The United States Elite League enters its inaugural season this weekend, featuring a bevy of talented teams and players that will descend on the Breck School's Anderson Ice Arena in Golden Valley.

The teams will compete over the next three days, jockeying for position in the standings as the USEL gets underway. The member programs will battle over the summer in three separate events. The first two are designated as regular-season slates, and the final weekend features a playoff-style format to determine a league champion. 

Among participating teams are the offseason programs for Chicago Mission, Myhro Hockey, Little Caesars, Honeybaked, Windy City Storm, and Minnesota-based Select Development Program. Rounding out this weekend's field will be NorthStar Elite and Southeast Elite.

From the USEL website: 

Sharing the goal of development at the highest level, the USEL works in coordination with USA Hockey's Regional and National Development Camp schedules. The 2022 USEL is made up of top '08 players from across the country: California to Minnesota to Texas to Florida to Michigan to the Northeast. Our athletes compete with and against elite players, maximizing growth in a fun and challenging environment.

A partnership of top development programs, we're focused on giving our kids the best experience, helping them to reach their highest potential as hockey players, and enhancing their love of the game.

For more information on the USEL, click here. 

Coyote 

The offseason branch of the vaunted Chicago Mission program, Coyote, brings a well-coached squad to Golden Valley, stocked with some of the top players in the Chicagoland area. A strong-skating crew with size to burn, look for Coyote to set the tone early and often in games this weekend. 

Little Caesars 

There are no obvious weak links in the Little Caesars chain, and the Detroit-based program features a deep and balanced group with a decent level of familiarity among the players and coaches. A handful of these same players participated in the Brick Invitation in 2018, and the overall team chemistry should pay dividends this weekend. 

Mhyro Hockey 

Led by Connecticut-based hockey trainer and coach Chris Myhro, Myhro Hockey looks to show Minnesota how they do it on the east coast. Traditional New England traits such as skilled forwards and strong goaltending should give Myhro Hockey a chance at emerging from this weekend's games with solid building blocks for the rest of the summer. 

Select Development Program 

Arguably the fastest-rising offseason program in Minnesota, SDP's 2008 Elite team has more size at forward than you'd expect to see at this level, with a number of players up front who can bang bodies in the offensive zone. SDP also has the luxury of rotating between two of the top goaltenders in the state among goalies in the 2008 birth year. 

Windy City Hockey Development 

There's certainly no shortage of weapons up and down the Windy City lineup this weekend, with several players capable of lighting the lamp or making an essential defensive play. Speed and puck possession will be the strengths of the Windy City group, according to Director of Player Development Ryan Ward, who added that his group will play a hard, competitive style. 

Yeti Tape 

Like Coyote and Little Caesars, Yeti Tape is an offseason program for players in the pipeline of a national power, the Detroit-based Honeybaked program. A hotbed for hockey talent for decades, the Yeti Tape is armed with some of the Motor City's best players. Coach Chad Theuer is excited about the team's size and speed on offense, its depth among the defensive corps, and the game-stealing ability of his goaltenders.