MYHockey News
Week 23 MHR Games of the Week
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 23 top matchups:
The Atlantic Youth Hockey League AAA playoffs take place this weekend, with some of the nation’s top Tier 1 programs in all ages represented. Some of the league’s top games this weekend are featured below:
AYHL Playoff Schedule & Results
All AYHL Playoff games can be seen on LiveBarn.
USA Boys Bantam ’06 Tier 1 – AYHL Playoffs
#2 N.J. Colonials vs. #8 Valley Forge Minutemen
Saturday, March 1 – at 3:15 p.m. EST on LiveBarn
Ice Line – West Chester, Pa.
The AYHL’s top-two Bantam Minor teams go head to head on the first day of the AYHL’s four-team round-robin playoffs. The two teams actually finished the regular season deadlocked with 58 points, with the Colonials going 27-1-4 and the Minutemen posting a 29-3-0 mark. They already have met five times this season, with New Jersey holding a 3-2 advantage, however Valley Forge has won the last two meetings by scores of 2-1 and 6-3. The most recent game between the teams was a 2-1 decision in favor of the Minutemen Feb. 15. New Jersey is 42-9-6 overall and has outscored its opponents, 290-115. The Colonials are 7-2-1 in their last 10 contests and 12-4-2 in their last 18 after dropping just five of their first 37 games. Valley Forge is 42-9-5 overall and has outscored its rivals, 230-93. The Minutemen are 19-4-4 in their last 27 contests, including a 14-game unbeaten streak (13-0-1). They are 4-5-2 in their last 11 outings, with losses coming against USA No. 9 Syracuse Nationals and the Colonials as well as Ontario’s No. 2, No. 5 and No. 8 teams.
USA Girls 12U Tier 1
#1 Chicago Mission vs. #7 Team Illinois
Saturday, February 29 at 10:00 a.m. EST/Sunday, March 1 at 10:00 a.m. EST on LiveBarn
Mount Prospect Ice Arena – Mount Prospect, Ill.
It’s a battle of Illinois as two of the nation’s top girls’ hockey programs get together for a late-season weekend series. The Mission bring a 46-7-7 record into the weekend, and they have outscored their opponents by a 241-80 margin. Team Illinois is 31-23-8 and enjoys a 184-150 scoring advantage over its opponents to date. These two teams faced each other to start the season way back in September, with the Mission skating away with a 6-4 victory. They didn’t face each other again until Feb. 22, when the Mission earned a 5-0 victory, and this weekend will make it three straight game against each other. The Mission are 8-2 in their last 10 outings, with the losses coming against Canada’s top-ranked Peterborough Ice Kats and the St. Jude Knights. After opening the season by going 34-2-7, the Mission are 12-5 in their last 17 contests. Team Illinois is 6-2 in its last eight games, with one of the losses coming against No. 6 Little Caesar’s. They also beat Little Caesar’s, the 11th-ranked Chicago Young Americans and No. 16 Honeybaked during that stretch. Team Illinois is 7-7-2 in its last 16 games, which immediately followed a six-game unbeaten streak
#7 Long Island Gulls vs. #13 Team Maryland
Sunday, March 1 – at 6:15 p.m. EST on LiveBarn
Oaks Center Ice – Valley Forge, Pa.
The top two teams in the AYHL PeeWee Major Division face off on Sunday outside of Philadelphia as part of the four-team round-robin playoffs. Long Island finished the AYHL season with a 25-1-2 record, five points ahead of Team Maryland, which was 22-3-3. No. 17 Valley Forge was third at 19-5-4 and 44th-ranked Virtua was fifth at 16-11-1. The Gulls and TM met three times this season, each winning once with one tie Nov. 16 and 17. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie Nov. 16, with TM earning a 6-2 victory in the first game Nov. 17 and Long Island winning 7-4 in the nightcap. The Gulls are 50-6-6 overall and have outscored their opponents, 367-124 on the year. They enter the postseason on a nine-game winning streak and unbeaten in 12 of their last 15 (12-1-2). Long Island is 5-0-1 against the other teams in the AYHL playoffs, with the lone tie coming against Valley Forge. Team Maryland has an overall record of 34-17-8 and has outscored its foes, 274-163. TM is 3-2-2 against the other teams in the playoffs, going 1-1-1 against Valley Forge and 2-1-1 vs. Virtua. They lost their last three games heading into the postseason, with two of those setbacks coming against the No. 11 Northeast Wisconsin Jr. Gamblers and No. 10 Little Caesar’s. TM is 3-9-2 in its last 14 outings after opening the year 31-8-6. Two of those nine losses came against the nation’s top-ranked Islanders Hockey Club, and they also lost to the No. 5, No. 8, No. 10 and No. 11 teams.
Canada Boys Bantam AAA – GTHL Semifinals
#7 Toronto Canadiens vs. #14 Vaughan Kings
Saturday, February 29 at 5:55 p.m. EST/Monday, March 2 at 7:15 p.m. EST
Scotia Bank Pond – North York, Ontario
Two of Canada’s top-14 bantam teams meet in the Greater Toronto Hockey League semifinals. The first team to eight points (two points per victory) wins the series, and the Jr. Canadiens hold a 2-0 edge in points after a 3-1 victory Feb. 27. The eighth-ranked Toronto Marlboros hold a 4-0 lead over the No. 18 Markham Majors in the other semifinal. The Jr. Canadiens earned the tournament’s top seed with a 23-5-5 record for 51 points. They were tied in points with the Marlboros, but had one more victory. Overall on the season, the Jr. Canadiens are 42-13-8. Vaughan finished 22-8-3 in league play to earn the No. 4 seed with 47 points. The Kings are 39-20-4 overall. Prior to the Feb. 27 contest, these two teams had met three times, with the Jr. Canadiens winning by scores of 3-1, 4-3 and 3-1. Vaughan advanced to the semifinals with a 9-7 quarterfinal win against the fifth-seeded and 10th-ranked Mississauga Reps, while the Canadiens swept the eighth-seeded and 39th-ranked Toronto Young Nationals, 8-0. Including the opening-round sweep, the Jr. Canadiens bring a 13-game unbeaten streak into the weekend.
Canada Girls 20U Tier 1
#4 Quebec A’s vs. #5 Richelieu Remparts
Saturday, February 29 at 4:30 p.m. EST
Joe Juneau Recreation Comple – Pont-Rouge, Quebec
The second- and third-place teams in the LHEQ meet looking to close the gap on the first-place and seventh-ranked Mauricie Stars. The Stars have 65 points (17-6-4), two more than the Remparts (17-4-4) and three more than the A’s (18-4-2), but the Remparts have played two fewer games and the A’s have three games in hand. An A’s victory would move them into sole possession of second place, while the Remparts can move into a first-place tie with a win. The A’s hold a 3-2 edge in the season series, but Richelieu won the most-recent meeting of the two teams by a 3-2 margin Feb. 2. Richelieu is 31-4-4 overall with a 151-64 scoring advantage over its opponents. The Remparts have won 11 straight games and 16 of their last 17. Quebec is 29-5-3 overall and has outscored its opponents, 126-45. The A’s are 10-2-1 in their last 13, but only 2-2-2 in their last six. Richelieu is led by Gabrielle Santerre, who has 12 goals and 16 assists, while Juliette Roland has 13-11-24. Alexandra Giguere has 20-12-32 to pace the A’s, with Rose-Marie Brouchu contributing 17-10-27.
USA Girls 12U Tier 1
#1 Chicago Mission vs. #7 Team Illinois
Saturday, February 29 at 10:00 a.m. EST/Sunday, March 1 at 10:00 a.m. EST on LiveBarn
Mount Prospect Ice Arena – Mount Prospect, Ill.
It’s a battle of Illinois as two of the nation’s top girls’ hockey programs get together for a late-season weekend series. The Mission bring a 46-7-7 record into the weekend, and they have outscored their opponents by a 241-80 margin. Team Illinois is 31-23-8 and enjoys a 184-150 scoring advantage over its opponents to date. These two teams faced each other to start the season way back in September, with the Mission skating away with a 6-4 victory. They didn’t face each other again until Feb. 22, when the Mission earned a 5-0 victory, and this weekend will make it three straight game against each other. The Mission are 8-2 in their last 10 outings, with the losses coming against Canada’s top-ranked Peterborough Ice Kats and the St. Jude Knights. After opening the season by going 34-2-7, the Mission are 12-5 in their last 17 contests. Team Illinois is 6-2 in its last eight games, with one of the losses coming against No. 6 Little Caesar’s. They also beat Little Caesar’s, the 11th-ranked Chicago Young Americans and No. 16 Honeybaked during that stretch. Team Illinois is 7-7-2 in its last 16 games, which immediately followed a six-game unbeaten streak
