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2021 Squirtacular: All Tourney Team + Highlights

By YHH Staff, 01/31/21, 9:30PM CST

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Eight categories ranging from Best Guests to Most Consistent Mask, plus all-tournament teams, put a bow on this year's tournament.

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2021 Squirtacular Best Of


Peyton Kohnen scores the game-winning goal for White Bear Lake in its win over STMA.

Best "Backrink" Non-Championship Game

If you've ever spent an extended amount of time at the Super Rink in Blaine, you already know that games played on the "back rinks" can get a little...crazy. 

Rinks 5-8 are often forgotten compared to the first four sheets of ice at the Super Rink, but they are often the stage where the wildest scenes are acted out. 

White Bear Lake topped St. Michael-Albertville 5-4 in overtime in a Silver Division consolation game on the tournament's Saturday night, with the Bears getting the game-winner from Peyton Kohnen during the three-on-three extra session. The combination of a late game, the seesaw battle between the Bears and the Knights, and the thrilling game-winner made this game one of the tournament's best.  

Best Game

It feels a little like cheating, but choosing the Platinum Division's title game as the tournament's best overall contest was unavoidable this year. 

Woodbury Black and Moorhead Red battled to a scoreless tie for the game's first 34:54 before Predators' defenseman Beckett Shillings scored the game-winning goal on a highlight reel-worthy rush with 1:06 remaining in regulation. 

Every year, it feels as though the level of talent rises, and 2021 was no exception, as the Predators and the Spuds put on a show for the "capacity" crowd on Sunday afternoon. 

Best Goaltending Performance

Prior to Sunday's Gold Division championship game, Hermantown had faced little resistance. The Hawks had outscored their opponents 22-5 and had won each game by three goals or more. The Hawks' victories were methodical and felt routine. 

On the other hand, Blaine advanced to the title bout after three wild wins, beating Lakeville South 7-3, Farmington 11-6, and Mound Westonka 7-3 in the semifinals. Watching the Bengals' previous three games left you with chest pains and barely-there fingernails. 

With two closing styles meeting in the division's final game, Blaine goaltender William Sadler turned in a performance for the ages, denying the high-powered Hawks on every shot but two, finishing somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 saves. Hermantown's Kolby Hedley scored the game-winning goal in overtime for a 2-1 win, but Sadler's game was just as impressive. 

Best Guests 

The Squirtacular in recent years has become an event where players from across the midwest gather to trade pins, play games, and make new friends. 

With COVID-19 squashing the pin-trading and eliminating much of the atmosphere from this year's tournament, teams from Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota couldn't mingle as they had in years past. 

However, those out-of-state teams proved to be some of the most consistent groups, rarely complaining about the Super Rink's regulations and protocols and simply appreciating the chance to participate in the tournament. A huge thank-you to the West Fargo teams, Des Moines Jr. Bucs, Omaha Jr. Mavericks, and Arizona Jr. Coyotes for making your way to Blaine!


Travis Christo and the whole contingent of Arizona Jr. Coyotes are always a welcome sight at the Squirtacular.

Best Locker Room Delivery 

In 2021, more attention than ever is paid to who makes it into the arena due to capacity restrictions. So with both teams already in the building for the Platinum Division championship game, parents played the waiting game in the parking lot as the preceding Gold Division final inched toward its conclusion. 

A sibling of a Woodbury Black player approached the check-in table a few minutes after the teams had made their way to respective locker rooms, carrying a small case that looked like it might contain a screwdriver, extra screws for helmets, maybe a sharpening stone. Nothing significant. 

Turns out the case carried Roseau native Neal Broten's gold medal from the 1980 Miracle on Ice game, and Broten's grandson Max Meier was taking it to the Predators' dressing room as a send-off before game time.

Yeah. Go on in, kid. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Max.   

Most Consistent Mask

Given the lack of consistency between the mask mandates in different states when it comes to wearing a face-covering during play, teams from outside Minnesota would be initially forgiven for letting masks down during play once in a while. 

However, one player from an out-of-state team was photographed multiple times throughout the tournament in a dozen different situations. YHH never had to delete this player's photo due to a mask malfunction. 

Bronze Division Most Valuable Player Nixon McLean certainly wasn't the only exemplary mask-wearer, but he was one of the most consistent when photographers compared notes.  

Best Uniform

How do you jazz up the classic combination of red, black, white, and grey? Add a camouflage pattern, of course. 

Centennial's Squirt A's flaunted their stylish threads with flair, and the various shades of grey in the pattern helped make the traditional black letters pop. 


Centennial's uniforms made quite a splash in Blaine.

2021 Full Squirtacular All-Tournament Teams

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