On Sunday, the Board of Directors of Minnesota Hockey (MNH) almost unanimously approved a new format for seeding their Regional Tournaments for Bantam AA and PeeWee AA. Last season due to the expansion to AA and A formats, there was some consternation about how AA bids to regions were distributed and where teams were sent for their team’s chance at the State Tournament. To fix this problem and build a more exciting format for the players, coaches and fans of youth hockey in Minnesota, the Board approved the following “NCAA” format. Tim Timm, the Chairman of the Tournament Committee and District Director for NW Suburbs District 10 said Saturday when speaking to the District Directors, “our committee wanted to preserve a regional feel to the State Tournament, but all the while getting the best teams in each year…” To see a full release by Minnesota Hockey, Go Here.
In the plan, the four northern districts (11, 12, 15, and 16) will have an eight team, double elimination tournament with two teams sent to State. While the remaining six seeds will be distributed to the remaining eight districts (mostly metro, plus District 9…Rochester was the only team in District 9 to file for AA status). Also note, District 5 is also considered Southern, with many of those associations from as far away as 1-2 hours of Downtown Minneapolis.