Burnsville’s Thanksgiving Classic Peewee A Tourney

Burnsville’s peewee A tourney includes both AA and A teams; the association makes no distinction.  In the past, the tourney has often been an early season test that pits D6 teams against D8 teams, but this year with three D6 teams entered (Burnsville AA, Jefferson AA, and Minnetonka A) and six D8 teams entered (Woodbury AA, Rosemount AA, Eastview AA, Lakeville South AA, Cottage Grove A, and Apple Valley A); the odds have shifted to a repeat of last year's all D8 final that saw Lakeville South beating Eastview 2-1 for the championship.

Alexandria has entered this year's tourney.  The Cardinals are always in the title chase for number one in that district and have a high scoring offense; but the two teams to watch are the Minneapolis Storm and Roseville.

Pool 1 (Burnsville AA, Jefferson AA, Minneapolis Storm A, and Woodbury AA)

The host Burnsville AA team is struggling in the early season.  They own a single 2-1 win over Owatonna this season and lost to Edina AA 10-1 last Sunday in D6 action.  Last year the Blaze lost all three pool games in their tourney, Roseville AA 4-1, Mankato A 3-1, and Hastings AA 7-0.  That has not happened in the last 20 years.  Jefferson AA has also struggled, but has played well despite posting a 2-6 record in the season that includes a 4-1 win over Burnsville AA in a D6 game played last week.

The Minneapolis Storm are last year’s Peewee A State Champions, but will not defend their title.  This year the association has opted for the AA designation and the team has done well in the early season posting a 7-1-1 record (losing to a fast smooth skating, Osseo/Maple Grove AA team 3-2 and tying Blaine 3-3).  The Storm took third place in this tourney last year beating Hastings AA 2-1 in the third place game after losing to Eastview AA 4-1 in the semifinals.

Woodbury AA is coming off a hectic week of playing four tough games (posting a 1-1-3 record) that includes a 5-4 loss to Eastview AA and a 6-1 loss to Rosemount, teams that are also in this tourney.  Woodbury tied Rochester AA last Sunday 2-2 to put the first blemish on the Red’s record this season.

The Minneapolis Storm should win this pool with Woodbury, Jefferson, and Burnsville finishing in that order.  

Pool 2 (Rosemount AA, Eastview AA, Alexandria A, and Minnetonka A)

Rosemount beat Eastview a month ago 5-3.  After a slow start at the Big Pumpkin Tourney, that win over Eastview started a 6 game unbeaten streak which includes a 3-3 tie and 3-2 win over Highland Park A.  Eastview had some bad luck in a 3-1 loss to Lakeville North last week and came back to beat Woodbury AA 5-4 last weekend.

Alexandria A comes into this tourney with a high powered offense and a sparkling 6-1 record (their only loss was 2-1 to Virginia A, a team that could replace the Minneapolis Storm as the State Peewee A champs).  The Cardinals six wins were by an average score of 9-1.  Minnetonka A has a good Burnsville Tourney last year, but are struggling in the early season.  After going 2-0-1 in their first three games, the Skippers have gone 0-1-3 in their last four games including a 3-3 tie with Apple Valley A.

Rosemount should win this pool and claim the #1 seed to Sunday’s semifinal games.  The other three teams will be in a battle for second place.  If one of the three teams plays strong, they will contend for second place (most likely with Pool 3’s #2 finisher).

Pool 3 (Lakeville South AA, Apple Valley A, Cottage Grove A, and Roseville AA)

The tourney planners must have known something, Lakeville South and Roseville are favorites to win the Pool 3 title.  Their game is scheduled for the last round of peewee A tourney games played Saturday night.  There should be some anxious coaches, players, and fans in the stands from the other pools rooting for one team or the other since their own chances to make the semifinals will depend on the result of this game.

Roseville opened their season with a big win over Lakeville South 8-4 at the Big Pumpkin, but lost in the pool and failed to advance.  The Raiders have had an up and down season.  They opened their D2 season beating Stillwater AA 2-0 and then lost to Stillwater A 4-2 five days later.  Last week they beat White Bear Lake AA 5-0 in D2 play.  The Raiders always play tough at the Burnsville Tourney, but after this pool play is over, Roseville should apply for D8 status; the other three teams in this pool are from D8.

Lakeville South won the Burnsville Tourney last season, but has a single win this past month, a D8 win over Farmington A 5-2.  Like Roseville, the Cougars should beat D8 rivals Apple Valley and Cottage Grove setting up that late Saturday show down.

Apple Valley has done well in the early season, but has struggled that past two weeks losing twice to Lakeville North (6-0 and 3-0) and tying Minnetonka A 3-3.  The Eagles’ short bench will make this tourney tough for them.  Cottage Grove was last year’s Cinderella team in the peewee A tourney, making it to the State Tourney quarterfinals before losing.  That team struggled early last season, but showed some toughness in this tourney last year.  This year’s Wolfpack is also struggling, coming into to the tourney with a 1-7 record (beating Red Wing A 6-4).  One of their losses was a 2-1 loss to Eastview.  They can be tough.

Roseville should win Pool 3; Lakeville South should take second, Cottage Grove takes third and Apple Valley fourth.

Sunday’s Championship

Rosemount with the #1 seed should beat the wildcard seed, Alexandria.  If they play well, Alex will have underdog status at the tourney and be a crowd favorite.  They should beat Eastview and Minnetonka big enough to win the wildcard over Lakeville South and Woodbury.  In the other semifinal game, the Minneapolis Storm should beat Roseville.  The Storm go on to beat Rosemount for the championship; Roseville takes third.

Best Game to Watch:

There are two games at this tourney to watch.  Besides the champinship game, one game to watch will be the Minneapolis Storm and Woodbury game played Friday morning starting a 8:35 AM.  If Woodbury is up for that game, it could turn into a barnburner.

The Championship game starting at 2:30 PM Sunday should match the Minneapolis Storm and Rosemount.  With the Storm’s move to AA status this year, this would be their first big test this season.  Rosemount’s team will also be facing their first big test; their players have worked hard over the past few seasons to get to this point.