Championship Sunday

Eight more games were played in Brainerd at the Battle for the Blue Ox.  Four trophy games: White Bracket Championship, Blue Bracket Consolation, Blue Bracket Third and the Grandaddy of them the Battle for the Blue Ox.

White Bracket

The morning games featured St. Cloud and Rosemount. Two teams vying for their first Ox win.  St. Cloud, losers of three tight games got down early and then woke up and ran away to a 9-3 win over the Irish. Nick Portz and Michael Spethmann each had 2 goals for the Huskies.  Jefferson, looking to even their weekend record beat Brainere 8-2. Second year stars Bob Lescarbeau, Noah Ganske and Nathan Martindale all had 2 goal games. Eastview knocked off Bemidji in a tightly fought 2-1 game. Jesse Fan had a spectacular goal for the Lightning and Zach Herro turned away 20 Bemidji shots in the third to preserve the win for Eastview. The White Bracket final was as good as advertised. Edina got off to a 3-0 lead, Ben Copeland had a goal and an assist. Grand Rapids fought back late and scored one in the second and one in the third (one by Gavin Hain and one by speedster Micah Miller). In the waning seconds, Grand Rapids scored at the buzzer to tie it, but it was disallowed and ruled to be scored after the buzzer. Final 3-2 and some hardware went back to Ikola Way. 

Blue Bracket

Lakeville North continued to show no signs of missing standouts Henry Enebak and Ryan Poehling this weekend.  Today they beat powerhouse Centennial 4-3. Keaton Pehrson and Chaz Dufon each scored for the Panthers. Graham Brickner showed why he is a Watch List player adding 2 more goals Sunday for Centennial. In the Consolation Championship game, Hermantown and Minnetonka vied for Top 10 status Sunday.  The winner achieving a 3-1 record would surely be T10 worthy.  The Hawks are a good hockey team that battled hard all weekend. Today was no different, where they lacked depth on paper they made up for it with converted scoring chances (two goals by Ryan Sandelin) and 29 saves by All Tournament Team Goalie Cade McEwen. Tonka played from behind the whole game, making it 4-3 late in the second on a pair of goals by first year skater David Andes. But Sandelin scored late in the third to ice it for the Hawks for a 5-3 win and a nice 3-1 record for the weekend and some nice confidence heading into league play. Prior Lake continued to show why they will be a contender for a state title this year by beating a nice STMA team 3-0. All Tournament Team skater Chase Gackle had two assists for the Lakers as they ran up nearly 40 shots on STMA goalie Todd Scott en route to victory. The Lakers solidified their #4 ranking this weekend. Prior Lake has a great combination of 3 great lines, stellar defensemen, and rock solid goaltending. 

Battle for the Ox

The Winner of the Championship game got the pleasure of knowing they were the best team of a tough 16 team field, but also were given the honor of carrying home the Blue Ox traveling trophy. Elk River, rated number 1 by YHH all year came into the final with a perfect record. Eden Prairie had suffered one loss to number 2 Stillwater and had three impressive wins over Grand Rapids, Centennial and Prior Lake. The Eagles were left with nine skaters Sunday.  They lost players to injury prior and during the tournament and players to a Church commitment on Sunday.  Down to nine, they suited up Goalie Nick Wiencek as a skater (note: Wiencek saw the ice in limited action late in the game with the score out of reach). 

The first period was evenly played with very little physical play.  Each team had slight advantages and each team scored (Benton Maass a seeing eye shot from the point for ER and Hunter Johannes a PP goal in front for EP).  Jensen Zerban gave the Elks the lead for good when he scored on a loose puck in front on loose puck backhand in front. The second period was mostly evenly played until EP began to tire, the Eagles took three consecutive minor penalties while down 3-1. In order for EP to win they needed just the opposite (PP attempts, not exhausting PK minutes). Not allowing the fourth Elk goal was huge heading into the second period break, giving EP a glimmer of hope coming into the third with rested legs. All hope was shattered when Dylan Diehl fired a puck on net in the first minute of the third off of an unsuspecting Nick Lievermann to make it 4-1 in favor of the Elks. Up 4-1, Elk River played smart, penalty free hockey and easily kept EP at bay with a 4-1 lead, holding EP without a shot for the first 10 minutes of third period.  Superstars Mittelstadt and Nolan Sullivan had chances in the third but were turned away each time by the Elks Defensive corps. 

All Tournament Team

Goalie 

Cade McEwen, Hermantown

Lots of great goalies this weekend to mention (Todd Scott - STMA, Buzz Eigner - Lakeville North, and Thomas Moschet - EP). 

Skaters

• Nick Lievermann, Eden Prairie (workhorse, big shot..was a beast for the Eagles)
• Casey Mittelstadt, Eden Prairie (filthy hands and great speed…kid keeps getting better every time YHH sees him)
• Chase Gackle: one of the most exciting players to watch this weekend and very productive. Has great stick skills and a spectacular gift of winning every puck battle sometimes with his stick and sometimes with his body.
• Benton Maass: full meal deal on the blue line for Elk River, quick, smart…the kind of player who plays better under pressure.
• Jensen Zerban: great nose for the net, always came up big for the Elks when they needed a spark.
• Kyle Bouten: had a great tournament, was always in the right place at the right time.

MVP

Hands down the best player in the tournament. Has an explosive first step. Besides the highlight reel goals, Murray is also the type of player who will get dirty in the corners. On one exchange Sunday, he was the third player to the puck in his own defensive zone, not only did he swipe the puck like a thief, he controlled it and zipped it to Zerban for a pretty outlet pass. 

To watch a recording of Sunday's Championship Game, click here.