The North American Hockey Classic is traditionally one of the strongest off-season AAA events of the Summer.  Elite teams from Minnesota and Western Canada invade Winnipeg to leave their mark. The NAHC hands out a Champions jersey as one of their signatures on a great tourney. Who will win the Jersey this year? We will do our best to project out the winners and a few players to watch while in SummerPeg. 

But before we do, take notice fans, the normally distracting Winnipeg traffic may be at an all time crawl this weekend. The Women's World Cup matches will be in full swing including the beloved Americans taking on Sweden on Friday night at Winnipeg Stadium. It should be a wild scene.

2005: Brick Year

Last Year's Winner: Team Saskatchewan

The Brick year is always a fun one in Winnipeg. It often serves as a good last test prior to the event in a couple weeks in Edmonton. Last year, Team Brick Alberta won NAHC and went on to the Playoffs in the Brick. This year five teams from the Brick will battle it out, as will five other teams including the '05 MN Machine Orange. Each of these teams has shown signs of success prior to this weekend. Team MN lost in OT to the Boston Jr. Bruins in the Coast to Coast a few weeks ago. Boston looks to be a top team this year at the Brick, so keep an eye on the always talented Minnesota boys. If last year's Team Sask is anywhere near the talent level this year, watch out for the Jr. Pats this weekend. The top two teams this year look to be Alberta and BC. The Jr. Canucks are loaded with scoring punch..Connor Bedard and Andrew Cristall form a nice 1-2 punch for the Canucks. Don't forget about the host team the Winnipeg Jr. Jets. Just like their NHL namesake, the Jets have been good but not great at the Brick in recent years. This year's team has a couple nice forwards up front in Merik Boles and Tyler Parr and a very talented defenseman Carter Sotheran. 

YHH Pick: BC Jr. Canucks
Dark horse: Team Minnesota

2004: Post Brick

Last Year's Winner: Team Alberta

Last year we liked a non-Brick team to win it and we were wrong. Team Brick Alberta showed great guts and determination in the NAHC and the Brick. In a normal year, we'd likely choose them to repeat (most of the Team Brick team now plays as Havoc Jr. Flames). But likely the most powerful team in the entire field (pound for pound) is the Vancouver H2 Canucks. Minnesotan Daimon Gardner who lead Vancouver Brick in scoring last year will play alongside Michael LaStarza from Toronto, Tristan Lunau from Montreal and Rutger McGroarty who lead the Brick for the Toronto Bulldogs with 13 Goals. This team will be nearly unstoppable. 

Other teams of note. The Blades (#1 in Minnesota) and Machine (#4 in Minnesota) will likely threaten come Sunday. Watch out for the host Manitoba Xtreme, they will have a nice team, too.

YHH Pick: Vancouver
Dark Horse: Havoc Jr. Flames

2001: Swan Song

Last Year's Winner: Manitoba Xtreme

Likely the last tournament for many of these teams as they are currently are assembled. Some have been together in some for since Squirts/Atoms. Some of the teams, the players are meeting for the first time. Last year the Xtreme got hot at the right time and won the NAHC. This year there are a few teams that could steal the show. The best Minnesota team will be the Machine Orange. They are loaded with talent and to make maters worse for their opponents, they added super star Nik Norman ('01, Roseville/Shattuck). The addition of Norman instantly makes them the favorite.

The MN Blades lost their best player Jake Hale last week, he will likely miss the trip north, greatly hurting their chances at hardware (or a Jersey). The co-favorite for the NAHC has to be the Vancouver Selects. A tremendous group of players featuring super stars Sasha Mutalla and Josh Williams. In a recent trip to Minneapolis, they beat The Machine in the final game of a Showcase in a Shootout. The Sask Stars have Adam Beckman and Harrison Blaisdell - we could easily see them bringing home the bacon. The American Stars lose Nik Norman, a mainstay on their team the last two years...but they pick up Ryden Fedyck - voted best Minor Bantam Defenseman in Winnipeg this past season. Fedyck's game and shooting ability are not minor in any way. 

YHH Pick: Machine Orange/VAN Selects
Dark Horse: BC Bears

The following are the most exciting players we've seen by age. Some are big, some are fast, some shoot it like a canon...heck, some have it all.

05: Oliver Moore, Team MN

04: Tristan Lunau, Vancouver H2 Canucks

03: Cole Sillinger, South Sask Selects

02: Ty Smilanic, 2K2 Warriors

01: Josh Williams, VAN Selects