BLOG: Brannon McManus, Mat Robson and Sam Rossini advance to junior league championships

Both the upcoming Canadian Junior A and USHL championships will be contested by players heading to the University of Minnesota.

Brannon McManus, Mat Robson and Sam Rossini all advanced over the weekend. Garrett Wait, meanwhile, can join them tonight (May 9, 2017) when Waterloo (USHL) faces Sioux City in a winner-take-all Game 5.

Whichever team wins advances to the Clark Cup Final to face McManus' Chicago Steel team in a best-of-five series. (5/9 9:40 pm CT Update: Sioux City took Game 5 and the series with a 8-3 victory.)

Chicago earlier defeated Dubuque 3 games to 1 to take the USHL Eastern Conference title. The 5'9", 181 lbs forward continued his scoring streak after notching the game-tying and game-winning goals in Game 1. McManus, who split the season between Omaha and Chicago, finished the four game series with four goals and an assist.

Here is McManus (#15) scoring in Chicago's 7-3 Game 4 win (starts at 1:19 mark).


Robson and Rossini, teammates with Penticton, already won the BCHL championship. They will get a chance to compete for the Canadian Junior A championship after advancing to the RBC Cup with a 3-2 win over Chilliwack to grab the second spot.

The Vees were one of two teams to come out of the Western Canada Cup, made up of the four western Canadian league champions (and BCHL runner-up Chilliwack since Penticton doubled as host).

Robson, who signed a letter of intent to play at Minnesota last month, has shined in net in single-elimination situations this postseason. Penticton had five Game 7s or must-win games, including needing to win twice in the Western Canada Cup. In those the Toronto native stopped 107 of 112 shots, finishing with a .955 save percentage, 0.97 GAA and a pair of shutouts in five victories.

Rossini, a defenseman from Inver Grove Heights, is getting his legs back following a season debut in Game 7 of the BCHL Final (also against Chilliwack - somehow those two teams played each other 11 times in a season).

The @PentictonVees push ahead by a 3-0 score as @Jared14Nash bangs home a rebound off a @samrossini shot! #WCC2017 #Road2RBC pic.twitter.com/xKPA74nZL5

— WesternCanadaCup (@CJHL_WCC) May 6, 2017

The RBC Cup begins this weekend in Cobourg, Ontario. Teams will play a round-robin tournament with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.

Any champion this season would join fellow Minnesota commit Blake McLaughlin in claiming a title. McLaughlin helped lead Grand Rapids to the Minnesota Class AA boys hockey title. He also skated for the Steel following Grand Rapids' season, but did not play in the series against Dubuque.

BLOG: Gopher commits in playoffs + U-18 WJC Schedule

Yes, the college hockey season is over. Several Minnesota commits play on, however.

Watch the highlights from the U.S. Men's National U18 Team's win over Belarus today at #U18Worlds.

More coverage: https://t.co/MZCPbh2Pj0 pic.twitter.com/TmFCWBYhyk

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) April 13, 2017

Scott Reedy and Nate Knoepke earlier today kicked off the 2017 U-18 World Junior Championships in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia with a 7-0 win over Belarus. Knoepke (Farmington, MN) finished Thursday with two assists. His first helped up set Reedy's (Prior Lake, MN) goal (happens at about the :25 mark in the above tweet).

What's Next? A Look At The 2017-18 Minnesota Men's Hockey Roster (Part 1)

Casey Mittelstadt makes it looks effortless #WhosNext pic.twitter.com/qdXeQ5dmLf

— USHL (@USHL) March 26, 2017

The movie never ends. The soap opera is told and unfolds. But the beat goes on, and so do we.

Tickets remain to be punched (or, since it's 2017, they are more likely to be scanned off of a smartphone) for this year's Frozen Four. With Minnesota's season over following yesterday's 3-2 upset loss to Notre Dame, attention turns away from the Northeast Regional and Chicago.

Instead, let's take a look to the 2017-18 season, which begins (and could end) in the Twin Cities. Minnesota sees plenty of turnover. A large senior class departs for the pros and real life. In their place, head coach Don Lucia brings in his best recruiting class on paper since 2010-11.

BLOG: Casey Mittelstadt named USHL Forward of the Week

Returning to the USHL with some unfinished business that will stay that way, it didn't take long for Eden Prairie senior and Minnesota commit Casey Mittelstadt to make an impact in his first weekend back with Green Bay Gamblers.

Mittelstadt was on Monday named the USHL Forward of the Week. The 2016 Minnesota Mr. Hockey scored a pair of goals Friday, finishing with three points. He added three more assists in wins against Cedar Rapids and Madison.

Yes he is... #GoGamblers. @CMittelstadt with 3 points tonight (2g, 1a) in the @USHL tonight pic.twitter.com/slL2EjBkIC

— Green Bay Gamblers (@GamblersHockey) March 18, 2017