In the past, the North Dakota teams have done well in Minnesota tourneys but they face strong competition this year in this tourney.  On another level, a team from Superior WI is a wild card entry that is good enough to win the tourney.  On a Minnesota only level, there is always the question of how good the peewee A’s are against the peewee AA teams.  And there are some team versus team games that could preview Minnesota AA and A regional play such as Roseau AA versus Cloquet AA.  They could meet in the North Regional next March on their way to the State AA tourney.  Alexander, Apple Valley, Warroad, and Thief River Falls could be battling in Peewee A Regional tourneys for a seed to the state peewee A tourney played in Crookston for the State peewee A crown.  They can be good enough at the end of the season.  Unfortunately, tor three teams, the drama will be about survival next February in the district playoffs.  Eden Prairie A, New Prague, and Waconia will be in a battle to get one of District 6’s two seeds to the East Regional played in Rochester next March.

Pool 1: Roseau AA, New Prague A, Cloquet AA, and Fargo Freeze Black

Friday, the Roseau AA team opens pool play against New Prague A.  Roseau has gone unbeaten in December, winning their last seven games.  Last weekend, they won the East Grand Forks Tourney beating Devils Lake 4-3, Minnetonka A 7-3 (a team New Prague tied 3-3 in D6 play), Melville 6-4, and the Northwest Stars (Winnipeg, Canada) 6-3.  New Prague played last weekend at the Northfield Jesse James Showdown Tourney losing the consolation trophy to North Metro 4-3 Sunday.  New Prague beat Northfield 4-3 and lost to #3 Armstrong 4-1 at Northfield.  The Trojans are currently in the middle of D6’s peewee A standings with a 3-4-1 record.  They lost their first four games in the opening two weeks of the season and have not lost in D6 since.  The Trojans have beaten the two other D6 teams in the tourney, Eden Prairie A 2-1 and Waconia 5-1.

Cloquet AA plays Fargo in the other morning opener in Pool 1.  The Lumberjacks are a .500 team as the season nears the halfway mark posting a 7-7-1 record.  They are 2-3-1 in December games and have lost to Superior AA twice this season (3-2 and 5-3).  Cloquet is always a dangerous team.  They look beatable in a tourney like this and then beat everybody.  At the Spirit of Duluth tourney played in early December, the Lumberjacks surprised NOW ranked #7 Osseo/Maple Grove beating the Crimson 4-2, tied #18 ranked Eden Prairie AA 3-3, and lost to #11 Wayzata AA 5-4.  The Freeze Black peewee A team is in third place in the North Dakota Statewide Peewee A league.  That is the same league that the Bismarck Blades, Grand Forks Seawolves, Minot, and the Grand Forks Greyhounds play.  But the Black's third place is based on their playing the most games posting a 5-4 record, beating the Bismarck Blades 4-1 and losing to the Grand Forks Seawolves 6-0 in early December.  The Freeze Black have also lost to Moorhead AA 9-3 two weeks ago.

Pool 1 Predicition: This pool is potentially a well-balanced pool or a pool that will turn into a two team race between Roseau AA and Cloquet.  The two opening games Friday morning will determine that.  It is hard to go against Roseau AA at home in this tourney.  They should beat New Prague; but it would not be a surprise here if New Prague won.  Cloquet AA should beat the Freeze Black, but like New Prague, a Freeze win would not be a surprise.  Friday’s evening game at 5:00 between Roseau and Cloquet should decide Pool 1.  The two teams have yet to play each other this season.  Cloquet wins and takes the Pool 1’s #1 seed.  Despite Roseau’s seven game winning streak; Cloquet’s performance at the Spirit of Duluth is too good to ignore. 

Pool 2: Waconia A, Grand Forks Seawolves, Blaine AA, and the Bismarck Blades

Waconia plays the Grand Forks Seawolves in their opening game.  The Wildcats got off to a good start winning their first three District 6 games, but have struggled since.  At the Spring Lake Park Tourney in mid-November, Waconia put on a good effort before losing to Denfeld 4-2 in the opener.  The Wildcats got blitzed by NOW ranked #13 Mahtomedi 10-3 before beating Kennedy/Richfield 4-2 at the Spring Lake Park.  Last week, they tied Eden Prairie A 2-2 in D6 play.  The Seawolves struggled in the Moorhead tourney at the end of November, losing to Moorhead AA 4-2, the Grand Forks Greyhounds 4-3, and Buffalo AA 4-2.  The Seawolves have spent most of December playing Canadian teams posting a 2-4 record.  Their two wins were over Moose Jaw 5-0 and 2-1.  The Seawolves are 2-0 in North Dakota’s state wide peewee A league.   

Blaine AA and the Bismarck Blades play in the second Pool 2 game.  The Blades finished second at Brainerd two weekends ago beating Faribault 6-2 and Brainerd 3-0 before losing to Prior Lake A 3-2 in the Championship game.  The Blades are 4-3 in North Dakota’s Statewide Peewee A league.  Blaine is the NOW ranked #16 AA team in the state.  The Bengals are 4-3-1 in D10 Peewee AA league (8-6-2 overall)  They are in third place behind Elk River AA and Andover AA.  The Bengals lost to league leading Andover 2-0, tied Centennial AA 1-1, and lost to second place Elk River 4-2 in the past week.  Blaine usually does well in December tourneys.

Pool 2 Predictions: The sequence of games plays a role in determining the winner of this pool.  Blaine AA should beat the Bismarck Blades on Friday; the Seawolves should beat Waconia.  On Saturday, Blaine should beat Waconia in an 8:00 AM game.  At 10:00 AM, the Seawolves and the Blades will battle in a North Dakota rivalry game that the Seawolves should narrowly win.  At 6:00 PM, Blaine AA should beat the Seawolves and win the pool.

Pool 3: The Grand Forks Greyhounds, Warroad, Alexandria, and Apple Valley

The Grand Forks Greyhounds and Warroad meet in the first pool game. The Greyhounds and the Seawolves are part of the same association.  Like the Seawolves, the Greyhounds have played mostly Canadian teams in December posting a 4-4-1 record.  The Greyhounds also beat Moose Jaw twice 7-6 and 9-1 in December.  They are 1-1 in 12 team North Dakota peewee A league.  The #7 ranked Warroad played in the Orono Best of the West Tourney last weekend losing to Buffalo AA team 5-4 and Orono 6-4.  Buffalo is leading D5’s Peewee AA/A league and Orono is tied with Armstrong at the top of D3 peewee A league.  Warroad beat Moorhead A 13-0, Fergus Falls 6-1, and Hopkins 6-5 last weekend.

Alexandria and Apple Valley played in the Burnsville Thanksgiving Tourney won by Alexandria.  The Now ranked #4 Cardinals were impressive at Burnsville beating Minnetonka A 6-1, tying NOW #16 ranked Rosemount AA 5-5, beating Eastview AA 7-0, beating #18 ranked Roseville AA 2-1, and beating #9 ranked Minneapolis Storm AA 2-1 to take the title.  Alexandria continues to lead D15 peewee A league posting a 6-0 record winning the four games they played (two games were forfeited by Park Rapids) by a combined score of 43-4.  Last weekend, Alex lost 4-3 to Moorhead AA.

Apple Valley got off to a good start posting a 3-1-1 record in their first five games including a 6-4 win over Eden Prairie A.  But they have struggled since.  The Eagles lost three pool games at Burnsville’s Thanksgiving Tourney but have come back the past two weeks with D8 wins over Park/Cottage Grove and Hastings.

Pool 3 Prediction: This is a tough pool.  Three teams, Warroad, Alexandria, and the Grand Forks Greyhounds, could come out on top.  Apple Valley will find it tough to win a game.  The nod here goes to the Cardinals edging the Greyhounds.

Pool 4: Superior AA, Thief River Falls A, Eden Prairie A, and Minot

Superior AA and Thief River Falls meets in this pool's opening game.  Superior is a Wisconsin team modeled after Minnesota Hockey.  The association has fielded a peewee AA and peewee A team this season.  Superior AA played well in the Big Pumpkin Tourney at Bloomington at the end of October.  They tied Roseville AA 2-2, lost to Prior Lake AA 3-2, lost to Osseo/Maple Grove AA 6-1, and lost to Elk River AA 8-5.  Thief River Falls has posted a 2-12 record in the early going and struggled in their tourney play last weekend.  The Prowlers lost to Hopkins 5-2, Eveleth/Mesabi East 6-3, Crookston 6-0 and Fergus Falls 6-5. 

Eden Prairie A plays Minot in the pool’s second game Friday morning.  Eden Prairie A will be playing in their third tourney in the past four weeks.  At the Hopkins Thanksgiving Tourney, the Eagles lost all three games (St. Louis Park 5-0, Edina A 7-1, and Shakopee 4-3); at the Stillwater’s Lumberjack tourney, the Eagles beat Cottage Grove 4-2, lost to Stillwater A 5-1, and lost to Duluth East A.  Eden Prairie A is currently 1-5-2 in D6’s peewee A league.  Minot had a good weekend this past week, beating the second place Bismarck Admirals 4-3 in overtime.  That win evened their Statewide Peewee A league record to 3-3.   The week before beating the Admirals, Minot beat Devil’s Lake 6-3 and lost to Grafton 4-2.

Pool 4 Prediction: The winner of the Superior/Minot game played Saturday afternoon should decide the pool winners.  Superior and Minot should win their Friday opening Pool 4 games against Eden Prairie A and Thief River Falls.  The nod here goes to Minot; last weekend’s win over the Admirals was impressive.

Championship Sunday: Cloquet AA, Blaine AA, Alexandria, and Minot

These four teams are closely matched.  Cloquet played well in the Spirit of Duluth, Blaine AA had a good Eden Prairie Thanksgiving tourney, and Alexandria won the Burnsville Thanksgiving tourney.  This will be Minot’s first tourney; their season did not start until mid-November.  It is part sentimental and part the result of seeing Alex play, but the four teams should end up Alexandria on top followed by Blaine AA, Cloquet AA, and Minot in that order.  Alex wins.