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And there were Four: BIG Pumpkin Saturday Review

By Tony Scott, 10/27/13, 1:30PM CDT

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Tyler Kostelecky makes the crowd go “wow” with an end to end rush and top shelf finish versus Roseville.

Heading into to Saturday, much of the mystery for the final four bracket seeds had been eliminated.  The seeds were all but decided in the first two days.  Leaving twelve games on Saturday for hockey development.

Kids were skating against new players and for some at a much faster pace than Squirts.  One observer from out of state said, “man these Minnesota coaches really teach the game well…look at that guy (pointing at Rosemount Coach Troy Campbell), he’s constantly instructing kids after every shift, he’s right out of the USA Hockey textbook.”  October is for teaching, Saturday everyone learned some valuable lessons (even the Tournament Director).

Morning Games

The Pumpkin played 7 games in the morning and 5 at night.  The first morning game paired Edina against White Bear Lake.

Edina was not challenged scoring six goals in the first 20 minutes. Jett Jungels had a hat trick and Grant Silianoff added four assists as Edina cruised to a 10-0 win.

Brainerd and Sibley played in a Warrior battle.  The Brainerd Warriors, playing with eleven skaters hung tough holding the highly ranked Sibley Warriors at bay for two plus periods.  Sibley broke through with three late goals. Hans Heck had a goal and an assist as Sibley outlasted Brainerd 3-0.

The game with the most morning drama paired Prior Lake who was 2-0, who likely would have advanced with a tie with their morning foe Superior. Superior, already with a tie under their belt, had to win and then hope for some magic later versus OMG. In a penalty laden game (18 total penalties), the game was tied with two minutes left and Superior was forced to pull their Goalie to go for the win.  It did not pay off, thus ending any chance at Bracket Play and sending the Lakers off to a date with D6 rival Edina. Jackson Jutting had two goals for the Lakers and Peter Hansen had a goal and an assist for the Warriors.

Rosemount is a team that has shown signs of great promise this weekend. Today they fell behind early to Wayzata, fought back and made a game of it late until Rhett Pitlick got loose and made it a 4-2 final. Kaden Bohlsen had a goal and an assist for the Trojans and Jackson Sabo knocked in a goal for the Irish.

Elk River has the makings of a State Tournament quality team.  Three balanced lines, great goalie, and a superstar in Jack Perbix.  Saturday all three were on display, Elks Goalie Nate Gfroerer (pronounced Ga-Fear) had some great saves, each line was productive and Jack Perbix and a Goal and an Assist.  The Elks lead most of way winning 5-1 over Lakeville South.

Chaska Chan cruised to an easy win over Forest Lake, 9-0. Blaine Warnert had four goals and Ethan Benz poured in two of his own to lead the StormHawks to a 9-0 win.

Missing star forward Trevor Janicke, Osseo Maple Grove leaned on budding star Tyler Kostelecky for help…he added a goal and an assist for the Crimson and Trevor Kukkonen had a great snipe to lead OMG to a 5-2 win over Roseville. The Raiders were lead by Carver Martin and Ryan O’Neill who both had two point afternoons.

Evening Games

The first game of the night brought great excitement. White Bear Lake and Elk River with identical 1-1 records faced off for a chance to play a play in game versus Wayzata on Sunday. Note: all games except this game had been determined by the Tournament Committee prior to the Evening Session. The hockey was fantastic.  White Bear despite being outshot converted  on their opportunities and got a fluke dump-in goal to gain a 2-1 edge. Billy Rose got a pass from Owen Gallatin and he let go a great shot that beat the Elk River Goalie for a 3-1 lead. The Elks would claw back and two goals in the third with relentless pressure firing an amazing 44 shots at White Bear Goalie Evan Foss.  At the end of regulation, the Pumpkin Tournament Committee opted for a 3 man shootout to determine who advanced to play Wayzata. After five shooters, White Bear’s Blake Meister scored and Foss came up with a save to help the Bears take the shootout.

Brendan McFadden lead Sibley to a 7-1 win over Eden Prairie.  He had 2 goals and 2 assists. Luke Williams added two goals of his own for the Warriors. Ben Bullis had 32 saves and Sam Wilhite had a goal for the Eagles.

Brainerd went to 0-3 in pool play and will likely fall out of YHH staff rankings coming out this week.  On paper, not good news for the Warriors. Thankfully the games are not played on paper (or on a computer).  The Warriors played some great hockey this weekend, especially against Sibley and Andover on Saturday.  In the night game against Andover they had lead for a few game minutes and seem to skate just fine with the fast skating Huskies. Without top returning defenseman Gavin Andres, the Warriors hung tough until early in the third when Andover got two quick goals from Gunnar Thoreson and a third from Nick Klepinger.  Brainerd made it close when Mason Kruse scored on a rebound, but fell short losing to Andover 3-2.

After serving a one game suspension for Checking from behind, Trevor Janicke played Saturday night for OMG with a purpose.  He had 3 goals and an assist helping the Crimson to a 6-1 win over Superior.  Superior lead early when Spencer Gudowski scored on a rebound within the first minute. Tyler Kostelecky added 2 goals and 2 assists for the Crimson.

Tyler Linnerooth had a hat trick as Rosemount got on track versus Forest Lake winning 10-2.  AJ Anello and Zeph Goret (pronounced GOR-ay) also added two goals for the Irish.

Final Four

Three District 6 teams made the final four: Edina, Prior Lake, and Chaska Chan. Add in slick skating and well balanced Andover and the morning semifinals should showcase some great Minnesota hockey players.

Prediction: Edina should get by Prior Lake, but it will be their first test of the Tournament.  Andover and Chaska Chan will be a great game. Slight edge to Chaska Chan, each team has weapons but the StormHawks have a big size advantage. If Andover can spell the CC size with their speed like they did with Sibley on Friday, they can win on Sunday.

Players to Watch

Elk River’s Jack Perbix and Cole Tveit have really impressed this weekend. Both are big and strong and are always making big plays. Andover’s Gunnar Thoreson is a fun player to watch. One observer said today, “12 for Andover never stops and he plays way bigger than his size…” Zeph Goret from Rosemount is a great talent, he plays with a reckless abandon. He’s a guy you want on your side. Not exactly a new name but Ben Brinkman from Edina is in a class by himself for Minnesota PeeWee Defensmen, another in the long line of Hornet blue-liners. Lakeville South’s Ryan Antonakis is a special player, he is a smart puck rushing Defender with a quick hard shot.  White Bear’s Jack Steidl is fast and very good with the puck on his stick, keep an eye on number 16 in orange and black.

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