Midget Major team wins Little Caesars North American Showcase in North Dakota.

The Little Caesars North American Showcase, which ran Jan 7 -10 in Grand Forks, North Dakota was held at Ralph Engelstad Arena (home to the UND Fighting Sioux) and was a great outing for our Midget Major team.

After a 2 hour delay at the airport due to the snow storm in the mid-West on Thursday, the team arrived in Grand Forks late but was kindly welcomed by showcase organizers. 

The tournament featured five teams, including Dixon Ward's Okanagan Hockey Academy from Kelowna, B.C.,  Little Caesars , Team Rocky Mountain (Colorado), Alliance Bulldogs (Texas) and Shattuck–St. Mary’s (Minnesota).  This event was generously co-sponsored by the Little Caesars Franchise holder Brian Conneran.

The team had a fantastic experience beginning with the games and continuing with a tour of  the Ralph Engelstad Arena (home to the UND Fighting Sioux).  As part of this tournament the boys also got to attend a banquet and watch the UND vs. MSU-Mankato game.

From the onset, Shattuck-St. Mary's was the team to beat, as they currently have four players with D-I commitments on their roster and are the #1 ranked team in the nation.  Both Little Caesars and Shuttuck-St. Mary’s were entering their final game undefeated.  Little Caesars played what may have been their best game of their season with all players contributing to their eventual win of the game, 5-1, and thus winning  tournament. 

The team concluded this event with a tournament trophy, while goaltender Jeremy Shur was named MVP of the tournament stopping 46 of 47 shots during the final game against Shattuck-St. Mary’s.

Little Caesars’s Tournament Record

Little Caesars vs. Team Rocky Mountain                   Tie 1-1

Little Caesars vs. Okanagan Hockey Academy           Win 3-2

Little Caesars vs. Alliance Bulldogs                            Win 6-3

Little Caesars vs. Shattuck–St. Mary’s                        Win 5-1

The team players, coaches and parents would specially like to thank the Little Caesars Amateur Sports Foundation and Brian Conneran of Grand Forks, ND for kind financial support that enabled the team to participate in this event.  The team would also like to thank Brad Berry and his staff at the Ralph Engelstad Arena for the assistance with all the arrangements and for hosting a memorable hockey event.