This weekend five '01 birth year teams will converge on Plymouth Ice Center in Plymouth, MN. The Minnesota Blades will host four teams including the Machine Orange from Minnesota, DHI a group of players from all over the Midwest and two teams from the west coast. The Vancouver Selects and the Anaheim Junior Ducks. 

The Blades and Machine have split in two games this far in the battle for Minnesota supremacy. DHI has a nice team with some recognizable players that will give teams a run. Roseville's Nik Norman (Shattuck St. Mary's) will star for DHI. His Shattuck teammate Grant Sillianoff will lineup for the Blades, we expect those two to play a big role this weekend. Anaheim has a couple recognizable names on their roster. Ryan Johnson, the son of former Gopher Craig Johnson and Jackson Neidermayer, son of former NHLer Scott, unlike their fathers, both play the opposite position as their dads. Jackson is a goal scorer up front and Ryan will dictate terms from the back.

The round robin tournament should put some great hockey players on display. In Minnesota, the 2000 birth year class just completed Phase 3 of the US National Camp process and the WHL Draft. Over the course of the next year, several of these Minnesota players start their journey toward the same goal over the next year. 

This weekend will be the first sincere look the 2001 players will be looked at by scouts from the WHL, Family advisors, and other interested parties. YHH will be there to see some new faces and likely some old favorites.