September brings a chill in the air, fall colors, football and for a youth hockey writer a chance to cover a pre-season game or two that matters.  Well, on paper they don’t matter, but if you go to Velocity and see the rosters for their 3v3 tournaments, they matter.  Last fall, we saw some crazy action at the Bantam (Edina, winner), PeeWee (Edina, winner) and Squirts (Stillwater, winner).

Going oldest to youngest, the Bantams get started this weekend. Broken into two divisions Black and Red (that is how they are normally listed, but currently listed in Divsions).

Black: STMA, Eden Prairie, Chaska/Chan, Elk River, and Maple Grove
Red: Duluth East, Edina, Waconia, Centennial, and Minnetonka
We studied each team roster pretty close.  Here are a few notes of interest:

1. The Waconia team has a pretty cool roster of kids from Waconia and few other subs that could make it a sleeper team.  We still think that Edina or Centennial will be too much for them.

2. Eden Prairie, Elk River and Edina are bringing their thoroughbreds…I told you this was serious. Names like Zerben, Lieverman, and Walker to name a few.

3. Teams to watch out for are STMA, Centennial and Minnetonka.  These were all very strong teams as PeeWees two years ago that really have gotten better in the last two years.

After pool play is complete, how teams finish in their pool determines where they play their final game.  Obviously the number 1′s in each pool, play for the Championship.  Often times the second to last or last games of pool play pit the top two teams playing for the top game.  These games get intense….imagine 100 or so fans in a tiny rink with acoustics that favor noise and to make matters worse (or better if you ask me) the games are very high scoring.

Pool Play Winners:

Black: Elk River…this team has great scoring from all over the rink. Top goaltending.  They will be tough to beat.  The ER/EP game Saturday night will be fun to watch (EP will be on their third game of the day while ER will only be on their second).

Red: Centennial….a very talented group of kids.  A lot of sharp shooters top to bottom.  Edina will be strong, but Centennial has too many weapons.

An all District 10 Final.  Two year ago, Elk River won the PeeWee 3v3 Tourney and they finished third in the state behind Prior Lake and Hermantown. With virtually the same crew of kids returning, the Elks will be one of the teams to beat in Bantam AA this year.  We see them winning the Velocity en route to many other games this season.  Apparently so does, Don the car guy.