Thanksgiving tourneys are not far away.  Burnsville’s Thanksgiving get together has been entertaining and full of surprises.  This year’s tournament field is no different.  Last year, Alexandria’s peewee A team came out of the blue, won the tourney, beating a field of mixed peewee AA and A teams.  The Cardinals went on to play in the State Peewee A Tourney in Crookston.  This year’s Blaze Tourney’s draw has eight peewee AA/A teams divided into two pools; Pool A has Burnsville AA, Centennial A, Mahtomedi A, and Apple Valley AA.  Pool B matches White Bear Lake A, Lakeville South AA, Cottage Grove A, and Eastview AA.

Thursday night, four of the eight teams entered played.  Apple Valley AA played Cottage Grove A and Lakeville South AA played Burnsville AA in scrimmages that previewed Burnsville’s 2014 Thanksgiving Classic.  These four teams will be playing in the Burnsville Thanksgiving Peewee AA/A Tourney.  The four teams will be joined by Eastview AA, White Bear Lake A, Centennial A, and last season’s Peewee A State Tourney runner-up Mahtomedi.  All four teams showed the early season “rust” that they will shake as the season progresses.  Cottage Grove struggled the most, but has the talent to improve.  Less than two years ago, the Wolfpack played in the state peewee A tourney.  Burnsville looked the best of the four teams last night, but then it is “early innings”.

Cottage Grove and Apple Valley each returned five players from their peewee A teams last season.  The two teams played each other in District 8’s peewee A league last season.  This year, Apple Valley opted to play peewee AA and will be part of the District 2/8 combined peewee AA league.  Cottage Grove opted for peewee A and will play in the District 2/8 combined peewee A league.

Lakeville South AA and Apple Valley AA play in the combined D2/D8 peewee AA league this season.  Burnsville AA plays in the combined D3/D6 peewee AA league.  Last season, Burnsville and Lakeville South played each other at least once, South winning 5-1. 

Thursday night four of the teams playing in Burnsvilles Thanksgiving Day Tourney played.  At the Bloomington Ice Gardens  (BIG) Burnsville AA played Lakeville South  AA.  Apple Valley AA played Cottage Grove A earlier in the evening at Cottage Grove.

Apple Valley AA beats Cottage Grove A 4-1

The first half of the opening period was marred by penalties.  The Eagles drew a tripping penalty in the first minute of play and ended up playing shorthanded until the six minute mark of the period.  They had just killed a five on three penalty with the puck ending up to the right of the Wolfpack goal low in the zone.  A Cottage Grove player tried hit the breakout pass, but it was intercepted by Valley forward who had a clear shot on the Wolfpack goal for the right slot.  He beat the goalie to put the Eagles up 1-0.  The rest of the period was a struggle for both teams.  The Wolfpack forwards had some chances to score, but just could not beat the Eagles defense and goalie Matthew Syverson.  The first period ended with the Eagles up 1-0.

The Eagles brought pressure on the Cottage Grove defense in the opening minutes of the second period and when the Wolfpack defense failed to clear the puck on the weakside, Apple Valley’s Jack Novak batted the puck into the open net to put the Eagles up 2-0.  Novak would figure in three of the four Eagle goals (scoring two goals).  Two minutes later, Valley scored on a power play.  The Eagles Nick LaMotte scored when his shot from the lower right boards caromed off a Wolfpack defender and beat Cottage Grove’s goalie Conner Nelson.  The score put the Eagles up 3-1 with eight minutes to go in the second period.

Cottage Grove drew a roughing penalty a minute later.  The Eagles set up on the power play in the Wolfpack’s zone and moved the puck around the perimeter.  Novak ended up with the puck on the lower left side with an open path to the net.  He fired the puck beating Nelson on the high side left to put the Eagles up 4-0 at the end of the second period.  Cottage Grove came back to score in the third to end the scoring 4-1.

Burnsville AA beats Lakeville South AA 4-1

At BIG’s rink 1, Burnsville and Lakeville South battled through most of the opening period scoreless.  The two teams had pressure on the other team controlling the puck in their opponent’s zone.  Each team could not score; the defenses held.  With three minutes to go in the opening period, a Burnsville forward rapped a hard shot through the Cougar’s goalie’s pads from the top of the crease.  The puck never left the ice, hit the pipe in the back of the net and bounced out so fast that the ref ended up calling it a no goal.  A minute later, on the power play, Burnsville’s Joe Faith turned a hard rebound on a shot from the right side into a goal.  Faith on the left side of the net along the boards picked up the rebounding puck and scored from behind the net.  His shot caught South’s goalie’s pads as he moved from the right side and bounced into the net to put the Blaze up 1-0.  As the first period was ending, the Blaze forwards were starting to beat the South’s defenders.  The first period ended with the Blaze leading 1-0.

Play in the first half of the second period was slowed by penalties.  Burnsville had to kill two successive penalties.  At the six minute mark, coming off the second penalty kill, the Blaze line of Korey Bell, Zach Branham, and Bennet Botz beat the Cougars’ defense crossing South’s blue line in a 3-on-1 rush with Bell carrying the puck on the left side.  Bell fed a nice lead pass to Botz at the lower right crease drawing South’s goalie to the right.  Botz one-timed a nice lead pass back to Bell for the easy goal on the open left side.  Blaze led 2-0.  Two minutes later, Bell scored again.  Grant Ahcan hit Bell with a nice pass from the right end board behind the Cougar’s net.  Bell one-timed the puck past the Cougar’s goalie.  The period ended with the Blaze up 3-0.

Early in the third period, Lakeville South got on the scoreboard on a power play goal.  The Cougar’s Zach Oelrich punched the puck in the net to cut the Blaze lead to 3-1.  Before the Cougars’ offense could get rolling, the Blaze struck again two minutes later.  This time the Blaze’s Timothy Urlaub split the Cougar defense at the South blue line, skated down the slot and beat South’s goalie with a hard shot just under the center of the crossbar.  The goal put the Blaze up.  Neither team could score again.  The game ended 4-1.  The Blaze won.

What is next?

Cottage Grove plays at Mahtomedi on the weekend, has a home game with Hudson WI, and plays Woodbury AA at Woodbury next week.  Apple Valley has the week off before opening their D2/D8 season against Sibley AA.  Burnsville opens the D3/D6 2014-2015 regular season hosting Minnetonka Monday, November 3.  The league combines four peewee AA teams from D3 (St. Louis Park, Osseo Maple Grove, Minneapolis, and Wayzata) with seven peewee AA teams from D6 (Burnsville, Prior Lake, Minnetonka, Jefferson, Edina, Eden Prairie, and Chanhassen/Chaska).  Lakeville South hosts Centennial AA and plays Lakeville North on the weekend.  They have a return game with Burnsville later in the week.