Districts 2, 3, 6, and 8 play some of the toughest youth hockey in the state.  This past week, each district's regular season started for their association's peewee AA and A teams.  Only in those districts this year, the associations have combined their AA teams.  District 2 and District 8 peewee AA teams will play each other in regulare season.  District 3 and District 6 will do the same.  District 2 and District 8 have already combined their peewee A teams.  Already the knots can be seen forming in the combined league standings.  The District 3/6 peewee AA league is starting to look like the knottiest of the knotty hazel trees with teams so balanced that it is hard to tell tree trunk from tree top.

Lakeville North edges Farmington 4-3

These two District 8 teams played a rivalry game Wednesday.  The will not play each other in regular season play.  The Lakeville North team will play peewee AA this season; Farmington will play peewee A.  High school rivalries start with the younger teams.  Last March, Lakeville North’s high school team beat Farmington 6-0 in the Section 1AA championship game.  North's varsity posted a 25-5-1 record last season and went on to play Edina in the State’s Class AA Championship losing 8-2.  The loss was one of the few blemishes on the “no mas” Panthers.

This high school season the Panthers’ varsity will be focusing on beating Edina on their way to a state title, but they best keep an eye on the Tiger’s varsity team.  As peewees, the two varsity teams played each other three times in 2010-2011 with Farmington winning (8-0, 5-1, and 8-2).  The Tigers went on to play Edina Association’s peewee A team in the State Peewee A championship losing 7-3 to the Hornets.  This year, the Tigers join Lakeville North's South Suburban Conference after winning the Missota Conference title last season.  The rivalry of the two towns that suburbia has grown to, will be heating up this season.

Last night, the Farmington Association’s peewee A team played Lakeville North Association’ peewee AA team at Ames Arena in Lakeville.  In a game that went down to the wire, North came from behind to win 4-3.  And the rivalry gets renewed for four more years.

Period 1

In the opening minutes of the game both teams played a “possession” game.  Both teams would set up and control the puck in the offensive zone by having their defensemen at the points pinch down on the break out along the boards to smoother the breakout pass.  It resulted in each team controlling the puck in their opponent's zone.  Halfway through the period, it also resulted in a Farmington score.  When the Panther forwards failed to cover a pinching defenseman, Farmington was able to move the puck into the Panther's zone.  Once in the zone, they created oddman situations until Zach Walton trigered the scoring play. Walton turned the puck coming off the right boards and hit Carson Blasin “camping” on the top of the crease with no defense around.  Blasin scored on a one-timer to put the Tigers up 1-0.  Walton got the assist.

It was the only goal scored in the opening period.

Period 2

Lakeville North started the second period on a one minute sixteen second power play.  The Panthers got pressure on the power play, but the Tigers killed the penalty and went on the attack.  Then for some reason the two teams slowed their play.  The game had lost its rhythm.  North had a good rush at the nine minute mark, but were stopped by Farmington’s goalie Zach Trewick.  Farmington had a good scoring opportunity a minute later, but the Tigers were stopped on a great save by the Panther goalie.

A Lakeville North interference penalty with six minutes left in the second period marked the change in the game’s momentum.  For the first 30 seconds, the Tigers' power play pressured the Panthers in the Lakeville zone.  Then North started to skate.  They cleared their zone and killed the penalty.  Over the next two minutes they dominated play and their good play led to a break.  The Panther’s Jared Schmeling picked up a loose puck crossing the Farmington blue line center right and beat the defense for a shot from the right faceoff.  His shot beat Farmington’s goalie hitting the upper left corner to tie the game 1-1.  Thomas Nelson got the assist.  That goal opened a dike.  Over the last two minutes of the period, three more goals were scored.

Fifteen seconds after tying the game, Lakeville’s Josh Lee swept across the top of the crease and beat the Farmington's goalie Trewick in the same upper left corner to put the Panthers up 2-1.  Less than a minute later, Farmington’s Jared Jensen scored on a rebound to tie the game 2-2.  Cade Marschall got the assist.  Lakeville’s Lee scored at the buzzer.  With the period ending, Lee fired a hard shot that skimmed the ice and caught the goalie on the inside of his right leg pad to put the Panthers up 3-2. 

Period 3     

Both teams skated well in the third period.  For the first two thirds of the final period neither team could score.  Farmington had the best chance to score when Lakeville North’s goalie raced to knock the puck out of the right slot before an on rushing Tiger.  He missed the clearing the puck to the boards but knocked the puck slightly out of reach of the on rushing Tiger.  The puck ended up sliding towards the open crease in front of Farmington’s Marschall.  Marschall, who had been trailing the play, tried to control the puck but was tripped by both the goalie reaching back his stick and a trailing defenseman reaching forward with his stick.  The trips were enough to knock Marschall off the easy goal.  There was no penalty call; its early season for the refs also.

With five minutes left in the game, the Tigers did tie the score.  Farmington’s Zach Walton broke free deep to the right side of the Panther net.  He started a rush off the right side boards drawing the defense and fired a pass to Nick Nguyen breaking into the slot.  Nguyen broke across the top of the crease and scored putting the puck just under the crossbar to tie the game 3-3.  Walton got the assist.

The Tiger lead lasted 30 seconds.  The Tigers picked up a cross checking penalty, the call was delayed.  As the Tigers scrambled to touch the puck, the Panthers got the extra player out and successfully moved the puck into the Tiger’s zone.  Josh Lee got the goal to get a hat trick for the game; Mario Gasparini got the assist.  The game ended 4-3.  It was a good game, nicely skated by both teams with an outstanding number of good offensive and defensive plays being made.  Not bad for an early season game.

Wayzata gets a Jefferson welcome to D6 on the Big Ice 4-4

This year, District 6 and District 3 combined to form one Peewee AA league with 11 teams.  This year, based on early results, the league appears to be filled with 11 tough balanced teams.  Last night, Wayzata, a perennial top ranked District 3 peewee AA team, played Jefferson, a team that has struggled in District 6 the past seasons.  It was each teams’ first D3/D6 league game of the season.  The game ended in a 4-4 tie.  The game was played on the BIG’s big rink.

Both Wayzata and Jefferson had their chance to win in the closing minutes in the closing minutes of the game.  Ties this year maybe more symbolic of the league.  Both teams look strong.  With Burnsville almost beating Minnetonka on Monday (losing 6-4) and Prior Lake tying the Minneapolis Storm 1-1 Tuesday, the new D3/D6 peewee AA league shapes up to knottier than a Hazel tree this season.

Period 1

BIG’s Rink 3 is considered Olympic size.  It is the same length as BIG’s Rink 1, considered a standard size rink, but it is 15 feet wider (100 feet wide).  In the opening minutes of the first period, Jefferson used that extra width to swing the puck wide and beat the Wayzata forwards out of the Jags' zone.  As result the Jags were able to establish pressure and eventually find the open player.  They did that twice in the first period. 

The first time came when Mitchell Farnham scored 20 seconds into a Jefferson power play to put the Jags up 1-0 at the 9 minute mark.  Farnham picked up a rebounding puck in the left slot and beat Wayzata’s goalie high on the left side of the net.  Defenseman Carson Jacobs got the assist, his first point of the game.  Jacobs posted three points/one goal Wednesday night at BIG.  Jefferson led 1-0.

Wayzata’s offense had success once it could pin the Jefferson defense in the Jag’s zone.  When they could establish control of the puck and cut off the side to side Jag passes, the Trojans could use their team passing skills and overall quickness to keep the puck deep.  Three minutes after Jefferson scored; Wayzata tied the game 1-1.  The Trojans got the Jags’ defense packing around the Jefferson net.  A Trojan shot from the lower left faceoff circle snuck through the Jags’ goalie Basil Kamsheh’s leg pads and ended up dead in the center of the crease.  Wayzata’s Jack Seamans rapped the puck in the net.  Jack Kimlinger got the assist.

With a little under four minutes left in the opening period, Wayzata drew a hooking penalty.  A minute later, the Jags got their second power play goal of the period.  Jefferson broke out of their zone wide.  Beating the Trojan’s penalty killers, Brady Burton took a pass on the right and cut to the left slot and fired.  He scored.  Jacobs got his second assist of the period.  The Jags led 2-1 after one period of play.

Period 2

Wayzata opened the second period controlling the play in the Jefferson zone.  It took the Trojans two minutes to score.  The scoring play started with the Jefferson defense bunching to stop a Wayzata attack on the right side resulting in a loose puck on the ice in the slot.  Wayzata’s Charlie Bischel pick up the puck, moved a step to the left and fired a clear shot.  He put the puck in the back of the net to tie the game 2-2.  It was an unassisted goal.  Jefferson was still using the extra width of the Olympic sized ice, but the Trojans forwards were starting to the tie up the puck in the Jefferson zone.  Wayzata was starting to put significant pressure on Jags’ defense and goalie Kamsheh.

Wayzata drew an interference penalty at the ten minute mark.  Jefferson’s power play controlled the puck in the Trojans’ zone for most of the penalty but could not beat Wayzata’s goalie.  The Trojan’s killed the penalty and scored a minute later.  Again, the Trojans tied the Jags up in their zone until Ryan Mulrenin ended up with a loose puck and the score.  Mulrenin’s unassisted goal put Wayzata up 3-2.

Then it was Jefferson’s turn to apply pressure.  With less than four minutes left in the second period, the Jags’ offense went to work.  They caught the Trojan’s defense scrambling and leaving the Jag puck carriers time to make decisions.  It resulted in multiple shots on goal over a 30 second period.  Jefferson’s Grayson Hight ended up with the puck in the slot and beat the goalie to tie the game 3-3.  Jacobs and Grant Ellings got the assists.  The second period ended in a 3-3 tie.  The Trojans out shot the Jags 14-13 in the second quarter (the Jags outshot the Trojans 31-27 for the game).

Period 3

The first half of the third period was scoreless.  Both teams had scoring opportunities.  With a little under seven minutes left in the third period, Jefferson drew a tripping penalty.  The Trojans set up their power play in the Jags’ zone.  Jefferson almost killed the penalty.  But with 18 seconds left on the penalty kill, the Trojans scored.  Kimlinger got the power play goal; Joe Tomczik got the assist.  Wayzata led 4-3 with five minutes left to play.

Jefferson’s offense came back with a furious attack.  They worked the puck low and pressured the Wayzata goal.  With just under three minutes left in the game, the Jags’ Hight beat the defense with the puck along the end boards right of the Trojans’ net, cut to the right crease and top shelved the puck with his backhand to tie the game 4-4 and end the scoring.

What is next?

Farmington opens their league play Friday with a game against White Bear Lake A at White Bear Lake.  They play a non-league game against Mankato next Tuesday at Shattuck’s Old Arena.  Lakeville North plays Owatonna in D2/D8’s combined peewee AA league next Thursday before heading to Duluth to play in Duluth East’s peewee AA hockey tourney.  The Panthers play Moorhead in Friday’s opener at the Duluth Heritage Arena.  Saturday North draws two league rivals, White Bear Lake and Woodbury to complete their pool play.  Jefferson’s schedule does not get any easier.  This week, the Jags will play Edina, Chanhassen/Chaska, and Osseo/Maple Grove in league games.  They will be tested.

Wayzata hosts the Minneapolis Storm in a league game Friday and play D3 rival Armstrong A next Wednesday in two home games at the PIC.  The Trojans lost 4-1 to the Storm at the Big Pumpkin last weekend in Moorhead.  The following Friday, the Trojans travel to Osseo to play D3 rival Osseo/Maple Grove.  OMG won the Big Pumpkin.