St. Paul, MN – August 19, 2016 – The 2016 CCM Minnesota Hockey High Performance Tier 1 Leagues, which will begin play for the first time ever at the 14 & 15 age classifications on August 26, unveiled the League rosters today. The Youth 14 and Youth 15 levels will feature seven teams, while the Girls 14 level will showcase six teams. The CCM High Performance Girls 15 Fall League will be made up of four teams, which will not be classified as Tier 1 teams, but will play a 10 game schedule.

This marks the continuation of Tier 1 hockey in Minnesota, which was established last season at the Girls 19, Youth 18, Girls 16 and Youth 16 classifications. Teams in those age groups continue to come from the Upper Midwest High School Elite Leagues and the Minnesota Hockey High Performance 16 League (previously known as the Prep Development League). The Tier 1 Leagues are designed to provide the top players in Minnesota with the opportunity to train with and compete against each other.

“The format of Minnesota Hockey’s Tier 1 Leagues will really allow players to continue to develop their abilities on and off the ice, and will be a great lead up to the association or high school season,” said CCM Minnesota Hockey High Performance director, Mike MacMillan. “It will also provide these players a great way to prepare for future High Performance programs, and make an early impression on coaches and scouts.”

The Tier 1 14 and 15 Leagues opened earlier in August with District tryouts, on-ice skill development practices and off-ice training sessions. Teams were created based on Minnesota Hockey District boundaries and have been given team names based on Minnesota symbols. League games will be held at locations throughout the state, including at several of Minnesota’s Division 1 arenas including AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Sanford Center in Bemidji and Mariucci and Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

More than 90% of the games will also be streamed live via FASTHockey.com, a service of HockeyTech, which is the world’s premier digital media partner for ice hockey national governing bodies, leagues, teams and events. The platform features high definition video, instant archival for VOD playback, advanced player features like pause, rewind and fast forward for live games, user generated instant replays and live dynamic reporting. Games can be viewed via desktop computers, Google TV, Roku and iOS and Android devices.

Following the 14/15 regular season, which concludes the weekend of September 23 – 25, each team will participate in the League playoffs, with the top teams getting the opportunity to compete for a chance to represent Minnesota at the 2017 USA Hockey National Championships. League playoffs will begin Friday, September 30 and the Minnesota District playoffs will take place October 8 – 9.

Schedules for each age classifications can be found below:

• Youth 14

• Girls 14

• Youth 15