20 mite teams descended upon The LumberYard Hockey and Sports Center for the 2nd Annual Stillwater Mite Thanksgiving Tournament. 16 boys teams and 4 U8 girls teams played some great games in the beautiful LumberYard Hockey complex that was an ideal setting for such an event. I saw a lot of smiling faces, cookies, treats, and kids playing on the turf after their games. Parents hung out in the lounge after their kids games cheering for the Gopher football team, the Wild, the Vikings and just socializing with friends. A great time was had by all.
Two Stillwater teams ended up in the Championship of the Boys division. The Stillwater Kings came out on top with an 11-10 victory over the Stillwater Canucks in a game that never got to more than 3 goal differential one way or the other. Most of the Championship game the two teams traded goals 1 for 1. Andrew Whisler was a fill in goalie for the Kings and was outstanding as was the offensive flair of Cameron Briere who can really finish. He had a beauty of a top shelf backhand as well as several of his 7 goals in the Championship game were right in the top corner glove side. On their way to winning the Championship, the Kings beat teams from Woodbury, Forest Lake and Roseville.
The Woodbury 2 team were the Consolation Champions beating Mahtomedi 1 in a 6-5 nail biter. They lost to the eventual Champs in their first game and then rattled off 3 wins in a row over teams from Roseville, Stillwater and Mahtomedi.
In the girls division Woodbury Black were Champions beating the N. E. Metro Stars and the Stillwater Huskies beat the Woodbury Royals for third place.
There are still a few spots left in the LumberYard 2nd Annual Christmas Rudolph Mite 3v3 Tournament. The tournament will take place December 26-28 with a 4 game guarantee, free hot cocoa for players all weekend, player t-shirts and more. The tournament is an independent mite tournament put on by the LumberYard and features two levels of Mites. There is an Invite/Advanced Division for teams wishing to compete against the best of mite age players and an Open Division for all other teams. Most teams bring 7-12 players and a goalie so grab some players and a goalie and get in on the fun.
