MHR Weekend Wrap Jan. 30 - Feb. 1: Florida Exposure Cup & Northwood School Breaks Through at MacPherson Tourney
Following a weekend that brought much of North America a generational winter storm that led to the cancellation of various hockey events around the continent, Mother Nature backed off enough that things could return to normal for the weekend of Jan. 30 – Feb. 1.
Perhaps the smartest of all the teams in action during that weekend were the nearly 100 USA Boys 13O, 14U, 15O and 16U teams that traveled south for the Florida Exposure Cup, which got underway Jan. 29 and ran through Feb. 1.
While the weather there was unusually cold for that area and hardly the tropical Florida experience many had hoped for, being there certainly beat the continued frigid conditions many of us still were dealing with.
It certainly wasn’t all palm trees and sunshine at one of North America’s most-anticipated and tradition-rich events in chilly Aurora, Ontario.
A group of top Boys 18U and Prep teams were at St. Andrew’s College during the weekend for the 42nd annual MacPherson Hockey Tournament. Play at the MacPherson began early Friday Jan. 30, with opening ceremonies held prior to the St. Andrews vs. Northwood School game Friday night.
Weekday Wild Western Canada Showdown
Before the weekend even arrived, two of the top U18 teams in Canada faced off and gave us a game for the ages.
Because of our format and other weekly responsibilities, it can be challenging for us to report on top matchups when they occur during the week, but we wanted to make sure to recap the thriller between the top two U18 Boys AAA teams in Western Canada that was played Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Regina, Saskatchewan.
That night, the top-ranked defending Telus Cup-champion Regina Pat Canadians rallied for three goals in the final 8:47 of the third period at Co-operators Arena to steal a heart-stopping 7-6 victory against the No. 2 Moose Jaw Warriors. Those teams also were ranked second and third in Canada, respectively, according to the MHR Week 19 U18 Boys AAA Rankings.
Ryker Doka scored the final two of those decisive goals less than four minutes apart – with Maddox Schultz assisting on both tallies – after Nathan Gardiner potted his 30th marker of the year with 8:47 remaining to pull the Pat Canadians within a goal.
Regina earlier had rallied from a 5-2 deficit with a pair of goals late in the second period to cut the margin to one entering the third. Gardiner scored his first of the game with one second remaining in the middle frame as Schultz picked up another assist.
Schultz factored in on Regina’s final four tallies after scoring twice in the opening period. Gardiner assisted on Schultz’s first of the game at 9:52 of the first frame after Ryan Gibbs and Ryder Gilroy had staked Moose Jaw to a 2-0 advantage in the opening 8:43.
Schultz concluded the contest with two goals and four assists, while Gardiner and Doka each tallied two goals and a helper. Liam Pue had the other Regina goal, and netminder Adam Muntain stopped 23 shots.
Gibbs recorded a hat trick for the Warriors, with Gilroy, Wade Franks and Riley Brown each scoring once. Brown also dished out an assist, and Tobin Schaefer contributed three helpers. Franks scored 7:01 into the third period to set up Regina’s late-game comeback.
This was the second meeting between the two teams in Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) play this season. Regina also pulled out an exciting 5-4 victory in the previous league matchup Oct. 5. They also met in a non-league contest Sept. 16, with the Warriors prevailing, 3-2.
The Pat Canadians improved to 35-6-0 with the victory, their seventh in a row and 17th in 19 outings. Moose Jaw fell to 33-7-0 and was 4-3-0 in its most recent seven contests.
Regina improved to 32-2-2-0 in SMAAAHL play and was six points in front of second-place Moose Jaw (29-3-1-2). The Saskatoon Blazers were third at the time with 49 points.
Below are recaps of the weekend’s MacPherson Hockey Tournament and Florida Exposure Cup:
The 42nd edition of the McPherson Hockey Tournament, hosted by St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario, began the morning of Jan. 30 and ran through Feb. 1. This year’s event featured 18U and Prep teams from Ontario, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York competing on the school’s campus at La Brier Family Arena.
The field included five teams ranked among the top 24 in MHR’s Week 19 USA 18U Boys Tier 1 Rankings, including No. 1 Culver Academies, as well as St. Andrew’s, Canada’s top-ranked Independent Prep team; Brunswick School, the No. 8 New England Prep team; and an all-star team representing the Greater Ontario Hockey League.
The eight competing teams were separated into four-team pools, with round-robin play concluding the morning of Jan. 31, and the playoffs getting underway that evening.
The top two finishers in each pool crossed over for semifinal play, with the top seed from one pool facing the second seed from the other. Semifinal winners played Sunday morning, Feb. 1, at LaBrier Arena for the gold medal, with the semifinal losers playing for bronze.
Games were played at LaBrier Family Arena, Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex and Aurora Community Center. The LaBrier contests can be viewed on-demand at the St. Andrew’s YouTube channel, while the games at the other two venues are available via LiveBarn.
One of the most-anticipated events of the school year at St. Andrew’s, the tournament has been played since 1984 and was the creation of retired teacher and SAC’s first hockey coach, Al Dunford. Over the years, teams have traveled from Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as a variety of regions in Ontario to participate in the MacPherson Tournament.
The tournament and its three pools were named after three former faces of the school – Lloyd MacPherson, Jim Hamilton and Bob Meagher – who devoted many years to St. Andrew’s College, its goals and traditions.
St. Andrew’s defeated the Bishop Kearney Selects from Rochester, N.Y., for the gold medal each of the previous two years, with Culver and Northwood School earning bronze medals. The GOHL All-Stars captured the title in 2023 after USA-powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary’s had won the previous two years. Culver, Northwood and Bishop Kearney each had earned multiple medals since 2022, but none of them was gold.
CLICK HERE for a list of past MacPherson Hockey Tournament Winners
MacPherson Participating Team Records
Hamilton Pool
#18 USA All Northwood School (4-1-0; 16GF, 9GA)
#1 Canada Prep St. Andrew’s College (3-2-0; 16GF, 10GA)
#24 USA NB Victory Honda (2-2-0; 6GF, 11GA)
#14 US NB Bishop Kearney Selects (1-3-0; 15GF, 20GA)
Meagher Pool
GOHL Top Prospects (3-2-0; 14GF, 15GA)
#1 USA NB Culver Academies (3-1-0; 12GF, 5GA)
#11 USA NB Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (2-3-0; 11GF, 12GA)
#9 NE Prep Brunswick School (0-4-0; 12GF, 20GA)
MacPherson Semifinals
Northwood 2, Pens Elite 1 (2OT)
Charles Pigeon scored with 18:15 left in the second overtime as Northwood School from Lake Placid, N.Y., rallied for a thrilling come-from-behind semifinal victory. Parker Thompson scored with 35 seconds left in regulation to erase a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead and force the extra sessions. Henry Kress assisted on both Northwood tallies, and winning goalie Owen MacLean made 20 saves.
MacPherson Semifinals
St. Andrew’s 4, GOHL 1
The Saints scored the game’s first four goals, with four different players tallying, to advance to the gold-medal game. Ryan Murray, Marcus Magri, Jake DiCapo and Luca Diplacido scored for the hosts, with Murray and Diplacido each adding an assist. Alexander Forrest scored with 23 seconds left to ruin Chase Petrova’s shutout bid, but Petrova still earned the victory with 27 saves.
MacPherson Bronze Medal Game
GOHL 4, Pens Elite 2
The GOHL All-Stars scored the first four goals of the game in a span of slightly more than two periods to take control before holding on for the 4-2 victory to earn the bronze medal. Drew Grasser and Marshall Hewitt scored just over a minute apart to cut the margin to two goals with 14:16 left, but Pittsburgh would get no closer. Carter Lewandowski scored twice for the GOHL, with Ryder Simpson and Alexandre Campeau each adding single markers. Goalie Seth Ronan stopped 20 Pens Elite shots to record the victory.
MacPherson Gold Medal Game
Northwood 3, St. Andrew’s 2
Northwood School finally got the MacPherson gold medal it coveted, scoring twice in the opening 5:55 of the third period to break a 1-1 tie and holding on for the final 7:47 after Finn Kearns tallied for the hosts to cut the margin to one. After Alex Carscadden staked to the hosts to a 1-0 lead in the opening period, Max Stracar, Hunter Chadbourne and Parker Thompson scored for Northwood in a nine-minute span overlapping the second and third frames. Thompson and Stracar also picked up assists during the decisive run, and winning goalie Owen MacLean made 15 saves.
CLICK HERE for MacPherson Tournament game results
CLICK HERE for MacPherson Tournament standings
More than 90 mostly USA Boys Tier 1 teams at the 13O, 14U, 15O and 16U levels traveled to Florida for the Exposure Cup, which began Thursday Jan. 29 and ran through Sunday Feb. 1 in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Clearwater. The event also included a few top-ranked USA Tier 2 teams as well as teams from the Hill Academy and the Chatham-Kent Cyclones organization in Ontario.
There were nine 16U teams competing in one division, 22 15O teams in three divisions, 21 14U teams in three divisions and 32 13O teams in three divisions.
The 15O Elite Division included five teams ranked among the USA Tier 1 Boys Top 20, according to the MHR Week 19 rankings, along with Hill Academy U16, the No. 23 Canadian Independent Prep team. A pair of USA top 10 teams – fourth-ranked Mount St. Charles and No. 7 Dallas Stars elite – were among the five teams in the 14U Elite Division along with the Nos. 28 and 29 U.S. teams.
The Exposure Cup’s 13O Division was stacked, featuring five USA top 10 teams and six teams ranked among the top 11.
Included in the 13O field were the second-ranked Mid-Fairfield Rangers, third-ranked Team Illinois, fourth-ranked Little Caesars, sixth-ranked HoneyBaked, eighth-ranked Chicago Mission and 11th-ranked Nashville Jr. Predators.
Those teams were joined by the Chatham-Kent Cyclones, ranked No. 13 in Ontario’s U14 AAA rankings, and Top Gun from Massachusetts, which is the 14th-ranked overall Tier 1 13O U.S. team.
All of the Exposure Cup host venues (Florida Panthers IceDen, Palm Beach SkateZone, and Clearwater Ice Arena, Tampa Bay Ice have LiveBarn access for on-demand viewing of tournament games.
Exposure Cup Top Participating 15O Team Records
#3 HoneyBaked (4-1-0; 18GF, 11GA)
#11 Mount St. Charles (4-1-0; 23GF, 13GA)
#15 Windy City Storm (0-4-1; 9GF, 27GA)
#16 Madison Capitols (2-3-0; 12GF, 12GA)
#19 Florida Alliance (1-3-1; 11GF, 15GA0
#23 Canada Prep Hill Academy (3-2-0; 14GF, 10GA)
Champions: HoneyBaked
Exposure Cup Top Participating 14U Teams
#4 Mount St. Charles (5-1-0; 34GF, 14GA)
#7 Dallas Stars Elite (4-1-0; 21GF, 14GA)
#28 Victory Honda (1-3-1; 10GF, 20GA)
#29 North Jersey Avalanche (2-3-0; 14GF, 19GA)
Hill Academy (0-4-1; 18GF, 30GA)
Champions: Mount St. Charles
Exposure Cup Top Participating 13O Teams
#2 Mid-Fairfield Rangers (5-0-1; 26GF, 7GA)
#3 Team Illinois (2-2-1; 15GF, 14GA
#4 Little Caesars (0-4-1; 10GF, 23GA)
#6 HoneyBaked (3-2-1; 13GF, 13GA)
#8 Chicago Mission (1-2-2; 9GF, 16GA)
#11 Nashville Jr. Predators (2-2-1; 15GF, 14GA)
#13 Ontario Chatham-Kent Cyclones (2-2-1; 14GF, 15GA)
#14 Top Gun (1-2-2; 13GF, 12GA)
Champions: Mid-Fairfield Rangers
CLICK HERE for Exposure Cup Game Results
CLICK HERE for Exposure Cup Standings
