For those who may not know, the YHH editor and I have had a season long $20 bet on whether the Edina AA peewee team would go unbeaten.  He bet they would and I said they would lose at least one game.

When Edina AA lost a game in Michigan I went to collect the bet and the editor brought out the contract he had me sign (yes, he is a little like Sheldon on the “Big Bang Theory”) and sure enough on page 21-A, paragraph 3 was the language, “any game played east of the Mississippi River and west of Lake Erie would not count as a loss”.  I had to ask why west of Lake Erie was included in the clause?  He answered it was worth $20 to see the Hornets lose to a team from New England.

He also pointed out page 104, paragraph 7 that payment had to be made within 30 days of the last game in the “coin of the realm” to avoid interest called out on page 54, paragraph 3 and the clock is running.  April 16 is fast approaching.  The twenty one dollar “coins of the realm” shown above are on the way to the editor as you read this.

This year, hockey at the peewee level has been driven by the splitting of the State Tourney in Peewee AA and Peewee A levels.  The intent of the split was to not upset the regular season play, but it did.  Despite the split, YHH thought there is only one player of the year for the peewee AA/A’s.  Of the top 50 players being followed, it came down to a half dozen possible candidates as the district playoffs started.

Last year, there was a similar number and two emerged and we picked one.  It was a much easier task.  This year, that didn’t happen because this year a bunch of kids emerged with a heart.

YHH picks the Edina AA team as the #1 player of the year.  It probably won’t happen again.  The idea was triggered by one of Edina’s rival coaches when he casually said at a rink “those Edina kids really worked hard”.  It was solidified when I asked someone about George.  It is rare to select a team, but this Hornet team deserve it.

In a sense, they deserved the award because collectively they played well as a team.  It is reflected by the team going unbeaten and winning the State Peewee AA Championship.  It ends there, but it started with winning the Eden Prairie Thanksgiving tourney.

At Eden Prairie at Thanksgiving, the Hornets swept pool play winning all three games and beat Minnetonka AA 4-2 in the Championship game.  Two weeks later at the Spirit of Duluth Tourney, Edina swept pool play again beating all three teams by a collective score of 31-1 and beating Minnetonka AA 9-1 in the Championship game.

In January, the Hornets added two more tourney titles.  They hosted and won the Edina Invitational sweeping their pool and beating Centennial AA 4-3 in the Championship game.  In late January, the Hornets won the Roseau Tourney, sweeping their pool and beating Eden Prairie AA 8-3 in the Championship game.  In February, Edina won the White Bear Lake tourney sweeping pool play and beating Centennial AA again 6-1 in the Championship game.

In mid-February, the Hornets took a trip to Michigan to play the three of the top seven ranked nationally Tier I 2000 AAA Peewee teams.  They made that trip without Top 50 pick Clayton Phillips.  They lost their opening game to #2 ranked Honeybaked 00 AAA 4-2, beat #4 ranked Little Caesars 00 AAA 6-2, and beat #7 ranked Compuware 4-3 in overtime.  In late February, the Hornets beat Eden Prairie AA 11-1 to win the D6 playoffs and D6’s #1 seed to the East Regional.

As the season progressed their motto became “feel the force” from Star Wars.
The first weekend in March, Edina swept the East AA Regional winning all three games beating Eastview AA 4-1, White Bear Lake AA 5-0, and Minnetonka AA 11-1 in the Championship game to take the East #1 seed to the state tourney.  At the state tourney, they soundly beat a tough St. Cloud AA team 10-2, a well prepared Duluth East team 4-2, and a late season hard charging Wayzata AA team 7-0 to collect the first ever Peewee AA State Championship Trophy.

It was quite an achievement.  Seven tourneys entered seven #1’s.  The Hornets went unbeaten in Minnesota amassing a 55-0-0 record.  They scored an average of 8 goals a game and held their opponents to an average on 1 goal a game.  As the opposing coach said, they worked hard.

But really makes this Edina team earn the respect of YHH and most hockey fans who have followed them is what they did with the result of their hard work, the State Championship Trophy.  The Hornets kids gave it to George.  The young Hornets dedicated this season to George Lagerstorm, the brother of Jack Lagerstorm one of the Hornet players.  George is ill and a “Star Wars” fan.  The Hornets had adopted the motto “feel the force” because of George.

At YHH being a good player means playing with purpose.  The Hornets made George the recipient of the first Peewee AA Championship Trophy.  It was the purpose they played for.  Being a good person in life goes beyond purpose, it means commitment to those you know are in need when the need arises.  The Edina AA team managed to go unbeaten on the ice and at YHH, they are unbeaten off the ice.  They played with purpose beyond just scoring a goal or winning a game.

Good season Hornets.  Well done.  May God bless.