Holiday Tourneys

[MNHockeyFan]

Lots of tournament action on the horizon, with the same four tourneys as in past years appearing to feature most of the top-ranked teams. Quarterfinal games with current LPH rank in parenthesis:

Walser Invitational (Dec. 26-28) Braemer Arena
Maple Grove (7) vs. Stillwater (NR) - 12pm
Brainerd/Little Falls (11) vs. North Wright County (16) - 2:15pm
Grand Rapids/Greenway (8) vs. Breck (2-Class A) - 5:00pm
Alexandria (10-Class A) vs. Edina (1) - 7:15pm

Schwan's Cup - Gold (Dec. 26-28) Ridder & Schwan's Arenas
Mahtomedi (9-Class A) vs. St. Paul United (8-Class A) - 12:00pm
Rogers (NR) vs. Andover (3) - 2:30pm
Blake (2) vs. Holy Family (NR) - 5:00pm
Proctor/Hermantown (3-Class A) vs. Centennial (NR) - 7:30pm

Mid-Winter Meltdown (Dec. 27-29) Eden Prairie Community Center
Shakopee (18) vs. Minnetonka (14) - 11:00am
Chaska/Chanhassen (NR) vs. Roseau (9) - 3:30pm
Benilde-St. Margaret's (20) vs. Cretin-Derham Hall (19) - 1:15pm
Eagan (13) vs. Eden Prairie (6) - 5:45pm

Kaposia Classic (Dec. 28-31) Doug Woog Arena
Roseville (NR) vs. Mounds View (NR) - 2:00pm
Lakeville South (NR) vs. Hill-Murray (10) - 4:00pm
Champlin Park/Coon Rapids (NR) vs. Elk River (12) - 6:00pm
Hibbing/Chisholm (14-Class A) vs. South St. Paul (5-Class A)- 8:00pm

Based on current rankings the favorites would appear to be:
Walser - Edina
Schwan's Cup Gold - Andover or Blake?
Mid-Winter Meltdown - Eden Prairie or Roseau?
Kaposia - Hill-Murray

Upsets? With 7 of 8 teams ranked the Mid-Winter Meltdown appears to have the most balanced field, and therefore the hardest to predict.

Great time of the year to be a fan of girls high school hockey!

[Puckwatch]

Where can I get a list of all the winter tourneys?

[nu2hockey]

Hub home page,go to menu...click more sections...then click holiday tournaments

[MNHockeyFan]

Both the Walser Invitational and Schwan's Cup get underway today with probably the most interesting first day matchup (on paper anyway) being the 5pm clash in the Walser between #8AA Grand Rapids/Greenway and #2A Breck. Whoever wins that battle will likely have the rather daunting challenge of going up against #1AA Edina, which lately seems to get better by the week. In fact the Hornets has to be considered the strong favorite to win the tournament, but it's a strong field and I wouldn't be shocked to see them at least tested, or possibly even upset.

Schwan's doesn't have as strong a field overall, but if things go according to form the final could very well boil down to Andover vs. Blake. That would certainly be well worth watching, if in fact it should boil down to those two powerhouses.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays, and best of luck to all the girls in the Holiday tourneys!

[MNHockeyFan]

Maple Grove beats Stillwater 3-1 to advance to the semifinal round in the Walser Invitational.

[MNHockeyFan]

Lots of tournament action on the horizon, with the same four tourneys as in past years appearing to feature most of the top-ranked teams. Quarterfinal games with current LPH rank in parenthesis:

Walser Invitational (Dec. 26-28) Braemer Arena
Maple Grove 3, Stillwater 1
Brainerd/Little Falls 3, North Wright County 2
Grand Rapids/Greenway 2, Breck 5
Alexandria 0, Edina 6

Semifinals December 27 at Braemar Arena
Maple Grove vs. Brainerd/Little Falls @ 5:00pm
Breck vs. Edina @ 7:15pm

Schwan's Cup - Gold (Dec. 26-28) Ridder & Schwan's Arenas
Mahtomedi 3, St. Paul United 4
Rogers 1, Andover 6
Blake 6, Holy Family 0
Proctor/Hermantown 2, Centennial 3

Semifinals December 27 at Ridder Arena
St. Paul United vs. Andover @ 5:00pm
Blake vs. Centennial @ 7:30pm

Mid-Winter Meltdown (Dec. 27-29) Eden Prairie Community Center
Shakopee (18) vs. Minnetonka (14) - 11:00am
Chaska/Chanhassen (NR) vs. Roseau (9) - 3:30pm
Benilde-St. Margaret's (20) vs. Cretin-Derham Hall (19) - 1:15pm
Eagan (13) vs. Eden Prairie (6) - 5:45pm

Kaposia Classic (Dec. 28-31) Doug Woog Arena
Roseville (NR) vs. Mounds View (NR) - 2:00pm
Lakeville South (NR) vs. Hill-Murray (10) - 4:00pm
Champlin Park/Coon Rapids (NR) vs. Elk River (12) - 6:00pm
Hibbing/Chisholm (14-Class A) vs. South St. Paul (5-Class A)- 8:00pm

Based on current rankings the favorites would appear to be:
Walser - Edina
Schwan's Cup Gold - Andover or Blake?
Mid-Winter Meltdown - Eden Prairie or Roseau?
Kaposia - Hill-Murray

Upsets? With 7 of 8 teams ranked the Mid-Winter Meltdown appears to have the most balanced field, and therefore the hardest to predict.

Great time of the year to be a fan of girls high school hockey!

Update #1 - Adding quarterfinal results for the Walser Invitational and Schwan's Cup Gold

[MNHockeyFan]

Lots of tournament action on the horizon, with the same four tourneys as in past years appearing to feature most of the top-ranked teams. Quarterfinal games with current LPH rank in parenthesis:

Walser Invitational (Dec. 26-28) Braemer Arena
Maple Grove 3, Stillwater 1
Brainerd/Little Falls 3, North Wright County 2
Grand Rapids/Greenway 2, Breck 5
Alexandria 0, Edina 6

Semifinals December 27 at Braemar Arena
Maple Grove 0, Brainerd/Little Falls 2
Breck 4, Edina 2

Final December 28 at Braemar Arena
Brainerd/Little Falls 4, Breck 2

Congrats to the Warriors of Brainerd/Little Falls!

Schwan's Cup - Gold (Dec. 26-28) Ridder & Schwan's Arenas
Mahtomedi 3, St. Paul United 4
Rogers 1, Andover 6
Blake 6, Holy Family 0
Proctor/Hermantown 2, Centennial 3

Semifinals December 27 at Ridder Arena
St. Paul United 2, Andover 7
Blake 7, Centennial 3

Final December 28 at Ridder Arena
Andover 3, Blake 4

Congrats to the Blake Bears!

Mid-Winter Meltdown (Dec. 27-29) Eden Prairie Community Center
Shakopee 1, Minnetonka 6
Chaska/Chanhassen 1, Roseau 3
Benilde-St. Margaret's 3, Cretin-Derham Hall 0
Eagan 2, Eden Prairie 3

Semifinals December 28 at Eden Prairie Community Center
Minnetonka 1, Roseau 2
Benilde-St. Margaret's 2, Eden Prairie 4

Final December 29 at Eden Prairie Community Center
Roseau 5, Eden Prairie 2

Congratulations to the Roseau Rams!

Kaposia Classic (Dec. 28-31) Doug Woog Arena
Roseville 1, Mounds View 0
Lakeville South 1, Hill-Murray 7
Champlin Park/Coon Rapids 2, Elk River 3
Hibbing/Chisholm 1, South St. Paul 2

Semifinals December 29 at Doug Woog Arena
Roseville 0, Hill-Murray 4
Elk River 2, South St. Paul 4

Final December 31st at Doug Woog Arena (time TBD)
Hill-Murray 5, South St. Paul 2

Congrats to the Pioneers on bringing home the Kaposia trophy!

Based on current rankings the favorites would appear to be:
Walser - Edina [Not this year - Hornets lost to Breck in the semi, then Breck was beaten by Brainerd/Little Falls in the final. Did not see that coming!]
Schwan's Cup Gold - Andover or Blake? [These two met in the final, with the Bears taking the championship, scoring twice in the game's final four minutes.]
Mid-Winter Meltdown - Eden Prairie or Roseau? [These two also battled it out in the final, with the Rams taking home the hardware]
Kaposia - Hill-Murray [The Pioneers were never really tested, winning their three games by a combined 16-3. Great job!]

Upsets? With 7 of 8 teams ranked the Mid-Winter Meltdown appears to have the most balanced field, and therefore the hardest to predict.

Great time of the year to be a fan of girls high school hockey!

Update #1 - Adding quarterfinal results for the Walser Invitational and Schwan's Cup Gold

Update #2 - Adding early afternoon results for Mid-Winter Meltdown
Update #3 - Adding more results for Walser, Schwan's & Meltdown
Update #4 - Adding all results through Thursday 12/27
Update #5 - Adding most results through Friday 12/28
Update #6 - Completing 12/28 results for Mid-Winter Meltdown semi's and Kaposia Quarterfinals
Update #7 - Updating all results through 12/29. Schwan's final is all that remains.
Update #8 - Completing the Kaposia championshp result, and adding commentary on my original predictions!
Update #9 - Correcting game notes in the Andover/Blake Schwan's Gold championship game.

[MNHockeyFan]

See post above - all tourney results finalized, and my comments have been added to my original predictions.

[Lace'emUp]

See post above - all tourney results finalized, and my comments have been added to my original predictions.

To clarify your notes about the Schwan's Cup final, Blake won in regulation, not OT. Andover had Blake on the ropes until they squandered their lead with about 3:30 to go in the game when Blake scored to tie it. Then Blake scored what would be the game winner with about a minute to go in the game.

[MNHockeyFan]

To clarify your notes about the Schwan's Cup final, Blake won in regulation, not OT. Andover had Blake on the ropes until they squandered their lead with about 3:30 to go in the game when Blake scored to tie it. Then Blake scored what would be the game winner with about a minute to go in the game.

Thanks - corrections have been made.