USA Hockey Nationals Day 4 Recap
Another great day of hockey in Texas. While I was unable to catch all the action, what I saw was impressive. While there were some minor upsets during the day, the finals have played out as MYHockey "predicted". At Tier 1, the Chicago Mission will face-off against Detroit Compuware and at Tier 2 the Allen Park Huskies will play the LA Selects 95 team. In each case, these are the top two teams in the tournament at each respective level.
Along the way, there were some interesting happenings. The LA Selects may have put together the most impressive set of wins today. The Selects 94 team completely overpowered Syracuse for a 6-0 win in the quarterfinals this afternoon. The Selects used this momentum to post a 2-0 first period lead on the Chicago Mission before the Mission answered with three third period goals to earn the right play tomorrow in the finals. Compuware used a couple come-from behind victories to earn the other Tier 1 spot in the finals. They need OT to beat Mid-Fairfield in the quarterfinals and scored two goals in the third period of their semi-final game against the Colorado Thunderbirds (in a rematch of the 2007 Peewee Tier 1 National Championship game) to overtake the Thunderbirds 4-3. Compuware and the Mission both play in the Midwest Elite League (MWEHL). This will be the fifth time the teams have played each other this season. The Mission have won all four previous meetings this season.
In Tier 2 action this afternoon I watched a great game between Niagara and Affton where Niagara scored in the final minute of the game to oust the defending champs (two years ago) by a score of 2-1. Niagara's reward? They got to face the #1 ranked and highly talented LA Selects 95 team. LA, after mopping up on the Dallas Stars Selects this afternoon 9-1, held on to 4-3 victory over Niagara to earn a birth in the finals. Allen Park defeated Red River Valley 3-1 to earn the other spot in tomorrow's championship game.
In other action around the country, the St Louis Blues will play Detroit Belle Tire for the Peewee Tier 1 title while the Midland (MI) North Stars will take on the East Coast (NC) Eagles in Tier 2 action from Charlotte, NC. Team Comcast (NJ) will play Detroit Compuware in a battle of #1 vs. #2 in Midget 16U Tier 1 action from St. Louis while host Affton will take on Mid-Fairfield for the Tier 2 title. In Pittsburgh, the Dallas Stars will play Detroit Little Caesars for the Midget 18U Tier 1 championship while the Clifton Park (NY) Dynamo will play the Dallas Stars (Tier 2 team) for the Tier 2 title. A quick note on the Midget 18U Tier 1 semi-final games. Both games represented rematches of Wednesday first round games. In both cases, the team that won on Wednesday in round-robin play, lost in the semi-finals.
Best of luck to all teams tomorrow!
Along the way, there were some interesting happenings. The LA Selects may have put together the most impressive set of wins today. The Selects 94 team completely overpowered Syracuse for a 6-0 win in the quarterfinals this afternoon. The Selects used this momentum to post a 2-0 first period lead on the Chicago Mission before the Mission answered with three third period goals to earn the right play tomorrow in the finals. Compuware used a couple come-from behind victories to earn the other Tier 1 spot in the finals. They need OT to beat Mid-Fairfield in the quarterfinals and scored two goals in the third period of their semi-final game against the Colorado Thunderbirds (in a rematch of the 2007 Peewee Tier 1 National Championship game) to overtake the Thunderbirds 4-3. Compuware and the Mission both play in the Midwest Elite League (MWEHL). This will be the fifth time the teams have played each other this season. The Mission have won all four previous meetings this season.
In Tier 2 action this afternoon I watched a great game between Niagara and Affton where Niagara scored in the final minute of the game to oust the defending champs (two years ago) by a score of 2-1. Niagara's reward? They got to face the #1 ranked and highly talented LA Selects 95 team. LA, after mopping up on the Dallas Stars Selects this afternoon 9-1, held on to 4-3 victory over Niagara to earn a birth in the finals. Allen Park defeated Red River Valley 3-1 to earn the other spot in tomorrow's championship game.
In other action around the country, the St Louis Blues will play Detroit Belle Tire for the Peewee Tier 1 title while the Midland (MI) North Stars will take on the East Coast (NC) Eagles in Tier 2 action from Charlotte, NC. Team Comcast (NJ) will play Detroit Compuware in a battle of #1 vs. #2 in Midget 16U Tier 1 action from St. Louis while host Affton will take on Mid-Fairfield for the Tier 2 title. In Pittsburgh, the Dallas Stars will play Detroit Little Caesars for the Midget 18U Tier 1 championship while the Clifton Park (NY) Dynamo will play the Dallas Stars (Tier 2 team) for the Tier 2 title. A quick note on the Midget 18U Tier 1 semi-final games. Both games represented rematches of Wednesday first round games. In both cases, the team that won on Wednesday in round-robin play, lost in the semi-finals.
Best of luck to all teams tomorrow!
