Agatha Christie is a famous author who wrote many mystery books.  She wrote one play, The Mouse Trap.  It opened in London in 1952.  She asked her publishers not to publish the story until the play ceased its run.  Most plays that opened in the 1950’s were lucky to run two years.  The Mouse Trap is still being performed today in London.  It opened at the Theatre Royal and has had a continuous run of over six decades.  This corner of YHH saw it performed at the Ambassadors Theater in 1972 (it is what happens if you get a good education).  The play was so successful, in 1974 it moved to a larger theater, St Martin’s.

It is still running and retains one original cast member that has appeared in more than 25,000 performances given.  The cast member died a few years ago; but the producers still use his voice in the performances.  Because the play is still running, the story has still not been published in England 62 years later as per Agatha Christie's request.

Christie also wrote a mystery in 1945 called “And Then There Were None”.  It was a mystery with a tricky ending.  That is what this peewee A state tourney is about as eight teams play down to “and then there was one”.  Like Agatha Christie’s story, this tourney can have a tricky ending.  This preview gives the reader a more standard analysis of what is likely to happen, but don’t be fooled.  This corner of YHH was fooled in London in 1972.

Friday: Peewee A State Tourney Quarterfinals

#1 Spring Lake Park (41-8-5) vs #8 Sartell (29-12-6)

Spring Lake Park won all three regional games to take the #1 West Regional seed.  They beat Northern Lakes 7-2, Alexandria 5-3 and Warroad 2-1.  The District 10 regular season and playoff champs are just a good, hard skating, team that plays a tough defense.  They have the best penalty kill of any peewee team in the tourney.

With the Panthers, it is hard to pick out just one forward.  They all work hard and never seem to give up on the puck.  Creighton McMahon, Zack Zemlicka, Nick Romine, and Nikko Reimann have all had outstanding games during the season.  But their other forwards have made great plays.  Blake Holm is their goalie and he has had a number of outstanding games.  They are a good team.

Sartell skated in District 5’s peewee AA league and placed second behind Buffalo AA.  They won District 4’s #1 seed in the D4/D5 playoffs.  At the South Regional played in nearby St. Cloud, the Sabres won their opening two round games beating rival Hutchinson 5-3 and then upsetting South Regional favorite Orono 5-4.  In the South Regional Championship game, Sartell lost to Armstrong 2-0 and came back to beat Hopkins in the Elimination Final game 5-0 to take South’s #2 seed.

Sartell is another solid team with depth.  The Sabre coaches will mix their lines up.  Maddux Hagy and Jack Hennemann are often paired and will produce goals while Luke Schmidt is a playmaker that will float between lines.  Devin Peterson is the Sabres mainstay in the nets and started all four South Regional games.  The Sabres will have a size advantage over Spring Lake Park, but it will not be enough.  Spring Lake Park wins.

#3 Highland (27-12-4) vs #7 Edina (37-16-6)

Highland has been on a roll the past six weeks winning Eveleth’s John Mariucci title (beating Fort Frances, St. Louis Park 7-0 and Two Harbors 9-2), winning the District 2 playoffs (beating Stillwater A 8-0 and Mahtomedi 4-1) and the North Regional (beating Greenway 6-2, Duluth East A 9-1 and Mahtomedi 3-2).  The Caps are another strong team with depth.  Highland has not had a bad week since mid-January when they lost 4-3 to Farmington and 2-0 to Armstrong.

Highland has size.  Earlier in the season, the Caps tried to physically hammer on the opponents in the offensive zone.  They have improved and have been playing with more finess.  On offense, they often pair two bigger forwards Robert Christy and Joe Sexton.  Their puck movement in the offensive zone has also improved immensely since YHH first saw them play in a 7-1 losing effort to Osseo/Maple Grove in late November.  The passing combo of Jack Nei and Matt Gleason can be fun to watch if they are on.  Defensively, the Caps get solid goaltending from George Maquire.

Edina floundered in their D6 playoffs.  The Hornets needed to win two games to make it to the South Regional.  They beat Waconia 7-1 (after losing to them late in the season) and then lost to Prior Lake 3-1.  They came back to beat #5 ranked Chaska Chanhassen 4-3 and then lost to Prior Lake 3-1 again to get D6’s #2 seed to the East Regional regional.

The Hornets beat Apple Valley 4-2 and Hastings 3-2 before losing to Farmington 3-2 and coming back to beat Hastings 4-3 in the Elimination Final game to take East’s #2 seed.  Edina played all four East Regional games against District 8 teams that collectively posted a 10-34-4 record in D8 peewee AA/A league.  The Hornets' won three of the four game by a collective margin of 2 goals.  

Edina peewee A’s this year are led by Peter Engelking and Brett Chorske on offense and Jake Boltmann on defense.  Engelking and Chorske work well together and often set each other up for a score.  Boltmann is a tough defense man that likes to rush the puck.  Edina has some very good players and can win this tourney, but they appear to lack the depth.  Highland wins. 

#4 Armstrong (33-12-2) vs #2 Alexandria (36-6-1)

Armstrong has size and plays a strong defense.  Alexandria has size and plays a strong offense.  Armstrong looked to be District 3’s regular season champion this year, but could not get by Orono or Hopkins.  In the D3 playoffs, Armstrong lost 3-2 to Hopkins in the semifinals and had to comeback beating Delano 3-0, Mound/Westonka 8-2 before losing to Orono 4-3 in double overtime.  That effort got the Falcons the #3 seed to the South Regional.

At the South Regional, Armstrong beat Luverne 6-2 behind the strong defense led by Carter Lucas and Bjorn Jensen and goalie Nikki Harnett.  The shots on goal were nearly even (33-32 Armstrong).  The Falcons’ defense forced the Cardinals wide and bodied them away from the slot in winning.  Armstrong offense kicked in their semifinal win over Hopkins 5-1.  They scored three second period goals to break the game open and put 45 shots on goal.  Oddly, one of their best scorers is defenseman, Nick Sticha.  Jonah Jangula is often the Falcon’s set up man on the goal scoring and is joined by two Campions at forward (Jack and Matt).  One more Campion, Joe, plays defense.

Harnett when she is on can take over a game.  She has posted 19 shutouts this season for the Falcons.  She shutout Sartell 2-0 in the South Regional Championship game that sent the Falcons to state despite being her team being outshot by Sartell 27-23.

Alexandria is a good all-around team.  The Cardinals had a great regular season, winning the D15 title and playoffs, and taking D15’s #1 seed to the West Regional.  At Anoka, Alex beat East Grand Forks 3-2, lost a tough game to Spring Lake Park 5-3, and came back (beating Princeton 5-1, East Grand Forks 7-1 and Warroad 4-2) to win the West’s #2 seed to the state.

Most watchers new to the Cardinals get stuck watching Ben Doherty and Jack Westlund play off each other.  The two really play well together making the third person on their line an add-on and beneficiary.  Alex has strength in their other lines.  All their forward lines play with discipline and focus on team play.  Defensively they are very strong and have a solid goal tender in Bailey Rosch.

This game will be a battle between Armstrong’s defense led by Nikki Harnett and the Cardinal's Dohery’s line.  Whoever wins that game within the game will advance.  Stuck between a choice of two good teams, the pick here goes to Alex.    

#11 Farmington (26-13-1) vs #6 Mahtomedi (26-12-4)

On paper, the odds favor Mahtomedi.  Last November, YHH posted a story on the Spring Lake Park tourney that said watchout, most of the teams entered in that tourney had a shot at making the state.  Three did, Spring Lake Park, Armstrong, and Mahtomedi.  Two, Denfeld and Prior Lake, came close.

Mahtomedi has a good team, they placed second in the D2 playoffs and second in the North Regional beating Virginia twice 3-1 and 5-3 and Denfeld 5-1.  The 3-1 win over Virginia was the Elimination Final game played late Sunday at Virginia.  The Zephyrs second place finishes are due to losses to Highland.  The two District 2 teams have battled all season long with the Caps coming out on top.  Despite finishing second in the North Regional to Highland, Mahtomedi may have gotten a better draw.  Highland ended up bracketed with #1 Spring Lake Park and Edina.  Mahtomedi got #2 Alexandria and #4 Armstrong and those two teams play each other.

The Zephyrs are another solid team.  They, as most of the teams in this tourney, have depth.  Their Zephyrs’ forwards, led by Cole McCarver, Nikolai Dulak, and Dylan L’allier, can bring pressure to most of the teams in the State this year.  Goalie John Luc Poirier is solid in the nets for Mahtomedi, but the Zephyr defense often collapses inward trying to help their goalie or overshifts on the rush allowing opponents to exploit Poirier’s weak side.

Farmington has a tough defense led by goalies Tyler Block and Kenneth LaCroix.  They also have more.  In District 8’s peewee AA/A league, the Tigers went 4-6 in their last ten D8 games losing to AA teams Woodbury 1-0, Rosemount 2-1, Eastview 6-1, Lakeville North 3-0, Sibley 2-1, and Lakeville North.  They beat Highland 4-3 in mid-January and Prior Lake A 4-1 earlier in the season.  At the South Regionals, Farmington showed their tough defense beating Mankato 2-1, Red Wing 4-0 and Edina 2-0.

The more is their offense; the Tigers forwards play good positional hockey and play patiently.  They are led by forwards Marissa Agerter, Kenzie Hauswirth, Zach Willis, and Quinn Rudrud.  The Tigers are not a high scoring team, but move the puck well and will counterattack effectively.  The Tigers win.

Saturday: Semifinal Games

If these predictions are correct, then Spring Lake Park and Highland will meet in the first semifinals game.  These two teams have not played each other this season.  Some will look at this game as an offensive battle, but it is more likely to be a defensive, low scoring game.  The defense that holds together, especially in the third period, is likely to prevail.

One of the best teams to use as measure that both have played is Edina A.  Spring Lake Park beat the Hornets 2-1 in the Edina Invitational Championship game; Highland beat the Hornets 5-0 four days later.  Highland’s defense and size at the forwards beats the Panthers.  The Caps should win.

A Saturday second final game that would match Alexandria and Farmington, two tough defensive teams.  Both teams can be patient on the attack and both teams can be quick strikers offensively.  Unlike the first semifinal, this game can be explosive in the sense that one team can score fast and often.  Alex is more likely to do that then Farmington.  The Cardinals win.

Saturday Consolation

Edina edges Sartell in the first consolation.  Sartell gives their all in trying to beat Spring Lake Park Friday, Edina shows traditional Hornet depth and experience and wins.  Armstrong beats Mahtomedi behind their good defense and goalie Harnett.

Championship Sunday

If these predictions hold true, the 2014 Peewee A State Championship will be decided in a Sunday game that matches Highland and Alexandria.  These two teams match up well defensively, but Alex carries the firepower at forwards in Doherty and Westlind.  Crown the Cards State Champs.

Farmington comes back to beat Spring Lake Park for third place.  The Tiger forwards prevail.  In the Consolation Championship, Armstrong’s defense beats Edina.

At YHH, we want to congratulate all the peewee players this year not just the winner of the state title.  In a particularly tough winter, those players have made all the dark winter days fly by because of their participation.  For the peewee players that move on, keep your head up; for those that will return, remember that you will be the leaders of your association’s key program and lead well.