Looks like SSK rolled this past weekend but the RR and Wizards are loaded.

States will be interesting.

SSK are very good but that Labor Day Tourney was weak - only other competitive team was MMF. SuperSeries will be a good test for them.

That Labor Day tourney at U14 was Tier I at best. U16 and U18 had some very good teams at the top. Between the ECC and Labor Day Faceoff tourneys, there was some strong midget hockey among the top teams being played locally.

In contrast to the U14 Labor Day tourney, probably the best U14 hockey anywhere will be played in Mass this weekend. Lots of strong US teams, including 4 from last year's top 10, the top Ontario team, and the top Quebec team.

As predicted given how many SuperSeries events SSK is playing, and their improved roster, SSK has a very strong schedule. Seacoast also has a strong schedule. Wizards, Boston Advantage, etc. play mid-level teams, so could potentially end up with a better record.

Will be curious to see how Florida Alliance and MRF do against Toronto Jr. Canadians.

The goalies that were the talk of the town at squirt level are not at the top of the list anymore as many other progressed by them. There are many great goalies at this age group, but most people look at the top teams like Islanders and Kings when looking at talent, but some of the top goalies, in my opinion, are in some of the middle of the pack teams. From last years teams, Falcons, Eagles, Flames,Terriers and E9 Warriors, all had great goaltending. Goalies will not develop without seeing shots.

This is an extremely insightful observation said very well. From what I know, and have heard and learned on the DBoard, the goalies mentioned are all very good and playing for the following teams this season. Lots of movement.

Falcons/CT Jr. Huskies — Tall goalie going to Elite in CT; not sure about other goalie. Springfield?
Eagles — Remainig with Eagles.
Flames — One to SSK, one to Islanders U14/15.
Terriers — Going to U16 Islanders.
Warriors — Going to Cyclones.

I would also add Patriots goalie going to Rats.

Anyone know where the two Bandits goalies are playing?

Parent of a younger goalie goalie here. Are any of these goalies going to play for high schools? Or do they find full season teams?

I heard one Bandits goalie going to U14 Islanders, but I could be wrong.

Good thread on the 2004s, who honestly seem not to have gotten much attention on the kiddie boards throughout the years. If the Wizards turn out to be as good or better than NVRR and the Cyclones make some noise, it'll be interesting to see where this thread goes since both teams are predominantly made up of "E9 players", which does not fit the typical DBoard narrative.

Terriers goalie from last year went U16

Good comments all around. I know that the rats and wizards both have former MFRs on their roster to his season so I wonder if MF will be as strong. I’ve noticed there are quite a few highly skilled players at the 04 level who are currently overshadowed by the kids that grew more quickly. Will be interesting to see how things evolve over the next few years as everyone catches up.

Seacoast beat both your NJ Avs and Lac St. Louis today. Funny listening to you hockey experts on a team you know nothing about. Tell me where do stand now against your mighty SSQ and Rivermice?

Can't agree more watched both on livebarn. The supposed D1 defenseman from NH is the #3 or #4 Dman on that team. If he's goind D1 hopefully it's in another sport. Lacrosse?

I know you are excited Seacoast is 2-0, but let's look at this objectively. Seacoast has two quality wins by one goal against good, not great teams, and it's still very early in the season. Their win against Lac St. Louis North, who lost their best forward to Shattuck, was on a goal with 2 seconds left. Exciting win, and easily could have been a tie.

I've always thought Seacoast was going to do well (their roster has too many good players not to), and expressed in another thread long before it was fashionable to do so and way before they had a single win that Seacoast is a team in the conversation to be one of the better 04 teams in NE. I also believe given all the team and individual skill training Seacoast will have as part of the Academy that they are poised to improve significantly over the course of the season. We know they have a solid D and some solid forwards, so the question was depth at forward and goalie. If they can get solid play out their goalies, they could really be a team to beat.

I also said the NJ Avs would not be as good as last year after losing their top defender and overall best player to prep, and one of their top forwards to MFR. Seacoast beat NJ Avs 3-2, but St. Louis Blues beat NJ Avs 5-0. St. Louis was ranked 18th last year and picked up several of the top players from St. Louis AIC Prospects (ranked 31st last year), so Blues are improved and have more depth, which is what really separates teams.

Tomorrow, Seacoast plays Valley Forge Minutemen, and Carolina Hurricanes. Valley Forge is another good, not great team. Carolina tied the Wizards 3-3, so that should be an interesting outcome as well. The real test for Seacoast will come on Sunday when they play the Colorado Thunderbirds. In the upset of the season so far, the Tbirds beat the Toronto Jr. Canadians 3-1. Tbirds followed up with a 4-0 win over SSK. TBirds finished last year ranked 8th with a really strong schedule and appear to have improved. As mentioned previously, the top clubs in outlying hockey areas (like Colorado and St. Louis) tend to consolidate local talent at the bantam and midget levels. This appears to be the case with these two teams.

Jr. Canadians followed up that loss to the Tbirds with a 5-1 beat down on Florida Alliance, who was ranked 3rd last year, went to Nationals as an underage team, and picked up some talent. The only potential knock on Alliance is that they have a lot of skillful, smaller players. They played Honeybaked and MFR really tight last year, but weren't able to beat them. In another interesting twist, in its earlier game Florida Alliance thrashed Lac St. Louis North 8-1, a team Seacoast only beat 3-2 on a last second goal.

I've consistently said that the Rats have yet to show that they belong in the conversation, but that as a new team they will improve. I personally believe there has been more hype around them than they deserve. The Kings have one of the toughest schedules at the Breakout. They will probably have a losing record, but I respect wanting to play the top teams, which will no doubt pay off in states. SSK has a good roster and will have a solid season playing strong competition. MFR is still the top team in NE until someone shows they can consistently beat them.

Let's see how the Saturday and Sunday games go before we have any more chest thumping.

Thanks for the write-up Mr. Cox. I'll be sure to pay my subscription when it's due so next time. So maybe you can write something nice about our team. Or should I grab a former pro's kid or a BU, BC alum kid so you will like us.😂😂😂

Can't decide if I like being compared to someone who gets paid to do this, or if I'm annoyed I'm compared to someone who is not very good or insightful.

Since I don't get paid unfortunately, renewing your subscription won't make a difference. I think you are confusing me with Mr. Cox, NHL or local DI pedigree don't matter to me, just read my posts. Call 'em like I see them. And I'm not even completely sure who fits those labels.

What also isn't clear to me is what or which team you are whining about. I'm treating SSK, Seacoast, MFR, Cyclones, Rats, Wizards, etc. no differently by offering my honest opinion. MFR top dawg, looking forward to their games and how they do nationally. Will any local team challenge them? SSK and and Seacoast obviously good and I like their upside (I've said that repeatedly), top teams in Mass and NH, but I'm not ready to declare them national champs yet, let's see how this weekend and the season unfolds. What will be really interesting is how they do against each other when/if they play, or where they end up in relative rankings. Cyclones probably slot in next, but have a weaker Breakout schedule so we won't know more after this weekend. Rats in my view haven't proven yet they are really in the conversation beyond the hype, but they will no doubt improve. Respect Wizards keeping team together, success in E9 in past years, but I think Seacoast will easily handle them. Are they even really in the conversation? Don't claim to have all the facts or a crystal ball, but it makes for interesting discussion.


P.S. I do like the other poster's name of "Anny" mocking me.

Boy this post couldn't have been timed any more poorly.

How the hell do you know all these things about all the 2004 players all over the country?

Yeah....good point....Kinda creepy dude....:fearful: :scream: :fearful:

Nah, get past all that cliche stuff about candy and vans, and appreciate the insight for what it is. As someone that's followed 2004 hockey for, what, 8 years now I think it's great. Was thinking this weekend that this guy must be a coach or manager of one of the higher end 2004 teams in the area to get that much insight on players throughout the country. It's really not a huge universe of teams that are at that highest youth level, not like it's baseball or soccer with hundreds if not thousands of clubs to follow. I'm sure he's preparing a report on the Super Series as we speak!

Where are you?

Need a recap. What teams looked good, what kids?

Your insight is appreciated and respected

He's over in Russia with the Seacoast team watching his supposed D1 son skate against Russians that are 16 but their birth certificates say 14.

If only I was traveling the world. Instead I've been working (believe it or not, posting on the DBoard is not my actual job). Have a bit of free time after a long day, some dinner and a cold beer, so thought I would check in after the big weekend.

If I have one word to describe the 04 hockey scene this past weekend at the Breakout and elsewhere, that word is: mixed. The results were decidedly mixed for teams with a variety of factors contributing to uneven results on the first really significant weekend of the hockey season. Still early, but I think those mixed results, combined with the breakup of the dominant team Honeybaked as we knew it, and the natural ebb and flow of teams, is going to make for one of the most wide open seasons we've seen in a number of years.

Let's start right here in NE with the Breakout:

MFR -- Still the best team in NE but are we sensing some cracks in the armor? Reasonably competitive two goal wins against Valley Forge and Lac St. Louis South, and a solid 5-0 win over SSK, but a 7-0 loss to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and a 7-2 loss to Florida Alliance? What's going on? MRF had competitive games with FA last year, but won every single game against them. FA has definitely improved, but that score is a head turner that probably says more about MFR than it does about Florida Alliance's improvement. I've always thought that MFR had a better style of play than pretty much every other team, an unbelievably strong and big defensive core, solid goaltending and two small but highly skilled forwards surrounded by a lot of good forwards who all know their role. If you watch MFR play, they always have a forward up high skating back and forth -- sometimes even at their offensive blue line -- waiting to expose the D. The minute they gain possession of the puck in the defensive zone the four remaining players are all sprinting in their lanes to transition to offense. They are the best 04 team at this. But in Bantam Major and Midget, the gap between teams becomes narrower and schemes that worked at younger ages are no longer as effective. I think that is what's happening here. That won't work with a TJC or FA who have as good or better players. MFR also lost a top D to Shattuck, and is integrating some new players. Stock slightly down.

FA -- Really quick and skilled team. Easily top 5. Added a couple new forwards and some defensive depth, including a top defender from Chicago, whose father owns and runs SuperSeries. Some of their most skilled players are small, but boy can they play. Will be back at Nationals and looks primed to make a run. Stock slightly up.

TJC -- Best youth hockey team in North America? The world? Loaded with big boy talent who will be high OHL draft picks. Play with that hallmark Canadian style were every shift is intense and fast. The 6 footer forward can flat out play. He was the MVP at WSI in Spain. Stock up.

Colorado Thunderbirds -- Upset of the weekend beating TJC. TBirds have always sought out the best competition and consistently been a top 10 team. Very direct style of tough play. They look to have improved this season. Tied Team Maryland and LSL South, and beat SSK and Seacoast. Definitely a team to keep an eye on. Stock up.

SSK -- Can't quite slug it out toe to toe with the big boys yet, but a very good team that will improve. As of right now, I would slot them in as the second best team in NE behind MFR. New forwards have really added depth. SSK needs to tighten up goals allowed to really compete. New D and goalie should help. Interestingly, goals allowed was the Achilles heel for SSK last year. They are playing an aggressive schedule. Stock slightly up.

Seacoast -- Very impressive new team with lots of upside. Nice opening win against NJ Avs, however as noted the Avs lost quality players and seemed to have a shorter bench due to injuries. Still, nice win. Also a thrilling finish against LSC North with a goal scored in the in the final 2 seconds by a fellow Quebecois. Really came back to earth with the Valley Forge and TBirds games. Seacoast has 3 legit forwards and 4-5 very solid D. Possibly second best D group in NE after MFR. Interested to see how the international travel goes, and Will be curious to see their improvement by Thanksgiving with the extra training. Stock slightly up.

Valley Forge, Team Maryland, St. Louis, NJ Avs -- All will be solid teams throughout the season.

Wizards -- Respectable showing against lesser competition. Will have to show they belong in the conversation. Hold.

Cyclones -- Also played lesser competition and were .500. Did they have players on their summer team that aren't on the regular season team? Stock slightly down.

While Rats didn't play in Breakout, they have played a number of games. Good record, but not a single win against a quality team. Looking forward to them playing some competition. Hold.

Side note, I really like the SuperSeries format where teams play a greater number of competitive games than with traditional pool and elimination tournaments. For the most part, I think the SuperSeries staff does a really good job with this.

Outside of NE, Buffalo Jr. Sabres beat Toronto Titans 4-1 and lost to the Southern Tier Admirals 2-3 in a SO. Both solid Ontario teams.

Compuware, who was top 15 last year and added a number of strong Honeybaked kids, lost its opener to Quinte Red Devils, a strong Canadian team that plays really hard and scrappy. Compuware went on to be beat several lesser Canadian teams.

Little Caesars has won all of its games easily. They improved this season, picking up some solid Detroit and Chicago players.

Ohio Blue Jackets beat Pittsburg Penguins Elite in back to back games by one goal. Pens are improved with their new academy and NHL facility. Blue Jackets have always been solid defensively, if not flashy. Both team will be in the mix in top 15.

By next week, we should see more teams in action, including Shattuck's opening series against Green Bay Jr. Gamblers. This could be Shattuck's best Bantam team since 01. One of their top D, if not top D, just broke his ankle and is out for a couple months.

Signing off, gotta go see if the wife's in the mood before it gets too late.

Seems like a bunch of teams had at least one game they'd like back - FL, JRC, MFR, NJAvs, MD, SSK, VF, STL, Seacoast- all had at least one.

Still early, but all those teams will be among the better teams most of the year.

Seacoast beat an injury riddled AVs team and the LSL B team...congrats

BA played in some lower level teams and did well. Lost some games due to school commitments and competed very well.

Kings had the toughest NE Schedule and looks like they held their own. They beat VF which Seacoast got smoked by. Saw the 1st two period of the Colorado game and they outplayed the T Birds but couldn't get it past their goalie.

Are you seriously trying to compare BA with Seacoast? BA is a decent E9 team but can’t handle a team like seacoast.

From the mouths of 2 pro scouts, there is not 1 04 kid in the area that is on their radar to play D1. 04 talent in NE does not compare to other parts of the country and that is a fact. You should be worried about your kid just making the HS team!!

ZZZZZ...well at least one committed to BC so.....

Agree that 04 talent in NE is not as good or deep compared to the rest of the country, but disagree that there aren’t legitimate 04 DI prospects in NE.

For starters, one 04 in NE already has a DI commit, to BC no less—the defender from MFR. I think on MFR alone there are 2 forwards and 1-2 more D (including the D that went to Shattuck this year) that will end up with DI commits.

In Mass, there are at least 3 D that have DI potential, and a couple more that will get some serious looks. Forwards are definitely thinner. There are 2 who stand out to me. How they do in prep over the next year or two will have a big influence on their DI prospects. There are a couple more Mass forwards on the D1 periphery. Goalies are a tougher call because they are the latest developing. I can see one goalie from CT and one from Mass getting some looks if they continue to progress.

Keep in mind that I am using high-end DI school’s as a standard here. There are 60 DI schools, so obviously there is wide variation between the top 10 and the bottom 10. Over the next couple of years, I think the available pool of DI players in NE will grow as the boys develop.

Just to put it all into perspective, there are only 7 04‘s that are committed right now, and 3 of them just happened in the past month. Here is their position, college, current team, and my observations of them (I have seen all of them play at least 2 times, except 2 of the players I have not seen play):

F, Minnesota, MN Gentry Galaxy 15’s — Word is he is an excellent playmaker with great skill. Has been playing up for a few years now with his brother the goal scorer, who is also committed to Minnesota.
F, Wisconsin, Hill-Murray HS, MN (formerly with MN Fire/Blades) — Maybe the most talented 04 forward. Can skate by good players at the highest level and finish. Great hands and maneuverability. Not the tallest but very strong. Obviously skilled, but is it that he is just more physically mature than other kids at this age?
F, Michigan, St. George’s School (Vancouver) — Put up a ton of points last year, so much so that Michigan committed to him. This year in Bantam prep will provide a better read. A top WHL prospect, so strong possibility he could end up there.
D, BC, MFR — The player most have seen. First 04 D to commit. Among strong D he stands out. Not surprised by his commitment at all.
F, Notre Dame, Honeybaked — No. 1 forward on best 04 team the past several years. Always dangerous with puck, can finish.
D, Michigan, Honeybaked — Honeybaked’s D was not considered as strong as its offense. Very solid, smart player, but is he elite? Dad sponsored Honeybaked and players leaving this season was somewhat of a revolt against him.
F BU, NJ Avs U16 — Was only a matter of time for this commit. He has been 6 feet plus since peewee. Played U14 last year, U16 this year. Tremendous release. Curious to see how he does in U16. Does he have enough grit?

My guess is 5 of these players will be invited to the Final 40 for the NTDP and will likely make the team. There are 2 Canadian forwards who I would rank above all these players. Both will play CHL at 15 as an exception, one in WHL and one in OHL, and both will likely be the first pick going up against 03’s.

We are just at the beginning of 04’s getting committed, so a lot will happen over the next couple of years. Will be fun to follow.

"from the mouth of two pro scouts" Yeah right buddy. Maybe your kid isn't in the mix.

I can count 6-10 kids right now are on the Radar. More will follow over the next few years.

MMF/Cushing/SSK/RR/BA/St Georges

Let me guess, your kid is a prospect. You are just like every douchbag that your freshman hockey player is going pro. He probably dominates his town team!! Go get em!

Nope

Just observing the 04 kids. To say there is no D1 prospects in NE is absurd.

Nitpicking, but he did say "the area". I wouldn't consider Mid-Fairfield to be in the area, as much as the EHF would love to claim them for youth hockey world dominance. Later poster mentioned a few "area" kids on the radar. I believe that to be true, but you can't deny that most of the early attention on 04s has been on out-of-area players.

The entire ncaa early recruitment trend is ubsurd. that aside, there are plenty “prospects” amoung the local 04 birth year, but it will take the next few years for things to shake out. Right now the early growth kids are getting all the attention because they can dominate the game with size. everyone else will catch up shortly and then it will become more clear how many 04s are able to take their game to the next level. Looking forward to see how many 04 9th graders are able to crack prep lineups this winter.

Enough of the Seacoast crap, all because you pay 14K for your kid to billet (yes, I said Billet for some of these 14 year-olds and take online classes, which is ridiculous for this age but this is another thread) and take 4 over seas trips doesn't mean your that good. This team can't hold the jocks of past bantam major teams such as 97' Warriors & Spartans

Hey buddy sorry your kid team sucks. Are you up here for the 97 Warriors 20th reunion 😂.

Sea coast finished 59th in USA last season. They added one good forward and a decent d, they might break the top 50 this season. Might

I’ll take that over. Seacoast will easily be ranked higher than 50th. The more interesting question is whether they will crack the top 30. Early, but I still lean over. What is unclear to me is how or if at all the international games they are playing will be included in any rankings. I doubt they will be.

I would estimate there are only 5 or 6 players from last year’s team. Seacoast added a lot more than one good F and one good D.

Paying $14K doesn't entitle the team that it has pick up good players. Just someone with a checkbook.

What teams did the other players come from? Looking at a roster I only recognize the huskies kids, a couple avalanche/top gun.

That I know of:

Carolina Jr. Hurricanes
Vermont Flames (U14)
CT Roughriders
Patriots
Huskies (2)
Top Gun (2)
Quebec (2)
France
Goalie from CT

Rest from Seacoast(6)

I guess we now know Anony is with the Seacoast team

Haha! I suspected someone would jump to the wrong conclusion that I’m with Seacoast if I posted info about the Seacoast roster, but I value information over inference so decided to put it out there. Look on the Seacoast Performance Academy Facebook page. There are writeups about all the players (although apparently not everyone listed is actually on the team). That’s where the info I posted comes from, coupled with my general knowledge of the 04 NE hockey scene. By the way, I’ve also posted roster info for SSK and Rats, which also included prep/HS info on the Rats players, as well as info on 04’s playing U16.

Not really an impressive set of teams. Really is pay to play....

Bingo!

So instead you’re admitting to stalking 14yo boys??

DOB dumb ass. Half the players on each team are playing college hockey.

That would be 20th birthday fella...new to youth hockey?

My bet is on the sabres with the most D1 commits. Team plays the right way and is filled with great players. Forwards are dangerous top to bottom and the D is unmatched

Thanks Coach!! Glad to see you're doing well...:relieved: :relieved: :relieved:

I would tend to agreee with the previous. No team around here playing like them, just a fact.

How does someone in Boston know wo much about the Buffalo Jr Sabres?

For a single birth year, the universe of kids on the Top 20 teams is not large. You go to a few tournaments per year and meet a few parents of kids on these teams, stay in touch over the years and now you know the teams, the kids, and where they move around to. Not my thing, but if you are a good networker and/or very outgoing person, I could see it not being very difficult.

Have seen the sabres play and think they play the right way, thats all. They are a group of kids to be admired for the way they play and I think there will be a lot of prospects for schools off of this team.

I could agree with this. Think they are a great team.

Fixed your sentence for you. “I could agree with this. They think they are a great team.” You’re welcome.

That's funny!

Buffalo Jr. Sabres have really improved their roster over the last couple of years. They were a top 10 team a couple years ago based mainly on strength of schedule, but were regularly beaten by lower ranked teams who didn't play as strong of a schedule with all the Ontario teams in close proximity to Buffalo. Last season they upgraded their talent quite a bit by consolidating the top Buffalo players and adding a really strong and big Ontario forward. This season they continued to add quality players, including the big D from Boston Jr. Bandits. Sabres have 3-4 very legit forwards. Their improvement, and Honeybaked somewhat breaking up has really opened the door. They are clearly a top 5 team. The only NE team in the same class is MRF, and as I noted following the Boston Breakout, while MFR is still very good, it does not appear to be the same dominant team it once was. Still early.

I actually think MFR has one of the best playing styles around, better than Sabres, but I think other good teams have closed the gap or passed MFR heading into Bantam Major. Sabres are going to be in the conversation this year, but still have to show they can consistently beat the top teams. They weren't quite able to do that last year, but are improved this year with lots of talented players.

The rest of local NE teams are a step down, but have improved over last year. The biggest issue is that the local competition is not very good in either E9 or EHF at U14. The local competition won't be good again until U16.

Looking nationally, LC improved their roster and just beat an improved Mission team that has the top Chicago talent 4-2. LC looks to be one of the stronger Detroit teams. Shattuck had 2 wins and a tie against the Gamblers, who are a top Wisconsin team. Shattuck lost one of its top D to a broken ankle, and its second goalie is not as strong as their top goalie, who used to play for the MN Fire/Blades. Compuware, who picked up about 6 Honeybaked players, has started strong. Honeybaked plays the Sabres next week, so we'll get a pretty good read of what they'll be this year. They still have some top end players -- including 2 college commits already -- but wont' have the depth of the last couple of years.

Rats play Sabres in a couple of weeks. What's the over/under for those games? 6 goal differential?

USHL showcase (next week) should give an early reading of the national landscape. 10 of the perceived top 15 teams in the country (arguably) will be there, including last year's top-6.

A lot of Jr Sabre talk from a Boston guy...just sayin

I bet it's not a Boston guy. Boston Jr Bandits?

That's because he is from Buffalo originally and his kid plays for Seacoast. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this guy out.

The funny thing is when the jr sabres play the rats in a few weeks and gut them like a fish we will be talking about them a whole lot more:)

Sabres have better goalies than the Rats but not by a huge margin. River Rats have skaters whereas the Sabres want to hit you (repeatedly). If the NVRR hit back and we will have ourselves a game.

Ahhhhh....wait until the hitting starts. I see what you did there...

If..........................

That’s a good one. The Rats have skaters and the Sabres don’t? That’s pretty funny to imagine.

Those same Sabres skaters who got outplayed, out coached (yeah I said it) and out defended by the Ct Junior Huskies (Twice) last year? Show me the skaters.

Enjoy your win guys. Everyone runs into a hot goalie now and then. From what I heard it was totally lopsided so dont get too excited, you stole a few games last year because of a nice goalie, not a nice team.

It's not about the w's at this point. The scouts are looking at individuals who are skilled, have the right attitude and play a hard game.

There are plenty of talented kids on the Sabres/Kings/Rats and yes, BA and Wizards that are and will be getting D1 looks.

Only a couple have the ability to make it to the Show. The scouts already know which ones and are tracking them.

Still early, lots of games to play, and some quality teams not even ranked yet, but I thought the first week of 04 rankings was pretty consistent with the discussion on this thread for the last several weeks, both in NE and nationally.

MFR is ranked outside the top 10 for the first time I can ever remember. They are facing some good competition this weekend in Pittsburgh, so will be interesting to see how they do.

Yesterday, SSK lost to LC, the no. 1 ranked team, 10-0. I think there are a number of talented players on SSK, but they really struggle to keep the puck out of the back of the net, especially against quality teams. I think it's a team defense issue. They simply can't compete on a national level with the way they give up goals.

Cyclones are the next highest ranked team and split games two weeks ago with Rats.

Last weekend, Rats played Florida Alliance three times, and lost all three games by a combined 18-4.

Boston Advantage next, but haven't played anyone.

Then Wizards, who lost (competitively) to the one good team they have played (Team Maryland).

Then Seacoast, who are ranked exactly one spot higher than fellow NH team Top Gun, whose top two D went to Seacoast.

Only wish all our boys the very best, but not a great start for the NE 04 teams.

I think the NE 04 teams are hurt by the fact that some of the most elite players aren't even playing U14 in NE. While there are some exceptions, not generally the case elsewhere. Top D in prep playing U18 split season, top D playing U14 Buffalo Jr. Sabres, top goalie playing U16 Islanders, top forward on Rats may have moved to U16. These are the kind of players that if they were on one team with other quality players would be difference-makers. A few other quality 04's are playing U16, etc. The opposite is true elsewhere, with often the very best 04's playing for the same team, or more depth than in NE across a few teams. Something to think about.

Not sure I'd totally agree with you.
Same things are happening elsewhere:
-Most Illinois kids are spread out among their 4 AAA teams, but several top players have moved away to play in FL, PA and MI.

-MI kids are certainly spread out, especially after the implosion of Honeybaked. There are MI 04s playing U16 and in Ontario, which thins things out.

-Kids from FL and other non-traditional hockey markets have been heading north to play in MI, MA, IL, MN, etc.

MA/NE may have more teams, so it's watered down for sure, but let's not pretend that we're the only place where 04s aren't consolidated.

Another week of MHR and it looks like mass teams are drawing closer together...

04 Bandits big D playing for Buffalo Jr. Sabres this season committed to Colorado College. Not surprising to me that the next NE commit is a D.

Colorado College has nice facilities, is in a beautiful setting, plays in a very strong conference (last three national champions), but historically is not the strongest team. The schools in the NCHC are really far away from each other, so lots of overnight travel as compared to Hockey East, for example.

Cox posted his list of top 2004s. Couple of major omissions..,

Would love to read it, but not paying a fee to read about 04’s. Stupid!!

Looking to Buffalo today, is MHR correct? it seems as if the skaters that the Rats have that are were said to be so much better than the Sabres had a little trouble skating today in there 7-0 loss to Buffalo. I though they had skaters? I thought they were going to show Buffalo how to play physical?

Thanks for the update from Buffalo. Congrats on the early commit.

In retrospect, those two trips to Florida and Buffalo were ill-conceived. I guess they thought their team was better than it is. I for one would be pretty disappointed traveling for two weekends to go 0-6 and be outscored 34-7. They could have gotten better games back home, plenty of teams around here playing at their level.

Thank you Seacoast team manager who hails from Buffalo. He's trying to belittle Rats for Seacoast's benefit.

No horse is this race, but I think he is just stating facts.

If you are spending good money to attend out-of-state hockey tournaments and go win-less while giving up over 30 goals, then you are doing it wrong.

To put things in perspective, the Rats beat the Militia by a minute score of 2-0 early in the season. The Militia are made up of a bunch of EHF Tier 1 kids who decided to give "elite" hockey a go for 1/2 a season until their public school JV schedule starts. So there.

Rats will end all talk after this weekend!

End all talk due to a supreme performance? Or due to a head-scratching loss that takes them out of larger conversation?

It'll have to be the latter, because there's nobody at the Prep Cup that would be a game changing win.

Not the first time I will be wrong about 14 y/o kids. Congrats to 04 Buffalo Jr. Sabres. They are a really good team. Clearly I didn't see these games but I do think NVRR can play better

Sabres beat Rats 7-0? Guess it was the over for my over/under of a 6 goal differential. Not a bad line.

Looks like sea coast is not even in the conversation once out of our area. Jr Sabres crushing it again. Look no further

Rats take control for Nationals with a dominate win vs. Kings.

First game vs Kings they lost 6-2

Lost to Cyclones in the final 2-0.

Kings dominated

“Kings WERE dominated”

Rats at least put themselves a bit in the conversation with a 4 goal win over SSK, which was preceded by a 4 goal loss to SSK, and succeeded by a 2 goal loss to Cyclones, so not many certainties. I think SSK is more talented, but they give up a lot of goals. Rats is a new team so has more room for improvement over the course of the season. Still a long time before the Mass team for U14 Nationals will be decided in March 2019, and Wizards or BA might put themselves in the picture. Mass feels a bit like JV compared to the 04 teams nationally.

12 out of the top 14 2004 teams nationally were in action this past weekend at the Motown and Notre Dame tournaments. Lots of close games, and really not that much separation among the top teams.

MFR did well at ND, going 4-1. MRF seems to be doing better than the beginning of the season, but is not quite where it has been traditionally. Pittsburgh Penns Elite is going to be a tough out at Nationals. They have an academy similar to Seacoast and are improving based on how they are doing against top teams.

Seacoast was at Motown and struggled against both good and average competition. I'm still cautiously optimistic about Seacoast as a new team with the extra training they are getting and likely resulting improvement over the course of the season. Travel is a factor that is not often considered in how teams do at away tournaments.

Somebody keeps pumping the Buffalo Jr. Sabres on the DBoard. They are clearly a talented team, and have 2 DI commits (D - Colorado College; F - Penn State). They also played at Motown, but are still not ready to beat the top teams, losing 4-2 to Compuware, who beat LC 2-1 in OT in the Motown semis and lost 5-7 to Honeybaked in the finals. Those 3 Detroit teams will beat and lose to each other a bunch this year, as they already have. Interestingly, although Honeybaked won this tournament, they might be the third best team in MI behind Compuware and LC.

One team that has quietly worked its way into the Nationals conversation is the Syracuse Nationals (ironically). I look for them to move up in the rankings to become a legit at large contender. They are clearly the second best team in NY and might even potentially challenge the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. Syracuse tied and lost to MFR, and just lost in OT and won in OT against Southern Tier Admirals, the no. 2 ranked Canadian team. It's all about the match ups, but just for comparison's sake, Southern Tier Admirals beat Buffalo Jr. Sabres in a shootout, so they are all in the neighborhood of each other. This also points out just how close the top teams are, and how good the US 04 teams are, with the 15th ranked US team basically playing 2 games even with the no. 2 Canadian team.

Just for clarity, the sabres gave up empty net goals in very close games that could have gone either way against both LC and Compuware, losing both of those games by essentially 1 goal. I don't think you can rightfully say they are not ready to beat the top teams, that is really just an ill informed opinion which you are entitled to, but holds no credibility. The sabres hit three posts against LC and that made a difference in the outcome. LC was outplayed but got the win that day with some puck luck, that's hockey. Sabres have proven themselves for years and they will see those teams again.