Since 2002, September in Minnesota has ushered in raucous weekends (and a few raucous weeknights) at New Hope Ice Arena, where the state's best high school talent takes the ice for the next two months. 

Before a host of scouts, parents, and fans, these players duel in over 20 games until Halloween before the cream of the crop is split into all-star teams for the International Invitational Tournament. The IIT features two teams made up of Elite League players, and last year hosted the Chicago Mission, Shattuck-St. Mary's, and Switzerland's EC Salzburg Red Bull, among other talented groups. 

The league will spread its wings again this season, making stops in Grand Rapids, Eau Claire, Wausau, Superior (WI), Duluth, Faribault, and Fargo. These games played far and wide from the league's primary arena in New Hope help expose the league to a wider in-person audience, and take the teams to some of the most hallowed hockey grounds in Minnesota.     

Team CCM 

As usual, Team CCM offers a mix of players from all over the state, including senior Greenway transfer Tristan Birdsall. Birdsall racked up 17 goals and 35 points last season for Hibbing. Among other standouts, Minnetonka senior defenseman Will Crull (2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points) and Holy Family Catholic senior defenseman Michael Spinner (1-6-7) are two blue-liners to watch. Up front, Rosemount senior Jackson Sabo (10-16-26 in the regular season) and Lakeville North junior Caden Smith (7-15-22) should handle the scoring duties.

Team Great Plains

Northern rivals will come together for Great Plains this fall, with Warroad's Grant Slukynsky (19-21-40) and Thief River Falls defenseman Evan Bushy (11-22-33) joining forces after Bushy's Prowlers knocked the Warriors out of the 2018 Section 8A semifinals. Bushy is currently committed to St. Cloud State. Greenway senior forward Donte Lawson (37-35-72) and St. Cloud Cathedral junior forward Nate Warner (23-34-57) were among the state's leading scorers last season in Class A, while Alexandria's Ben Doherty (15-15-30) is making his second appearance in the Elite League.

Team North 

Duluth East, Hermantown, and Cloquet all feature prominently on the Team North Roster, with those programs providing 19 of the team's players. Nine skaters from last season's Class AA state runner-up Greyhound team include North Dakota commit and senior forward Ryder Donovan (14-48-62), while senior forward Landon Langenbrunner (25-23-48) leads the pack of six Lumberjack players. Among the Division I recruits skating for Team North is Hermantown's Blake Biondi (30-28-58), who is committed to Minnesota-Duluth.

Team Northeast

Couple one of the best puck-moving defenseman in the country with a gaggle of exciting young scorers, and you have a combination for a high-flying group of skaters. Chaska defenseman and Minnesota commit Mike Koster (15-42-57) has ample forward weapons at his disposal, including a fellow Golden Gopher commit in Holy Family Catholic's Garrett Pinoniemi (14-35-59). Second-year Elite League player Will Hillman of Blaine and White Bear Lake forward Billy Rose each totaled 17 goals last winter for their high schools, with Hillman finishing second in the Bengals' lineup with 22 assists.    

Team Northwest 

The defense could be the calling-card for Team Northwest, with one of the state's best goaltenders in senior Ben Fritsinger. Fritsinger posted a record of 18-4 last season with a goals-against average of 1.87 and a .926 save percentage in addition to recording four shutouts for the Huskies. Keeping Fritsinger clean will be Benilde-St. Margaret's defenseman Nate Schweitzer (5-11-16) and Hastings' Leo Otto (16-10-26). Maple Grove forward and Michigan Tech commit Trevor Kukkonen (17-21-38) and Andover forward and Arizona State commit Charlie Schoen (29-34-63) offer Team Northwest a potent scoring punch. 

Team Southeast 

After pounding his way to 30 goals and 52 points last season, Cretin-Derham Hall junior Matt Gleason enters his second Elite League campaign for Team Southeast. Joining Gleason on the scoring front will be Colorado College commit and current St. Thomas Academy forward Rob Christy (20-22-42) and Eden Prairie's John Mittelstadt (7-9-16). Mittelstadt played well during the University of Minnesota's Model Camp in July, leading all skaters with four goals and 12 points. Five Division I commits roam the blue line for Team Southeast, including Hill-Murray's Brett Oberle (Minnesota-Duluth) and Joe Palodichuk (Wisconsin) in addition to Eden Prairie's Luke Mittelstadt (Minnesota), Rosemount's Jake Ratzlaff (Minnesota), and Rochester Century's Bennett Zmolek (Minnesota State).

Team Southwest

Consisting of a sizable number of both Minnetonka and Edina skaters, Team Southwest should once again find itself as one of the more successful Elite League clubs. Division I commits dot the roster from top to bottom, headlined by Edina's Mason Nevers (27-40-67) and Jett Jungels (30-34-64). Jungels is committed to Northern Michigan and Nevers to Minnesota, while fellow forwards Teddy Lagerback (19-19-38) is committed to Arizona State and Chaska's Rhett Pitlick (21-29-50) is slated to skate for Minnesota. Former Northern Michigan commit Josh Luedtke (10-26-36) and Wisconsin commit Michael Vorlicky (2-14-16) team with Minnesota commit and Edina defenseman Jake Boltmann (2-14-16) to patrol the defensive zone for Team Southwest.