New Brighton's Oliver Moore scores for Team MN
Team Minnesota is the reason we at YHH cover the Brick each year. It is a great way for our writers to see what the top Minnesota Squirt A players may look like in the coming Winter. In 2012, we saw a Goalie from Kansas City, Corbin Hillman lead the team to the Playoffs. Who could forget the Lucius brothers Chaz and Cruz in 2013 lead Team Minnesota to the final four. Last year, we saw Team MN come a game away from the Playoffs.
This year, Team MN came a game away from going winless. In every game they showed promise. They were leading or were tied in four of the six games they played. They had some amazing individual efforts by Oliver Moore (8 points) and William Whitelaw (6 points)...but they could not seem to string together sustained pressure on any of their opponents all week. For much of the week, it seemed like five individuals on five different pages of the playbook. Carrying the smallest roster to Edmonton with 13 skaters and only 11 from Minnesota was a calculated risk that eventually didn't work out.
Players to Watch:
-Ty Hanson from Duluth was a great defenseman who really seemed to control the play from the blue line.
-Oliver Moore was as good as advertised, he has great quickness and balance with the puck.
-Eddie Revenig was a kid that showed a lot of spirit for Team Minnesota. The Minneapolis product has speed and vision to play either forward or defense.
-William Whitelaw was a crowd favorite in Edmonton, rushing the puck from both Defense and Forward. A constant threat to score and a really good playmaker.
Pennsylvania scores!!!!
The top 3 teams coming out of Pool Play were the BC Canucks, Sask Jr. Pats, and the Toronto Bulldogs. There were several great games, but ultimately the best was when Pool Champ BC beat Toronto 3-2 in double overtime. Tourney mega star Conner Bedard scored 50 seconds into the second OT on a silky move to lift the Canucks to the W. The Canucks were able to go undefeated 6-0-0 in Pool Play and earn the #1 seed into the playoffs.
The turning point in the tournament came in a two game stretch for Saskatchewan. They beat MN 4-3 on Monday night and turned around the next day and beat the Toronto Bulldogs. The Pats seemed to grow as a team with those two wins, winning their last three of Pool Play and securing the #2 seed.
It had been since July 6, 2011 that the Toronto Bulldogs had lost a Pool Play Game. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they lost on consecutive days. First to BC and then to Sask. They quickly righted the ship and won their final two games of PP to gain the playoffs with a 4-1-1 record.
Other great games in Division 1 Pool Play. With zero wins to their credit and one game to play, the Detroit Red Wings beat Team California 3-1...Zach Homer had 2G for the Wings. Jake McCaw and Hunter Ramos scored a minute apart in the third period to lift Team Penn to a 4-3 win over Minnesota.
Conner Bedard scores for BC against Team PA
Three team left Pool Play in Division 2 with high hopes for winning The Brick. Alberta got in with 10 points despite losing to Toronto Pro on the final day. Boston beat the Connecticut Jr Rangers on the final day to advance and displace the Rangers and lift Alberta into the playoffs. The Pool Champ was Toronto Pro Hockey who despite losing to Montreal in OT on day one came back and swept the pool with a record of 5-0-1.
Toronto beat the other two playoff qualifiers handily, Alberta 5-1 and Boston 5-0. They looked to be one of the best teams all week. The team that gave everyone fits in Division 2 was the Connecticut Jr. Rangers. The Rangers lead Pro Hockey 3-0 heading into the third, but couldn't hang on. They went into OT with Boston and just came up short and had several great chances to beat Alberta Monday night but couldn't get it done.
Logan Renkowski scores for Connecticut Tuesday
The Pats celebrate their win over Alberta
On Saturday, all six playoff teams charted their course for the title. The first game was a border battle between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Three weeks earlier, Alberta used three second period goals to beat SASK in the North American Hockey Classic. This time it was the Pats who got three second period goals in three minutes to lift them to a 6-2 win over Team Brick. The Pats showed an amazing ability to score clutch goals all week, this game was no different for the boys from Western Canada.
In the next Quarterfinal game, it was the Barlow and Strizzi show put on by the two stars from the Toronto Bulldogs. The Dogs got up early and never let up on the Bruins, who had qualified for the Playoffs for the third straight year. Colby Barlow scored 52 seconds in to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead. In the second, Barlow's partner in crime Jacob Strizzi got into the act scoring two goals to lift the Dogs to a commanding 3-0 lead. Bulldog Goalie Josh Branton was only tested once and it was at a critical stage of the game. Up 3-0, a Bruins forward beat a Bulldog defender and was hooked from behind and granted a penalty shot immediately by the referee. Branton stared down Bruins forward Will Smith and stopped him on the backhand to preserve the three goal lead. Barlow would add another goal to his total to end the game at 4-0 in favor of the Dogs.
Colby Barlow scores for Toronto against Boston
Pats edge Leafs in OT
The first semifinal game Saturday was a classic East vs. West Canadien matchup. Saskatchewan and Toronto Pro Hockey. The Jr. Pats were flying high winning six in a row, five in pool play and one playoff. The Leafs lost in OT to start The Brick and then ripped off five straight to win Division 2. Neither team made a mistake in the first two and half periods. Eventually, both teams started to turn over the puck and some chances ensued. Sask's leading scorer Kalan Lind scored with 2:33 left in the game to give the Pats the lead, but Anthony Romani got an equalizer for Pro Hockey at 1:31 left in the game to send the game to OT. Sask got the first good chance of the OT and Riley Heidt took advantage and scored to send the Pats to The Brick Championship.
Dogs shut out Canucks in Rematch 3-0
In Pool Play, BC beat Toronto in OT and went on to win the D1 pool. Since the loss to BC, Toronto was all business. They won out in Pool Play and beat an impressive Boston team in the Quarters. Toronto was focused and playing really well. As they had done against the Bruins, Toronto was able to keep the opposing team's big guns on the shelf. Against Minnesota they held high scoring Oliver Moore to zero goals, against Boston they held Ryan Leonard and Joe Connor scoreless. They also were able to score early. Against BC, they scored early on a goal by Bulldog sniper Carson Rehkopf and then the Toronto defense put the clamps on BC's Conner Bedard, holding him scoreless all game. In the third, Barlow and Strizzi did their thing scoring two late goals to put the Canucks away 3-0 to send them to the championship.
The Toronto Bulldogs celebrate their win Sunday
Dogs take their fourth Brick title in five years
Not unlike their previous four games the Toronto Bulldogs stuck to their formula of winning. Stop the opposing team's big guns and score first. Toronto got out to a four goal lead late into the second period. Barlow and Strizzi (it is not a broken record, these two were huge for the Dogs) got Toronto on the board in the first. Strizzi on a filthy dangle and Barlow on a tap in to give the Dogs a 2-0 lead after 1. In the second, Toronto got two more from Matthew Buckley and Carson Rehkopf to extend their lead to 4-0.
SASK would battle, just as they had done the entire week. They got a greasy goal from Kalan Lind and goal with 10 seconds left in the second to make things interesting heading into the final period. SASK would get their chances in a free wheeling third, but were unable to solve Toronto standout Goalie Josh Branton who made a couple clutch saves (25 total) down the stretch to secure the win for Toronto. Toronto made it four Brick titles in five years and the sixth consecutive year a Toronto club has won The Brick.
Bauer Dumanski was our vote for top player in The Brick
Alberta: Tom Willander and Austin Zemlack
BC: Conner Bedard and Owen Beckner
Boston: Joe Connor and Will Smith
California: Christian Kim and Pasha Baranchik
Chicago: Joey Willis
Detroit: Zachary Homer
Connecticut: Logan Renkowski and Joseph O'Neill
Minnesota: William Whitelaw and Oliver Moore
Montreal: Mathieu Cataford and Ephram McNutt
Pennsylvania: Chris Pelosi and Will Sheridan
Saskatchewan: Kalan Lind and Bauer Dumanksi
Toronto Pro: Anthony Romani and Cameron Allen
Toronto Bulldogs: Colby Barlow and Josh Branton
Winnipeg: Merik Boles and Colin Wiebe
Most Outstanding Player: Bauer Dumanski, Saskatchewan
Players from the Brick swapping jerseys after the Closing Ceremonies.