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As expected, holiday tournament activity ramps up this weekend with some big events featuring top teams from around North America. And, of course, we’re here for it.

We will be diving into several tournaments as we bring you this week’s edition of MHR Games of the Week. For Week 12, we will head to Minnesota for a unique Boys Tier 1 event featuring teams from Canada and the United States and to Saskatchewan for a girls’ tourney that includes some of the top U18 and U22 Canadian teams.

We also will check out a holiday tournament in Rhode Island that includes four of the perennial USA Hockey national-championship contenders from Mount St. Charles as well as some other strong programs from around the U.S.

 

Shattuck-St. Mary’s Showcase

It’s a big weekend in Fairbault, Minn., on the campus of perennial U.S. hockey-powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary’s. The Sabres are hosting a unique 14U Boys showcase that includes the top-ranked Tier 1 teams from the U.S. and Canada as well as the top-two AA teams in Minnesota, who also happen to be ranked second and third overall in the state.

In addition, Shattuck’s top-ranked 15U team will be hosting No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite for a three-game series, while the No. 1-ranked SSM 16U team hosts the 16^th-ranked Chicago Mission for a pair of tilts.

Here is the 14U Showcase field:

 

Pool A

#1 USA Tier 1 Shattuck St. Mary’s

#2 Minnesota Overall Moorhead Spuds

#5 USA Tier 1 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite

#22 USA Tier 1 Seacoast Performance Academy

 

Pool B

#1 Canada U15 AAA Edge School Calgary

#3 Minnesota Overall Osseo Maple Grove

#14 USA Tier 1 Florida Alliance

#41 USA Tier 1 Team Illinois

 

Two of the pool-play matchups are previewed below as featured MHR Games of the Week.

Meanwhile, Shattuck’s 15U team hosts No. 5 Pens Elite Friday at 9 p.m. EST, Saturday at 1 p.m. EST and Sunday at 3 p.m. EST. The Sabres 16U squad hosts the Mission at 3 p.m. EST Saturday and 11 a.m. EST Sunday.

If the 14U tourney plays out according to form, the top-ranked U.S. and Canadian teams could face off for the championship at 1 p.m. EST Saturday.

 

Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament

Top U18 and U22 prep teams from all over Canada head to Wilcox and Milestone, Saskatchewan, this weekend to compete in what the tournament website describes as “the largest female U18 tournament in Western Canada.” The tournament started Thursday and runs through Sunday with 16 Tier 1 teams competing in four pools.  

This year’s field includes Canada’s top-five 18U Tier 1 Girls teams and seven of the top 15 as well as two top-seven Canada U22 prep programs. Those clubs also are ranked #16 and #26 overall nationally in the U22 Canada Women’s Tier 1 category.

Top teams in the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament field include:

 

#1 U18 Red Deer Chiefs

#2 U18 Calgary Fire

#3 U18 Saskatoon Stars

#4 U18 Edmonton Jr. Oilers

#5 U18 Regina Rebels

#9 U18 Winnipeg Avros

#15 U18 St. Albert Slash

#2 Prep/#16 U22 Balmoral Hall Prep

#7 Prep/#26 U22 Calgary Edge School Prep

 

Paul D. Merritt Overspeed Hockey Memorial Holiday Classic

This tournament, which is being held at various locations in Rhode Island Thursday through Sunday, includes USA Boys Tier 1 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U divisions. Some of the games will be hosted on the campus of perennial national-championship-contender Mount St. Charles, which has entered its teams in each age group.

Twelve organizations from around the U.S. are competing in the tournament along with the Canadian International Hockey Academy from Rockland, Ontario. Games will be played at Mount St. Charles, Providence College and Brown University as well as at the Smithfield Municipal Ice Rink.

 

MHR WEEK 12 GAMES OF THE WEEK

 

USA/Minnesota Boys 14U Tier 1/Tier 2

#1 USA/Minn. Tier 1 Shattuck St. Mary’s

#2 Minn./#1 Minn-Kota Moorhead Spuds AA

Friday, December 8 at 6:00 p.m. EST

Parise Arena – Fairbault, Minn.

The top-two Minnesota Boys 14U teams face off in one of the top pool-play matchups at the Shattuck-St. Mary’s Showcase. Shattuck enters the showcase with a sparkling 26-1-1 record and having outscored its opponents, 207-44. Moorhead is 17-2-0 overall and has outscored its foes, 108-34. One of the Spuds’ two losses came against SSM by a 6-1 score Oct. 28 in their second game of the season. They also lost to North Dakota’s top team, the Grand Forks Aviators, 3-1, Dec. 1. In the first meeting of these two teams, Shattuck scored the game’s first five goals before Max Cullen tallied for Moorhead in the third period with assists going to Pavel Goryachev and Will Bagne. Diego Gutierrez scored twice for the Sabres, with Gerry DiCunzolo notching a goal and an assist. Ethan Sung also buried a pair of goals for SSM, with Bradely Whang scoring once and Colin Grubb dishing out a pair of assists. Hagan Bach earned the win in goal. Moorhead is riding a three-game winning streak heading into the weekend and has won 16 of its last 17 games. Shattuck’s lone loss in 28 games was 6-2 setback vs. No. 2 Mount St. Charles Nov. 18. The Sabres tied the No. 9 Chicago Mission, 2-2, Sept. 14.

 

Canada U15 vs. USA/Minnesota 14U Boys AAA/AA

#1 Canada U15 Calgary Edge School Prep

vs.

#3 Minnesota/#2 Minn-Kota Osseo Maple Grove

Saturday, December 9 at 12:00 p.m. EST

Parise Arena – Fairbault, Minn.

Another of the top pool-play matchups from the Shattuck-St. Mary’s Showcase features Canada’s No. 1 U15 Boys AAA team taking on Minnesota’s third-ranked 14U club. Edge school is ranked No. 1 in Alberta, Western Canada and Canada and brings a 22-3-0 record to Minnesota. They have outscored their opponents, 159-54, and are 22-1-0 since a season-opening 7-6 loss to Canada’s No. 2 Northern Alberta Xtreme Sept. 27 and a 3-1 loss to Canada’s No. 26 Okanagan Hockey Academy B.C. in their second game Sept. 28. Edge also lost to NAX, 4-2, Nov. 24 but rallied to beat them the next day, 6-3, and also knocked them off earlier by 4-3 and 7-3 scores. They have compiled their impressive record while playing the most-difficult schedule in Canada, according to MHR. OMG is 17-5-1 heading into the showcase and have scoured their opponents, 108-34. They fell to top-ranked Moorhead, 3-1, last weekend in their most recent outing after running off eight-consecutive wins. Their previous loss was a 5-2 decision vs. USA Tier 1 No. 16 Little Caesars Nov. 5. OMG beat USA’s No. 10 Tier 1 Windy City Storm and No. 39 Madison Capitals and tied Tier 1 No. 26 Victory Honda. They also beat Ontario’s No. 9 Barrie Colts twice.

 

Canada Girls U18 Tier 1

#2 Calgary Fire vs. #3 Saskatoon Stars

Friday, December 8 at 10:30 p.m. EST

Duncan McNeill Arena – Wilcox, Saskatchewan

This is the marquee pool-play matchup from the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament and could determine which team from Pool D advances to Saturday’s semifinals. The first-place team in each pool earns a semifinal berth, so if all goes as planned this should prove to be a very important tilt. Calgary entered the tournament, which began Thursday, with a 16-7-1 record and having outscored its opponents, 89-36. The Fire had dropped their two most recent outings, 4-2, to the No. 4 Edmonton Jr. Oilers Dec. 3 and the No. 1 Red Deer Chiefs, 5-2, Nov. 25. Those losses snapped an eight-game winning streak that dated to a 3-1 loss to the Shattuck St. Mary’s second team (ranked No. 23 in the U.S.) Oct. 22. Saskatoon had compiled a 17-4-1 record heading into the weekend while outscoring its foes, 84-48. The Stars were 3-3 in their previous six outings after winning six-straight games, a streak that included a pair of wins against the No. 5 Regina Rebels. These teams met Sept. 14 and skated to a 3-3 tie.

 

USA Boys 16U Tier 1

#26 Mount St. Charles vs. #35 North Jersey Avalanche

Thursday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m. EST

Adelard Arena – Woonsocket, R.I.

Two programs with a long history of success at USA Hockey Nationals meet in a 16U tilt at the Paul D. Merritt Overspeed Holiday Hockey Classic in Rhode Island. Accustomed to icing top-10 teams at the 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U Tier 1 levels, Mount St. Charles has played the fourth-toughest schedule in the country and hopes that difficult slate will help propel a climb up the rankings as the season progresses. MSC enters the tournament with a 15-15-2 overall record and a 102-109 overall scoring deficit. They are 1-1-1 their last three outings and are 9-9-2 in their last 20. During that stretch, MSC has recorded wins vs. the Nos. 5, 18, 19, 21 and 22 teams and tied the No. 17 team twice. North Jersey is 15-12-3 heading into Thursday’s contest and has outscored its opponents, 95-88. The Avs have won four straight but are 4-4-1 in their last nine outings.

 

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.