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By Tim Kolehmainen, Editor
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 12-01-08)
For photos of opening weekend games from the Turkey Trot, as well as Duluth Marshall-Breck and Jefferson-Burnsville, please see my Photo21 site. The latter two games will be posted Monday afternoon.
PLYMOUTH – If the crowds waiting for the start of Wayzata’s sixth annual Turkey Trot tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend were any indication, Minnesota was ready for its boys’ hockey to begin.
Friday night’s near full-capacity house at the Plymouth Ice Center came despite the Trojans’ football team playing the same evening in the Class AAAAA state championship game. When the puck dropped in the opening game between Wayzata and Maple Grove at 5 p.m., it was just two and a half hours shy of the start of the Prep Bowl. But fans in the arena weren’t divided in their loyalties.
It was all hockey.
The young Trojans started out slowly against Maple Grove, trailing 2-1 into the third period on a pair of Tommy Malone goals. After intense pressure in the final 17 minutes, Seth Barnes finally netted the tying goal with four minutes remaining.
 The game remained tied at 2-all through overtime, officially going in the books as a tie. But to decide who would advance to the title game, it went to a shootout, which Wayzata won, 3-2. With less than half an hour until the start of the Prep Bowl, the crowd filed out.
But not all. Many stayed on to watch the state’s top-ranked team, Edina, showcase its firepower in an 11-4 victory over Buffalo.
Wayzata coach Carl Davis was excited about beginning the season with another great field in the Turkey Trot, despite falling to Edina Saturday night in the championship, 4-1. Maple Grove beat Buffalo in the third place game by the same score.
“I always wanted to pull in some good non-conference rivals on the borders of us,” said Davis. “It’s a nice mix of teams and it makes for a great way to start out the season.”
The Turkey Trot began six years ago when Davis wanted to form a tournament on the opening weekend of the season. He immediately rang up former assistant Mike MacMillan at Buffalo and the two agreed that live game action was the way to go – both for their teams and the fans.
“You get to see things you normally don’t get to see at a scrimmage, like power plays and penalty kills,” said Davis. “It gives us a great barometer of where we need to be. A tournament like this really shows us what we need to work on in practice over the next few weeks.”
Inviting MacMillan and the Bison was a natural. Davis had coached in Buffalo for many years before coming to Wayzata. His final three years with the Bison, Davis was assisted by MacMillan, who then took over the program.
“I have such great memories of being part of that program,” said Davis.
 Then came the task of finding two other quality programs. Burnsville was one of the original quartet, competing for the first three years before pulling out. Shortly thereafter, Davis ran into Edina coach Curt Giles, who was interested in adding a few early season games.
“It’s a big sheet of ice, so we’re able to get kids skating and moving,” said Giles, whose team certainly showed they are worthy of the top ranking. Despite missing first team All-Stater Zach Budish to an ACL injury, the Hornets tallied 15 goals in two games. Anders Lee racked up three goals and five assists in the two games, while Connor Gaarder (3-2-5), Marshall Everson (2-2-4) and sophomore Michael Sit (2-3-5) had big efforts.
“We just want to start out at a certain level and get better all year,” said Giles, a scary thought to future Hornets’ foes. “Now we take what we have and try to find out what chemistry fits with who.”
Wayzata, meanwhile, has been in the finals of its own tourney five times in six years, winning three times. Davis again feels his Trojans will be competitive within Section 6AA, despite the presence of strong teams like Hopkins, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Wayzata is very young up front, but does have four senior defensemen and a returning goaltender in Ty Simcoe.
Maple Grove received a good scoring weekend from Malone, who tallied three goals, but even better goaltending from Sean Elmer and Brandon Frakes, who combined to allow only three goals on 47 shots in the two games.
Buffalo was missing three starters for the tournament, which hampered them in the two losses. But MacMillan isn’t concerned with a few blips on the early schedule.
“Playing teams like this is only going to help us in February,” said MacMillan. “The reality of it is that with the depth of their programs, they’ll be better early than we are. My goal is to get better by the end.” |
7A Quarters: Duluth Central at Duluth Marshall (Feb. 26)
7AA Semis: Forest Lake vs. Duluth East (Feb. 28)
7AA Semis: Cloquet vs. Elk River (Feb. 28)
5A Semis: Denfeld vs. Hermantown (Feb. 28)
Pointstreak
Let's Play Hockey
