Youth Hockey Hub Photo

By Scott Lowe - MyHockeyRankings.com

Each week going forward we will try to highlight some of the upcoming weekend’s top matchups based on our most recent MYHockey Rankings. If you have a matchup to recommend to us for a given week, please don’t hesitate to send your suggestions to Scott@MyHockeyRankings.com. Photos are always appreciated and will be used when possible either to highlight the preview on the website or via our social media accounts. And we are always trying to build our library of hockey photos from around the continent.

Here are your Week 16 top matchups: 

USA Boys 16U Tier 1

#1 Gentry Galaxy vs. #2 Shattuck-St. Mary’s

Saturday, January 11- 1 p.m. EST

SSM Ice Arena – Fairbault, Minn.

They don’t get any bigger than this one as the top two teams in the country at 16U, both from Minnesota, meet in the SSM Showcase. The Galaxy enter the contest at 37-3-1 and having won four of their last five and 13 of their last 15 contests. The losses were 4-1 and 7-4 against the Florida Alliance Jan. 3 and Dec. 13, respectively. Gentry’s only other loss of the year was a 4-3 decision against the Esmark Stars Nov. 15. Florida Alliance is ranked ninth, while Esmark is No. 42. The Galaxy took a 25-game unbeaten streak into that contest against the Stars. Saturday’s game marks the first meeting of the year between these two powerhouses. Gentry has outscored its opponents, 298-83, to date. Shattuck brings a 28-4-2 record into the contest after knocking off No. 17 Team Illinois, 7-1, in its last game before winter break Dec. 15. SSM has won three straight and is 10-1-1 in its last 12. The only loss in that span was a 4-2 setback against the No. 26 Milwaukee Admirals Dec. 7. SSM also tied seventh-ranked Little Caesar’s Nov. 16, with its only other losses coming against No. 22 Team Wisconsin, the No. 20 Minnesota Blizzard and the fourth-ranked Buffalo Jr. Sabres. Shattuck has outscored its foes, 177-80.

USA Girls 16U Tier 1

#1 Chicago Mission vs. #13 Chicago Young Americans

Saturday, January 11 – 5:40 p.m. EST

Blackhawks Community Ice Arena – Chicago, Ill.  

Two Chicago rivals face each other in the “Pink in the Rink” breast cancer awareness game. The top-ranked Mission are 40-7-2, while the Young Americans enter the weekend at 27-13-9. Despite their proximity, these two teams are meeting for the just the third time this season, with the Mission having earned 3-0 and 2-0 victories Jan. 5 and Dec. 13, respectively. The Jan. 5 contest was the most recent game for the Young Americans, while the Mission beat Canada’s 22nd-ranked Sudbury Lady Wolves 17U, 3-1, also on Jan. 5. That victory was the 16^th straight for the Mission, dating back to a 4-3 overtime loss against the Toronto Aeros, Canada’s 17^th-ranked team, Dec. 6. They have outscored their opponents, 181-40. CYA was unbeaten in six contests (4-0-2) before falling to the Mission last week. They lost two straight games prior to that streak, including their other loss to the Mission, and are 16-9-5 in their last 30 outings. For the year the Young Americans hold a 96-53 scoring advantage over their opponents.

Canada Girls 17U Tier 1

#6 St. Albert Slash vs. #14 Lloydminster Steelers

Friday, January 10 – 9:30 p.m. EST

Sevrus Sports Centre – Lloydminster, Alberta

It’s a key AFHL matchup featuring the first-place Slash (17-1-1 AFHL) and the fifth place Steelers (8-8-2). St. Albert leads the league with 50 points, while Lloydminster has 22 points and is five points out of third place. Overall, the Slash are 21-8-2 compared to the Steelers, who are 17-11-3. These two teams have had quite a season series to date, with St. Albert earning a 4-3 overtime victory Nov. 1 to go along with a 3-0 win Oct. 4. The Steelers rebounded for a 1-0 shootout win Nov. 24. The Slash won their first game after a long holiday layoff, 2-1, over the Rocky Mountain Raiders Jan. 4 to offset a 2-1 pre-holiday loss to the Red Deer Chiefs Dec. 15. St. Albert is 14-4-2 in its last 20 games. The Slash have gone 5-4-1 in their last 10 after a 10-game winning streak. St. Albert center Jenna Goodwin leads the AFHL in scoring with 11 goals, while teammate Allison Reich is third with eight tallies. Goodwin is third in the league with 17 points. Lloydminster forward Jadynn Morden paces her team in league play with 8-4-12 in 14 contests, with Bryn Pollard adding 5-6-11 in 16 outings. The Steelers split their last two games against the No. 10 Edmonton Pandas after dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the No. 7 Swift Current Wildcats Dec. 8. That loss halted a five-game unbeaten streak.

Ontario Boys Midget AAA

#6 Ajax-Pickering Raiders vs. #12 Kingston Jr. Gaels

Monday, January 13 – 7:30 p.m.

Don Beer Arena – Pickering, Ontario

It’s a battle between second- and third-place Eastern AAA teams as Ajax-Pickering (19-6-3, 41 points league) takes on Kingston (15-8-5, 35 points). The Raiders overall are 26-10-4 coming into the contest, while the Jr. Gaels are 25-10-5. The top-ranked Peterborough Petes lead the ETA at 21-2-2 with 44 points and four games in hand. These two teams have met once previously, on Oct. 26, with Ajax-Pickering earning a 4-0 victory. The Raiders have won four of their last five games, with the loss coming against the No. 1 Petes, 4-3, Dec. 20. That followed a 4-all tie against Peterborough Dec. 15. They are 7-3-2 in their last 12 outings. Kingston is winless in its last three (0-2-1) on the heels of a seven-game win streak. They are 0-2 against top-ranked Peterborough, having lost 5-2 and 2-0. Kingston has outscored its opponents,152-88, overall and 105-69 in league play. Ajax-Pickering holds a 134-77 goals advantage in ETA contests and 181-100 overall. Matthew Cato leads the Raiders and ranks second in the league scoring race with 26-18-44, while teammate Christos Chronis ranks third with 20-23-43. For Kingston, Derek Hamilton leads the way with 30-13-43, which places him first in the league in goals and fourth in points.

Western Canada Midget AAA

#1 Northern Alberta X-Treme vs. #12 Rink Hockey Academy

Friday, January 10 – 8:30 p.m. EST

River Cree Twin Rinks – Enoch, Alberta

Northern Alberta enters this matchup of the first- and fourth-place CSSHL teams with an overall record or 23-1-1 and a 19-1-1 league mark (59 points). RHA is 21-10-0 overall, 13-6-2 CSSHL (43 points). NAX has outscored its opponents by 81 goals in league play and 145-53 overall. RHA is plus-47 in goal differential in the CSSHL and holds a 165-99 advantage overall. These two teams split a pair of games in October, with NAX winning, 6-2, and RHA rebounding for a 5-2 victory the next day. They met again Nov. 22 and 23, with Northern Alberta taking a pair of victories by a total margin of 15-7. NAX is unbeaten in its last 15 outings since that lone loss of the year against Rink way back on Oct. 4. The X-treme tied No. 17 Okanagan Hockey Academy Edmonton, 3-3, on Nov. 9. RHA just swept USA No. 6 Omaha AAA 18U in a three-game series last weekend to run its win streak to four games. Rink has won eight of its past nine contests since a 10-4 loss to NAX Nov. 23. Logan Lorenz of NAX is the scoring leader among the players on both teams with 17-28-46 in 18 league contests to rank seventh in the league. Rink’s Matt Savoie is eighth with 16-26-42 in 17 outings, while teammate Andrew Vasko ranks 10^th with 14-27-41. Sklyer Bruce of NAX is 15^th in the CSSHL with 17-18-35.