Opening Ceremony

On Thursday, YHH hosted an Opening Ceremony for all 64 teams. Forty Four teams were represented with two players and a coach from each team on Rink 3 at Bloomington Ice Garden. Each team was introduced by emcee Tom Baldrica. Two boys from host Jefferson, Tyler Grahme and Tate Noble took the Ceremonial puck drop.

Following the puck drop, Tony Scott welcomed the nearly 1,200 people in attendance said a few words about the teams and select players and declared the tournament opened (and more importantly, kicked off the Pin Trade and excitement). 

All Name Team

With just over a thousand players playing in the tournament, there were some great players, but also some great hockey names who hit the ice:

Bookie Warshaw, Jr. Coyotes (05)
August Falloon, St. Cloud
Tate Cothern (we just called him Little Red), Rochester
Axel Begley, Mahtomedi
Maximo San Roman, Jefferson
Spencer Rockafellow, Eden Prairie
Quentin Daza, Kansas City
Zach Kochendorfer, Stillwater
Zam Plante, Hermantown
Bennett Jax, Chaska Chanhassen
Tyler Kotzenmacher, White Bear Lake, Gavyn Shraufnagel, Lakeville South, Attila Lippai, Woodbury, Nick Blood, Mound Westonka, Jett Gibbons, Lakeville North, Jut Suter, Madison Capitols, Cooper Warrington, Edina, Cav Bruner, Mahtomedi, and Damien VanDanacker, NSP Revolution.

Brooke and the 10 Rebels

Brooke White is the Head Coach of the NSP Revolution. The Rev had 8 skaters and two Goalies (all students at Bauer Revolution Academy in North St. Paul). Don't let her pretty smile and good looks fool you, she was one of the most intense and smart coaches we found in the entire field. She had her team ready play each game and on the brink of the Final 8 on Saturday night. Leading Edina Green late in the game needing only a tie to advance, Edina scored two late goals and dashed the hopes of White's small band of rebels who nearly beat the odds and made it to the Quarterfinals.

The Pin Trade

Each year, teams bring their team pin to the Squirtacular. Kids get a chance to parlay their pin into even more pins or attract the best pin. Out of state pins from Arizona, Chicago, or Kansas City were big hits this year. As were pins from the Outstate were popular, too. Edina pins always do well on the circuit, as do any pins with glitter, sparkle or a flashing light.

The Jefferson skate matched the Squirtacular trophy skate, the Grand Rapids Thunderhawk was very cool, too.

First Year Fun

There were several great players last weekend. Older and more experienced players stole the show. However, a few first year skaters caught our attention. 

Oliver Moore, Mounds View Irondale
William Whitelaw, Rosemount 
Matthew Magnuson, Chaska Chan 
Joey Sylvester, Sibley
Jimmy Clark, Edina 
Landon Gunderson, OMG
 

A Star is Born

Each year, top players shine in the big events. YHH attracted 64 teams in 3 Divisions...from 5 different states. One team from Chicago (Hoffman Estates) won the C Division and another took second in the B (Arizona '05). Tyler Frederichs was the best player on the best team. He had great skill and had a penchant for the dramatic, scoring big goals in big games. Jackson Blake won the scoring title with 13 goals and 17 points in four games. Other All Tournament team performers such as Max Burkholder and Ben Dardis had a great tournament. But the player that jumped onto the radar and shook the screen was Tyler Haskins. The second year star from Rochester was amazing. Besides the physical tools of the aforementioned, Haskins showed great hockey IQ, rink vision and an understanding of when to pass and and when to score.

Crazy Fans

Squirt hockey brings out some of the best fans of youth hockey you can find! Moms dressed in team colors, dads coaching even though they aren't the coach, and little brothers and sisters running in the rink hallways.

A few fans really made their mark last weekend. Osseo Maple Grove had a flock of girls that cheered on their team for every game...they were great. A Rosemount Dad lead his team onto the ice with the playing  of the Irish bagpipes.

But our favorite was Crazy Tee Shirt Guy. No matter the venue, or the situation, this guy was clad in short sleeves. His passion for his team was long and his attitude was awesome. We tip our hat to you Crazy Tee Shirt Guy!!