YHH took in a pair of games Thursday night, seeing two premier Minnesota teams take on Tier I sanctioned teams on their home soil. The 16U Minnesota Blades hosted top-ranked Honeybaked, meanwhile, Great Plains took part in a Gentry Academy Showcase in Vadnais Heights.

Both teams got off to a scorching start, an impressive feat for Honeybaked considering they played earlier in the day in a 6-2 win over the New Jersey Titans. Neither team could strike oil in the first and for much of the second until Owen Pietela snuck a puck past Minnetonka goalie Jon Howe. Minutes later, Honeybaked's relentless energy produced another goal, this one by Jackson Kocur on a pretty snipe that beat Howe low on the blocker side.  

The Blades would muscle their way back in the game with two third-period goals, with one coming on a tip by Teddy Lagerbeck and the other on a great hustle play by Cam Shoberg, who fed Blaine linemate Cole Hansen for a one-timer. 

A  questionable tripping call during a Honeybaked powerplay set up a golden five-on-three powerplay.  After a rash of shots, Mitchell Miller was eventually able to poke home the game-winner for the Hams. 

After squandering a two-goal lead on Wednesday night against Shattuck St. Mary's for a 3-3 tie, Great Plains hit the ice Thursday against the Madison Capitols. After a sluggish start, Ethan Elias got GP on the board early in the second period on a pretty bar-in laser. GP controlled play for most of the game, but to Madison's credit, they got great goaltending from Matthew Bryant and had some great energy late in the second period. On one such flurry, Chase Quelle scored on a GP turnover to beat Marko Belak to tie the score. Moments later, Belak robbed the Capitols of a go-ahead goal with a brilliant toe save. 

Minutes after the Belak save, GP leading scorer Tristan Tabucol scored short-handed to take the wind out of the Caps and give the black and tan a lead they would never be close to losing again.

In the third Harold Victor Nelson the 5th scored on a shot from the point for GP and water bug Jackson Nelson stuffed home a loose puck to give GP a 4-1 win. 

Justin Janicke finished with two assists on the Nelson and Blake goals to lead the team. Belak finished with 14 saves on 15 shots and was named the Player of the Game.

Matthew Bryant, Madison Capitols (Goalie) - Faced 46 shots and stopped 42 on Thursday. Made some freakish saves keeping the Caps in the game until the final four minutes.

Ethan Elias, Great Plains (Forward) - The two-way player sunk his teeth into the forward position Thursday, had a big goal and a bunch of chances the whole game.

Rhett Pitlick, MN Blades (Forward) - Has added size to a high-end skill game...made some great offensive plays.

Dylan Wendt, Honeybaked (Forward) - YHH has been familiar with Wendt dating back to his Belle Tire days at Major Bantam. The Michigan commit has great feet and a nose for the puck.