The Chicago Mission and Omaha AAA Hockey Club have had plenty of battles this year at the Youth Tier I 16U level.

The two teams squared off eight times in the regular season with the Mission gaining a 5-3 advantage, but those results were meaningless when the two met March 18 in the 2017 USA Hockey Central District Tournament in a de facto championship game at the Blue Line Family Ice Center in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Aptly, the game was tied 5-5 after regulation as Omaha carried over a 5-on-3 advantage into overtime. Mission killed off the penalties and then went on a power play of its own. Defenseman Brian Silver scored with the extra skater to give Mission a 6-5 victory and the district title.

Mission also received an automatic bid to the 2017 USA Hockey Youth Tier I 16U National Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, scheduled for April 6-10.

Team Wisconsin Youth Tier I 18U off to Nationals

The players on Team Wisconsin Youth Tier I 18U have never been to Nationals. With their opportunities dwindling, they took care of business this year.

Team Wisconsin went 2-1 in the Central District tournament on March 17-19, but scored a key victory over Chicago Mission to earn a trip to Pittsburgh for Nationals.

“I think it’s another mark for their career as far as where they want to get to,” said Luke Strand, Team Wisconsin coach. “They’re great kids. It’s nice to represent the state of Wisconsin.”

Team Wisconsin opened the tournament by taking down Mission 6-1. Team Wisconsin was tripped up by the St. Louis Junior Blues 4-3 in the middle game.

“Sunday we rebounded,” said Strand. “We knew that it was an either-win-or-done type of thing, so I give them credit for seeing the light and figuring out a way to go do it together.”

The final game was an 8-1 thumping of Omaha to clinch a spot in the national tournament.

“I thought for 200 feet of the rink, our guys stuck together, did their thing,” Strand said. “I liked how we competed. We have a really tight group of individuals and you can kind of look at them and you know they want to do it for the guys to the left and right of them.”

Strand said his power play unit, namely Ohio State commits Cole Caufield and Aaron Grounds as well as Ian Malcolmson, Chase Blackmun and Jordan Steinmetz, played well all tournament.

“That group of five do a really nice job and scored some timely goals that gave us some breathing room,” Strand said. “That being said, they got everyone involved in games that way.”

Team Wisconsin, which usually alternates its goalies, went with the hot hand of Sam Dunn. During the high school season, Dunn helped lead a deep push in the playoffs for Sun Prairie.

“It gave us some stability back there, because we have rotated the majority of the year,” Strand said. “You know what, I think at some point, he just kind of won the confidence.”

Strand is excited for his guys to get the opportunity to play at the national level.

“There’s just some undercover, good players that don’t often get on a stage like this,” Strand said. “I don’t know if they get the attention they deserve. Good for these guys to be able to do that.”

Chicago Mission Advance in Youth Tier I 14U

Chicago Mission had a dominating performance at Youth Tier I 14U in the Central District tournament, outscoring its opponents 11-2 in three victories to punch a ticket to Nationals.

Mission downed Team Wisconsin 4-1 and Omaha 6-1, then hung on to beat the St. Louis Junior Blues 1-0.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.