Roseville, Minnesota

by Chris Halden

BANDOLIER TOP MN BLADES IN EPIC BATTLE FOR USA BANDY TITLE

The USA Bandy League Finals had the benefit of being held on the weekend of the great Olympic hockey showdown in Vancouver between the USA and Canada. The buzz around the Olympics seemed to have rubbed off on the players, as the USA Championship series was one of the best of all time in terms of quality of play and drama.

To win the D-1 Championship, the two teams in the finals play a best of 3 game series, with the tie breaker a 30 minute "mini-game".

The League Champion Minnesota Blades had a solid Game #1 on a warm Saturday afternoon, defeating the Minneapolis Bandolier in a shootout. The score at the end of regulation was 4-4 and went into a 5 man shootout. Andy Fronek led the Blades with two goals in regulation. Mike Hosfield led the Bandolier, also scoring two goals. The Blades took the victory in Game #1 in an exciting shootout on the 4^th shooter as Steve Nelson blasted home the game winner past Tom Stone. The Bandolier knew they would have to run the table again by winning both Game #2 and the mini-game to retain the title. This was going to be no easy task as the Blades appeared on a roll and were generating a lot of offense. BJ Bayers, Steve Nelson, Bobby Scott and Andy Fronek were on top of their game in the first match, and the Blades were confident they could take the title away from the Bandolier this year.

In Game #2, the teams see-sawed back and forth in a display of some of the highest quality of bandy ever seen in the USA. The Bandolier came out on top 4-3 with Mike Hosfield leading the way with two tallies for the Bandolier and John Arundel and Andrew Knutson chipping in one each. Scoring for the Blades was BJ Bayers with two goals and Steve Nelson with one goal. The Bandolier win set up the classic showdown in the 30 minute mini-game for the National Championship. After a 5 minute rest, the teams went back to battle to settle who was to be crowned the 2010 USA Bandy champion.

The Blades jumped out to a quick lead with Bobby Scott dangling in and scoring two quick goals, putting the Blades up 2-0 after the 15 minute mark. The Bandolier appeared on the ropes, but Keith Detlefson scored with about 10 minutes left, followed by another Bandolier tally by Mike Hosfield, tying the score at 2-2. With the clock winding down to one minute, a shootout to decide the championship seemed imminent. Suddenly, Mike Hosfield picked up a loose ball at mid-ice and was off to the races. He weaved his way into the Blades offensive zone and let loose a shot from about 25 meters that found its way into the net with about 45 seconds left. The Blades scrambled and threw everything they had at the Bandolier to try to tie the score, but the clock ran out and the Bandolier were the 2010 champions. The win gives the Bandoliers their 2^nd straight title and Chris Middlebrook his record 13^th USA championship. Mike Hosfield of the Bandolier was named tourney MVP for his timely goals over the weekend, especially the game winner in the deciding mini-game on Sunday night.

In the end, those who were at the weekend series were blessed with an epic battle of the some of the finest bandy ever played by two USA bandy teams. Hopefully, this high level of competition and good sportsmanship will carry into the future.

DYNAMO WASHBURN TAKES D-2 CROWN

The young guns on the Dynamo Washburn bandy team defeated a hard nosed, veteran Tsunami ICE team in a shootout to win the USA Bandy League D-2 Championship on Saturday. Washburn advanced to the Final by defeating defending champion Elsie’s 2-1. Tsunami ICE made the Final by defeating rival Buran 4-1.

Washburn went up 2-0 on goals by Robbie Nickelson and Ian Middlebrook, but Tsunami battled back in the second half on goals by Jim Owen and speedy Emrah Ozmen to tie the score at 2-2, forcing a shootout. Washburn prevailed in the first round of the shootout, giving them their first title since they won it back in 2008. The game MVP was John Burmeister, Washburn’s goalkeeper who made several key saves.

Washburn’s future looks good as the roster of players are all under 18 except for one 21 year old and one 26 year old. Congrats to coaches Chris Middlebrook and John Magnuson for developing a fine group of young men to another D-2 bandy title.