“A shockingly cold Polar Vortex has moved into the Midwest" headlined the AP article.  Literally Polar Vortex means a cyclone at one of the earth’s poles.  So Minnesota is in the middle of a cyclone and somehow one of the earth’s poles has drifted to the Twin Cities.  Another weatherman commented that it is a term invented by idiots who don’t know a low pressure from a high pressure.

 At three o’clock Monday, one weather site had posted a -11.7 degree temperature with the comment that it (wind chill) feels like -12 degrees.  The headlines all over the media screamed Minnesota’s governor shuts down the schools facing a potential -70 degree wind chill.

In the early Monday evening, the Star Tribune had posted “Minnesota public schools and some businesses were closed Monday and several regular activities around the state were canceled as wind chills dropped to around 50 below zero.”  What this corner of YHH did Monday around 4:00 PM is what most sane Minnesota people probably did Monday; they stopped listening to the dire weather forecasts, checked the weather outside house, dressed appropriately, and went about their business.  It was a sunny day; and -11 degrees is not unusual January weather, polar vortex or not.

This corner of YHH went to the hockey rinks, two rinks to be exact and watched games consisting of kids 9-12 years old playing hockey.  None of them froze on the ice.  At Eagan, about 70 kids, mostly five years old or younger were out on the big rink trying to keep their skates from sliding out under them.  The kids were having fun.  It was better than staying home huddled in some corner fearing some intangible thing would happen to you if you stepped a toe outdoors as told to you by some faceless person broadcasting from the East Coast.

Frankly, there was a colder night two weeks ago and few noticed.  The hockey rink in Lakeville was packed that night.  

Apple Valley beats Eagan Blue 4-3 in D8 Squirt B game

Apple Valley and Eagan Blue each had won one game before playing last night at Hayes.  Both teams had lost five games.  Eagan Blue had played one more District 8 game than the Eagles and that was a tie.   The win by the Eagles tonight was important.  Eagan Blue and Valley are the only teams in the Squirt B Gold league that want to play in the D8 playoffs at the end of the season.  The win puts the Eagles higher in the standings than Eagan Blue.  Six teams in the league will not be in the playoffs.  Seven of the nine teams in the Squirt B Maroon league will be playing in the D8 playoffs.  The win should give Valley a better chance to win the playoffs (played March 9-16 at Rosemount).

Apple Valley scored early in the first period and held on to the one goal lead until late in the second period.  Valley’s Nick Hood scored three minutes into the first period.  Dominic Pries got the assist.  The Eagles led 1-0.  Both teams skated well for the rest of the period.  The action was wide open with each team attacking the net.  The first period ended 1-0.  Apple Valley outshot Eagan Blue 7-2 in period one.

In period two, the play was slowed.   The refs whistled a lot of stops in the play.  Six penalties were called.  With so many players in the penalty box, most of period two, the teams had to skate 4-on-4.  Eagan tied the game with four minutes to go in the period while on the power play.  Charlie Harms got the puck in the slot, the area between the two hash marks in front of the net, and shot at the net with an Eagle player in front of him.  The Apple Valley goalie did not see the puck coming.  His view was blocked by the Eagle player and the puck flew by him into the net.  The Wildcats tied the game 1-1.

With five seconds left on the clock in period two, the Eagles’ Nate Haraldson skated through the Wildcat players in the right faceoff circle and took a shot on the Wildcat goalie.  The puck beat the Wildcats’ goalie’s save attempt.  It went over his lower right leg pad.  Apple Valley got the lead again 2-1.  Valley’s Pries got the assist.  It was Dominic’s second assist in the game.

Period three started and Eagan tried to score to tie the game.  They worked hard trying to keep the puck in the Valley zone and score.  They were successful.  Apple Valley could not get the puck into neutral ice.  Than Eagan drew a penalty and had to play shorthanded.  Apple Valley got the puck to the Eagan net on the low right side.  Matthew Cobb put the puck into the net.  Apple Valley led 3-1.  Eagan did not give up.  Thirty seconds after Apple Valley scored, the Wildcats’ Carson Wilary and Luke McClellan got a 2-on-1 rush.  They skated to the Eagles goal with a Valley defenseman between them.  Wilary made a nice pass to McClellan.  McClellan scored.  His goal cut the Valley lead to 3-2.  Wilary got the assist.

With four minutes left in the period, Valley’s Emmett McIntosh scored unassisted to put Valley ahead by two goals, 4-2.  The Wildcats scored again late in the third period to cut the Valley lead to 4-3.  They tried to tie the game, but the Eagles stopped them from scoring.  The game ended 4-3.

The Eagles play Farmington and Lakeville North in D8 games this weekend.  Eagan Blue plays Farmington on Friday and in ten days will play at Lake Nokomis (outdoors) on US Pond Hockey night.    

Eagan Peewee AA beats Woodbury 3-1

District 8 has seven AA teams that will battle for the #1 seed for a guaranteed Regional birth at playoff time.  The other six teams will have to wait on the decision of the seeding committed.  This year’s District 8 playoffs will be held at Apple Valley from February 16 to February 23.  Based on the play in D8 halfway through the season, it will be an exciting one.  In the regular season D8 peewee A standing, Sibley and Rosemount, have broken away from the other five AA teams (Eagan, Woodbury, Eastview, Lakeville North, and Lakeville South) and will battle for the #1 seed to the D8 playoffs.  The “other” five teams are knotted so tight in the race that any can win third place.

Both Eagan AA and Woodbury AA needed to win last night.  In such a tight race, both teams need focus on the current game and just accumulate points.  The others fall in some way.

The game was tied 1-1 halfway through the second period.  Eagan’s Axel Anderson scored first to put the Wildcats’ up 1-0.  Woodbury’s Lucas Wahlin scored to tie the game.  Eagan had the edge in the first period, outshooting the Predators 6-1.  In the second period, the game had a nice flow, both teams were skating at a fast pace.  Woodbury’s forwards had the edge in quickness; Eagan’s forwards had the size advantage.  Both teams played hockey, trying to make plays on the attack.  Late in the second period, Eagan’s Nick Sherek scored to put the Wildcats up 2-1 going into the third period.

Play slowed in the opening minutes of the third period.  Woodbury, trailing by a goal, was forcing the action in the Eagan zone with some success.  That gave the Eagan forwards opportunities to develop 2-on-1 or solo rushes.  The Wildcats couldn’t covert on those rushes.  It was a Woodbury penalty that triggered the game clinching goal.  A tripping penalty with less than 3 minutes on the clock, resulted in an Eagan power play goal.  Woodbury, a man down, was forcing the play in the Eagan zone.  The Wildcats’ William Randall picked up the loose puck and broke into the Woodbury zone on the right boards.  He drew the lone Woodbury defender to him and flipped a pass to Jonah Miklya breaking in the left slot.  Miklya just made certain to put his stick on the puck.  He deflected into the upper left corner over the sprawling Woodbury goalie.  Eagan lead 3-1.  The remaining minute on the clock ran out with no more scores.

Eagan AA’s next game is home to Lakeville South on Sunday.  They will then test themselves playing Prior Lake AA and Wayzata AA on the road in 10 days.  The Eagan team has improved since the early season.  They deserve a top 10 ranking (NOW has the Wildcats at #8).  They have potential to move into the upper echelon of AA hockey, but still have to face one of the top teams, Sibley AA, in District 8 playoffs.

Woodbury has improved also.  They were in the game last night until the final minutes playing Eagan at Eagan.  The Predators, if they continue to progress, could surprise a few teams at playoff time.  In one of the more interesting games this week, Woodbury plays Red Wing at Prairie Island Friday.  The Wingers are currently leading District 9’s peewee A league.         

On a cold winter’s January day in Minnesota that the media has fussed about, the hockey people were not part of the several regular activities that were curtailed.  They went to hockey rinks while Minnesota’s Monday made national headlines implying Minnesotans were staying in.

In this corner of YHH, the only real news worth noting Monday had nothing to do with weather or Minnesota.  Phil Everly, half of the Everly Brothers, died.  Phil and his brother Don were the top rock and roll singing duo in the country in the late 50’when rock and roll first became popular.  They had a string of hits and their singing was loved especially the song “Wake Up Little Susie”.