Girls hockey in Canda ramped things up for their second official weekend as the Stoney Creek Sabres hosted some of the top U18 teams from Ottawa, Quebec and Western Canada as well as top 16U USA Girls teams for their annual U18 Showcase.

Stoney Creek, traditionally one of the top girls programs in Ottawa, also will bring in top North American teams for a University Showcase (U22) Sept. 13-15 and a U15 Showcase Sept. 20-22. We will be tracking each of these tournaments as we move through the heart of North American showcase and tournament season.

There were many high-level events around North America during the weekend of Sept. 6-8. Here are the ones we are highlighting:

• Stoney Creek Sabres U18 Showcase
• Northeast Pack opening weekend for Tier 1 USA Boys teams
• Michigan Amateur Hockey Tier 1 Showcase for USA Boys teams

These three events included many top U.S. and Canadian boys and girls programs and ran from Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8, and featurd more than 100 teams playing in over 210 games.

Many of the tournament games were played at rinks that feature LiveBarn or were streamed via other platforms, so it was another weekend for folks to get a sneak preview of some of the teams we are likely to see competing for national championships in April.

 

Stoney Creek Sabres U18 Showcase

This annual event included traditionally top-ranked U18 girls programs from Ottawa, Quebec, Western Canada and the United States. Because of the slightly different age classifications used by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, American Girls 16U competed in the U18 event, while 19U teams will play in the University (U22) Showcase the following weekend and 14U teams will compete in the U15 Showcase later this month.

The 2024 edition of the Stoney Creek U18 Showcase included 68 teams that played in 136 games during the tournament’s first two days before wrapping up with 38 playoff games Sept. 8. The tournament was divided into eight brackets each consisting of between eight and 10 teams. Games began early the morning of Sept. 6 and ran through the afternoon of Sept. 8.

United States clubs that sent teams to the showcase include Biggby Coffee, the Windy City Storm, Belle Tire, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, Culver Academies, Rochester Jr. Americans, Chicago Mission. Milwaukee Jr. Admirals, New Jersey Colonials, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, Anaheim Lady Ducks, Little Caesars and Bishop Kearney Selects.

Some of the traditional top Ottawa teams that competed included the Etobicoke Dolphins, Oakville Hornets, Stratford Aces, Burlington Barracudas, Waterloo Ravens, North York Storm, Mississauga Jr. Hurricanes, Guelph Gryphons, Central York Panthers, Whitby Wolves and Durham West Lighting. Western Canadian participants included the Fraser Valley Rush, St. Albert Slash and Winnipeg Avros. Top clubs representing Quebec included the l’Outaouais Intrepid and the Laurentides-Lanaudiere Stars.

Congratulations to this year’s Stoney Creek U18 Showcase champions and finalists:

 

Champions

Chicago Mission 16U – Gold Champions

Team Illinois 16U – Silver Champions

North York Storm U18 – Bronze Champions

Toronto Leaside Wildcats – Brass Champions

 

Finalists

Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U – Gold Finalists

Peterborough Ice Kats U18 – Silver Finalists

St. Albert Slash U18 – Bronze Finalists

Etobicoke Dolphins U18 – Brass Finalists

 

Gold Playoff Recap

The Chicago Mission rolled through pool play with a perfect 4-0-0 record, outscoring their opponents by a 16-3 margin, before knocking off Little Caesars, 2-1, in an overtime semifinal thriller and capturing a gold medal with a 3-0 victory against Pens Elite. Pittsburgh also won its pool by going 4-0-0 while compiling an 18-4 scoring advantage. They beat Greater Vancouver, 3-0, in the semis before falling to Chicago.

 

Silver Playoff Recap

Team Illinois went 3-0-1 in pool play, same as Culver Academies, to tie for the top spot in its pool. That wasn’t quite good enough to propel them into the Gold playoff, however. TI outscored its opponents, 11-3, in the opening round and beat the Laurentides-Lanaudiere Stars, 2-1 in a semifinal shootout, and Peterborough, 4-2, in the finals. Peterborough was 4-0-0 in pool play but missed out on advancing to the Gold playoffs because of goal differential. The Ice Kats outscored their foes, 19-6, through four games and advanced to the Silver finals by beating Belle Tire, 3-0.

 

Bronze Playoff Recap

The North York Storm defeated Western Canada’s St. Albert Slash, 2-1, in a shootout to capture the Bronze title. It also took a shootout for the Storm to beat the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals and advance to the championship game. North York was 3-0-1 in pool play, outscoring its opponents, 12-1. St. Albert won its first five tournament games before dropping the gold-medal matchup. The Slash posted a perfect 4-0-0 pool-play record, compiling a 12-2 scoring advantage along the way, before skating to a 3-0 semifinal victory against Culver Academies.

 

Brass Playoff Recap

It was another nailbiter in the Brass Championship game, with the Toronto Leaside Wildcats pulling out a 2-1 victory against the Etobicoke Dolphins to capture the gold. That win capped a 4-1-1 tourney for the Wildcats, who went 2-1-1 I pool play and outscored their opponents, 6-5, before beating the Kitchener Lady Rangers, 2-1, in a semifinal that required yet another shootout. Etobicoke concluded the tournament with a 4-2-0 record after going 3-1-0 in pool play and compiling a 12-6 scoring advantage in its preliminary games. The Dolphins beat the Markham-Stouffville Stars, 2-1, in you guessed it, another shootout to advance to the finals.

Games played at Gateway Arena and Mohawk Ice should be available to view on-demand via LiveBarn.

 

CLICK HERE for the Stoney Creek U18 Showcase Home page

CLICK HERE for the Stoney Creek U18 Showcase game results

CLICK HERE for the Stoney Creek U18 Showcase final standings

  

 

Northeast Pack Opening Weekend

The Northeast Pack Hockey League is made up of six youth hockey organizations from the Northeast that happen to be some of the top AAA USA Boys programs on an annual basis. The league includes teams at the 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U age levels. These six organizations, which share a vision for player-focused development, are the Bishop Kearney Selects, Long Island Gulls, Mount St. Charles, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, Bishop Kearney Selects and New Jersey Rockets.

Not only are most of these clubs perennial participants in the USA Hockey National Championships, but also they have produced a large number of players who have advanced to play in the United States Hockey League, the North American Hockey League, the NCAA and various levels of professional hockey.

This is the first of six weekend events that will include the league teams and high-level guest programs to be held during the 2024-25 season. It is being hosted in Rhode Island by traditional national-power Mount St. Charles. The league’s 16U and 18U teams will participate along with the Boston Jr. Eagles, another club that frequently sends teams to Nationals, who will compete as a guest team.

There also will be a 14U contest between Mount St. Charles and the Minuteman Flames that will be played as part of the opening weekend. Games will be played at Smithfield Municipal Ice Rink and MSC’s Adelard Arena in Woonsocket. Games played at Smithfield and Adelard should be available for viewing via LiveBarn.

 

Northeast Pack Opening Weekend Scores

These results were posted to our MHR system:

 

18U

Sept. 6 – Boston Jr. Eagles 6, Bishop Kearney Selects 2

Sept. 7. – Bishop Kearney Selects 3, Mount St. Charles 2

Sept. 7 – New Jersey Rockets 2, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 0

Sept. 7 – Boston Jr. Eagles 5, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 0

Sept. 8 – Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 5, Mount St. Charles 2

Sept. 8 – Bishop Kearney Selects 8, New Jersey Rockets 0

 

16U

Sept. 6 – Bishop Kearney Selects 5, Boston Jr. Eagles 2

Sept. 6 – Bishop Kearny Selects 5, Boston Jr. Eagles 2

Sept. 7 – Mount St. Charles 5, Bishop Kearney Selects 1

Sept. 7 – Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 6, Boston Jr. Eagles 2

Sept. 7 – Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 2, New Jersey Rockets 1

Sept. 7 – New Jersey Rockets 3, Long Island Gulls 1

Sept. 8 – New Jersey Rockets 7, Bishop Kearney Selects 1

Sept. 8 – Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 5, Mount St. Charles 1 (OT)

 

CLICK HERE for the Northeast Pack opening weekend schedule

 

 

Michigan Amateur Hockey Tier 1 Showcase

The Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) kicked off the 2024-25 season with its annual MAHA Tier I Showcase at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena (formerly Troy Sports Center) September 6-8. The event included boys teams from all of Michigan’s Tier 1 organizations and the Chicago Mission competing at the 14U, 15O, 15U and 18U age levels. All teams in each age group played three games during the weekend.

Competing programs included Victory Honda, Belle Tire, Little Caesars, Compuware, Oakland Jr. Grizzlies, Biggby Coffee, HoneyBaked, Fox Motors, Chicago Mission and Soo Indians.

“The Tier I Showcase is a very exciting, high-visibility event,” Jon Hosking, MAHA Hockey Events Manager, said on the MAHA website. “Each year, we’re aware that there will be a lot of eyes on these games – whether it’s coaches, administrators or scouts from college and junior programs. We want the action to be as accessible as possible, whether spectators are in the building or streaming online from another location. That exposure may lead to future opportunities for a lot of these players.” 

Games were streamed online by MiHockey.TV – single-game and full showcase-packages were available for live streaming. Check the website for on-demand options.

 

18U Division

Fox Motors, Little Caesars and Biggby Coffee each went undefeated in 18U play, while Victory Honda was 2-1-0. Fox scored 13 goals and allowed just 1, while LC posted a 15-5 scoring advantage and Biggby Coffee finished with a plus-6 goal differential. Victory Honda outscored its opponents, 19-5, despite falling to Little Caesars, 3-1.

 

16U Division

Little Caesars and the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies led the pack in the 16U Division, each going 3-0-0. LC ran up a 16-1 scoring advantage against its foes, while Oakland was nearly as impressive in outscoring its opponents, 15-2. Belle Tire and HoneyBaked each went 2-1-0, with Honeybaked falling to BT, 4-2 in their head-to-head matchup.

 

15O Division

Three 15O teams posted perfect 3-0-0 records and were the only clubs in the division to finish with winning records. HoneyBaked compiled a 24-3 scoring advantage in its three victories, while Little Caesars posted a plus-15 goal differential and Victory Honda outscored its opponents, 14-7.

 

14U Division

Little Caesars was the lone undefeated 14U team, going 3-0-0 and piling up a 26-3 scoring advantage in its three victories. Fox Motors (2-0-1), Compuware (2-0-1) and the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (2-1-0) each posted a pair of victories. Fox recorded a plus-22 goal differential, compared to plus-7 for Compuware and plus-2 for Oakland.

 

CLICK HERE for the MAHA Tier 1 Showcase results