Less than a week after a great Bantam tournament, why not hold another one? Since November 8, the Bantam AA class has had four really good tournaments. The Duluth Tommy Williams (Wayzata), The Blue Ox (Elk River), First Test in Eden Prairie (Stillwater) and now the The Spirit of Duluth. Like the last two it is a 16 team affair with a rock solid field. Five of the YHH Staff Rankings Top Ten are in the field, featuring numbers two and three Stillwater and Eden Prairie.

Also in the field are Duluth area teams Duluth East, Hermantown and Clouquet. A Canadian team Thunder Bay and a team from Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Capitals.

Pool A

Duluth East

Lakeville North

Burnsville

Madison Capitals

Commentary: Good pool. Lakeville North is probably the best team in this pool.  The Capitals will be undersized because their oldest players are '99 birth years.  This Capitals team hung tough with Shattuck down in Shattuck this Fall.  Not something any Minnesota team can say. Duluth East has some good wins, but has lacked consistency so far.

Prediction: Lakeville North (probably the hardest pick of the four pools)

Pool B

Hermantown

Centennial

Edina

Woodbury

Commentary: Great pool. Any of these teams could win the pool.  Woodbury played some good hockey last weekend in EP, Centennial and Hermantown are both really good teams.  Never count out a team from Edina. YHH put four names in a hat and pulled out Hermantown.

Prediction: Choosing the Hawks was probably the right pick. The Hawks sleep in their own bed and will take care of business in Pool B.

Pool C

Anoka

Thunder Bay

Minnetonka

Stillwater

Commentary: Last Saturday, Minnetonka gave #2 Stillwater everything they could handle.  The young guy Skippers came a post shot away from OT.  Anoka won't lay down and die for any of the teams in this pool, but they won't have enough to get out of the pool play.

Prediction: Ponies won't take Tonka lightly Saturday night.  That game will likely pair two 2-0 teams vying for Bracket Play.

Pool D

Eden Prairie

Blaine

St. Cloud

Cloquet

Commentary: Eden Prairie is the strongest team in this pool.  We like Blaine and St. Cloud a lot.  St. Cloud is another young team, like Minnetonka, that is getting better every week.  Despite going 1-3 in Brainerd, they were in every game with some really good teams. Blaine has yet to face the big boys, this weekend could be their time.  YHH hasn't seen Cloquet yet, could they be the Cinderella team?

Prediction: We saw Blaine a couple weeks ago, we like what we saw. The Bengals will pull the upset in Pool D and run the table against EP, St. Cloud and Cloquet.

Final Four Prediction

Lakeville North v. Blaine
Hermantown v. Stillwater

The Call: Lakeville North beats Blaine, Stillwater handles Hermantown. Stillwater gets by Panthers in the Final.