Best from 2008-2011 birth years meet in Boston
This weekend, 126 youth hockey teams are taking over Boston, Massachusetts.
Their reason for invading Beantown? The Eastern Exposure Cup.
Bringing together top teams from across the United States and Canada, the Eastern Exposure Cup offers a tremendous look at some of the younger birth-years as the hockey season really gets rolling in North America. The 2008 birth-year serves as the oldest group for the Eastern Exposure Cup – individual birth-years go all the way down to 2013.
Thirteen of those 126 teams appear on the World Hockey Hub’s rankings for the U.S. and/or Canada, and they are all spread out across the 2008-2011 birth-years to offer great insight into who’s moving up and who’s moving down in future rankings.
Those are the birth-years we’re watching in Massachusetts this weekend, and we’re confident there will be some great hockey on display.
In the 2008 birth-year, two top-five teams will be competing – the No. 3-ranked Windy City Storm and the No. 5-ranked Los Angeles Jr. Kings. It was quite a trip for the Jr. Kings, who carry an unbeaten streak dating all the way back to Sept. 5 into the tournament. Meanwhile, Windy City quickly gets tested by the Long Island Gulls and Ottawa Myers Automotive in Friday’s games alone.
With the likes of the Boston Jr. Eagles, Dallas Stars Elite, Buffalo Jr. Sabres, Ottawa 67’s and more, the ‘08s have a lot of teams to watch this weekend.
At the 2009 birth-year, there are three teams from the latest U.S. Top 10, and three teams from the latest Canadian Top 10 on the World Hockey Hub, which hopefully means plenty of cross-over action for comparison purposes. The No. 4 Windy City Storm, No. 7 New Jersey Rockets and No. 9 Boston Jr. Eagles represent the top American clubs, while the No. 1 Don Mills Flyers, No. 3 Sun County Panthers and No. 5 Toronto Marlboros represent the Canadian teams to beat.
That’s right – three of the top five Canadian teams in ’09 birth-year in one tournament – on the other side of the border. When you consider some of the other teams participating who could very well be in the Top 10 sometime this season – Mid-Fairfield, the Boston Jr. Eagles, the Boston Jr. Terriers, etc. – you can certainly expect some fireworks at the Eastern Exposure Cup.
The ‘09 Jr. Eagles and Marlboros kicked off tournament action last night, with the Jr. Eagles edging out a 3-2 victory in a thriller.
The 2010 birth-year features just one ranked team in the No. 7 Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. Like the other age groups, however, it’s deep in brand names like the North Jersey Avalanche, Seacoast Performance Academy, Team Illinois and New Jersey Rockets, so we’re still expecting stiff tests for the Flyers and great hockey action.
In the 2011 group, four American squads check in on the WHH rankings – No. 2 Mid-Fairfield, No. 3 Boston Jr. Terriers, No. 9 New Jersey Colonials and No. 10 Dallas Stars Elite. Mid-Fairfield gets quite a challenge with the Quinte Red Devils coming on from Canada for Game 1, the Philadelphia Hockey Club taking them on in Game 2 and the L.A. Jr. Kings showing up for Game 3.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Colonials and the Boston Jr. Terriers play in one of the first games on Friday. Top-10 showdown before most are done stopping by Dunkin’ for their first or second coffee.
Stay tuned for a wrap-up of the Eastern Exposure Cup, as we can’t wait to see how some of these cross-country battles play out.
