It’s really the perfect storm. A combination of elite-level youth hockey players, legendary programs that are deep-rooted in the community with passionate fans and student bodies. It’s the mecca of hockey in the United States; where the sport just means more than it does anywhere else. It’s dubbed “The State of Hockey” for good reason.
The Minnesota high school state playoffs are set to begin on Tuesday, with eight teams at the Class-AA level and eight teams at the Class-A level. All games taking place at the 20,554-seat Xcel Energy Center where the Minnesota Wild play their home games. In a typical season, this venue would be packed to the brim — yes sold out — for a week of some of the best local youth hockey on the planet.
Nearly 50 current NHL players call Minnesota home; that’s more representation in the league than every other country in the world with the exception of Canada, Sweden and of course, the U.S. as a whole. It’s no surprise that this hockey hotbed is also home to one of the best events in all of youth sports.
Teams are divided into two groups based on student enrollment at the schools they represent, with the largest schools making up the AA Division and the smaller schools occupying the A Division. In order to qualify for the state tournament, a team must first win its district tournament, which is a bracket of 8-to-12 teams in a localized region of the state.
Brackets are set, matchups are made and the Class-A tournament will take the stage on Tuesday, with Class-AA opening up on Wednesday.
In Class-A, top-seeded Hermantown looks to return to the title game after finishing as runner-up in the 2020 tournament. The Hawks are 19-1-0 this season and have won five in a row. Standout ‘04 sophomore Zam Plante leads the way for Hermantown with 28 goals and 58 points in 19 games. On the other half of the Class-A bracket is undefeated Gentry Academy with a 16-0-0 record. An impressive 13 players average a point per game for the Galaxy’s high-powered offense. The Academy has scored six-or-more goals in all 16 of its games this season. Are these two teams on a crash course to meet in the final on Saturday?
The puck will drop for the Class-AA tournament on Wednesday, in what will certainly be a competitive clash of powerhouses. Five of the eight teams in the field have won 18-or-more games this season, including both teams in the 4-v-5 matchup between Andover and Maple Grove. Top-seeded Eden Prairie has made it to the championship game three times in the last five tournaments, but is still in search of the Eagles’ first state title since 2011. With four NCAA Division-I college commits on its roster, No. 1 Eden Prairie is the likely favorite in the field, but will be challenged at every step of the tournament. Defending 2020 champion Hill-Murray and its 18-2-0 record could pose a threat as the No. 2 seed, as well as No. 3 Lakeville South, looking to make a run at an undefeated season.
It will be a star-studded event in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the high school state tournament. Text us at 603-541-7772 to make your predictions for who wins the championship in the State of Hockey.
Last week, Total Package Hockey (TPH) announced its newest partnership with the Florida Panthers to bring the Center of Excellence (CoE) academy model to aspiring elite hockey players in southeast Florida for the 2021-22 season. This combination of training and academics will be the 15th of its kind from TPH, where the model allows student-athletes to receive a completely individualized, customized, NCAA-accredited education, sport-specific training and mentorship, while still participating for their youth or club organizations.
“We are beyond grateful to Keith Fine and the Panthers organization for trusting us to house a Center of Excellence in their facility,” said TPH CEO Nathan Bowen. “ We are thrilled to grow our Florida footprint and feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to play a role in developing driven, goal-oriented student-athletes who are looking for a flexible, individually-tailored academic learning option that allows them to pursue their sport, school, and life goals all at once, without having to worry about fitting into a traditional school structure.”
While training hockey players has always been at the core of TPH, the main focus has been strengthening its academic resources. Delivered in partnership with Edmentum, the Center of Excellence education model is created in a blended learning environment that combines online curriculum and online learning with on-site infrastructure and academic support.
Coursework can be completed on-demand, with 24/7, fully accessible NCAA courseware and full-time instructors who are dedicated to the student-athletes across all Centers of Excellence. CoE attendees have access to their instructors as well as a virtual tutoring service, in the event academic assistance is needed after-hours or right on the spot during the CoE school day. A full-time academic leader will be on-site daily and will ensure that all student-athletes are held accountable, are studying in a positive learning environment and are receiving an experience that is tailored to when, where and how the individual learns best.
What are your thoughts on TPH and its combination of online learning with on-ice training with its Center of Excellence? Text us at 603-541-7772 to talk about it!
On Tuesday, Neutral Zone — widely known for its prospect analysis and player rankings — announced the launch of a new initiative; the Neutral Zone Fall Hockey League (NZFHL).
The announcement comes on the heels of its first ever Pandemic Hockey League (PHL), which was launched this winter in the wake of many New England prep and high school programs cancelling their 2020-21 seasons due to COVID-19 concerns. The unveiling of the NZFHL comes in an effort to continue providing a platform for players in the region.
“We have received so much interest from coaches, scouts, players and parents about doing something like the ‘PHL’ during the fall season,” said President Steve Wilk. “We spent the past month talking it over with college coaches, pro/junior scouts and the prep school coaches to figure out the best way forward.”
Similar to the PHL, players will submit a registration to the league and a panel of professional scouts and coaches will select the top 90 players to be split over 5 teams. The league will have practices on Saturday evenings in each region (CT, NH, MA) and 2 games on Sundays in a central location. Lunch in between games will be provided for by Neutral Zone.
Neutral Zone Director of US Scouting Brian Murphy believes that one major issue for 14U, 15U and 16U aged players have a difficult time adjusting to the speed of prep and varsity hockey. The implementation of the NZFHL sets out to acclimate those players to compete against older, faster, stronger competition.
“A fifteen-year-old playing against fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds is playing a pace that is far slower than prep, against players weaker than the ones they’ll see in prep and are learning habits that they likely won’t get away in prep,” said Murphy.
The NZFHL will run for nine weeks from September to November, including 10 practices and 18 games. There will be a boys’ and girls’ league, each with five teams per league and 18 players per team. Total cost for participating is listed at $750 per player.
“Our main focus with this league is to provide top players with a great opportunity to develop their skills, gain exposure to college, junior and professional scouts and prepare for their upcoming season,” said Murphy.
Will you be competing in the NZFHL next fall? Text WHH at 603-541-7772 for the latest news, rankings, events and updates from the world of youth hockey!
Advanced metrics are everywhere. Science and sport continue to cross over at an exponential rate. Everyone looks for an edge on how to develop better and faster than the next. Digital equipment measuring a player’s speed, power, quickness and efficiency. Video analysis of a goalie’s angles and player’s shifts. An iPad has become as pivotal of a piece of equipment in the hockey bag as skates and gloves.
Corsi. Zone starts. Rebounds per save. Hudl. InStat. Athlete Manager. Sport Gate. ICEBERG.
From complex stats and metrics, to integrated tools designed to aid coaches and players, it is quite evident we are in the midst of a technology boom regarding the game of hockey.
The impact is felt the most at the professional level, as the NHL enters its sixth season partnered with SAP, capturing data points, new statistics and analysis, delivering results in real-time. Fueled by multi-million dollar infrastructure hard-wired throughout the league’s arenas and supported by billion-dollar tech companies. It’s hard to imagine how this same level of analysis could be delivered to the masses at the youth levels for a fraction of the cost.
Or is it?
Helios Hockey CEO and Founder Bill Near is in the midst of developing smart products to do just that — real-time analysis and actionable insights into a player’s performance. Helios’ first product, the HeliosTM Core, is a wearable sensor that mounts on shoulder pads and uses AI to track skating performance. Controlled directly from your smartphone and ready to use right out of the box, players and teams can take to the ice with the HeliosTM Core.
“This is a path to bring technologies to every player and give feedback without needing the massive infrastructure,” said Near. “This is really a tool that every player can lean into.”
Intelligent enough to sense the difference between a player’s left and right stride, while also evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of said stride. Helios tracks and benchmarks speed, explosiveness, balance and much more all from a sensor the size of a sticky note.
Currently in beta testing, Helios — based out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire — has spent the 2020-21 season working closely with nearby program Seacoast Performance Academy and its 14U, 15U and 16U teams. Players receive individual feedback as well as how their metrics compare to the team average. Coaches gain valuable data in terms of performance to improve team assessments.
“Tech is never meant to replace the expertise of a coach,” said Near. “It just adds a layer of information so that the player and coach can adjust to get better, faster.”
Goalie coaches. Skills coaches. Skating coaches. Shooting coaches. Hell, there’s even mental coaches growing in popularity amongst players.
[Here is where the old hats in the room react with ‘back in my day…’ as they shoe the neighbor kids off their front lawn.]
‘Back in the day’ seven-footers couldn’t hit three pointers, there wasn’t a pitcher in the Majors who could throw 100 miles-per-hour and 250-pound linebackers weren’t running 4.4 forty-yard dash times.
Times have changed. Athletes looking for an edge and finding ways to improve their game in specific areas is not a bad thing. It’s just different. No amount of technology can replace the relationship between player and coach. It can, however, improve the focus of workouts, drills and skill development to maximize output from our daily regimen.
“This becomes the data-validating piece that sits upon individual training and skill development; A digital record of all your skill, training load and capabilities,” said Near.
Backed by NHL influences like Seattle Kraken General Manager Ron Francis, long-time professional scout Dave Hunter and 14-year veteran Bryce Salvador, Helios is at the forefront of on-ice player tracking for individual training and widespread use.
Tech tools in sports have erupted in popularity over the past decade and similar resources are sure to pop up as well. It’s been a slow trickle, but the hockey community has certainly started to shift from resistance to acceptance of such tools, analytics and tracking.
How do you utilize digital resources in your daily game? Text us at 603-541-7772 to share how you tech impacts your development.
USA Hockey accepted its first bids into the 2021 National tournament over the weekend. Three of the 12 districts — Mid-American, Rocky Mountains and Southeastern — hosted their regional playoffs to determine a champion and ultimately, a guaranteed spot at Nationals in April.
The Pittsburgh Penguins Elite organization made a clean sweep of the Mid-American District, earning a bid at the 2004, 2005 and 2006 age groups. The 16U squad has been the undisputed No. 1 team in our World Rankings for much of the 2020-21 season, and after securing a bid to Nationals, certainly has to be the odds-on favorite to win the ‘04 championship next month.
The ‘06 Pens knocked off the Cleveland Barons in overtime 6-5 on Sunday and the ‘05s shut out the Ohio Blue Jackets 4-0 to clinch their respective bids.
The Rocky Mountain District tournament was hosted in Arizona, with teams from Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Utah. The Colorado Thunderbirds are Nationals bound at the ‘04 and ‘06 birth years while Dallas Stars Elite earned a bid at the ‘05 level.
Colorado has been a Top-10 caliber 16U team for much of the season, with a 42-7-1 record. The ‘05 Stars Elite were featured in WHH’s first ever Game of the Week at the beginning of the season, and have gone 36-12-2 since then. And maybe one of the hotter teams to claim a bid this weekend, the ‘06 Thunderbirds have won 11 of their last 12 games, including the district final in overtime against the Arizona Bobcats.
In the Southeastern District, The Nashville Jr. Predators defeated Florida Alliance 3-2 in the 2004 final. Florida’s ‘05 team would be victorious, though, with a 5-2 win over Washington Little Caps. Team Maryland’s 3-0 shutout of Nashville would clinch their bid as well, as all three teams punch their ticket to Nationals at their respective age groups.
USA Hockey will host the National tournament at the 18U, 16U 15U and 14U age groups in April. The national tournament consists of 16 teams per age group, typically including 12 district champions, the host team and three at-large bids.
These nine teams across three age groups have secured their spots in the national tournaments, which are slated to begin on April 28 – May 3. The 14U and 15U age groups will take place in Dallas, Texas, while the 16U tournament will be in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Three other district champions will be decided in the Atlantic, Michigan and Pacific in early April.
The National Hockey League is composed of the best hockey players on the planet. There are nearly 800 athletes from 21 different countries competing in the 2021 season. The world of youth hockey is a reflection of the professional landscape, I mean after all, even Connor McDavid got his start playing Mite hockey somewhere.
Youth hockey is filled with top talent from a wide range of countries and regions across the globe, and the team at World Hockey Hub is watching closely. We are constantly looking to identify the biggest up-and-coming names in the sport. Want to catch your first glimpse of a soon-to-be household name? Watch U15 highlights of a future first-round draft pick? Check out a team with a fistful of future pros on the roster? WHH features the absolute best in youth hockey today.
Native region of Swiss defenseman Roman Josi and French forward Alexandre Texier, The Alps has quietly produced 17 players currently rostered in the NHL this season. It spans from eastern France through Switzerland and the northern part of Italy, and into Austria.
Not typically considered a hotbed, yet some of the best athletes in youth hockey regularly frequent the region for the most competitive international tournaments in existence. Chamonix, France, and Bolzano, Italy, have served as host cities of the U12, U13 and U14 World Selects Trophy (WST) tournament series for nearly a decade.
The team at WHH has identified some of the top players in the region at the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 age groups.
ALESSIO BEGLIERI: A goaltender out of Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, Beglieri currently plays U20-Elite in the Swiss League. He has represented Team Swiss on three different occasions, twice for the U16 team at World Juniors and the Youth Olympic Games as well as the U17 team at World Juniors.
TOMMASO De LUCA: He’s a 5-foot-11 forward out of Aosta, Italy, whose spent the last five seasons playing in Swiss leagues. In 33 games for Ambri-Piotta U20, De Luca has 12 goals and 23 points.
DAMIAN CLARA: A native of Brunico, Italy, Clara is a big goaltender who takes up a lot of net. At 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, he’s spent the 2020-21 season split between U18 RB Hockey Academy and U20 EC Salzburg in Austria.
TOMMASO MADASCHI: Currently playing for U17 Biel-Bienne Madaschi is a native of Torino, Italy. In his first full season of junior hockey, he has scored five goals and six points in 12 games.
COLIN LINDEMANN: The 15-year-old left-hander played a portion of the 2020-21 season in Sweden while skating for Leksands IF. Currently with Zug U17 in Switzerland, Lindemann has scored a total of seven goals and 11 points in 14 games this season.
WILLIAM RAIS: A 14-year-old currently playing junior hockey for ZSC U17s in the Elite League, Rais is one of the top young prospects in all of Switzerland.
JUAN-ESTEBAN BARRAUD: Also playing at the U17 level, Barraud has scored seven goals and nine points in 26 games this season. The lone defenseman on the list for his play-making ability and puck skills.
FLORIAN SCHENK: In his first season at the U15 level, Schenk scored 14 goals and 24 points in 26 games. He’s competed on an international level at both the 2019 WST and the Pee-Wee Quebec in ‘19 and ‘20. Schenk led his team in scoring in all three tournament appearances.
JEREMIAH MUNDY: He’s young at just 13-years-old, but Mundy is already 6-foot and competing at the U17-Elite level for Davos in Switzerland. He has plenty of intangibles to develop into a dominant forward.
JUSTIN ALLAIRE: A one-time teammate of both Schenk and Mundy at the 2019 U12 WST for Alps Selects, Allaire is a great contributor offensively. From Bern, Switzerland, he will certainly be one to keep in mind as this birth year climbs through the youth hockey ranks.
Think we missed a premiere player from the Alps Region? Connect with WHH and let us know! Fill out the form below to get prospects on our radar and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to see upcoming highlights from the world of youth hockey.
News began to break on social media regarding the Moscow Hockey Federation’s approval of 50 percent spectator attendance in arenas for games contests. Previously, hockey games both professional and amateur had been played in front of empty stadiums.
Parents and family members throughout the Moscow Region will certainly celebrate being able to return to the bleachers, watching their kids take the ice with a front row seat. Conversely, players will welcome an uptick in the atmosphere with cheering fans, noise makers and chants of support.
All people in attendance will continue to observe COVID-19 restrictions in terms of face masks and social distancing during these events.
How has your season been impacted or altered? Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for more from the world of youth hockey.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF) came out with guidelines for a return to play strategy last week. The Public Health Agency provided recommendations and general advice to allow individual games to resume, with the caveat that teams only play one game per week and stay local. The measures are meant to avoid potential risks of exposure and spreading of COVID-19.
The complete list of guidelines from the SIHF is as follows…
Youth hockey in Sweden has been on pause since November, but the recent guidelines allow for teams 2005-born and younger to return to the ice for competition.
How has your season been impacted or altered? Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for more from the world of youth hockey.
The hockey calendar turned over after the holidays and into the backstretch of the 2020-21 season. Many teams saw a fairly quiet month of January, with squads like No. 2 North Jersey Avalanche playing just three games and No. 5 Shattuck St. Mary’s idle completely.
It was a huge month for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, with a 5-1-1 run in January, earning them a bump in the standings from the fifth spot to the No. 1 overall ranking in the world among ‘04 teams.
Led by Penn State commit Matthew DiMarsico, that stretch includes a 3-1 win over No. 16 Fox Motors, a 1-1 stalemate with No. 8 HoneyBaked and two wins in a de facto best-of-three series with No. 6 New Jersey Rockets.
Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for the latest in youth hockey news. For more from the most recent World Rankings, or to nominate your team amongst the best on the planet, click HERE.
The third edition of our World Rankings were released on Monday, as World Hockey Hub’s search for the top teams in youth hockey continues into the 2021 calendar. Canada has yet to see winter season action, while Sweden and most of central Europe have been at a standstill since late November. Most states in the U.S. are allowing game competition to some extent, same goes for certain regions of Russia, as well as Finland.
The biggest movers in the January rankings were the Finns. The Land of a Thousand Islands made its impact felt across all three birth years, most significantly among the 2005-birth year.
Under-16 squad KalPa — previously unranked in the December rankings — propelled up the charts into the Top 5, settling in at No. 3 with a 12-0-0 record. Kärpät joined them as a previously unranked team to crack the Top 5, as a 9-3-0 record slotted them in the 5th spot. Three other unranked Finnish teams made the global Top 25 as well, including No. 18 Tappara, No. 23 Jokerit and No. 25 TPS.
Teams in Finland are not true 2004-birth year teams, as the youth hockey structure is designed for Under-18 teams combined of ‘03s and ‘04s on the same roster for the 2020-21 season. For that reason, WHH makes an exception to include these teams among other 2004-birth year teams around the world.
Previously ranked No. 17, Kärpät jumped into the fourth spot after going 8-2-0 in the month of January and putting together a 20-3-0 overall record. Ӓssät also benefited from a successful first month of 2021. Previously unranked, Ӓssät reached the No. 12 spot on Monday. Two other Finnish teams debuted this week on the 2004 Rankings, including No. 17 HIFK and No. 22 KalPa.
The 2006 Rankings also saw a Finnish team crack the Top 5, with unbeaten Kiekko-Espoo as the highest rated European team. KJT and KalPa both made their first appearances on the list as well, with KJT at No. 11 and KalPa at No. 23 overall.
Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube for the latest in youth hockey news. For more from the most recent World Rankings, or to nominate your team amongst the best on the planet, click HERE.