Playoff Champions:
MnJHL, AWHL, WSHL

Biscuits and Breezers

   Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! This is a continuation of the last blog I put out to keep you guys on track through the junior hockey playoffs before the NHL goes into their playoff run and I become wicked busy! Today, I have for you the champions of the MnJHL, the AWHL, and the divisional champions and runners up for the WSHL. Before I go into this, I just want to congratulate all of the teams that were able to make it to the playoffs and to all of the beauties that will be headed to Nationals this April in Simsbury, Connecticut. Every team deserves a pat on the back for all of the hard work and effort they put in trying to finish first in the race to victory! Here are your champions!

    Where we last left off, it was the Final Four with the Marquette Royals vs. the Hudson Crusaders and the Dells Ducks vs. the Illiana Blackbirds. Between the Ducks/Blackbirds series, the Dells Ducks were able to pull through and sweep Illiana with scores of 4-2 on March 21st and 3-0 on March 22nd. Meanwhile for the Marquette Royales, the Hudson Crusaders forced a game three but knowing the Royales, they regrouped and completely powered through the competition. On March 21st in Game 1 Marquette gained the win with a score of 3-2 in Overtime, March 22nd was Hudson's comeback day in Game 2 with a final score of 5-4 that was also forced to OT, and lastly on March 23rd your Marquette Royales beat the Hudson Crusaders 6-4. Going into the final game, both the Ducks and the Royales were both equally and heavily favored to win the Busch Cup but unfortunately when it came down to it, there could be only one champion. In their inaugural season, the Marquette Royales would go on to a very suspenseful overtime and pull out a much deserved 3-2 win. March 24th, 2014 will go down in the MnJHL's history as the day the rookie team won it all and the grizzled veterans gave way to a new era.  I am very proud of how both teams played throughout the post season and am incredibly excited to the 2014-2015 season already because it is an honest bet that Marquette will be in full force looking to defend their title and the Ducks will be looking for revenge. Enjoy your time with the Busch Cup boys!!! I love working with these gems because they are the type of players that have the drive and the fight in their veins to never give up. They play with their hearts on the ice each game and never let anyone tell them what they can't do. Both teams will represent the MnJHL in the Tier 3 Junior Hockey Nationals in Simsbury, Connecticut April 3-7 to see if either of these spectacular teams can prove that they are the# #1 team in the entire country. 

(Credit to Marquette Royales)

(Credit to Marquette Royales)

(Credit to Marquette Royales)

  Last time we discussed the AWHL, it was previous to the Helena vs. Great Falls Lewis and Clark Cup Finals, and the entire league was waiting for a phenomenal series. And a series to remember it was. After 3 games, the Bighorns were able to become 9 time league champions, 7 times back to back. Having to play the best out of 5, the Bighorns swept the Americans 3-0 with scores of 6-1 Helena in Game 1 on March 18th, 2-0 Helena on March 19th, and finally 4-0 Helena on March 21st. Concluding this final playoff series, it was announced that this would be the final season of the AWHL. The league was not to be discontinued, but all 7 teams are to join the NA3HL as the new Frontier Division. I have been with the AWHL since the 2011-2012 season so hearing this news was quite the shocker. Both teams put up a valiant effort and I cannot wait to see how they perform with their new rivals in the 2014-2015 season. Helena is an incredibly powerful team and I love watching them play because they are hugely aggressive and know how to put together a successful team each year. Congratulations boys and let it be an honor to know that you ended the AWHL's incredible run on top. I have always loved working with this league and many memories have come from them. This is definitely a team filled year after year with some of the best hockey players you will ever see compete in the game. I am very serious when I say this too because they are absolute beasts on the ice, at times it is unbelievable at what they can do. Once again, congratulations Bighorns enjoy your time with the cup!! The Bighorns will represent the AWHL at the Tier 3 Junior Hockey Nationals in Simsbury, Connecticut April 3-7. Good luck!

(Credit to Helena Bighorns - Erin Alheim)

(Credit to Helena Bighorns - Tanya Shearer)

(Credit to Helena Bighorns - Erin Alheim)

(Credit to Helena Bighorns - Gary Klohoker)

Absolutely amazing video about the Bighorns; some of the biggest bunch of beauties I have ever had the pleasure of working with

   Now that we come to the WSHL, things get a little different. Since there are 4 different divisions, the Finals have extended past the rest of the leagues and finally we are headed down to El Paso, Texas for the Thorne Cup Finals. After 2 rounds of playoff so far your 2014 Divisional champions are: Fresno Monsters are the Western Division Champions, El Paso Rhinos are the Midwest Divion Champions, the Ogden Mustangs are the Northewest Champions, and the Mountain Division Champions are the Phoenix Knights. Also this year the league has included 2 wild card/runner ups that will have a shot still even after being eliminated based on their scores and records in the 2013-2014 Regular Season to round out the competitions. The first team would be the Northwest division runner up the Idaho Jr Steelheads and the second would be the Midwest division runner up the Texas Jr Brahamas. This final series will take place on April 2-6th in El Paso, Texas and the top two teams left standing will go on to represent the WSHL in the Tier 3 Junior Hockey Nationals. All 6 teams participating in the Finals will be divided into two, three team brackets. Each team will play the other 3 teams from the opposing bracket to start off the first round on April 2nd-4th. Every game to be played has either a time frame for 11 AM MST, 3 PM MST, and 7:30 PM MST. After the top four teams proceed to the next round, the semi-finals begin with #2 vs #3 and #1 vs #4. Games will either be at 3 PM MST or 7:30 PM MST. Obviously after that the top two teams will play for the Thorne Cup and then head to Nationals. Good luck to all 6 teams! Here are the scores for the games that named the Divisional Champions!:

Scores:

March 21st:

 Ontario Avalanche vs. Fresno Monsters: 1-4 Fresno

Colorado Eagles vs. Phoenix Knights: 4-3 Colorado

Ogden Mustangs vs. Idaho Jr Steelheads: 5-3 Ogden

Texas vs. El Paso Rhinos: 0-7 El Paso

March 22nd:

Ontario Avalanche vs. Fresno Monsters: 1-2 Fresno

Colorado Eagles vs. Phoenix Knights: 1-9 Phoenix

Ogden Mustangs vs. Idaho Jr. Steelheads: 4-3 Ogden

Texas vs. El Paso Rhinos: 2-5 El Paso

March 23rd:

Colorado Eagles vs. Phoenix Knights: 1-5 Phoenix

         Best Playoff Video I have seen in a while!

(Credit to El Paso Rhinos)