .500 for the season. They opened the season with a pair of ties against the Tier 1 and 31st-ranked New Jersey Colonials