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With USA Hockey National Championships fast approaching for boys and girls, our attention turns in Week 26 to the Tier 1 USA Boys district playoffs that started a few weeks ago but are about to get into full swing.

Normally held the first week of April, Nationals have been moved to the end of the month so that they will begin either April 28 or 29 for boys and girls playing at the Tier I and Tier 2 levels.

At the Tier 1 boys’ level, 16 teams in each of the 14U, 15U, 16U and 18U age groups will either qualify or be invited from 12 geographic districts around the country. All of the 12 different district champions from each age group will earn the right to travel to either Dallas, Texas, or Maryland Heights, Mo., for one of this year’s events, and four at-large berths will be awarded.

Massachusetts announced in January that it would not be holding its qualifying tournament this year, so it remains to be seen if teams from that district will be invited.

A few districts – the Southeast, Rocky Mountain, Minnesota, Central and Mid-Am, already held their district tournaments, crowning their champions and automatic qualifiers:

 

USA Hockey Nationals Boys Qualifiers as of April 4, 2021

Central District:

14U – #4 NE Wisconsin Jr. Gamblers

15U – #8 Team Wisconsin

16U – #19 NE Wisconsin Jr. Gamblers

18U – #11 CarShield

 

Mid-Am District:

14U – #12 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite

15U – #14 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite

16U – #2 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite

18U – #21 Ohio Blue Jackets

 

Minnesota:

14U – #1 Shattuck-St. Mary’s

15U – #21 Minnesota Blue Ox

16U – #3 Shattuck-St. Mary’s

18U – #1 Shattuck-St. Mary’s

 

Rocky Mountain District:

14U – #25 Colorado Thunderbirds

15U – #24 Dallas Stars Elite

16U – #9 Colorado Thunderbirds

18U – #13 Rocky Mountain RoughRiders

 

Southeast District

14U – #26 Team Maryland

15U – #6 Florida Alliance

16U – #26 Nashville Jr. Predators

18U – #9 Nashville Jr. Predators

  

Atlantic District

The Atlantic District held its district-qualifying tournaments this weekend to set up the matchups for next weekend’s best-of-three series that will determine the Nationals berths. Each qualifying tournament was decided on the final day, setting up the matchups below April 10-12 at Ice Line in West Chester. Those games can all be seen on LiveBarn.

 

Atlantic District Playoff Matchups – April 10-12, Ice Line West Chester, Pa.

14U – #19 Valley Forge Minutemen vs. #6 New Jersey Colonials

15U – #26 Jr. Flyers vs. #7 North Jersey Avalanche

16U – #6 New Jersey Rockets vs. #1 North Jersey Avalanche

18U - #30 Mercer Chiefs vs. #5 North Jersey Avalanche

Click here for the full schedul for all age groups

 

Michigan

The Michigan boys’ Tier 1 tournaments to determine the state’s automatic Nationals berths either get underway or continue this week. All games are being played at the Taylor Sportsplex in Taylor, Mich., and can be seen on LiveBarn.

14U

Games begin on Monday, April 5, featuring the following teams:

#11 Compuware

#22 Honeybaked

#23 Victory Honda

#24 Little Caesars

#56 Fox Motors

#61 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies

#69 Belle Tire

#80 Meijer

 

15U

Games begin on Monday, April 5, featuring the following teams: 

#2 Honeybaked

#3 Compuware

#16 Little Caesars

#18 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies

#29 Victory Honda

#32 Fox Motors

#44 Belle Tire

#85 Meijer

 

16U

Games begin on Tuesday, April 6, featuring the following teams:

#2 Victory Honda

#4 Honeybaked

#8 Fox Motors

#17 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies

#21 Compuware

#34 Little Caesars

#94 Meijer

#109 Belle Tire

 

18U

The following teams competed March 24-26 to determine which two teams would play April 9-11 in a three-game series to determine the Nationals berth:

#10 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies

#14 Belle Tire

#16 Meijer

#35 Compuware

#22 Victory Honda

#32 Fox Motors

#58 Little Caesars

#65 Soo Indians

The three-game series between Belle Tire and Meijer starts on Friday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. at Taylor Sportsplex. Saturday’s game is at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s is at 4 p.m. All times are Eastern.

Click here for the full schedule for all age groups

 

Northern Plains District

Team North Dakota will take on the Sioux Falls Power in best-of-three series to determine Nationals berths in all age levels at the Larson Ice Center in Brookings, S.D., April 9-11. All games can be seen on LiveBarn:

14U – #43 Team North Dakota vs. #75 Sioux Falls Power

15U - #56 Sioux Falls Power vs. #74 Team North Dakota

16U – #33 Sioux Falls Power vs. #35 Sioux Falls Power

18U – #37 Sioux Falls Power vs. #42 Team North Dakota

 

Pacific District

The Pacific District Tournament is scheduled for April 7-11 at the Scottsdale Ice Den in Arizona, with all games available on LiveBarn. Here are the teams competing at each age level:

14U

#14 LA Jr. Kings

#15 Anaheim Ice Dogs

#27 Team Alaska

#49 Anaheim Jr. Ducks

#89 Wenatchee Wolverines

#100 Sno-King Jr. Thunderbirds

 

15U

#41 Team Alaska

#66 San Diego Saings

#53 Anaheim Jr. Ducks

#101 Northwest Stars

 

16U

#20 Anaheim Jr. Ducks

#52 San Jose Jr. Sharks

#77 LA Jr. Kings

#90 Team Alaska

#83 Wenatchee Wilderness

#99 Sno-King Jr. Thunderbirds

 

18U

#27 Anaheim Jr. Ducks

#62 Wenatchee Wolves

#70 San Jose Jr. Sharks

#76 Team Alaska

#77 Nortwest Stars

#94 Ontario Jr. Reign

Click here for the full schedule for all age groups

The USA Hockey affiliate organizations governing New York and New England have expressed their intent to run their qualifying tournaments in April, but as of April 4 no schedules had been posted. Massachusetts announced in January that its tournaments would not be held this year.

UPDATE - NEW ENGLAND SCHEDULE HAS BEEN POSTED HERE