Edina has a team playing in all four East regional championship games Sunday at the three peewee levels, AA, A, and B and the bantam AA level.  Edina’s peewee AA team beat a surprisingly scrappy White Bear Lake team 5-0; Edina A shutout Tartan 6-0; and Edina B beat Highland 5-0.  The Edina peewee AA team will play Minnetonka in the East Regional AA Championship game for the East’s #1 seed.  The Edina A team will play Park/Cottage Grove in the East Regional A championship.  The Edina B team will play Johnson/Como in the East Regional B championship.

Edina A’s Demetrios Koumontzis and Andy Kromer each scored two goals in the first two periods of their 6-0 win over Tartan.  Koumontzis had one goal and Kromer two in their 5-4 win over Sibley.

Edina Bantam AA plays in the Championship game against Prior Lake on Sunday.  The four East Regional Championship games played at Cottage Grove and at Wakota will have an Edina team.  The arenas should be awash with green and white.

Apple Valley lost to Sibley 4-0 and New Prague lost to Shakopee 4-3 in double overtime to end their seasons.  It is west and against the north (St. Paul wise) when Sibley plays North St. Paul in a loser goes home game Saturday evening.  Tartan beat Shakopee 8-5 in the second loser goes home game Saturday evening. 

Eastview beat Eagan 6-0 to send Eagan home.  The Wildcats made a nice run at the end of the season.  Lakeville South beat Forest Lake 5-1 to send Forest Lake home.  The Rangers were the surprise of the tourney.  Eastview and Eden Prairie play in a loser goes home game at Cottage Grove this evening.  In the second game, Poor Minnetonka.

The Edina AA Hornets have beaten Minnetonka seven times this year by a combined score of 47-6.  Sunday’s Peewee AA championship game at Cottage Grove will be their eighth meeting.

The “Wolfmen” won’t go away

North St. Paul had a 3-1 lead late into their semifinal game with Park-Cottage Grove and the “Wolfmen” (as the flustered announcer called them) won’t go away.  They came back to beat the Polars 4-3.  Eight of the thirteen Wolfpack forwards participated in the scoring.  The Wolfpack scored three late goals to win the game.  Zach Husaby got the winner.  He scored unassisted late in the third period.

The Polars needed just a few more silver bullets.

Got a few shots of Prior Lake/Savage’s 4-0 win over Stillwater.  It was a good, tight game, and the picture is Prior Lake’s first goal.  It was 1-0 and a tight game at the time with Stillwater playing well.  For most of the Laker forwards, one more win and they will return for their second straight tourney entrance.  Last year, 8 of them played on the Lakers Peewee A State Championship team.

Here is a picture of Burnsville Eric Otto as he goes flying trying to score against Edina in their 7-4 loss in the third period.  The Edina player in the picture took a minor penalty for his effort.  The Hornets looked tired in the third period.

White Bear Lake “huh”?

The White Bear Lake peewee AA forwards had an outstanding game against Edina.  They were led by Austin Carroll.  The Bears really came to play and played their best hockey of the year.  Maybe it’s the new breezers?

From Quiet to Packed

Friday a person could almost hear a pin drop in the Cottage Grove arena.  Saturday you couldn’t hear much of anything in the crowded arena.

Elk River is out after losing to Duluth East 5-0 and Bemidji 4-3.  The Elks were the type of team the allocation committee figured to be strong, Bemidji not so strong.  With the Elks gone, the committee will have to hope, horror of horror, that the two north seeds don’t get bombed by the two East seeds in the first round of the state.

YHH saw the Elks beat Brainerd a month ago, wrote and thought that the Elks to be a top contender to the state title.  Our excuses have to be better than those offered by the allocation committee.  They thought that the Elks would be a top contender in October.  At least we agree on something.

In another kick in the prognosticator’s head, Hermantown lost a pair of 5-4 games and were eliminated and Rochester Peewee AA’s won their two games to make it to the South Regionsl championship.  Why can’t these kids “roll over” like we expect them to?  We all know why.  They are kids.

On a sad note, the Hunters lost their semifinal game to East Grand Forks and then lost to Warroad 2-1 to end their season.  Denfeld had a good year and it would have been fun to see them at Faribault.

St. Cloud AA scoring touchdowns

As noticed by YHH, St. Cloud has a potent offense.  They scored touchdowns in their three South Regional games (7, 7, and 6 goals-missed the extra point).  Unfortunately they gave up a TD and a 2-point conversation to Stillwater in the opening game and lost.  They will play Stillwater again in the third place loser goes home game Sunday morning.  Winner gets the loser of the championship game between STMA and Rochester AA.

Rochester in the Peewee AA South finals!

The Rochester defense has played well at the MAC.  The Red’s goalie, Cole Walter came through in the semifinal game with 35 stops in their 4-3 win over Stillwater.  Rochester’s Andre Russeau scored the winning goal for the Red 27 seconds into the first overtime period.  Jared Dingle got the assist.  Russeau scored a hat trick against the Ponies.  The Red’s goalie Jackson Killinger got the 1-0 shutout for the Red in their opener against Rogers.

A repeat!

Sartell beat Luverne in the D5 peewee A championship game played at Sartell.  Sunday the two teams play in the South Peewee A regional championship game at Luverne.

Three of the seven teams in District 16 may play in the Peewee A and Peewee AA state tourneys held in Faribault and Edina.  East Grand Forks and Warroad could end up #1 and #2 in the peewee A state for the North and Bemidji could end up as #2 in the peewee AA for the North.  Those peewee teams in the north always take a giant step forward in February every year and end up in the state.  Must be something to do with the winter thaw.