Weekend Wrap Dec. 19-21: Shattuck & Culver 18U Split a Pair & Pittsburgh Mid-Winter Classic Recap
The storm before the calm has come and gone and the holidays are here!
Happy holidays to the North American hockey community from all of us at MYHockey Rankings. We couldn’t do what we do without the support of so many great members, volunteers and other great hockey people all over the continent.
For those of you heading to the rink for a holiday skate or tournament, enjoy some more memorable moments with your extended hockey families. And for those of you taking a week or two away from the sport, we hope you get to spend plenty of relaxing and enjoyable time with the ones who are close to you.
No rest for us, though.
One of the most-anticipated tournaments of the year, the Circle K Classic, gets underway two days after Christmas, and will be part of our upcoming Weekend Preview. And, of course, as always we will provide our annual World Junior Championship preview/viewing guide and following along with all the action from this year’s tournament in Minnesota.
Before that, though, we need to look back at the weekend of Dec. 19-21 as youth hockey teams all over North America scrambled to get a few more tournament games in before what for many will be a short holiday break. While there are a few scattered tournaments during the days immediately following the Christmas holiday, the majority of teams shut it down for a week or 10 days to give their players and families an opportunity to take a break and recharge the batteries for the season’s stretch run.
Our featured tournament for the Dec. 19-21 weekend was hosted by Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, one of the top American youth hockey programs, for many highly ranked 11U, 12U and 13O teams.
The annual Pens Elite Mid-Winter Classic also offered competition for younger age groups, but our focus was on the pee wees and bantams, with 36 total teams competing at the 11U, 12U and 13O levels. Each of those divisions featured multiple teams ranked among the nation’s top 25, according to the Week 13 MHR Rankings, and there were four top 10 teams competing at the 12U level.
Perhaps the highlight of the weekend, however, was a two-game series between the top two USA Boys Tier 1 18U teams in Indiana Dec. 19 and 20. Second-ranked Culver Academies 18U looked to redeem itself after a pair of Prep Hockey Conference overtime losses in Ontario at St. Andrews College Dec. 13-14.
St. Andrews, the top-ranked Canadian Prep team, split a pair of games at Culver the previous weekend, and Eagles hoped to right the ship and be less-than-welcoming hosts as USA No.1-ranked Shattuck-St. Mary’s 18U Prep invaded Henderson Arena for a pair of important PHC tilts.
The weekend of Dec. 19-21 also was a huge one for New England Prep hockey as many prep-school programs host their annual holiday tournaments.
CLICK HERE for a complete rundown of the weekend’s New England Prep events from the New England Hockey Journal.
This year’s Mid-Winter Classic featured a total of 66 teams at the 9U-13O age levels competing at various Pittsburgh-area rinks Dec. 19-21.
We are focusing on the 36 teams that played in the 11U, 12U and 13U divisions.
Tournament games were played at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, RMU Island Sports Center, Alpha Ice Complex and Baierl Ice Complex and should be available for live and on-demand viewing via LiveBarn
Mid-Winter Classic 13O Division
The 13O Division included seven teams ranked among the USA Boys 11U All Teams top 37 and four that were in the top 25. There were 11 teams in the division. Games began Friday, Dec. 19, and ran through Dec. 21, with playoff contests beginning Saturday, Dec. 20.
Mid-Winter Classic Participating 13O Teams
#12 Nashville Jr. Predators (5-0-0; 26GF, 4GA)
#14 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (3-1-1; 20GF, 15GA)
#23 New Jersey Colonials (1-2-1; 13GF, 12GA)
#25 Cleveland Barons (3-1-0; 23GF, 16GA)
#30 (All Teams) Connecticut Jr. Rangers (2-2-0; 16GF, 11GA)
#35 Philadelphia Little Flyers (2-2-0; 19GF, 12GA)
#37 Philadelphia Hockey Club (2-2-0; 19GF, 16GA)
#43 Rochester Saints (3-2-0; 13GF, 17GA)
#67 Pittsburgh Predators (1-3-0; 13GF, 19GA)
#78 Pittsburgh Vengeance (1-3-0; 5GF, 20GA)
#92 Valley Forge Minutemen (0-5-0; 4GF, 29GA)
13O Championship Game
Nashville Jr. Predators 6, Pens Elite 1
Mid-Winter Classic 12U Division
Of the 14 teams participating in the 12U Division at the Mid-Winter Classic, four were ranked among the MHR Week 13 top 10. Only two participating teams were not ranked among the top 56, and there were eight top 25 teams in a stacked field. Play began Friday, with playoffs starting Dec. 20 and the championship game being contested Dec. 21.
Mid-Winter Classic Participating 12U Teams
#2 Chicago Reapers (4-1-0; 27GF, 13GA)
#5 Mid-Fairfield Rangers (4-1-0; 23 GF, 11GA)
#8 Woodbridge Wolfpack (2-2-0; 19GF, 11GA)
#9 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite-Mueller (2-1-0; 14GF, 9GA)
#23 Buffalo Jr. Sabres (1-2-0; 12GF, 17GA)
#24 Ohio AAA Blue Jackets (3-1-0; 25GF, 15GA)
#25 Rochester Saints (1-2-0; 7GF, 10GA)
#33 Philadelphia Little Flyers (2-1-1; 12GF, 14GA)
#37 Valley Forge Minutemen (1-1-2; 16GF, 19GA)
#46 Florida Surf (2-2-0; 14GF, 15GA)
#55 Wilkes Barre-Scranton Jr. Knights (0-4-0; 4GF, 21GA)
#56 Carolina Jr. Canes (0-2-1; 9GF, 20GA)
#87 New Jersey Jr. Titans (2-2-0; 18GF, 21GA)
#112 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite-Laschon (1-3-0; 16GF, 20GA)
12U Championship Game
Chicago Reapers 3, Mid-Fairfield Rangers 1
Mid-Winter Classic 11U Division
There were 11 teams competing in the 11U Division at the Mid-Winter Classic, and four of them were ranked among the MHR Week 13 top 25. Seven of the teams were in the top 40. Play began Friday morning and ran through Sunday, Dec. 21, with playoff rounds contested Saturday and Sunday.
Mid-Winter Classic Participating 11U Teams
#8 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite-Mueller (3-1-1; 21GF, 4GA)
#19 Woodbridge Wolfpack (2-2-0; 11GF, 10GA)
#22 Florida Surf (2-2-0; 11GF, 10GA)
#23 Philadelphia Hockey Club (4-0-1; 20GF, 6GA)
#41 Team Illinois (3-2-0; 12GF, 17GA)
#42 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (2-2-0; 14GF, 16GA)
#46 Philadelphia Little Flyers (1-2-1; 15GF, 17GA)
#55 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite-Snyder (2-2-1; 14GF, 14GA)
#61 New Jersey Colonials (0-3-1; 8GF, 20GA)
#64 Rochester Saints (1-2-1; 10GF, 15GA)
#83 Pittsburgh Vengeance (1-3-0; 8GF, 20GA)
11U Championship Game
Philadelphia Hockey Club 2, Pens Elite (Mueller) 1
CLICK HERE to access the tournament schedule, scores, standings & statistics
Prep Hockey Conference 18U Showdown
#1 Shattuck-St. Mary’s Boys Prep vs. #2 Culver Academies Prep
The USA’s top two Tier 1 18U Boys teams faced off in a two-game Prep Hockey Conference series at Culver’s Henderson Family Arena Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20.
Friday, Dec. 19 – Culver 5, Shattuck 1
Culver came out as if shot out of a cannon, scoring three times in the first period and netting the game’s first four goals in a 5-1 victory. Blake Manning, Kam Hodgson, Phillip Shargorodsky and John Crawford staked the Eagles to a 4-0 lead midway through the game, and Patrick McSharry concluded the scoring in the final three minutes. Manning, McSharry and Shargorodsky each contributed a single assist, while goalie Jack Greenwell stopped 13 shots in a winning effort.
Saturday, Dec. 20 – Shattuck 3, Culver 1
Shattuck bounced back in Game 2 of the PHC weekend series with a pair of first-period goals to take a 2-0 lead the Sabres never would relinquish. Cameron Garrity scored in the third period to secure the victory, while winning netminder Michael Iliff was outstanding with 37 saves. John Riffey and Luke Puchner potted Shattuck’s first two markers, with Timothy Hale and Luke Host picking up assists.
Heading into the holidays, Culver sits atop the PHC West standings at 6-5-0, including a pair of overtime losses Dec. 13 and 14 at St. Andrew’s College. Those teams split two games the previous weekend in Indiana, but Culver still leads Shattuck-St. Mary’s (5-3-1) by four and St. Andrew’s (5-3-1) by six standings points. St. Andrews is the top-ranked Canada Independent Prep Boys team. The Sabres have two games in hand on Culver.
South Kent School leads the PHC East with 10 points at 3-4-0, followed by Northwood school (3-4-0) with eight and Mount St. Charles (2-5-0) with six. All three East Division teams have played seven league games.
CLICK HERE for PHC game results
CLICK HERE for PHC complete standings
New England Prep Holiday Tournaments
The weekend of Dec. 19-21 featured many holiday tournaments hosted by New England Prep programs.
CLICK HERE for a complete rundown of the weekend’s New England Prep events from the New England Hockey Journal.
CLICK HERE to read about the top Girls performers from the 2025 New England Prep tournaments (subscription required)
CLICK HERE to read about the top Boys performers from the 2025 New England Prep tournaments (subscription required)
