Tournament directors took to the stage on Tuesday afternoon to announce the return to action and safety procedures for the 62nd annual PeeWee Quebec. Part of the announcement was to confirm the tournament will take place from February 9 – 20, 2022, in an international format.
Soupir de soulagement pour des centaines de joueurs de hockey pee-wee qui pourront participer au tournoi de Québec du 9 au 20 février prochain au centre Vidéotron après l’annulation de 2021. L’édition 2022 ne sera toutefois pas un retour à la normale @tournoipeewee pic.twitter.com/uhQCpGxsph
— Stéphane Turcot (@StephTurcotTVA) September 14, 2021
This is big news in the youth hockey world, since COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the event — and many other international events — last season.
’’We have worked hard, very hard to make it happen quickly and to finally tell you that the Tournament will officially take place in February,” said tournament president Michel Plante. “There were several key issues to be resolved, several heart-breaking decisions had to be made and it has not been easy. The important thing is that we can finally go ahead and get everything going for the next edition. If you only knew how happy we are.”
A tournament of this magnitude amidst a global pandemic will of course require many adjustments and conditions to be respected, not just for the players but the spectators and volunteers as well.
”The most important thing for us is to keep everyone safe and that will be our priority,” said administrator Patrick Dom. “We prefer to be more than careful. The teams will come from all over the world, all the more reason not to take any risk.”
While the event is set to return, directors were the first to admit it will be far from normal circumstances. Only players born in 2009, or 2008s born in October, November, December, will be allowed to participate. All team members will be required to be vaccinated, including coaching staff and managers regardless of country of origin. Anyone 12 years of age or older will have to present a vaccination passport before entering the Videotron Center. The complete list of adjustments can be found HERE.
Most importantly, is the tournament organizers’ commitment to making the 2022 event happen, and receiving support from federal and local governments. Canada has been without youth hockey for more than a year, but announcements like this appear as if the powers that be are committed to delivering a full hockey season, and events, back the youth hockey community.
World Hockey Hub will have continued coverage of the PeeWee Quebec leading up to the event in February, as well as in-depth breakdowns of big matchups, top teams and performers from the tournament on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
The Sweden Hockey Trophy (SHT) returns to Scandinavia this month, after the region spent much of the 2020-21 season without youth hockey. Concerns around COVID-19 put the Sweden youth hockey season on pause last December, and strict government guidelines prohibited game action in the local ice rinks.
Only recently have restrictions begun to lift, permitting youth hockey players to return to the ice. The Swedish Ice Hockey Association’s 2021-22 season typically starts in September, and the Sweden Hockey Trophy tournament symbolizes a new chapter for many.
The month-long event features five different age groups competing over four separate weekends. The 2007s took to the ice first at Ishuset Arena, home of IFK Tumba. This Thursday, the 2008s will follow up the action with 16 teams at JM-Hallen in Bromma. Fourteen teams at the ‘09-age group will square off next weekend, and the ‘10s and ‘11s will close out the tournament September 23 – 26th.
Last weekend, Täby HC was crowned champions of the ‘07 AAA division, while Wings HC took the AA division. A 4-1 record in pool play put Täby into the top seed of the six-team playoffs, earning a first-round bye and a spot in the Final Four. There, they faced off against HC Hvezda Prague, as Isac Nilsson, Melvin Novotny and Romeo Edvarsen Sӧrensen combined to score six goals in Täby’s 9-2 semifinal victory.
The championship pitted the No. 1 team in Pool A against the No. 1 team in Pool B, as Nacka stepped up to challenge Täby for the title. The matchup featured the top three scorers in the tournament with Novotny (23), Ruben Westerling (15) and Matiss Zilitis (14). Midway through the second half of the game, Zilitis scored to tie it up for Nacka at 2-2. In the final moments of the contest though, Marcus Nordmark would score the game-winning goal with 1:50 left in regulation to give Täby the 3-2 win and the SHT championship.
Sweden Hockey Trophy features some of the best youth hockey teams in the country. In total, 83 of the top Swedish youth hockey teams will compete for the SHT championship this month. Also worth noting are the nine international teams expected to be in attendance. Previously mentioned HC Hvezda Prague is a top program from the Czech Republic, and was the only non-Sweden based team in the ‘07 Division. Ukraine’s Sokol Kiev will compete in the ‘09 Division next weekend. The ‘08 Division — set to begin on Thursday — is the most diverse field of the tournament with 16 teams from seven different countries. In addition to the nine Sweden programs, Bartulus Hockey Club (Latvia), Barys (Kazakhstan), HC Hvezda Prague (Czech Republic), RUSS Moscow (Russia), two teams from Tappara (Finland) and Seacoast Spartans (United States).
Participating in international tournaments like SHT is becoming a bit more commonplace than before in youth hockey. Programs like the Czech Knights and Slovakia Stars had traveled abroad for historic events like Pee-Wee Quebec, and CSKA Moscow has made similar trips to the U.S. for iconic tournaments like the Motown Classic. North American winter teams have rarely returned the favor to travel across the Atlantic. However, with programs like Seacoast paving the way to compete at SHT, it could become a more common practice amongst top teams in the States.
Programs can spend thousands of dollars per person to partake in some of the cross-country road trips to elite showcases and popular tournaments. The cost for an East Coast team to shoot across the Atlantic can at the very least be comparable, if not cheaper than domestic travel to destinations like Nashville, Florida, Denver or the West Coast. Flights and hotels and food for a 17-man team, coaches and family members can add up quickly, only to spend the weekend in another run-of-the-mill hockey town. That same typical trip could be turned into an international experience filled with culture and competition against top European programs in exotic European cities.
The SHT continues on Thursday and throughout the rest of the month. World Hockey Hub will have exclusive coverage of the tournament on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to like and follow for more updates.
Interested in challenging your team against international competition? The team at World Hockey Group can help set you up with a destination, comparable opponents and an experience of a lifetime. Connect with a team member HERE.
EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — World Hockey Group (WHG) and Total Package Hockey (TPH), in partnership with the Panthers IceDen, are proud to announce a ‘first-of-its-kind’ youth hockey tournament, the 2022 Champions League. This invitation-only event is the first and only youth hockey event to have international teams face off to decide one World Champion. Featuring 2008-born winter club teams from the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Russia, the Champions League will be hosted at the Panthers IceDen, from Dec. 28, 2021 – Jan. 2, 2022.
“The idea of the Champions League is something that’s been on my mind for a long time,” said WHG’s Chief Executive Officer, Travis Bezio. “With the resources that we have in various countries around the globe, as well as working alongside TPH and its team, we were able to bring this vision to life.”
Similar to the Little League World Series in youth baseball, the Champions League will feature the absolute best youth hockey teams, from various countries, in a six-day spectacle set to take place in Coral Springs, Florida. Participating teams will be divided into groups for pool play. Groups will be composed of teams from various countries so that pool play provides unique, unparalleled international competition. After completing five preliminary-round games, teams will qualify for either the championship rounds or consolation rounds, based on in-pool standings. In the championship rounds, teams will compete in an elimination-style playoff, where the World Hockey Group and Total Package Hockey will award youth hockey’s first ever world champion.
“We couldn’t be happier to be a part of this world-class event,” said TPH’s Chief Executive Officer, Nathan Bowen. “At TPH, we strive to be the world leader in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes, and hosting the Champions League with World Hockey Group creates an opportunity to make a real impression on hockey families across the global hockey landscape.”
The state-of-the-art Panthers IceDen, the practice facility for the NHL’s Florida Panthers in Coral Springs, Florida, will be home to the Champions League this holiday season.
“We’re thrilled to host the first-ever 2022 Champions League Youth Tournament at Panthers IceDen,” said Panthers IceDen General Manager Keith Fine. “Our Coral Springs-based athletes and the South Florida community will have the opportunity to watch elite youth hockey talent compete from all over the world for this special weekend tournament.”
The Champions League runs parallel to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) under-20 world championships. With both events running simultaneously, the hockey world will now get to experience top-notch international competition at the amateur and youth levels at the same time.
“There’s nothing like this anywhere in youth hockey,” said Bezio. “There are many opportunities in the spring and summer to compete in international tournaments, but when it comes to in-season, winter club competition featuring Swedish versus American teams, Canadian versus Russian teams, Czech against Finnish teams, those matchups are extremely rare. The Champions League is designed to bring the top teams from around the world together for a week of the most competitive hockey you’ll find at the youth level.”
Currently, 16 teams have formally accepted invitations to the inaugural event, and any interested teams are welcome to apply at worldhockeyhub.com/champions-league.
The list of currently accepted teams are:
| Ak Bars (Russia) | Los Angeles Jr. Kings (United States) |
| CSKA Moscow (Russia) | Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (United States) |
| Czech Knights (Czech Republic) | SDE Hockey (Sweden) |
| Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) | Seacoast Performance Academy (United States) |
| Dynamo Moscow (Russia) | SKA Yunost (Russia) |
| HoneyBaked (United States) | Tappara (Finland) |
| Kiekko-Espoo (Finland) | Toronto Jr. Canadiens (Canada) |
| Little Caesars (United States) | Windy City (United States) |
For more information and the latest news regarding the Champions League, click HERE or follow WHH on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
About World Hockey Group: The worldwide leader in youth hockey tournaments and events. World Hockey Group (WHG) provides more than two dozen unique events in exotic locations around the globe. The team at WHG is deeply involved in the youth hockey community, with an international presence in various countries including the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Russia and central Europe. WHG prides itself on providing world-class competition along with a first-class travel experience. Events like the Champions League and World Selects tournament series offer amazing opportunities abroad both on and off the ice for the entire family to enjoy.
About World Hockey Hub: The Pulse of Youth Hockey. World Hockey Hub (WHH) is your number one resource for the latest news, team rankings, highlights, analysis and more from the world of youth hockey. WHH is the worldwide leader in providing global coverage of the game year-round. With an international rankings system, a comprehensive list of more than 100 tournaments, event ratings and reviews as well as the latest team and prospect news, WHH is your one-stop-shop for everything youth hockey related.
About Total Package Hockey: Founded in 2001, it is Total Package Hockey’s (TPH) vision to become the world leader in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes through sport. TPH prides itself on operating at a standard that exceeds expectations of student-athletes, families, coaches, teachers, advisors and all other entities within both athletic and academic circles. With platforms that include association management, elite prospects programs, tournaments and showcases, camps and clinics and its hallmark Center of Excellence academy model, TPH services over 10,000 student-athletes on an annual basis, throughout 15 U.S. based divisions.
About Panthers IceDen: The Florida Panthers IceDen is a community facility that hosts over 1 million annual guests in the tri-county area. Located in Coral Springs, Fla. the 125,000-square-foot facility is the official practice facility of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers IceDen is home to the Coral Springs Makos, Youth Hockey Leagues, Learn To Skate, Learn To Play as well as figure skating lessons, making it the perfect location to serve families in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties. For more information on Panthers IceDen and its offerings, please visit PanthersIceDen.com or follow @PanthersIceDen on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The Mini-Chowder Cup concluded on Sunday, crowning champions at the 2007- and 2008-birth years. This New England-based event is one of the highlights of summer hockey on the East Coast, with a series of tournaments for several age groups including the Mini (‘07 and ‘08), the Junior (‘05 and ‘06) and the classic, Senior Chowder Cup (‘01, ‘02, ‘03 and ‘04).
Sixty-six teams took the ice in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on Friday. Boston Hockey Club won the 2008 Division and NorthStar Elite took the 2007 Division. Following its conclusion, tournament directors acknowledged some of the standouts from the weekend with its All-Tournament Teams.
After scoring six goals in the first four games of the tournament, Wiitala tacked on three more tallies in the playoffs for a total of 12 points in seven games. He saved his biggest performance for the biggest game of the weekend, scoring two goals and two assists, including the game-winner in NorthStar’s 5-4 overtime victory against Coaches’ Choice.
One of the more steady players throughout the tournament for Boston Hockey Club, Puglisi compiled one goal and six points through the first four games. He added three more points in the playoffs, as BHC rolled to a championship on Sunday courtesy of one of the largest goal differentials in the entire tournament at plus-41.
The Chowder Cup series continues on July 22nd, with the College and Junior-A Divisions taking center stage. Top prospects and teams are expected to be on-hand and World Hockey Hub will be on top of the action at the Senior-Chowder Cup. Be sure to connect with us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for the latest content!
It’s supposed to be Canada’s game. For the better part of a fiscal year, though, it was one thing Canadians were restricted from partaking in. Whether it was at ice arenas, local rinks, frozen ponds or ODR’s in the backyard. It didn’t matter if they were high-ranking junior leagues, youth leagues or city rec leagues. The COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on the game of hockey nationwide, in an unprecedented way.
After nearly 16 months without hockey — among many, many other things — Canada has slowly begun to return to normalcy, as rinks begin to open fully and players get back on the ice.
It was a year where two of the country’s premier youth events were canceled, with the PeeWee Quebec in February and The Brick earlier this month in Edmonton. So when the puck dropped at the Montreal Meltdown, the 29-year-old event was a symbolic beam of hope for hundreds of hockey families.
“Amazing,” said tournament founder Dave Harroch. “People just want to play hockey. We don’t care, we just want our kids to play hockey. It feels like we’re normal again.”
Started in 1993 with just 11 teams, the Meltdown has swelled to more than 300 boys and girls teams across 11 age groups in a typical year. While Canadians have gotten the go-ahead to return to hockey, travel restrictions and closed borders still limit the 2021 event in some capacity. No American teams were admitted, and a field that usually consists of participants from countries around the world were limited to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
That’s okay to Harroch and the current field of teams; they’re just happy to be back on the ice.
“Up ‘til last week, we were limited to 25 fans per game,” he said. “As of this past Monday, we’re up to 50. We’re lucky enough to have LiveBarn in the venues to provide streaming for parents and people who couldn’t get in as well.”
The country, like the rest of the world, is not completely in the clear. Precautions are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, and any remaining restrictions will continue to be levied slowly. Harroch and his team have followed any and all protocols throughout the process in an effort to deliver high-quality and safe events to participants.
July 2nd marked the official start of the Montreal Meltdown, with five Girls’ Divisions competing on opening weekend. Over the next four weekends, more than 400 games will take place, before closing out festivities on August 2nd at the Pierrefonds Sportsplex.
The month-long tournament will see hundreds of teams and families finally able to satisfy their hunger for hockey. What’s the expression? ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ After nearly a year-and-a-half hiatus, Canadians can be summed up in three words.
“We’re just happy,” said Harroch.
Want more from the world of youth hockey? Be sure to connect with us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for the latest news, features and more!
Patrik Laine. Mikko Rantanen. Rasmus Dahlin.
Miro Heiskanen. Andrei Svechnikov. Sebastian Aho.
Radek Faksa. Martin Necas. Pavel Zacha.
Ever wonder what a future NHL player looked like at 13-years-old? Some of the biggest names and rising stars in professional hockey share one thing in common stemming from their youth days. More than 500 draft picks have come through an illustrious global youth hockey tournament series called the World Selects Trophy (previously known as the World Selects Invitational).
It began nearly 17 years ago.
That’s when Sergei Zak, a native of Saint-Petersburg, Russia, who lived in Iceland at that time, and Travis Bezio, a lifelong New Englander from the United States, first crossed paths. They were just two spokes in the wheel of what would roll on to create the world’s most prestigious youth hockey tournament.
Zak was in his third year working for the Icelandic Ice Hockey Federation and Bjorninn Hockey Club. Bezio was part of a group based out of the United States that identified the top youth hockey players in North America, and challenged them to compete against other top players from around the globe.
“He mentioned that they were [building] teams to go over to Sweden and Finland for a couple tournaments in the spring and invited me to come along as coach,” Zak said of his early interactions with Bezio.
From there, an annual event spawned, where the top teams and players from the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Russia began commingling in exotic destinations throughout Europe in cities like Stockholm, Moscow, Prague, Riga, Bolzano and Chamonix among others.
It began in 2007, and now the World Selects Trophy has become a traditional breeding ground for the top players in youth hockey; a place where scouts come to get their first look at the next wave of talent coming down the pipeline. The tournament series expanded from one event for a single birth year, to now 10 different events at two different competition levels for 12U, 13U, 14U and 15U for boys, and U15, U16 and U19 for girls.
This spring, the 2009-birth year will be the youngest age group for boys, taking place in Bolzano Italy. The 2008-birth year will also take place in Bolzano on the following weekend while the 2007s square off in Chamonix, France. The oldest age group, the 2006s, will compete in Nashville, Tennessee in front of major junior, college and professional scouts.
It is the perfect combination of elite-level hockey and first-class travel. No other youth hockey tournament in history has provided a more diverse representation of styles, strategies and skills from its participants. North Americans are big and strong. Scandinavians are skilled and efficient skaters. Russians function with such great teamwork and playmaking.
So many top players and teams have navigated through the tournament over the past decade, that the World Selects Trophy serves as the defacto World Cup for teenagers. NHL Central Scouting named 388 players to its early watch list for the 2021 entry draft next summer. Nearly half had competed in a WST between the 2014 and 2018 events.
“We have had some amazing teams participate over the years,” said Zak. “The ‘03 RUSS team won two events in a row in Helsinki and Chamonix, and then lost in overtime at the 15U North America tournament. Sweden Selects 2000s were another team that proved to be loaded with NHL talent.”
Fourteen players off that ‘03 RUSS squad were named to the NHL’s watch list last month, including Nikita Chibrikov, Ilya Ivantsov and Matvei Petrov. The 2000-born Sweden Selects roster had seven future draft picks, three of which went in the first round, including 2018 first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin.
Shane Wright. Connor Bedard. Ivan Miroshnichenko. Rutger McGroarty.
Don’t recognize the names yet? You will.
Wright was the 2020 CHL Rookie of the Year. Bedard became the first player in WHL history to be granted exceptional status for early entry into the league. Miroshnichenko is one of the top prospects rising out of Russia. McGroarty currently leads the U.S. National Team Development Program U-17 squad in scoring. All of them fresh off of World Selects Trophy tournaments in 2017, 2018 and 2019. All of them highly-touted prospects by NHL scouts.
“I enjoy seeing the boys compete at a high level and develop a very competitive atmosphere,” said Zak. “We are very proud when these boys reach their goals in life and that our event could help them to reach those goals. That might not always be hockey, but being disciplined, being respectful to others. That is what the World Selects Trophy is all about. It helps develop them into young men and positively impacts people around the world.”
For more information on the World Selects Trophy and how you can apply for an upcoming event, click HERE.
More than 250 teams are set to converge on metro Detroit for the 2020 CCM World Invite Motown, with tons of top-tier talent and big-time matchups. There are plenty of primetime matchups between Top-10 teams scheduled during the first two days of the tournament, and we’ve spotlighted the four biggest ones. Preview this weekend’s games and get our picks for who wins in Detroit.
The ’09s headline the biggest matchups of the tournament, beginning with No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite versus No. 7 Chicago Young Americans. CYA took the first meeting 3-1 few weeks back, but I think PPE gets some redemption here, with a power-play goal or two and this feels like a 4-2 final to me in favor of Pittsburgh.
Another big matchup in that division is No. 3 Highland Park against No. 5 Little Caesars on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
This is another rematch here, H.P. outscored Caesars 6-4 back in September and I think it’s going to be high scoring again. I don’t know that the Falcons can beat Caesars a second time though, so we’ll take the hometown team to even the season series.
One more ’09 matchup, this one on Saturday morning between No. 8 Jr. Flyers and last year’s No. 5 Chicago Mission. Two relative unknowns so far in 2020; Mission hasn’t seen much action at all and the Jr. Flyers haven’t faced real tough competition yet. We’ll roll the dice a bit with Chicago 4-1 in this one.
The 2007 Division has a monster matchup between top-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and No. 5 Little Caesars on Saturday morning. These two teams played a three-game series at the beginning of this month in Ohio, where PPE scored a total of 18 goals in those contests. I think Caesars keeps it closer, but the Pens are just too much at the end of the day. I’ll take Pittsburgh 5-2 over LC.
In addition to that, we’ve got predictions for Sunday and who wins the championship across all nine elite divisions:
2011: HoneyBaked
2010: Chicago Mission
2009: Little Caesars
2008: Chicago Fury
2007: Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
2006: Compuware
2005: Little Caesars
2004: Chicago Mission
02-03: Belle Tire
Who do you got? Make your picks and tell us who’s gonna win on Twitter.