Play of the Year Contest Down to the Great 8
Updated July 27 at 10:45 a.m. EDT
We're down to the Great 8 in our annual MyHockey Rankings Play of the Year Contest. It's the homestretch for a contest that began way back on June 16, and during the next two-plus weeks the public will decide which play of the original 32 will be crowned as the best of the 2024-25 season.
It has taken a month and a half, but the public has spoken, and the original field of 32 has been narrowed to eight. Great 8 voting begins on Monday, July 28, and runs through July 31.
In the second round, Mikayla Barnes of Stoney Creek Sabres U22 upended Oliver Bjork of Stillwater (Minn.) Peewees after he had entered as one of the projected favorites and cruised through Round 1 with 88 percent of the vote. Another Minnesota product, Joseph Cullen of Minnesota Blue Ox 14U, continued to roll, advancing to the final eight by earning 79 percent of the vote and 66 percent in the first two rounds, respectively. His overtime game-winning goal was a thing of beauty and earned his team a national championship, which may be a tough combination to beat.
Cohen Paul of Mount Academy U17 appeared poised to make a deep run after earning better than 75 percent of the vote in an opening-round win, but he was kocked out by Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 2015 forward Brody Houston and his split-the-defense spin-o-rama goal.
Overall, the margins of victory decreased considerably in the second round, with half of the matchups decided by eight percentage points or fewer. In addition to Cullen, the big Round 2 winners were Paige Fox, Teagan Gloyns and Nancy Wang of North York Storm U15 (67 percent), Liam Hilliard of Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones 12U (68 percent), Nolan Deady of Indy Jr. Fuel 14U (64 percent) and Lucas Fargino of Buffalo Regals U16 (63 percent).
Third-round voting begins Monday, July 28, on the MYHockeyRankings Instagram story and features Barnes taking on Cullen in a huge tilt.
Videos of all the plays are posted on the MHR Twitter/X and Facebook pages, but voting only takes place on the MHR Instagram story and lasts exactly 24 hours per round. There were more than 400,000 views of Instagram posts related to the Play of the Year Contest during its first month.
The third MYHockey Rankings Play of the Year Contest features players who executed amazing plays that either were submitted or uncovered throughout the 2024-25 season competing to see which one comes out on top. Play of the Year first-round voting began Monday, June 16, and ran through July 10. Round 2 voting concluded July 25. The full contest tentatively is scheduled to conclude Aug. 12, a few days before MHR begins accepting scores for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
The contest features a 32-play bracket, with the voting for each new round always starting on a Monday or Tuesday.
The upcoming schedule and past results are listed below.
CLICK HERE to see the updated bracket for this year's contest.
Round 1 Matchups
June 16
Oliver Bjork/Stillwater Peewee (88%)
def.
Lily Dowd – Bentley Bahr/Menomonie Squirt (12%)
June 17
Mikayla Barnes/Stoney Creek Sabres U22 (52%)
def.
Kayla McCarthy/Pens Elite 16U (48%)
June 18
Joseph Cullen/Minnesota Blue Ox 14U (79%)
def.
Connor Wilson/Pens Elite 2015 (21%)
June 19
Elias Mitrikas/North Shore Warriors U15 (51%)
def.
Carson Paule – Kayden Brown/Dallas Stars 2013 (49%)
June 23
Liam Hilliard/Cincinnati Cyclones 12U (51%)
def.
Peter Sheehan/Boston Americans 2013 (49%)
June 24
Nolan Deady/Indy Jr. Fuel 14U (64%)
def.
Brayden McGrath/Hamilton Steel U13 (36%)
June 25
Ryker Doka/Delta Hockey Academy U15 (64%)
def,
Riley Wivholm – Jordana Grand/Florida Alliance 12U (36%)
June 26
Paige Fox – Teagan Gloyns – Nancy Wang/North York Storm U15 (60%)
def.
Ellis Nicholson/Toledo Cherokee 2012 (40%)
June 30
Brook Adams/Mount Academy U19 (57%)
def.
Addison Adomaitis/North York Storm U15 (43%)
July 1
Lucas Fargino/Buffalo Regals 16U (60%)
def.
Lucas Shibalov Rocky Mountain RoughRiders 13O (40%)
July 2
Keagan Gray/Boston Jr. Eagles 14U (62%)
def.
Aiden Pournaras/Keystone Wild 18U (38%)
July 3
Lily Hurley/Arizona Kachinas 16U (64%)
def.
Donny Redmon/Chicago Phantoms 14U (35%)
July 7
Cameron Kimmerly/Wenatchee Wild 18U (57%)
def.
Caden McMahon – Max Ellenbogen/Rye Rangers 14U (43%)
July 8
Owen Elgbacka/Guelph Gryphons U15 (60%)
def.
Dax Orenstein – Brighton Anderson/Bishop Kearney Selects 15O (40%)
July 9
Cohen Paul/Mount Academy U17 (75%)
def.
Maddie Kaiser – Madeline McKay/Balmoral Hall U18 (25%)
July 10
Brody Houston/Pens Elite 2015 (63%)
def.
Maddyx Chaput – Alex Forrest/Oakville Rangers U16 (37%)
Round 2 Matchups
July 14
Mikayla Barnes/Stoney Creek Sabres U22 (54%)
def.
Oliver Bjork/Stillwater Peewees (46%)
July 15
Joseph Cullen/Minnesota Blue Ox 14U (66%)
def. Elias Mitrikas/North Shore Warriors U15 (34%)
July 17
Paige Fox – Teagan Gloyns – Nancy Wang/North York Storm U15 (67%)
def.
Ryker Doka/Delta Hockey Academy U15 (33%)
July 21 (RESCHEDULED)
Liam Hilliard/Cincinnati Cyclones 12U (68%)
def.
Nolan Deady/Indianpolis Jr. Fuel 14U (32%)
July 22 (NEW DATE)
Lucas Fargino/Buffalo Regals 16U (63%)
def.
Brook Adams/Mount Academy U19 (37%)
July 23 (NEW DATE)
Lily Hurley/Arizona Kachinas 16U (51%)
def.
Keegan Gray/Boston Jr. Eagles 14U (49%)
July 24 (NEW DATE)
Brody Houston/Pens Elite 2015 (53%)
def,
Cohen Paul/Mount Academy U17 (47%)
July 25 (NEW DATE)
Owen Elgbacka/Guelph Gryphons U15 (53%)
def.
Cameron Kimmerly/Wenatchee Wild 18U (47%)
Great 8 Matchups
July 28
Mikayla Barnes/Stoney Creek Sabres U22
vs. Joseph Cullen Minnesota Blue Ox 14U
July 29
Liam Hilliard/Cincinnati Cyclones 12U
vs. Paige Fox – Teagan Gloyns – Nancy Wang/North York Storm U15
July 30
Lucas Fargino/Buffalo Regals 16U
vs. Lily Hurley Arizona Kachinas 16U
July 31
Owen Elgbacka/Guelph Gryphons U15
vs. Brody Houston/Pens Elite '15
Semifinal Matchups
Aug. 5-6
Finals
August 12
CLICK HERE to find out how last year’s contest went.
CLICK HERE to see the updated bracket for this year's contest.
