This weekend, YHH will host its first 3v3 tournament - a great concept for off-season small area games and high scoring hockey. The YHH Freeze Off will host 10 teams, four at the '03 level and six and the '04 level. These (mostly) PeeWee aged players will play five or six games Friday to Sunday at the brand new Igloo in Otsego, MN. We expect to see a lot of very talented skaters and battle tested goalies.
Rochester's Tyler Haskins will line up for The Dog Pound this weekend
The '03 Division has only four teams but is packed with some real star power. The Euro American squad is lead by Goalie Jack Wieneke who will leaned on to keep his team in the games...Luke Delzer (Rogers) Jonathon Hallstrom (OMG) are a couple of Reds to keep an eye on for this weekend. The Knights are another team to take note of, speedster Zach Miller will be a threat for them and Alex Gilbert is a technician between the pipes. Hockey IQ will be lead by Tony Gruba behind the bench. The former St. Cloud State Husky has his son Leo on the squad. Leo was a standout last Winter in the YHH Squirtacular. Rogers native Jack Swan will also line up for the IQs. And a team we can't wait to see unleashed is The Dog Pound. They will trot out of the kennel the likes of Tyler Haskins, this year's Wiz Wyatt winner and Joe Paladichuk and a cast of others stars like the Furuseth brothers Nate and Damon from Roseau.
Isaac Howard looks to light the lamp in Otsego this weekend
The 04 Division is stacked from top to bottom - six great teams, all with a chance to win some games. The Honey Badgers will be a fun outfit to see, they have three players that starred for the Great Plains team this Summer in The Show, Jackson Anderson (Prior Lake), JJ Wiebusch (River Falls) and Christian Manz (Spring Lake Park). The Puck Snipers have a few Show kids as well, Jimmy Clark (Edina), Nick Mikan (Edina) and Austin Williams (Edina) making them a great threat to win on Sunday. The No Regretzkies are coached by former Gopher Jason Godbout and have two Show alums Anthony Madigan and Godbout's son Dylan. They have other star power with standouts like Tyler Kotzmacher (WBL) and Jack Strobel (Hudson).
The Miracle team should be fun to watch this weekend...they have a great variety of players from all over Minnesota including big man Hunter Hady from Rochester and goal scorer Jordan Tacheny from Forest Lake. The Skippers are an '04 team mostly from Minnetonka. Teddy Manlove and Johnny Hendrickson will be players opponents need to contain. Hockey IQ is a team that can't be overlooked. Isaac Howard, an all tournament team member at The Show will likely give Goalies nightmares. Also in the IQ lineup are Wiz Wyatt Finalist Logan Seward (Andover)...a kid that will flourish in 3v3 and Prescott Sexton who played for Team USA in The Show.
Six teams, all with a great chance to win it all.
Christian Manz could be the difference this weekend for the Honey Badgers
Choosing a winner in a tough field is a tall task. Especially with teams that are mostly playing together for the first time and in a 3v3 format makes it unpredictable on one hand but fun to watch on the other. Here are our Favorites and Sleepers. Tune into YHH this weekend to see how it unfolds.
03 Favorite: The Dog Pound
03 Sleeper: The Knights
04 Favorite: Honey Badgers
04 Sleeper: Hockey IQ
Dylan Godbout should be a force for No Regretzkies