Monday night Hopkins and Armstrong peewee A teams played the first district game of the Minnesota Hockey peewee A playoffs.  Over the next two weeks 72 peewee A teams in 12 districts will play for one of their district’s seeds to a regional tourney. 

Last fall, 76 peewee A teams, started their season with the goal to make it to the district tourneys or further.  Four D9 peewee A teams were eliminated as a result of regular season play.

Sunday evening, February 24, there will be 32 peewee A teams headed for one of four regional tourneys.  Forty peewee A teams will have ended their season.
In a game played at the Hopkins Pavilion Monday night, Hopkins beat Armstrong 3-2.  Hopkins moves on and Armstrong’s season is over.

Playoff hockey always is played at a faster pace and almost always is a tougher game.  The kids respond to the pressure and the teams always show up to play their best hockey.

Last night’s game was a fast paced good hockey game between two teams that have improved over the season.  Both teams were suspect when they played their opening games in early November.  Last night both teams moved the puck quickly, skated, and played hockey.

Hopkins pressured the Hawks in the first minutes of the first period of last night’s game.  The Royals backed Armstrong into the Hawks’ zone and attacked the Armstrong goal.  For the first two minutes, it was all Hopkins.

At the 10 minute mark, Armstrong broke the pressure and created an 3-on-2 rush into the Royals’ zone.  An Armstrong forward look the puck low, skated behind the net, and put a shot on the goalie.  The rebound was picked up by a Hopkins’ player, but he was checked off the puck in the high slot resulting in another shot on the Hopkins goalie with the puck bouncing to the left crease area and to the Hawks’ Riley Enderle.  Enderle buried the puck in the upper right corner of the Hopkins net to be the Hawks up 1-0.

The game pace accelerated as Hopkins returned to pressure the Hawks in the Armstrong zone.  With 7 minutes to go in the first period, Hopkins drew a roughing penalty.  Armstrong established their power play in the Hopkins’ zone and had two great chances to score.  They could not beat Hopkins’ goalie Olivia Bizal.  She had a great game in the nets for the Royals last night.

After killing the penalty, the Royals returned to the attack continuing to pressure the Hawks net.  Hopkins would move the puck in the Hawk’s zone, but focused on the hitting the wing in the faceoff circle to get the shot off.  Armstrong would body the Royal forward off the puck and the Royals would move the puck around the perimeter again.  As a result, they controlled the zone, but got few shots on net.

Late in the first period, Hopkins drew another penalty, this time for checking.  Armstrong did not get their power play organized and the Royals killed the penalty easily.  The first period ended with the Hawks up 1-0.

The second period opened with an Armstrong breaking out of their zone shortly after the Royals tried to establish control in the Hawks’ zone.

The Royal defense had stymied the Hawks breakout in the first period, but Armstrong adjusted in the second period.  Their breakout plays started to work and the game became a transitional game where one team succeeds in getting shots on their opponents net on a rush and the defending team succeeds in immediately transitioning from defense to the attack before the attacking team can establish puck control in their zone.

As a result, both teams put on an entertaining show for their fans, and both goalies has to come up with some big saves, especially Armstrong’s Reece Peterson.  A Hopkins’ hooking penalty at the 9 minute mark, finally slowed the game.

Armstrong could not get their power play going and the Royals easily killed their third penalty of the game.

With six minutes left in the second period, Armstrong drew their first penalty of the game for slashing.  Hopkin’s power play was organized and the Royals quickly set up camp in the Armstrong zone.  But they could not beat Peterson.

Armstrong killed the penalty only to draw a second penalty for hooking.  This time the Royals set up in the Hawks zone and scored 30 seconds into the power play.  A hard shot on the Armstrong goalie from high in the slot resulted in the puck rebounding left where the Royals Tommy Wagner picked up the puck, moved to his forehand shot and beat the goalie low on the left side to tie the game 1-1.  Amanda Olson and Henry Sweeney got the assists.

Armstrong came back with a vengeance after that goal.  For the next two minutes they applied tremendous pressure on the Royals’ net, but could not beat Bizal.

The second period ended with the game tied and the chance to move on in the playoffs reduced to a single third period of play.

The third period started with a Hopkins solo rush.  The Royal forward, sweeping from the right to left, tried to beat Peterson by shooting right as he flashed across the top of the crease.  Peterson made the stop.

The transitional game continued.  Both teams were getting their shots, but were getting no goals.

At the 10 minute mark, Hopkins scored.  The Royals’ Zach Roy had gained puck control on a rush behind the Armstrong goal and fed Wyatt Nelson in the right faceoff area.  His shot beat Peterson low right to put the Royals up 2-1.  Roy got the assist, Nelson the goal.

A minute late, Armstrong drew a roughing penalty.  A minute into the power play, Hopkins scored the game winner.  The Royals Henry Tapper managed to slide between two Armstrong defenders in the slot area and put a bouncing shot low on the Armstrong goalie.  Peterson tried to glove the puck and missed as the puck rolled past him into the net.  The Royals led 3-1.  Henry Sweeney and Conner Staack got the assists.

Armstrong came back to score two minutes later.  Their big line physically went after the puck in the Royals zone.  They beat down the Hopkins’ defense and scored.  Drew Eid scored from the top of the crease area over the sprawling Royal goalie Bizal.  The Hawks’ Tyler Sweeney and Matthew Brown got the assists.

The game ended with Hopkins winning 3-2

Both teams played well last night.  Armstrong had gone from a good size team in early November to a large physical team in February.  They played aggressively.  The Hopkins kids had matured in the deftness with the stick and puck movement and were physically stronger then they were when first seen by YHH in late October last year.

Hopkins moves on play #1 seeded Orono in the opening round of quarterfinal play in the D3 peewee A district playoffs to played Saturday 12:15 PM at the Hopkins Pavilion.  Armstrong’s season ends.  The Hawks are the first of 72 peewee A teams to end their season.