Warroad Bantam A
Season Recap
We had a surprisingly successful season. We were the double defending champs at Bantam A, having won the Minnesota Hockey State Tournament and VFW State in 2019. We lost a key forward to the high school team and a veteran defenseman chose to pursue other opportunities in Canada, but we knew we would be competitive with the returning guys we had and key additions moving up from Peewee and Bantam B.
Our season record was 41-8-1. We started the season on a swing to Marquette, MI for a three game set. This was one of our highlights of the season. We had a great team meal at a unique Italian restaurant and attended an old CCHA college matchup, Northern Michigan vs. Michigan State. We went 1-1-1 on that trip and used that to figure out line combos and defense pairings.
After that swing, we went 40-7. We survived a tough stretch against Bantam AA teams after Christmas. We beat a solid Albert Lea team, lost a tough one to Fargo AA 4-2, beat a very good Wayzata AA team in a shootout, hung with Hermantown for two periods before the wheels fell off, and then beat a very good Minnetonka A team. This was arguably our toughest stretch of the season and came out with a huge confidence boost after going 3-2 on that weekend.
We went 5-0 against our rival, East Grand Forks, this season and swept Roseau which were also highlights. We built momentum to end the season, finishing with 17 straight wins before our season came to a close with the cancellation of State tournaments. We were honored to be the top rated bantam A team in the unofficial Youth Hockey Hub season ending ranking. Another highlight was attending Hockey Day in MN to watch our high school team. It was a tremendous experience for the guys.