Saturday marked the third annual District 8 Squirt A Preview hosted at Cottage Grove Arena. A low cost concept that gives each team an early look at every team within the district in a jamboree format.  Each team plays a handful of 25 minute full ice scrimmages lightly officiated by the team’s coaches.

Teams sport both sets of uniforms and were changing on the fly all day.

In addition to the two regulation rinks, Cottage Grove also has a 3v3 studio rink that several of teams played on Saturday as well.

YHH got a look at all ten teams Saturday, some a few different times. Historically, Rosemount and Lakeville South have been the stronger teams in District 8 Squirts the past few years. Not saying that the Irish and Cougars won’t be strong, but Apple Valley really stood out Saturday.

The Eagles sport a few players that were better than advertised. Jared Wright is a highly skilled skater who was always the center of attention.  Good on his edges, Wright seemed to see the ice like a PeeWee, finding his teammates with passes when pressured and finding the net when given an opening.  Jack Novak is another great player for the Eagles.  A smooth skating Defenseman who has more moves than Mick Jagger…this kid can really play.  This will be a fun team to follow this year.

In addition to Apple Valley, Woodbury looks be strong this year.  The two Dylan’s; Sydor and Godbout are two skaters that caught our eye for the Predators.  They ran the table on Saturday with a lone loss to Apple Valley.

Two more teams to keep an eye on this year are the two teams from Lakeville.  North and South have a good crop of players. Brandon Halasz and Cameron Boche were two skaters that can really play for Lakeville South. A rivalry between South and North will be fun to follow this year.  North boasts a few really nice players, Ben Portner a new player from Albert Lea and Mario Gasparini both can really scoot.  Panther Goalie Skylar Vetter made some great saves Saturday. She has a nice hockey pedigree (younger sister of Christi Vetter, US National Player and future Penn State hockey player).

Watch out for Park Cottage Grove.  The Indians, oops, I mean the Wolfpack have a very seasoned roster of players that played

with a lot of confidence. Dalton Anderson and Joe Paladichuk lead the way for the Green and White. On Saturday, they kept Sibley pinned in their own zone for a good part of the 25 minute scrimmage.

Farmington seemed very young, but they played with a lot of tenacity.  They hung around in each of the three scrimmages we saw  them play. This preview probably the best thing for their confidence moving forward.

Rosemount’s Jake Peterson was a very gifted skater for the Irish.  Despite being small in size, Peterson played with great confidence with or without the puck.

It promises to be a memorable season this year at the SQA level throughout the state. District 8 will have teams right there at the end.