With nearly 300 players playing in 77 games over six days, you can imagine how many great stories  can be told in a short window of time. While running an event of this magnitude, getting the essentials covered is the most important. Essentials like a broadcast crew and still photographer at every game...an editor in charge of social media and video highlights. 

Outside of this "blocking and tackling" we see and hear some great stuff. Some players grow on you as the week progresses, most for the right reasons. Likewise, some teams really are fun to watch. Here are a few things we saw that don't fit into our typical scope of work.

Barrett Dexheimer, Great Plains - the least flashy defenseman on the very flashy GP blue line - "Bear Bones" is his fitting nickname...makes the right decision every time. Easy kid to coach, always smiling and never got down.

Brady Flynn, New England - great skating defenseman that was consistently in the right place at the right time. A dangerous combination of speed and hands.

Collin Frank, West - the West team had a bevy of talented players...including six players who had 10 or more points. Frank wasn't one of those top guys, but he was a threat every time he hit the ice...he had great speed and puck control.

Landon Miller, Ontario - whether he was on the bench or between the pipes, Miller displayed everything you'd like to see out of a young player. Relentlessly positive, Miller could be seen pounding the boards with his blocker, chatting with players on either side of him while occupying the middle of the bench. On the ice, he took the opportunity of music played between whistles to hone his dance skills or simple bob his head emphatically. His love for the game and enthusiasm are two traits that remind us all what games at this level are all about: competing as hard as you can and having the most fun possible.

JJ Monteiro, New England - one of those guys that won't scare you staring across at him during the anthem. But once the puck was dropped, Monteiro won every puck battle, had great hands and displayed an amazing hockey IQ.

BJ Riccardi, Southeast - a great talent that kept his team in every game, only allowing four goals a game in a very high octane American pool was impressive.

Alex Thompson, Manitoba - another defenseman who didn't load up offensively - but logged a bunch of important minutes for the short-handed Manitobans. One of the keys to his team's success was the back end lead by Thompson and all tourney teamer Avery Pickering.

Fun to see first cousins John Whipple and John Stout team together for Mid Atlantic last week. The middies took third in the US, one spot out of the US title game. Despite the result, Stout from Minnetonka had the good fortune of beating Team Minnesota and Great Plains.

Every once in a while, YHH is subject to some criticism. Some is fair..."too many tweets," "not enough  girls coverage," and my favorite - "you love Edina" (Minnesota humor). For 51 weeks, we write about players, teams and coaches. But each year, we assemble a team for The Show and open ourselves up for a different flavor of scrutiny. 

With a glut of great hockey players in the area, we occasionally miss a player (see Nick Pierre in 2015). With a highly visible website and some flashy uniforms...the pressure to succeed can be high. But at the end of the day, having a Great Plains team each year has been wonderful.  We have had the opportunity to meet, coach and team up with some great players and families.

Enter Nathan Omeri from Toronto. After a crushing defeat on Saturday to a terrific West team - Omeri, who was almost instantly my friend from the outset - pulled me aside on Sunday in the lobby and asked. "I gotta ask you...why wasn't Simon Seidl one of your shooters last night in the shootout?" 

I'm counting the days until Nathan turns in his skates for a coaching whistle!!!

My first call from Southeast Head Coach Tyler Watkins wasn't very pretty. He had just seen his team's schedule and let's just say he wasn't excited to be the only team on Thursday with two games. After a talk between guys, Tyler and I agreed to keep the schedule as long as I promised to make it good for the Southeast next year.

Like all of the coaches in The Show this year, Watkins was great to work with - making it even more fun to see his team nearly upset New England on Friday afternoon. 

Tyler also earned quote of the week consideration when asked about the 70 degree weather in MSP..."it's like Winter for our guys, we love it."

Each year, Atlantic Provinces assembles a team and makes the 1,700 mile trek to the Twin Cities. And like clockwork, the boys play hard...say thank you to our staff and seem to be having the most fun of all the boys. 

After the first year, it struck me that people from these provinces were different than the others in Canada and the U.S. What I've learned since, is wasn't just the first group...it's been all of them. Sidney Crosby - the game of hockey's poster boy for hard work, drive and class - is from Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia. It is all starting to make sense.

Little known fact....British Columbia head coach Tim Preston played USSR extra in the movie Miracle.

He's a busy man...on top of coaching 8+ games last week, Preston was spotted training some skaters here, selling popcorn in the concessions stand and leading a guided tour of the Twin Cities (okay, only a couple of these are true). 

Hosting an event with the prestige of The Show each year has become a badge of honor for the city of Bloomington and the staff at the historic Bloomington Ice Garden.  This year, on the heals of being a finalist for Kraft Hockeyville - The B-I-G came through with great ice, a full concession stand and a red carpet for our teams. 

A special shout out to Judd Garbina for preparing fresh nets for all three rinks - new netting, new backs and painted posts. The whole building looked great. Thanks a lot!