The tourney games were divided into pool play Friday and Saturday with the tourney championships played Sunday.  But Saturday’s best outdoor cooking was on display.  The players in the tourney games were there for fun.  The games were played by those who enjoyed the sport, but everybody was talking to old friends and making new.  Each game consisted of three 17 minute running time periods.  With 10-12 skaters on an average team, there was more than enough ice time for a skater.  For teams that played more intensely, the game clock mattered.  For those that were there to enjoy the feel of being on the ice and competing in something special, making the pass or the shot, taking a few extra minutes of rest between periods was okay.  The refs and timekeepers accommodated.  But one thing all the adult teams demonstrated was an ability to move the puck and make the pass.  Most teams really had their puck control and plays and could execute them very well.

Walleye Chop Women’s Tourneys

There were four women’s tourneys played at the Super Rink over the weekend.  The MN Frost won the Bluegill tourney, the Flyers won the Salmon tourney, the “the wild” won the Sturgeon tourney, and the Sea Gals (from Florida) won the Sunfish tourney.  The women had the best team name in the Walleye Chop this year, the Stanley Cupcakes.

Bluegill: (Pool A-MN Frost, Blue Js, Frozen Stiffs, and I Don’t Puck With You; Pool B-Mr Lube Oilers, Cougars, Northland Thunder, and Marshals)

The Bluegill Tourney had some of the most competitive games.  The opening game Friday between the Frost and the Blue Js was one.  It was a close game that was finally broken open late by the Frost.  The game was tightly contested going into the third period with the Frost holding a 2-1 lead.  The Blue Js goaltender Nicole Jones had a great first two periods.  But then the Frost behind goals by Jess Christopherson/head coach at Coon Rapids, Aubri Lindberg/head coach at North Metro, and Sara Bustad/Mankato State freshman blew the game open with four goals in the first six minutes of the third period giving the Frost a 6-1 lead.  The Blue Js’ Tonya Allen scored twice in the game.  The Frozen Stiffs beat the I Dont’s 6-3 in the other Pool A game.  In Pool B Friday, Mr. Lube beat the Cougars 5-1.

The Frost won Pool A.  After beating the Blue Js, the Frost beat the Frozen Stiffs 6-2 and beat the I Don’ts 5-0.  The Blue Js (coming off a semifinal loss in USA Hockey’s National Women Senior B tourney played at the end of March) lost to the Frozen Stiffs and tied the I Don’t’s.  In Pool B, the Marshals, the Northland Thunder, and the Mr Lube Oilers all beat the Cougars and split their three games played amongst themselves creating a three-way tie for first.  Marshals held the tie breaker and advanced to the championship game Sunday against the MN Frost.  The Frost beat Marshals 4-2 for the championship.

Salmon: (Pool A-Flyers, MN Wolfpack, and Puck Hogs; Pool B-Misconducts, Ice Cubed, and Snow Leopards)

Friday, the MN Wolfpack beat the Puck Hogs 4-3, but lost to the Flyers 3-1 Saturday morning.  The Wolfpack overcame a 1-0 first period goal on a score by the Puck Hogs’ Kyla Lindstrom.  The Wolfpack scored twice, to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.  They never relinquished the lead, fighting off 2-2 and 3-3 ties to win on Bridget Carlson’s goal with less than a minute left in the second period.  Nancy Riebel, Natalie Koranda, and Jamie Lee scored the other three Wolfpack goals.  Dani Tollefson and Torri Shelafoe scored for the Puck Hogs.  The Flyers beat the Puck Hogs 10-1 Saturday evening to win Pool A.  The Misconducts beat the Snow Leopards 5-3 in their opener and followed that win with a 5-3 win over Ice Cubed Saturday morning to win Pool B.  In their Friday win over the Snow Leopards, the Misconducts’ offense was led by Rebecca Wolfe.  Wolf scored twice and assisted on two other goals in the 5-3 win.  The Snow Leopards Kerry Ryk scored twice and assisted on the third Leopard score.  In semifinal play Sunday morning, the Flyers beat Ice Cubed 7-0 and the Misconducts edged the MN Wolfpack 2-1.  The Flyers won the championship beating the Misconducts 3-2.  

Sturgeon: (Pool A-the wild, Pussycats, Arctic Blaze, and Chippewa Lightning; Pool B-The EH Team, Chicks with Sticks, Saints, and Stanley Cupcakes)

The “the wild” swept Pool A beating the Artic Blaze Friday 5-0; the Pussycats 7-1 and the Chippewa Lightning 7-1 Saturday.  In Pool B, the EH Team tied the Stanley Cupcakes 3-3 in the opener and went on to beat the Chicks with Sticks 3-1 and the Saints 4-3 to win the pool.  The Cupcakes lost Saturday to the Saints 5-0 and tied the Chicks with Sticks 1-1.  The “the wild” beat the EH Team 5-1 in the Sturgeon championship game.

Sunfish: (Pool A-Mustangs, Sioux Snipers, and Warriors; Pool B-Raptors, Northern Stars, and Ms Conduct; Pool C-Sea Gals, Mankato Womens Hockey, and Rockets; Pool D-Black Spider Fish, HULC, and Anarchy).

The Mustangs (from the Maple Grove area) made it to their first Walleye Chop championship after six tries.  They got there by playing tough defense beating the Warriors 5-0 Friday, tying the Sioux Snipers 0-0 Saturday and beating the Raptors 2-0 Sunday morning.  The Mustangs played the Sea Gals, a team from Florida led by Tiffany Juha, former star for the California University of Pennsylvania and member of the U.S. Women’s National University team, in the championship game.  Halfway through the game, the Mustangs led 1-0 maintaining that tough defense against the Sea Gals offense.  Then Juha went to work.  On a late second period shift, she beat the Mustang defense coming off the end boards to the right of the net into the slot and fired the puck.  Her shot beat the Mustang’s goalie to tie the game 1-1.  It was the first goal the Mustangs gave up in the tourney.  Later on the same shift, Juha carried the puck low and swept across the Mustangs’ crease diving as she tried to get the shot off.  The puck remained at the top of the crease and a trailing Sea Gal forward banged the puck into the net to put the Sea Gals up 2-1.  They went on to win the game and the Sunfish Championship 4-1.

Walley Chop Men’s Tourneys

The best overall speed and play of this year’s men’s tourneys was played in the Muskies Tourney with Team Athlead and Sting dominating play; but the more skillful games were played in the Eelpout Tourney as two “wild boys” from Thunder Bay put on a Harlem Globe Trotter kind of show.  In all, there were 12 men’s championship games played Sunday at the Super Rink.  The Sting won the Muskies championship, American Pattern won the Bass Tourney, the “Mondays” won the Bullhead Tourney; the Gold Rush won the Carp Tourney, El Guapo won the Catfish; Sugar Gliders won the Eelpout; the Minnesota Blackjacks won the Mooneye; the Niners won the Northern Pike Tourney; the Greatful Dead won the Perch title, Stewart Plumbing won the Steelhead Championship, “The Lanny McDonalds” won the Trout; and the North Stars won the Whitefish Tourney.    

Muskies: (Pool A-Lake Life, Team Athlead, MinnDak Boys, and Standard Electronic; Pool B-Sting, Longstriders, Huskies Healthies, and Americans)

After a quiet 1-1 game for most of the opening period, Standard Electronic and Team Athlead went into a scoring spree with both teams scoring twice in the final two minutes.  The period ended in a 3-3 tie, but that flurry of goals in the last minutes of the period upped the pace at the start of the second.  Team Athlead broke open the game with five second period goals and went on to win their opening game Friday beating Standard Electronic 11-5.  Kurt Davis (5 points/2 goals) and Kevin Huck (4 points/3 goals) led Team Athlead’s offense.  Standard Electronic’s Jordan Van Guilder scored twice and Nick Larson, Logan Doedan, and Taylor Matson each scored once.  Team Athlead went on to swept their pool beating the MinnDak Boys 7-2 and Lake Life 7-2.  The Sting won their Friday game beating the Huskies Healthies 10-3 and swept Pool B beating the Americans 6-4 and the Longriders 7-4.  That set up the Muskies’ pool championship game Sunday between the Sting and Team Athlead won by the Sting 7-4. 

Bass: (Pool A-TBD, SHLers, and Bulldong Reunion IV); Pool B-American Pattern, Soft Dump in the Corner, and Rabbits); Pool C-Beloved Studios, Dusty Danglers, and Als Bees; Pool D-Best of the Lousiest, Cougar Bait, and 2 for Embellishment)

After falling behind 2-0 early in the game on goals by Rabbits DJ Perez and Blake Guver, American Pattern rallied scoring three times to win their opening pool game Friday 3-2.  Adam Wagner, Josh Dicken, and Austin Maginnis scored for the AP’s.  The Rabbits lost their second pool game Saturday to Soft Dump in the Corner 10-5.  The "TBD’s" beat the SHLers 4-2 in their opening game.  The SHLers took a 2-0 first period lead on scores by Josh Brue and Alex Monroe.  The "TBD’s" scored three second period goals (Bob Kinne, Jaret Retterath, and Dave Clements) and added a fourth goal in the third period by Kinne to win 4-2.  In other Bass Tourney action, Cougar Bait and Best of the Lousiest tied 6-6 and Beloved Studios beat Als Bees 6-1.

After the dust had settled Saturday, the Bass semifinals for Sunday morning were set with Beloved Studios meeting “2 for Embellishment” in one game and American Pattern playing "TBD" in a re-match in the second game.  American Pattern beat the "TBD" team 7-4 in their semifinal game and beat Beloved Studios 1-0 in the championship game.

Bullhead: (Pool A-Mondays, Off constantly, and Mullet Mayhem; Pool B-the McCrakens, Pylons, and Orange Hat Society)

The "Mondays" won Pool A beating Mullet Mayhem 7-2 and “Off constantly” 7-6 in their two Saturday pool games.  The McCrackens won their two Saturday games beating the Pylons 3-0 and the Orange Hat Society 10-3.  That set up Sunday’s championship semifinals with "Mondays" playing the Pylons and the McCrackens playing “Off constantly”.  "Mondays" beat the Pylons 6-2 in their semifinal game and beat “the McCrackens” 6-5 in the championship game.

Carp: (Pool A-Johnnys Ice House, Beached Whales, and Anchors; Pool B-Gold Rush, Dekes of Hazzard, and Saints & Sinners; Pool C-Too Buzzed, HFTB, and Sharks; Pool D-Wailing Sharks, Twin Cities Bryzlies, and Underdogs)

Johnnys Ice House tied the Beached Whales 1-1 in Friday’s game and beat the Anchors 5-0 Saturday to win Pool A; the Gold Rush’s five goal 6-1 Saturday win over the Dekes of Hazzard was good enough to break a three team tie and give the Rush the Pool B championship; Too Buzzed and the Sharks tied their opening pool game 1-1 and the Buzz went on to beat HFTB 4-3 to win the Pool C Championship (Sharks lost 3-2 to HFTB); and the Wailing Sharks got the great goal tending beating the Underdogs 6-0 and the Twin Cities Bryzlies 4-0 to win Pool D.  The Carp Tourney semifinals Sunday matched Johnnys Ice House against the Gold Rush and Too Buzzed against the Twin Cities Bryzlies.

In the Sunday morning semifinals, the Gold Rush beat Johnnys Ice House 3-2 and the Twin Cities Bryzlies beat Too Buzzed 5-0.  The Gold Rush in bright orange jerseys went on to beat the Bryzlies in the Championship game 4-2.  Sometimes, athletic people that no longer play at the high levels of their sport still feel the need to compete and that is what happened in the Carp championship game.  Trailing 2-1 in the second period, the Bryzlies scored on a rush that cut across the Gold Rush crease to tie the game 2-2.  A minute later the Gold Rush scored the game winner taking a 3-2 lead.  Until that third goal, the game was somewhat relaxed.  After that third goal, the game became intense, not overly physical.  The Gold Rush had the edge in one of their lines; but the Bryzlies other lines dominated play backing the Gold Rush orange into their zone.  To their credit, the Gold Rush played smart hockey and competed.  Their defense held, backed by good goal tending and the Gold Rush won 4-2 scoring an empty netter in the last minute of play.  Sometimes, hockey is about playing the game and winning.  The next day, it is back to work. 

Catfish: (Pool A-El Guapo, Ice Holes, Bisons, and Minnesota Warriors; Pool B-REMax Results, Chiefs AHA, Shock, and Wolf Pack)

El Guapo means the “the handsome one” in Spainish. In Roseville, it is the name of a locally made handsome bicycle.  On the movie screen, it was the name of the villain in “The Three Amigos”.  At Blaine this weekend, it was the name of the team that won the Catfish Tourney by beating the Minnesota Warriors 4-1 Friday, beating the Bison 5-2 Saturday morning, and tying the IceHoles 5-5 for the Pool A championship.  Sunday El Guapo beat REMax Results 4-3 to win the championship.  The REMax Results won their pool by tying the Chiefs AHA 2-2 Friday and beating the “wolf pack” 13-0 and the Shock 8-1 Saturday. 

Eelpout: (Pool A-Sugar Giders, Ole Piper Chiefs, and Champps; Pool B-Wild Boys, Iowa Iceholes, and Ancorail)

The Wild Boys and the Ancorail team got into a wild scoring game Friday to open the Eelpout Tourney.  Ancorail’s Martin Fabian scored in the first minutes of the opening period, but their 1-0 lead was overwhelmed with six Wild Boys scores before Ancorail’s Tony Hilton could score and stop the run.  The first period ended 6-2.  The Wild Boys’ Colin Sobey (1984 born) scored the hat trick (plus an assist) in the first period.  Scott Glomba (1967 born) scored a goal and added an assist.  The Wild Boys’ Sobey and Glomba continued their scoring in the second period as the Wild Boys built their lead to 10-2.  Glomba scored another goal and added three assists to his point total; Sobey scored twice and assisted on Glomba’s goal.  Ancorail’s Martin Fabian and Peter Fabian rolled in the third period scoring three of the four Ancorail’s goals to cut the Wild Boys lead to 12-6 at the end of the game.

The Wild Boys went on to win Pool A beating the Iowa Iceholes 8-0 and winning their semifinal game against the Ole Piper Chiefs 5-0 before losing in the championship to the Sugar Gliders 2-1.  The Sugar Gliders beat Iowa 11-2 in their semifinal game and won their pool beating Champps 4-1 and the Ole Piper Chiefs 7-4.

One of the stories in this year’s Walleye Chop was the play of the two Thunder Bayers' Colin Sobey and Scott Glomba.  Sobey and Glomba played Sunday morning like the Harlem Globtrotters playing the Washington Generals in the Wild Boys’ 5-0 semifinal win over the Chiefs.  On one play, Glomba backed off the attack on the Chiefs’ net, positioned himself for the Chiefs’ breakout play at the Chief’s blueline by timing his skating to the neutral ice, skating near but not into the passing lane, and simply tipped the puck back into the Chiefs’ zone.  It was done so deftly with so little contact with the puck that it was difficult to believe the puck went from a hard breakout pass to a soft little floater in the opposite direction.  With a flick of the stick, Glomba had turned the Chiefs’ breakout into a 2-on-1 Wild Boys’ rush.  On another play later in the game, Sobey ended up with the puck in the right slot with the Chiefs' goalie moving to block the anticipated shot.  Sobey, instead of taking a hard point blank shot, went left on the ice and slid the puck into the left corner past the goalie’s pads.  It was a tough skillful shot to make requiring excellent blade control.  A fun pair to watch play hockey.   

Mooneye: (Pool A-DePaul Lettering, Eastside Vulcans, and Krazy Kannucks; Pool B-Minnesota Blackjacks, Senior Saint No Stars, and Top Shelf)

In Friday’s opening game, the Top Shelf and the Senior Saint No Stars battled to a 5-5 tie in Pool B and both teams lost their Saturday games to the Minnesota Blackjacks by the identical score of 13-1 creating an unusual situation with each team have the identical team stats.  It took a coin flip to determine  that the Senior Saints would advance to Sunday’s semifinal games.  Five players scored for the Senior Saints in their tie with the Top Shelf team (Craig Zahara, Jeff Lukasavitz, Al Svir, Wayne Bernard, and Doug Connel).  Connel’s goal tied the game 5-5 with 15 seconds left to play.  Top Shelf got two goals each from Don Belland and Phil Anderson; Scott Blair scored once.  In Pool A, DePaul Lettering opened Friday with a 5-1 win over the Eastside Vulcane and beat the Krazy Kannucks Saturday 8-1 win the pool.  In Sunday’s semifinals DePaul Lettering beat the Senior Saint 5-1 and the Minnesota Blackjacks beat Eastside 11-2.  The Blackjacks won the tourney beating DePaul Lettering 4-2.  

Northern Pike: (Pool A-Team ODouls, Niners, and Idiots Delight; Pool B-Dakota Crioux, Noahs Arcade, and Pigs Eye Shop Pond Gang)

The Niners beat the “idiots delight” Friday 6-2.  Team ODouls beat the “idiots delight” 7-2 Saturday morning to gain the tie breaker for the Pool A championship game Saturday night against the Niners.  That game ended in a 2-2 tie.  The tie breaker took effect, Team ODouls won the pool.  The Niners’ David Brandt scored two goals in their game with the Idiots.  Matt Haglund, Sean Walker, Tommy Mertz, and Cory Frautsch scored the other four Niners’ goals.  The “idiots delight” Max Perrigo and Joey Rehkamp each scored.  In Pool B play, Noahs Arcade won their Friday opener 6-3 beating Pigs Eye Shop Pond Gang.  But they could not beat the Dakota Crioux Saturday losing 10-2.  Dakota Crioux beat Pigs Eye 8-2 to sweep the Pool B games.  Team ODouls beat Noahs Arcade in Sunday mornings first semifinal 3-2; the Niners beat the Dakota Crioux 3-2 setting up a repeat of Pool A’s championship game between the Niners and Team ODouls.  This time, the Niners won beating ODouls 7-4.  

Perch: (Pool A-Greatful Dead, Bucks of Thunder, and Bottom Feeders; Pool B-Silver Bullets, Jays Auto, and Lightning)

The Silver Bullets opened Pool B play Friday with an 7-2 win over the Lightning, beat Jays Auto 9-0 Saturday to win the pool, and beat the Bucks of Thunder 9-1 in Sunday’s semifinal game.  The Bullets took a 1-0 lead in the first period of their Friday game against the Lightning, added three more in the second period to take a 4-2 lead, and added three more in the third to win 7-2.  Chad Huson scored twice and added an assist in the Silver Bullets win, Marc Strapon added a goal and an assist; Tim Hanus, Steve Leddy, Sean Code, and Greg Fox each scored once. Mike Brodzinski scored twice for the Lightning.  Unfortunately, the Silver Bullets ran into the Greatful Dead in Sunday’s Championship game.  The Silver Bullets could not get by; they did not survive and lost 5-2, like a rock (Bob Seger hangs his head). 

Steelheads: (Pool A-AFC Technologies, Figjam, Team Harold, and The Other Guys; Pool B-Stewart Plumbing, Sioux Falls Flyers, Team Poland, and Le Kup Nutz)

AFC Technologies won Pool A beating “The Other Guys” 7-1, Team Harold 7-0, and Figjam 5-0 sweeping all three games.  In beating “The Other Guys”, Adam Serafino got the hat trick; Josh Kelly scored twice; and Shane Arundel, Dan Kelly, and Joe Daley each scored one.  The lone "The Other Guys" score was made by Tim Rogers.  Stewart Plumbing won all three Pool B games beating the Sioux Flyers 5-4, Le Kup Nutz 12-2, and Team Poland 8-5.  The Plumbers had to overcome a 2-1 deficit at the end of the first period in their game against the Flyers and hold on to their lead in the last seconds of the game to beat the Sioux Flyers.  Alex Ondchex scored in the first minute of the game to put Stewart up 1-0.  The Flyers cameback on goals by Randy Fukishima and Mitch Willis to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. The Plumbers’ Ondchex scored the only second period goal to tie the game 2-2.  Then the Stewarts scored three straight third period goals (Matt Boone, Bryan Platz, and Bill Breheim) to build a 5-2 lead with a minute to play.  The Flyers' Rob Martin and Jade Windego scored in the last minute of the third period to close the game to 5-4.  Stewart Plumbing went on to beat the AFC in the championship game Sunday 3-2.

Trout: (Pool A-Geyer Signal, The Lanny McDonalds, High Life, and Missouri Mud Hens; Pool B-Booze Stars, Sioux Falls Havoc, Outlaws, and Puck Hawks)

The Lanny McDonalds swept the Trout Tourney’s Pool A winning all three games beating High Life 6-3 Friday and the Missouri Mud Hens 11-4 and the Black Aces 4-2 Saturday.  The Booze-Stars beat the Outlaws Friday 8-3 and the Sioux Falls Havoc 7-3 and the Puck Hawks 4-2 Saturday to sweep Pool B.  The Lanny McDonalds won the championship game beating the Stars 5-0.

Whitefish: (Pool A-Finn Kings, Bogeys, Hat Trick Hockey, and Bizzard; Pool B-TPNS, Boston Pizza Blues, Lightning Bolts, and Polk High)

In Pool A play, the Bogeys beat the Finn Kings 3-0 and the Blizzard 6-4 Saturday.  The Bogeys tied Hat Trick Hockey 5-5 Sunday morning but the tie was enough to earn the Pool A championship.  In Pool B, the North Stars edged the Boston Pizza Blues in their opening game Saturday morning and beat Polk High 12-3 in the evening game.  The North Stars lost Sunday morning’s game to the Lightning Bolts 4-3 but still won the Pool B title winning with the head-to-head tie breaker over Boston Pizza.  In Sunday’s championship game, the North Stars edge Bogeys 6-4.