skip navigation

Over 150 MN Athletes Attend USA Hockey Festival

By Minnesota Hockey, 05/04/22, 11:00AM CDT

Share

Twelve teams and over 150 athletes recently represented Minnesota Diversified Hockey at the 2022 USA Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival in Pittsburgh, Penn. The festival featured Blind, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Special, Standing Amputee & Warrior Hockey during its opening weekend and Sled Hockey teams on its second weekend.

Warrior Hockey

With 24 Warrior Hockey teams, including five from the Minnesota Warriors, participating this year, the teams were split into four pools for round-robin play and then seeded into Tiers 1-6 heading into Saturday. Two of the Minnesota teams were seeded into the top tier, one to Tier 2 and two more were assigned to Tier 5.

Each team played two games on Saturday, which decided which two teams from each tier would play each other in Sunday’s championship matchup. Three Minnesota teams advanced to the championship games, but each fell in their final game, leading to three runner-up finishes.

Special Hockey

With 64 new players and a record 286 registered players this season, it was a banner year for Minnesota Special Hockey. That was true for the program at the USA Hockey festival too as 55 athletes were able to attend and compete. Many of the participants rode together on a pair of buses to the festival, creating countless new memories for the players, coaches and volunteers.  

Each team competed three times at the festival, twice on Friday and once on Saturday. All of the teams had the opportunity to play in the Pittsburgh Penguins practice facility and participated in a social event at Dave & Busters with food and games. The weekend concluded on a high note, with each team receiving gold medals and team banners after their final games.

“When this event was scheduled for Pittsburgh in 2019, we only had about a team and a half signed up so it was great to see us almost double that this year,” said co-founder and board member Jane Cashin. “Our families always represent our state so well at these events. They get to spend a lot of time building friendships with people and programs around the country, and I know they’re excited to see them again at the Hendrickson Festival in June.”

Blind Hockey

Minnesota Wild Blind Hockey sent the most players in its history to the USA Hockey festival, including at least one player at each of the three blind hockey divisions that competed at the festival: Advanced, intermediate and beginner.

The beginner division had three ice times where they gathered for small area games. During one of those slots, the goalies from all divisions gathered at one end for a blind hockey goalie clinic. The intermediate and advanced divisions each played a three-game series.

Sled Hockey

There was no shortage of action, talent and fun at the sled hockey festival as there were a total of 12 divisions including six adult and six youth levels. Four teams from Minnesota, two adult and two youth, participated.

Minnesota Wild Sled Hockey sent one adult team and two youth teams, and even their adult team was young with several teenagers dotting the roster. All three teams competed well and had an amazing weekend. The top youth team even qualified for the Tier 1 championship game, before losing a 1-0 nail biter to the GR Sled Wings.

The adult sled team representing the Hope Hurricanes from the Moorhead area fittingly stormed the competition at the festival, racking up 24 goals and going undefeated in three pool play games. The Hurricanes lost 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights in an epic, back and forth battle for the Tier 2 championship.

The Minnesota Diversified Hockey programs will now set their sights on the sixth annual Hendrickson Foundation National Hockey Festival on June 2-5 at the Super Rink in Blaine, MN, which is expected to feature nearly 70 total teams and approximately 1,100 athletes from 25 states.

Most Popular