The Squirtacular was spectacular Monday at the Richfield Arena.  In a tight morning Squirt C semifinal game, Minnetonka Black and Farmington battled to 2-2 tie through three regulation periods and an overtime period.  Minnetonka won the shootout.  The Phoenix Jr Coyotes’ goalie Adam Stevernson stopped 22 of 23 Rosemount White shots leading Phoenix to a 3-1 win and to put the Coyotes in the Squirt B championship game.  But the spectacular really roared to life with music and lights choreographed around a heated Squirt A semifinal game between Osseo/Maple Grove and Rochester.  The game came down to a final Rochester shootout attempt that hit the right post.  The Crimson won 4-3 and the place roared and it was only 11 AM.  Three championships were left to play.

Squirt C: Hoffman Estates beats Minnetonka Black 6-0

Hoffman Estates, a team from Illinois that skates in the Northern Illinois Hockey League, easily won their semifinal game beating District 8’s Cottage Grove Green 10-1.  The Wolf Pack beat the Wolfpack led by Blake Kumor’s six point game (three goals).  Minnetonka won their semifinal beating Farmington in a shootout 3-2.  The Skipper’s Mack Gilbertson scored the game tying goal with just under 5 minutes left and also had the GWG in the shootout.

In the championship game, Hoffman scored twice in the first three minutes of the game.  The first goal came off a Wolf Pack rush down the right boards.  The puck carrier, Ryan Yo, cut below the end line an hit Jakob Glynn breaking down the slot.  Glynn reached with his stick re-directing Yo’s pass into the left side of the net to put Hoffman Estates up 1-0.  Ten seconds later, the Wolf Pack’s Roenick Vosburg hit Blake Kumor with a nice pass, Kumor scored to put Hoffman up 2-0.  For the next six minutes of the opening period, the two teams battled evenly.  Gradually, the Wolf Pack was establishing more and more puck control in the Black’s zone.  An elbow penalty with just under four minutes left was called on the Black.  The faceoff was in the Minnetonka zone to the goalie’s right.  Hoffman’s center got the faceoff to Vosburg at the right point.  Vosburg made a pass to Colin Adams in the lower left crease area.  Adams shot the puck into the upper right side of the net to give the Wolfpack a 3-0 lead.  The period ended 3-0.

The second period turned into a scoreless battle.  Minnetonka physically was trying to move the puck through Hoffman defenders.  The Black were having some success, but left themselves out of position.  That allowed Hoffman to fully use the open ice.  The Wolf Pack played their positions and moved the puck from player to player and let the Black players chase the puck.  Though the shots on goal were even (each team had five shots on goal in the second period), the Wolf Pack had more opportunities forcing the Black defensemen to block shots.  The second period ended with Hoffman still leading 3-0.

The first part of the third period was still a battle, but Minnetonka was slowly opening up their offense.  Their defense started to rush the puck when they had opportunities, but no wing or forward for the Black would hold back and cover the defense in place of the rusher.  That created a single defender at the Hoffman blue line.  When a puck bounced loose over the blue line to neutral ice, the Wolf Pack’s Joshua Chesney picked up the loose puck and soloed to the net to score unassisted.  The Wolf Pack led 4-0 with eight minutes left to play.  Minnetonka became more aggressive and it defense was caught inside the Wolf Pack blue line two minutes later.  Again, the Hoffman turned the defensive mistake into a 2-on-1 rush.  This time Chesney carried the puck deep to the left of the Black’s net, fed a pass to a breaking Justin Genez. Genez scored the weak side goal to put the Wolf Pack up 5-0 with less than six minutes left in the game.  Two minutes later, the Minnetonka defense was caught forward in the Wolf Pack zone and Hoffman scored again on a 2-on-1 rush.  That goal ended the scoring 6-0.

The Minnetonka Black team had a good tourney and hopefully they learned something from Hoffman’s play.  Hoffman focused on playing the position and moving the puck.  They scored early off of unforced Minnetonka mistakes, held their cool against a tough Black battle to get into the game, and eventually added to their winning total by converting Minnetonka defense mistakes into goals.      

Squirt B: Osseo/Maple Gold Grove beats Phoenix Jr. Coyotes 6-1

This game opened with a penalty.  The OMG Gold drew a hooking penalty two minutes into the first period.  A minute later, Phoenix drew a holding penalty.  Both teams skated a scoreless one minute 4-on-4 and Phoenix killed the last minute of their penalty.  With both teams back to even strength, the game settled with Phoenix beating OMG to the puck and getting pressure on the Crimson holding the puck in the OMG zone.  The Coyotes got their shots on goal, but could not beat OMG's goalie Michael Burtness.  OMG survived their second holding penalty with five minutes left in the opening period.  A Phoenix tripping penalty as the first period buzzer went off broke the Coyote's momentum.  OMG would open the second period on the power play and would force the Coyotes out of their game.  The championship was still scoreless.  The Coyotes had outshot the Crimson 9-2 in the first period, but things changed as the second period opened.

Osseo/Maple Grove took the opening faceoff and drove the puck into the Arizona zone.  The puck was picked up by Damon Humphrey in the right slot area.  Humphrey fired a hard shot on Phoenix goalie Adam Stevenson beating Stevenson high on the left side.  OMG led 1-0.  Wyatt Olson got the assist.  Phoenix started to open their offense up after that score.  Over the next eleven minutes, the game was more of an up and down, transitional game, with neither team scoring.  Gradually the Coyotes were losing the battle, playing more and more to OMG’s strengths.

With less than a minute left in the second period, OMG's Olson broke the game open.  He beat the Phoenix defense on a clear breakaway and tried to beat the Coyote’s Stevenson on a stuff shot at the top of the left crease (Picture 1).  Stevenson made a great stop, but the puck trickled right and stopped in the crease in front of an open net with OMG’s Jack Kernan bearing down (Picture 2).  Keman buried the puck to put OMG up 2-0.  Olson got the assist.  Ten seconds later, OMG scored again.  This time, the Crimson’s Justin Holmgren put a hard shot on the Coyote net with Keman and Lucas Margenau screening Stevenson.  Holmgren’s shot found an opening beating Stevenson high on a deflection.  OMG turned a tight 1-0 game into a 3-0 game in less than a minute.  The second period ended with OMG leading 3-0 and outshooting Phoenix 10-5 in the second period.

The Coyote’s scored in the opening minute of the third period.  Ryan DeAngelis got the goal with an assist from Bowen Burke.  That cut OMG’s lead to 3-1.  The two teams battled over the next nine minutes without scoring.  OMG had the most pressure, breaking into the Phoenix zone getting shots on Stevenson.  With three plus minutes left in the game, OMG drew a penalty.  Phoenix could not get their power play going and ended up getting pinned in the Coyote’s zone.  The play resulted in an OMG unassisted shorthand goal scored by Olson.  In the last minute of play Olson would score his second goal of the game to figure in four of the six goals scored by OMG.  Luke Sawicky would score the sixth goal of the game.  OMG won 6-1.

In the Squirt C championship game, Hoffman Estates held their poise and played a controlling game that best used their skills, Minnetonka Black ended up chasing the puck and lost 6-0.  Phoenix played a controlling game that best suited their skills and outshot OMG 9-2 in the first period.  In the second, they opened up their offensive play and gradually lost control of the game taking a 6-1 loss.  It is a contrast between the two non-Minnesota teams that demonstrates the difference styles of play even at the squirt ages between Minnesota Hockey and USA Hockey.

Squirt A: Osseo/Maple Grove beats Chaska/Chanhassen 8-3

With OMG having beaten Rochester in an tight exciting semifinal game in the morning and Chaska/Chanhassen beating Edina White 5-2 in their semifinal game, the Squirt A championship game looked to be a great game.  The first period did not disappoint.  It started slowly, but turned into a wild up and down game with five goals being scored in the last eight minutes of play.

Chaska/Chanhassen scored first when Jonathan Montang came off the right board into the faceoff circle and beat OMG’s goalie through the 5-hole to put the Hawks up 1-0.  Zach Seltun got the assist.  A minute later, OMG’s Nathan Jaglo beat the Chaska defense sweeping the left corner and fired as he crossed the top of the crease to beat the Hawks' goalie and tie the game 1-1.  Jaglo scored unassisted.

After that score, OMG started to pressure the Chaska defense in the Chaska zone.  With four plus minutes left in the period, they finally beat the stubborn Hawk defense.  Tyler Fredrichs scored off a melee around the Hawk’s net to break the 1-1 tie.  Parker Wente got the assist.  The Hawks came storming back and scored a minute later off a rush that had the puck bouncing in the slot.  A determined Bennett Jax dove to pick up the loose puck and drive it past OMG’s goalie to tie the game 2-2.  It took OMG’s William Matzke less than two minutes to break the tie.  An OMG wing swept down the right side boards, beating the Chaska defense as he swept across the top of the crease.  This time his shot was blocked, but Matzke following the play and put the rebounding puck into the net. The opening period ended with OMG up 3-2.

The second period was all Chaska/Chanhassen.  For the first five minutes of the period, OMG could get the puck past neutral ice only twice, once on a breakout and once on an icing.  With the period nearly half over, OMG finally mounted an attack and worked the puck to Fredrichs in the slot.  Fredrichs’ shot beat the Chaska goalie dead on in the upper right side.  It put the Crimson up 4-2 and it was the game winner.  Aiden McMahon got the assist.  That goal rejuvenated the OMG offense.  The OMG offense brought some pressure on the Hawks’ net as the period ended.  OMG led 4-2.  Chaska led in shots on goal 15-10, but trailed by two goals.

OMG entered the third period, playing up tempo and positive hockey.  Chaska was down.  OMG scored 45 seconds into the period.  Ben Thompson got the goal; Fredrichs got the assist.  OMG led 5-2 and Chaska was still struggling.  Thirty seconds later, the Crimson had the Hawks defense scrambling in the Chaska zone and scored their sixth goal to take a 6-2 lead.  Landen Gunderson scored; Sawyer Skanson got the assist.  Twenty seconds later, Chaska's Nathan scored to cut the lead to 6-3, but OMG kept rolling scoring twice more on goals by McMahon and Matzke.  OMG is the 2015 Squirtacular Squirt A Champions.