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What's the word? who is/are the teams to beat?

The Magacians won this tournament last year and have won the only tournament they've played in this year. They have to be a favorite.

Anyone know who the "Varsity Sports" team is at this tournament? They crushed the Grinders bya bunch.

The Varsity Sports team is comprised of players from Farmington, Lakeville and other southern metro associations. One of the '98 Blades skaters is that team's big gun.

Interesting tournament, the '98 Miracle has a '98 Machine kid on its tournament roster. The '98 Monopoly has a '98 Blade kid on its tournament roster, and the '98 Reebok team has a '98 Blade kid on its tournament roster.

Alpha wrote:Anyone know who the "Varsity Sports" team is at this tournament? They crushed the Grinders bya bunch.

Yeah I saw the Grinders got killed twice. Legacy is 2-0 and I know the Monopoly are 1-1. Cool tournament though. That facility is sweet. 8 rinks!

now is this a true invite, or do you put your team where they think they can play? Not just at the 98 level, but some of these teams are getting killed, if your an invite team, you should not gte 9, 10 11 goals scored on you

I would say that just over one half of the field is nearing a true invite level. Many of these teams are new within the past 2 years or even this year. I think in time, some of these teams will be able to compete at least close to the local elite invite level teams.
I think that Pool B is different than Pool A, I should say I believe the local teams are stronger in Pool B than A. I would also say that was a pretty common opinion of others around the rink.
I do not think there is anything wrong with giving the field competitive games within their pool play. From what I have seen in other tourneys this is becoming common practice. Unfortunately this means that the true championship may happen in the pool play or semifinal.
Yes there are several teams with borrowed players. In fact the borrowed players are team leaders in scoring for those teams as well. So when considering results, probably need to take that into account. I have no opinion on borrowed players it is just the way it goes. If Blades and/or Machine do not have a tourney you will see some of their players sneaking on rosters.
Congrats to all the teams, now go take some time to unwind and be 10-11-12 or whatever for a month or so.

I'm curious how the Thunder Bay team has looked. This is a different team that the one that competed in the Meltdown and Independent Cup but I see it has advanced to the final (although it appears to be in the easier pool). Any chance it gives Varsity Sports a run in the final?

Well I did not get a chance to see them play that much. But my point about the pools will obviously be proven to a degree if the game is not competitive. Every team had entire games or moments that leave you scratching your head. Just take a look at some of the scores. One team routs someone then another team comes along that seems to be out of their class and it is a close game. I guess that proves that they are 10 or 11 years old. Difficult to maintain that competitive edge/

well Varsity Sports won the tourney by the score of 8-5. 40 shots on net, that is pretty high for this level. Congrats to them.

I would say that just over one half of the field is nearing a true invite level.

Please elaborate on who these teams are.

Well actually 3 or 4 of them are just a few players (or a line) and a year away from at least being competitive. In essence I think the number of teams in the metro area are the reason we do not have at least one or two more teams that can "compete" with some of the top teams. But then again there are more kids playing summer hockey at Higher levels than ever.
Now some of them "used" players that are already on Elite teams so maybe I should re-evaluate the statement.
I am not going to give names because I am not about that. There were teams in this tourney that really struggled and some that were competitive. Some played well some games and not others. I saw one game and was really impressed then I saw the same team play and they struggled. I saw one of these teams earlier this season and again this weekend and was shocked at the change in skill. It is pretty cool to see kids and teams change in a short period of time.
I will clarify that NONE of these teams would compete with the Machine or Blades maybe even Icemen now but who knows in time. What shocked me is the 98's were not allowed to take slap shots.....I know about the USA hockey rules and July 1 but seriously any 99 team contemplating this tourney next year should take that into consideration.