Shattuck-St. Mary’s came loaded for bear — and the championship — at the 2024-25 Circle K Classic.
No messing around whatsoever …
Despite talk of the contrary among fans in the stands, the top-shelf Minnesota academy brought its top-flight roster in defence of the tournament title it won last year in Calgary.
“It is our top guys — it always is,” said Shattuck-St. Mary’s head coach Tom Ward. “We have two 18-year-old teams, and we always bring our best kids — our best team — here and always have and always will. We will never not bring our best.
“It’s just a great event for us,” continued Ward. “We’re proud to say we’ve done pretty good up here. So we like this tournament, we like this week up in Calgary.
“We didn’t come here to not win. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to put our best foot forward to win.”
So far, so good, as they are just two wins shy of the championship banner in the home-stretch of the under-18 AAA hockey tournament …
Shattuck’s on the right track again
It’s not hard to understand the school’s attraction to The Circle K with five titles taken home from the city’s holiday-time event.
Their triumph last year made them the all-time king of the tourney.
And after Tuesday’s early win in the A-side quarterfinal — a 6-1 decision over the Phoenix Jr Coyotes in a rematch of last year’s 3-0 championship victory — Shattuck-St. Mary’s is just two wins shy of a sixth banner here and successful defence of last January’s accomplishment.
They play the Northern Alberta Xtreme in Tuesday’s late afternoon semifinal at Max Bell Centre (4 p.m.), with an eye towards Wednesday’s championship finale (3 p.m., Max Bell).
“So we’re a good team — not a great team this year,” said Ward, in breaking down his current squad. “Last year, we were a good team plus we had some guys that really played the game the right way, and they have a chance to make money playing the game.
“I mean … nobody’s guaranteed anything, but there’s a couple three guys that were in that group last year that have a chance to play for money some day.
“And we’re not that way this year, but I do like our guys.”
The reigning champs came into Calgary with a tremendous 21-5-2 record and have added five more no-doubter wins to that mark with their feats of dominance here.
And the team is top-ranked on MyHockeyRankings.com’s 2024-25 USA 18U board, eight months after winning the 2024 USA Hockey Youth Tier 1 18U national championship.
“They’re super great kids, and we’ve got a really, really, really good bunch of guys and good families that are in our program right now,” Ward said. “We’re just spoiled coming off last year, so it’s hard to compare. We had a really good team last year.”
However, they are building quite the resumé again this year.
And that’s not easy when there’s a target forever on their back.
“Every game we play … always,” Ward said. “But it’s good pressure for them. They come to our school to play in games like that and have to perform. That’s part of the learning process and the things they take with them when they leave our school.
“We’re lucky,” continued Ward. “We get kids like Macklin Celebrini and some of these guys move on and do great things, and we like to think that we didn’t screw them up. And hopefully, they’re taking some of that stuff with them that they learned in our school.
“And we hope some of the guys that aren’t first-pick-overall guys take that to their junior team and take that to their college program. That’s what we’re most proud of as they go into our next stop and help that team, too.”
Ward’s got one kid helping a team on the world junior stage right now.
Roberts Naudins, a talented forward, is on Latvia’s roster at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, where the European country pulled off a stunning upset of host Canada in the round-robin part of the tournament.
“Yeah … big win,” added Ward. “The kids are all pulling for him, except for our Canadian boy, Graham Jones from Winnipeg.”
What happened on Tuesday’s Day 5?
• Jones had a goal and three assists for Shattuck-St. Mary’s in the quarterfinal win over the Coyotes.
• NAX advanced with its 3-2 quarters win in overtime over 14-year-old phenom Maddox Schultz and the Regina Pat Canadians. It was Rose Maddox with the OT winner at the 4:46 mark.
• Calgary International Hockey Academy also advanced to the semis with a 3-2 OT shoot-out triumph over the Airdrie CFR Bisons in a battle between local squads.
• The other side making the A-side final four is B.C.’s Burnaby Winter Club after a 6-2 defeat of B.C.’s RHA Kelowna program.
Playoff Schedule
Wednesday
• C Final — Teams TBD @ Max Bell Centre, 9 a.m.
• B Final — Teams TBD @ Max Bell Centre, noon
• A Final — Teams TBD @ Max Bell Centre, 3 p.m.