As the holidays approach, many showcase leagues around the United States will be holding their final events of the 2023 calendar year, taking advantage of school breaks as well breaks in the junior and college seasons in an effort to help their players get a little bit of extra exposure. Meanwhile, traditional holiday invitational tournaments also will continue to be held all over North America.

Our Week 13 Games of the Week provide a taste of both types of events.

Three of our featured games are USA Boys Tier 1 matchups in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 age groups from the annual Mid-Winter Classic Hockey Tournament hosted by Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Friday through Sunday. Our fourth game is a top-10 USA Boys Tier 1 16U showdown from the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League Showcase in Phoenix.

The MidWinter Classic in Pittsburgh features 60 teams competing across five age groups. The 2010 Division boasts four of the nation’s top-15 teams, while the 2011 Division includes six of the top-11 U.S. teams and the 2012 Division features seven of the top-20 clubs. Games began Friday and run through Sunday at various Pittsburgh-area rinks. Most, if not all, games should be available for live and on-demand viewing via LiveBarn.

The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (T1EHL) is one of the top showcase circuits in the United States, with more than 20 member organizations from all over the coutry competing at at every age level from 2012 through 18U. Weekend events are held for each age group in locations like Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, Dallas, Anaheim, Buffalo and Nashville, and the season culminates with league playoffs that are held in Detroit for the younger age groups and Minnesota for ages 14U through 18U.

This weekend’s featured T1EHL event in Phoenix is for ages 15 through 18 and includes nearly 70 teams competing in the three age groups, Youth and 14U events also are taking place in different locations.

MHR WEEK 13 GAMES OF THE WEEK

USA Boys 2010 Tier 1

#4 Buffalo Jr. Sabres vs. #7 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite

Saturday, Dec. 16 at 12:30 p.m. EST

UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex #1 – Cranberry Township, Pa.

Mid-Winter Classic Hockey Tournament

Streamed on LiveBarn

This is the top pool-play matchup in the 14U Division of the Mid-Winter Classic. The 14U group also includes the No. 9 Chicago Mission and No. 15 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers. Play opened on Friday, with Pens Elite beating the Mission and Jr. Rangers by identical 6-2 scores and the Jr. Sabres beating Mid-Fairfield by a 6-0 tally before skating to a 2-2 tie vs. Chicago. These teams met three times in September, with Pittsburgh winning each time by scores of 4-3, 4-0 and 5-3. If you remove those results, Buffalo had gone 30-7-1 in its other games prior to the tournament. The Jr. Sabres had outscored their opponents, 181-81, this season and were allowing fewer than two goals per outing. They were 11-3-1 in their previous 15 contests prior to the weekend. Pens Elite brought a 22-14-2 record into the tournament and was 9-6-1 in the 16 contests leading up to the weekend. They had outscored their foes, 129-82.

USA Boys 2011 Tier 1

#3 Chicago Reapers vs. #5 Los Angeles Jr. Kings

Saturday, Dec. 16 at 12:40 p.m. EST

Alpha Ice Complex Europe Rink – Pittsburgh, Pa.

Mid-Winter Classic Hockey Tournament

Streamed on LiveBarn

This is the matchup of highest-ranked opponents in pool play for the 2011 Division of the Mid-Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. These teams will be competing for the top seed in Pool B, which also includes No. 29 Belle Tire and the No. 11 Ohio Blue Jackets. Top-ranked Mid-Fairfield and the No. 8 Chicago Mission are in Pool A, while second-ranked Pens Elite, the No. 14 New Jersey Titans and No. 19 Boston Advantage are in Pool C. Play opened Friday, with the Jr. Kings knocking off Belle Tire, 5-0, and Ohio, 3-0. Meanwhile, the Reapers beat the Blue Jackets, 4-2, and Belle Tire, 5-4. These teams faced each other to open their seasons Sept. 1 and 3, with the Reapers earning a pair of one-goal victories, 2-1 and 5-4 in overtime. Chicago entered the weekend with a record of 31-6-0 and having outscored its opponents, 185-64, while surrendering just 1.73 goals per game. The Reapers had won 11 of their previous 14 contests prior to Friday’s games. Los Angeles was 23-9-2 and had outscored its opponents 161-72 before heading to Pittsburgh. The Jr. Kings entered the weekend on a nine-game winning streak.

USA Boys 2012 Tier 1

#11 Ohio Blue Jackets vs. #15 Philadelphia Hockey Club

Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8:30 a.m. EST

Alpha Ice Complex Canada Rink – Pittsburgh, Pa.

Mid-Winter Classic Hockey Tournament

Streamed on LiveBarn

Seven of the nation’s top-20 teams are in the 2012 Division at the Mid-Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, and these two figured to battle for the top spot in Pool D, which also includes the No. 39 Chicago Fury and No. 54 Carolina Jr. Hurricanes. The second-ranked Chicago Mission and No. 19 Jr. Sabres are in Pool A, seventh-ranked Pens Elite and the No. 20 Little Flyers are in Pool B and the No. 8 Chicago Reapers and No. 22 New Jersey Colonials headline Pool C. Play began Friday, with PHC knocking off the Jr. Canes, 5-4, and Chicago, 6-3, while Ohio beat Carolina, 8-2, before falling to the Fury, 3-2. Prior to Friday’s contests, the Blue Jackets were 25-8-2 and had outscored their opponents, 189-115. Ohio had been unbeaten in its previous 11 games (10-0-1) since a 6-1 loss to No. 3 Team Illinois Nov. 5. PHC has posted a 25-11-3 record before winning its games Friday and had outscored its foes, 203-125. They entered the weekend on a six-game winning streak during which they had rolled up a 39-9 scoring advantage and allowed just 1.5 goals per game. These teams are meeting for the first time this season.

USA Boys 16U Tier 1

#4 Dallas Stars Elite vs. #8 Victory Honda

Saturday, December 16 at 6:00 p.m. EST

Tier 1 EHL Showcase

Ice Den Scottsdale Coyote Rink – Scottsdale, Ariz.

This is the top 16U matchup at this weekend’s T1EHL Showcase in the Phoenix area. In addition to these top-10 teams, the 16U group includes nine other teams ranked among the nation’s top 40 and 12 more ranked among the top 50. These teams are meeting for the first time this season. The Stars entered the weekend 6-4, with a pair of overtime losses, in league play, while Victory was 2-3 with an OT win and loss on its resume. Overall, Dallas was 20-5-0 and had outscored its opponents, 129-50, while allowing just 2.0 goals per game. The Stars had split their previous four outings, falling to the No. 11 Los Angeles Jr. Kings and No. 2 Sioux Falls Power and beating the 40^th-ranked Philadelphia Jr. Flyers and No. 60 Nashville Jr. Predators. Dallas had won five straight prior to that stretch. Victory Honda came to Phoenix with a 31-8-1 record and having outscored its foes, 164-53. They had allowed just 1.33 goals per game, recording 11 shutouts and holding another 16 opponents to just one goal. VH had won six straight games heading into the weekend.

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.