Edina Invite (BAA)

Grand Forks scored three times in a span of  71 seconds to pull away from St. Cloud and earn a 6-3 victory in the Bantam AA championship at Braemar. 

Mason Thingvold scored twice for Grand Forks, and Tyler Zahradka, Jackson Kunz, William Lawson-Body and Drew Montgomery all aded one goal apiece. Lawson-Body scored the go-ahead goal for Grand Forks. 

Cullen Hiltner scored twice, and Jack Smith scored once in the loss for St. Cloud.  

Edina Invite (BA)

#1 Orono got a goal from Kyle Swanholm in the first period and that is all they would need to beat #6 Edina to win the Edina Invitational. Standout goalie Carson Limesand stopped all 15 shots he faced including two point blank stops in the second period to preserve the win for the Spartans.

The Spartans have won all three tournaments they've played in so far this year. After the win Sunday, they now have an 11 game winning streak.

Edina Invite (BB)

#4 Edina White grabbed their third tournament title of the year beating #3 Minnetonka 4-1 outshooting the Skippers 38-7. Nate Stone lead the Hornets with a goal and an assist en route to the title. Since losing to Tonka on December 3, the Hornets have won 11 straight games including three wins over the Skippers.

Elk River Twaddle (BB)

Osseo Maple Grove beat #6 Elk River 3-2 on a late Jacob Valerius goal to win the John Twaddle Memorial tourney on Sunday in Elk River. After taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Jack Pojar and Daniel Ellingson, Elk River clawed back to tie on two top shelf snipes by Scott Jussila in the second period. 

In a back and forth third, either team had a chance to win it late. Valerius clinched it for the Leafbirds when a puck popped loose in the slot and he buried it for the eventual win with 5:20 to go in the game.

Edina Invite (PWA)

Edina, ranked No. 9 in the most recent version of the YHH Staff Rankings, slammed the door on No. 7-rated Osseo-Maple Grove 2-0 in the Peewee A final of the Edina Invitational. Hornets goaltender Uma Corniea was the star of the stage on Sunday, earning the shutout between the pipes. 

Edina Invite (PWAA)

Osseo-Maple Grove broke open the game with a five-goal second period, then tacked on one more score in the final frame to thump Wayzata 6-1 and earn the Peewee AA title. 

Will Matzke scored two goals for the Leafbirds, with Ben Thompson, Wyatt Olson, Sawyer Skanson, and Ethan Sillerud all scoring once. Andrew Streeter scored Wayzata's lone goal of the game.

Edina Invite (PWB)

#1 Edina Green kept their perfect record clean beating #2 Edina White 7-2 Sunday at Braemar Arena to grab the Edina Invitational title. The Greens have only been tested a couple times this year as they amassed a gaudy 26-0 record. On Sunday it was the Ryan Andor show again, the second year power forward teamed with line mate Ryan Sever for five goals to carry the Hornets to the unofficial intra-city title Sunday.

John Twaddle Memorial (PWB)

Elk River knocked off Hastings 2-1 to capture the Twaddle Memorial in Elk River Sunday. Gavin Carlson and Matthew Ferry scored second period goals to lift the Elks to the title. Carlson's shot spent a few seconds of time in the air before it fell past Hastings goal Max Lidtke. Ferry scored on a pretty feed on the back door from Blake Rinehart. 

The Elks held on in the third period yielding a goal to Jackson Schaffer to grab the state of Minnesota shaped trophy. With the win, the Elks move their winning streak to 10 games and counting.

This past week, YHH saw five number one versus number two games (Christmas came a week late for this writer). We saw Maple Grove girls and Edina in AA high school. We also saw Hermantown-Delano and Elk River-Stillwater in boys high school. Sunday we saw the two best PeeWee B teams clash for the Edina Invitational title (Edina Green and White). 

Without question the best and most dramatic game we saw, was between the two best Squirt A teams in the state Sunday in Maple Grove. If it is hard to imagine a 2-0 game being riveting - let us try to set the scene.

Osseo Maple Grove came in number one and was undefeated. They have a very fast and talented team. Lead by Danny Nelson and Gavin Anderson, the Leafbirds have been dominant all year, except in their previous game with Chaska Chan. Chaska Chan is also a terrific team with a star studded lineup. Sam Scheetz and Brodie Ziemer are just two of the exciting playmakers for the Stormhawks.

With so much talent on the ice, the team without the puck was instantly vulnerable to a rush from a Ziemer, Nelson or a Scheetz. Each time the defense would make a play or the goaltenders Caleb Heil (CC) or Charlie Kuebelbeck (OMG) would come up big. 

As time wore on, an extra session or even more dramatic a shootout was looming. With rush after rush - each defense seemed to get stronger. With three minutes and change left, Danny Nelson grabbed the puck with a head of steam and zeroed in on the CC net. The left-handed big man fired a shot that would break a radar gun and eventually beat Heil top shelf for the win.

The Leafbirds added an empty net goal and secured the number one ranking in Minnesota...at least until the Squirtacular that is. An event that OMG has won four consecutive times. Chaska Chanhassen looks to be the most viable threat to the Leafbirds trophy we've seen in five years.

Sunday signaled the end of The Pond's week-long New Year's Challenge tournament, with all three Mite divisions holding their championship games. 

In the Advanced division, Santa's Misfits downed Team Yeti 7-5, a relatively low score when it comes to three-on-three action. Kalen Balliet led Santa's Misfits to the win with three of the team's seven goals, while Ella Hornung led Yeti with a pair of scores. 

The Bronze level title of the Intermediate division was claimed by RPM Blue, which defeated RPM Black in the finals. Both RPM teams are made up of players from Waconia. 

Brendan Clemens was the star on the ice, scoring six times to lead RPM Blue to a thrilling 12-7 victory. 

Black Ice took the Intermediate Mite Gold championship with a 12-10 win over the MN Stars, scoring the final three goals of the game en route to victory. 

Conner Schubert and Tyler McCracken each scored four goals to pace Black Ice, while Macray O'Connor led the MN Stars with three goals.

In the Intermediate Mite Silver Division, the Ice Cats emerged victorious over the MN Wave Bruins by a score of 9-6. Liam Thomas led the champion Ice Cats with three goals, matching the total scored by Mason Markwell of the MN Wave Bruins.