Last year, the Allegheny Badgers Tier II 16U boys ice hockey team won the Mid-Am District title, advanced to the national tournament in Amherst, New York, and placed third in the 3A bracket.
Seventeen of the 20 players on that team remained together and moved up to the 18U level.
The Badgers will once again compete in the national tournament. However, this time it will be held at the home arena.
Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont and Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington will host three USA Hockey 18U National Championship tournaments Wednesday through Sunday.
“The kids are excited,” Badger 18U coach Josh Fagitt said. “I don't think they realize yet that this is their last week as a team. This year, most of them are seniors. They had their last practice (Monday) and then started practicing in earnest on Wednesday. will begin.”
The host Badgers Tier II 18U team for the 2A tournament includes players from Valley, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Albert Gallatin, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Central Catholic, Latrobe, Morgantown (West Virginia) and Greensburg-Salem. will participate. and a high school in Indiana.
The Badgers (19-23-7) begin play at Palmer on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. and return to Palmer for a game Thursday at 3 p.m. Friday's round robin contest will be held at the Pittsburgh Ice starting at 1:15 p.m.
The quarterfinals will be played Saturday at 11 a.m. at Palmer and Pittsburgh Ice, with the semifinals scheduled for 6:15 and 6:30 at Palmer.
The 2A title game will be played at 10 a.m. Sunday in Palmer.
“We have experience that a lot of these teams don't have, so I hope we can use that to our advantage,” Fajito said. “We also played one of the toughest schedules in the country this year. We had a deep run last year. We lost our semifinal game in overtime, so that's motivation.
“Playing at home in a tournament like this can go either way. Sometimes when a team is together all the time on the road, it's a strong bonding experience that players draw strength from. But it's also nice to be at home in a familiar and comfortable environment.”
Comfort levels are also on the side for the Armstrong Arrows, who play at the Belmont Ice Complex in Kittanning.
Armstrong, who has an overall record of 44-6-10 and is ranked No. 8 in the country in Tier II 18U by My Hockey Rankings, advanced through the Mid-Am Tournament, won the title and automatically advances to the national tournament. obtained the right to participate.
The Arrows will play 3A round robin games Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Pittsburgh Ice, Thursday at 1 p.m. at Palmer and Friday at 9:15 a.m. at Pittsburgh Ice.
The 3A quarterfinals begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, and the semifinals begin at 4 p.m. in Palmer.
The title game begins at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The 1A division will advance directly from the round-robin games to the semifinals on Saturday, with the championship game to be played at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
A total of 36 teams will participate from all over the country: 8 teams in 1A, 12 teams in 2A, and 16 teams in 3A.
The Mid-Am District, which includes all Pittsburgh-area teams, nominated the Badgers and Palmer Imaging Arena to apply to host the championship tournament.
USA Hockey, headquartered in Colorado, determined the local application was worthy of hosting a tournament in the area.
“This time last year, we found out we would be hosting the 18U tournament,” said Mindy Urias, general manager of Palmer Imaging and Pittsburgh Ice Arena and scheduler for the Badgers organization.
“Planning began immediately. For the past three months, so many people have been working behind the scenes to get our facilities in tip-top condition and everything else in order to welcome all the teams this week. ”
Urias said the Badgers and Arrows organizations, both arenas and other organizations are excited to host more than 50 games from Wednesday through Sunday.
“We were shocked when we found out, but we are very humbled and honored to have the opportunity to host an event like this for Western Pennsylvania hockey in our area,” Urias said. Ta.
Pittsburgh will be represented this week at the USA Hockey National Tournament, which will be held across the country.
The Pittsburgh Pens Elite field four men's teams in the Youth Tier I Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Plymouth, Michigan, Fargo, North Dakota and Las Vegas.
A pair of Penns Elite women's teams will play in a Tier I tournament starting Tuesday in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
Featured local companies
The Steel City Ice Renegades men's Tier II 16U team begins its national tournament Wednesday in Dallas.
The South Pittsburgh Rebellion and Steel City Select will be joining the five-team women's Tier II tournament this week in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Green Bay, Wisconsin and East Lansing, Michigan.
Follow what Nationals are doing locally and nationally at nationals.usahockey.com/.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs. The Clearfield native and Westminster (Pa.) graduate joined the Tribe in 2002 after spending his five years at Clearfield His Progress. Please contact us at mlove@triblive.com.
