This weekend the 2002 Minnesota Blades are headed to Detroit to play in the ’02 Hockeytown Challenge.  They are the only Minnesota team invited to this year end tourney.  After two big wins this past Spring and Summer, the Blades have emerged as Minnesota’s best team.  A true indication of the ’02 level’s strong class of players in the whole state of Minnesota.  The winner of the tournament gets to play at Comerica Park as part of the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

Several top teams from the US will be playing this weekend including top ranked teams like the Chicago Mission, Little Caesers, the Syracuse Nationals and the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs (all ranked nationally in the top 10).  Having had so much success this year, the Blades look to be the favorite.

The tournament has 16 total teams with four pool play games.  The top two teams from each Pool advance to the Quarterfinals.

YHH plans to cover  the Hockeytown Challenge with results and commentary each day.  As the number one seed to start the tournament, the Blades are the favorite.  Does this mean they will win? We will have a pretty good idea after Friday’s first two games, for sure.

The Blades first game is against the New Jersey Colonials.  A strong outfit out of the Garden State. Seeded near the bottom of the tournament, we look for Minnesota to win big. By the end the Jersey fans will be saying, “forget about it, we can’t match these guys!”

In their second game the Blades line up against the Chicago Young Americans at 1:00. The Young Americans have some great tradition as a Tier 1 AAA club.  This ’02 team is brand new to the scene and will likely face more rubber than the track at the Indy 500 when they play the Blades.

Saturday looks to be much tougher for the Blades as they take on the London Jr. Knights at McMorran Place Arena. London, located two hours east of Detroit in Ontario looks to have a well polished team, positioned very close to the top ten.  If the Blades win Saturday morning they will emerge out of Pool play as likely a #1 or #2 seed in the Championship Bracket. Facing likely a lower seed on Saturday afternoon, we look for them to advance to the Final Four on Sunday.

Having no betting line for 11 year old hockey, I’d say they will end up in the final versus the Chicago Mission.  A pseudo re-match of a game between the two 2012 Brick Teams.  The Chicago Mission features several players from the Jr. Blackhawks including top players Wyatt Schingoethe, Matthew Romer and standout goalie Nicholas Addante.  The Jr. Hawks beat the Blades 2-1 in a penalty marred affair.

The Blades will reverse history and defeat the Mission and complete an awesome end to a memorable Summer.  Now if they win, getting back to Detroit for one game over the busy holiday season will probably be tougher to secure than winning this weekend.

Good Luck Boys, we will be cheering for you.