Now that the youth hockey season is firmly underway, we are taking a look at some of the teams that have been thriving to start their campaigns. Check out some of the hottest teams in the United States below.
The Shattuck-St. Mary’s 16U team, at 13-1-1 on the season, hasn’t lost a game since they dropped the opener of the Minnesota Blades Fall Showcase on Sept. 16 to a fired up host team. After picking up a 4-3 overtime win over the Windy City Storm the next day, and a 3-3 tie over Little Caesars on Sept. 18, it’s been all wins since for SSM, as they have outscored their opponents 96-36 this season. Most notably among those victories? Two thrashings of the Blades, as Shattuck recorded 9-1 and 9-0 wins in impressive revenge fashion on the first two days of October. This impressive run has propelled Shattuck into the No. 1 spot in our World Rankings.
One loss on Sept. 11, one loss on Oct. 10, but in between that…all wins for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, who are now 10-2-0. The Pens ripped off victories over the likes of the New Jersey Rockets, No. 12 Mount St. Charles and the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies leading up to the USHL Fall Classic on home ice. In that tournament, and then the following showcase they hosted, Pittsburgh has topped the Minnesota Blizzard, No. 23 Florida Alliance, No. 7 Little Caesars and No. 6 Chicago Mission before dropping a tight one 3-2 to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
You have to go all the way back to Sept. 12 to find the last time that Mount St. Charles lost a game. Since that time, they are 12-0, and in possession of the No. 1 rankings in both North America and the world on our World Rankings. They have posted wins over fellow top squads in No. 10 Little Caesars, Windy City Storm and the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers during this win streak. Prior to that, they had also recorded an impressive 7-3 win over No. 2 ranked Bishop Kearney Selects. Watch out for this Mount St. Charles team; they’re out-scoring the competition 110-36 this season.
Surely itching for another shot at Mount St. Charles, Bishop Kearney has been on a roll since its September defeat at the hands of the Mounties as well. Since that aforementioned loss, they have won 15 games, and only dropped a pair — a 5-4 battle with the Minnesota Blue Ox and a 4-3 overtime loss to HoneyBaked. They’re on a tear, having only allowed two goals the entire month of October. In that same time frame, the Selects have scored 26, and recorded five wins in the process (with one 1-1 tie to the Cape Cod Whalers, too).
The Shattuck-St. Mary’s 15U boys are currently in the midst of beating up on in-state competition. After kicking off their winning streak with a 14-3 win over Florida Alliance, the Sabres have now played the Minnesota Walleye, the Minnesota Loons, the Minnesota Lakers, the Minnesota Blizzard, the Minnesota Green Giants and the Minnesota Blue Ox, and they’ve won every single one of the contests. The Blizzard played Shattuck to a 3-2 final, but other than that, it’s been dominating performances with at least six goals being put up on the scoreboard by SSM each time.
Well, the Shattuck-St. Mary’s 14U team hasn’t lost a game yet, so it’s been quite a streak. The SSM boys are 17-0 on the 2021-22 season, and they have outscored their opponents 135-22 in the process. Shattuck started the season with a 14-0 victory over the Minnesota Voyageurs, and they have never looked back, having posted double-digital goal totals four more times since. We most recently had them at No. 2 in the rankings, but at the way they’re going, could they claim the top spot soon?
Keeping pace with the SSM boys mentioned above, the Chicago Mission ‘07s – currently ranked No. 1 in our World Rankings – have only dropped one game on the season. They have built a 14-1 record thus far, thanks to impressive wins over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres (8-0), the Windy City Storm (11-2) and HoneyBaked (9-0).
It sure will be fun to see how the 14U age group plays out at the end, because the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite ‘07s are right there with Shattuck and Mission. The Pens hold a 16-1 record on the season; their lone loss came to Mission in the first week of September. The USHL Fall Classic champions haven’t lost a game since, and they have a 84-25 goal differential on their opponents this season.
There is one undefeated team still standing in the ’08 age group, and it’s No. 21 Long Island Gulls. The Long Island squad is 15-0 this year, and they’re doing it with dominating defensive play to go along with some timely scoring. They have only given up three goals twice this season, and other than that, if you’re holding teams to zero, one or two goals in a youth contest every game, you’re going to have a lot of success. They have only allowed 17 goals in their 15 games, while the Gulls have found the back of the net 72 times at the other end of the ice.
While the Gulls may be the only undefeated team in the country, No. 8 Little Caesars is undefeated in regulation play. The LC ‘08s have two ties to their name — a 2-2 battle with No. 14 Chicago Mission on Sept. 3 and another 2-2 finish with the Middlesex Islanders the next day — but other than that, they have eight wins on the season.
The Windy City Storm are climbing up the rankings; they currently sit No. 12 in our World Rankings. Why? Well they’ve already got 20 wins on the season. With a 20-3-2 record, they’re turning heads, especially with wins over the likes of No. 14 Chicago Mission, HoneyBaked and No. 2 LA Jr. Kings (they also tied them once).
The No. 4 New Jersey Hockey Academy has turned in a nearly flawless start to the 2021-22 campaign, as they currently display a 14-1-1 record. Outside of a loss to a talented No. 19 Anaheim Jr. Ducks squad on Sept. 11 and a tie to the Boston Jr. Eagles on Oct. 9, they have been perfect on the season, and have a 71-23 goal differential.
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The CCM World Invite Motown is coming to Metro Detroit this week, and it’s bringing hundreds of hockey teams from across the country to Michigan along with it.
The annual tournament — this year featuring a whopping 306 teams across 10 age groups — has been a staple in the youth hockey calendar for top teams in North America for more than a dozen years.
With COVID-19 still restricting international travel, it will be limited to teams from only the U.S., meaning we will still have to wait to see how some of the squads stack up with their Canadian counterparts.
Each age group is split into two or three divisions, all named after CCM’s equipment lineups. The Super Tacks divisions will feature top AAA teams from across the country, while the Ribcor and Jetspeed divisions will feature talented A/AA teams with a few AAA squads mixed in.
We’ve focused our attention on the Super Tacks pools, breaking down the teams participating and providing our picks for who we think will come out on top by Championship Sunday. Here we go.
18U Super Tacks
There are eight teams participating in the 18U Super Tacks division, which means plenty of opportunities for the players competing to catch the eye of scouts in attendance. From the looks of it, three Pennsylvania teams — the Mt. Lebanon Hornets, the Pittsburgh Vengeance and the Pittsburgh Predators — will be squaring off with a team of Michigan high school all-star teams in Michigan Hockey Advancement and the Michigan Development Hockey League. We like the in-state programs here, as Michigan’s high school hockey scene brings in top players at the oldest age groups, and they’re hungry to make impressions before the winter season kicks off with their respective high schools.
Predicted winner: Michigan Hockey Advancement 18U
16U Super Tacks
The 16U field seems to be a real toss-up, as there aren’t any teams who have made a lot of noise in earlier fall tournaments. Much like the 18U group, the two Michigan high school collections will have a say in who emerges victorious, but fellow Michigan squads from Belle Tire and Fox Motors will be forces as well. Two teams that are traveling the farthest for the tournament will be ones to watch, too; the Anaheim Jr. Ice Dogs and Team Alaska don’t want to make the trek for nothing. We think Fox Motors, fresh off celebrating a college commitment to Lake Superior State for forward Hunter Ramos, will claim bragging rights.
Predicted winner: Fox Motors
15O Super Tacks
HoneyBaked leads the field in the 15O age group. One name to keep an eye on is defenseman Dakoda Rheaume-Mullin, the son of Manon Rheaume. Dakoda and the HB boys will be challenged by in-state foes in the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies and Belle Tire, as well as the Pittsburgh Vengeance. A unique twist for this age group is that the 12 participating squads will be getting an early taste of what their USA Hockey nationals could be like in the spring, as some of the games will be played at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, which is hosting that age group’s Tier 1 championship in April.
Predicted winner: HoneyBaked
14U Super Tacks
Things really heat up when you get to the 14U age bracket for the CCM Motown. At the 2007 birth-year level, Little Caesars leads the field as the No. 4-ranked team in the U.S., with a fistful of other top American teams Compuware, Victory Honda, Fox Motors, Carshield Hockey Club and Florida Alliance. The Caesars club has a 9-2-1 record on the season, and they’ll be looking to add to it.
Predicted winner: Little Caesars
13U Super Tacks
A 16-team field fills the 2008 division, including No. 8-ranked Little Caesars, No. 20-ranked St. Louis Jr. Blues, Buffalo Jr. Sabres and HoneyBaked. Caesars checks in at 8-0-2 on the season, but we like the 14-5-1 record the Jr. Blues have thus far. They have logged a lot of games, and that early experience is going to pay off in their visit to Hockeytown this weekend.
Predicted winner: St. Louis Jr. Blues
12U Super Tacks
A deep 2009 group will take over three rinks for the 12U Super Tacks division, and there’s a lot of budding starpower. We’ve got No. 19 Anaheim Jr. Ducks, and they’re joined by No. 20 Chicago Reapers, as well as Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and Little Caesars. All in all, the 12U tournament is going to be fun to watch play out.
Predicted winner: Anaheim Jr. Ducks
11U Super Tacks
The 2010 class is headlined by No. 5-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and No. 11-ranked Chicago Fury, with plenty of pressure coming from the NEW Jr. Gamblers, the Chicago Reapers and Little Caesars. The little Pens hold a 10-2-1 record and could add to those totals substantially this weekend.
Predicted winner: Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
World Hockey Hub will have continued coverage of the CCM Motown, including recaps and analysis of this weekend’s games. Like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TwitterTikTok and YouTube for the latest news from the world of youth hockey.
The impacts of COVID-19 have brought changes and new ideas to almost all aspects of life.
Why would hockey be any different?
In hockey-crazed Canada, leaders of the youth hockey community have identified the need for change. At the “birthplace of hockey” as Canada is affectionately known, it is time to make the sport more welcoming and accessible to the changing demographics and lifestyles within the country.
The Future of Hockey Lab — first opening in Nova Scotia — will be actively pursuing the aforementioned needs, as its founders strive to find new ways to grow the game outside of its traditional audience.
Spanning across the top of the program’s new website upon each visit: ‘The Future of Hockey Lab enables the creation, experimentation and testing of game-changing ideas and innovations to make the sport of hockey more accessible for all who wish to participate.’
A five-point list outlines its mission just below the mission statement. Those are:
The Future of Hockey Lab was co-founded by Hockey Nova Scotia executive director Amy Walsh and Carolyn Townsend, previously with Sport Nova Scotia.
“We know the sport of hockey is truly loved by many, but it’s really only accessible to a select few and that select few is getting smaller and smaller,” Walsh said in an interview with CBC. “So this is really about testing ideas and new innovations that might make the game more accessible to all people.”
Hockey Canada is assisting with the creation of the lab, and there is financial support from Bauer Hockey, Scotiabank and Canadian Tire through their Jumpstart Charities initiative.
It’s a project that has been in the works for a few years now, as Hockey Nova Scotia commissioned a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force in December of 2019 to speak with the general public about how to better make hockey a welcoming sport for all.
That task force spoke with 840 members of their community — many who had bad experiences and left the game or never started at all — and produced a report to make the hockey community take a look in the mirror.
From there, Hockey Nova Scotia created “The Player’s Journey” in which they mapped out the experience of a player from start to finish, creating hundreds of data points on how to improve the customer experience for players of all ages. The Women’s Worlds Legacy Development Plan, meanwhile, was created by female hockey players to help better support the girls’ game and help grow and enhance it.
The Future of Hockey Lab’s ‘theory of change’ shared below is something that can be embraced by all hockey nations, not just Canada.
“WHAT IF… Folks from communities across the province could get all the supports they need to develop and TRY game-changing ideas and innovations? Running experiments to address barriers to access in hockey, and learning what works and what doesn’t—then growing, expanding and supporting everything that works. This is our theory of change, and how we can one day realize a more inclusive game.”
There’s always room for the sport to grow, and to do that, everyone needs to do their best to make hockey a fun, rewarding and welcoming experience for all its participants and their families.
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The latest world rankings were released on Wednesday. Many teams have begun building their respective resumes for the ‘21-22 season, with only Canada and Sweden — and Finland at some age groups — yet to begin. A pair of No. 1s, though, have wasted little time stacking impressive performances in their respective age groups, in the early stages of September.
The 2008-born LA Jr. Kings have pulled ahead of the pack, with a 7-0-1 record. Four of those wins came over the weekend, including a dominant 6-2 victory over HoneyBaked; the 10th ranked team in the States. The Jr. Kings’ only hiccup was a 4-4 tie they skated to with the Windy City Storm on Saturday. The Chicago-based program is fourth in the country, and 11th in the world, with three wins of its own over ranked opponents.
The upcoming schedule will certainly present bigger challenges, with trips to Pittsburgh in October and Detroit in November. With a trio of forwards Sammie Ochoa, Tyus Sparks and Logan Stuart up front, the Jr. Kings should present difficult matchups for future opponents.
CSKA Moscow validated its preseason No. 1 in the 2009 age group with a 17-game win streak to open the season. Four victories have come against fellow Russian Top-10 teams, including not one, not two, but three dominant performances against No. 4-ranked Dynamo Moscow. In those games, CSKA out-scored Dynamo 29-5. They are averaging nearly 10 goals a game with 169 goals already this season.
Daniel Ermolov, Artem Karsuro and Nazar Privalov lead the way for CSKA. Expect the schedule to be a bit more challenging as the season wears on, but there’s no mistake in who the clear-cut No. 1 is at the end of September.
Check out the complete world rankings to see who the top teams are at the ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, ‘08, ‘09 and ‘10 age group HERE. Our world rankings are updated every two weeks, and you can submit your rankings to the committee! Or, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for the latest news from the world of youth hockey.
Since its inception in 1911, the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) has seen its share of historic moments.
The 2020-21 season made history, in a way that nobody ever wanted to see.
After missing an entire season of hockey because of COVID-19, the GTHL — arguably the best youth hockey league in the entire world — is set to return for 2021-22, a welcomed sight for the Canadian hockey community.
In late August, the storied organization announced its “Game Plan 2.0” framework for returning to play this season, setting out how it plans to handle the unique environment North America still finds itself in during the battle with COVID-19. A substantial part of that plan is requiring vaccines for GTHL directors and staff, GTHL member executives and staff, team officials, timekeepers, on-ice officials, instructors, in-arena employees of the GTHL and players who were born in or before 2009 (barring medical or approved exemptions under the Ontario Human Rights Code).
The competitive divisions of the GTHL are slated to begin on November 1, while some of the house leagues and learn-to-play programs have an earlier start.
“The Game Plan 2.0 and the Vaccine Policy puts the safety and well being of players as the top priority as we begin the much-anticipated return to programming.” said Scott Oakman, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the GTHL. “Players, their families, and minor hockey associations are excited to be able to return to play and we are working hard at creating the safest environment for them.”
A very robust return-to-play plan can be viewed here.
One of the highlights is that while face masks must be worn at all times inside facilities, players, team officials and on-ice officials will not be required to wear masks on the ice. Coaches must wear a face mask on the bench.
The 2019-2020 GTHL season was cancelled on March 12, 2020, and while plans were in place for a 2020-21 season, it did not come to fruition.
A return to play means that some of the best young players in the world get a chance to return to action during a crucial time for their career aspirations. The largest minor hockey league in the world, the GTHL annually showcases more than 40,000 hockey players in Markham, Mississauga, Toronto and Vaughan.
The league has gone through a variety of changes as it has expanded over the years. Today, age groups start at Under-7 (the 2015 birth-year for this season) up through Under-18 (2004 and 2005 birth years) at the AAA, AA and A levels. The Under-14 through Under-17 AAA age groups are some of the most heavily scouted divisions of hockey in the entire world, with a recent alumni list featuring the likes of John Tavares, Jack and Quinn Hughes, Connor McDavid, Tyler Seguin and many, many more.
Even if you aren’t familiar with the league itself, you will surely have come across some of the member clubs. Storied programs like the Don Mills Flyers, Markham Majors, Mississauga Rebels, North York Rangers, Toronto Jr. Canadiens, Toronto Marlboros and Vaughan Kings are just some of the powerhouses routinely competing for GTHL titles.
In every generation of GTHL alumni lists, the names jump off the page. In some of the early days, the likes of Red Kelly, Frank Mahovlich and Ken Dryden stand out, and it only gets better from there.
In the 1970s, spectators of the GTHL got to see Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Adam Oates. A few years later, it would be Adam Graves, Brendan Shanahan and Sean Burke. Blockbuster names continued, with Eric Lindros, Anson Carter, Mike Peca, Kevin Weekes and Jason Allison all spanning three birth years between 1973 and 1975.
As the league continued to establish itself more and more as an international powerhouse, talent continued to appear and develop within its member programs. We won’t list them all, but just from a quick skim…check out these NHLers (with their birth year in parentheses):
| Mike Cammalleri (1982) Ray Emery (1982) Jason Spezza (1983) Rick Nash (1984) Brent Burns (1985) Andrew Cogliano (1987) Wayne Simmonds (1988) P.K. Subban (1989) Sam Gagner (1989) John Tavares (1990) Alex Pietrangelo (1990) | Ryan O’Rielly (1991) Tyler Seguin (1992) Jeff Skinner (1992) Dougie Hamilton (1993) Max Domi (1995) Darnell Nurse (1995) Connor McDavid (1997) Mitch Marner (1997) Jakob Chychrun (1998) Quinn Hughes (1999) Jack Hughes (2001) |
World Hockey Hub will have continued coverage of the GTHL, and other top youth leagues around the world all season long. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for the latest news from the world of youth hockey.
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.
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.
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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.