Jason Kelly and JJ Deviney of Cool Hockey Events have organized and run another amazing event in Philadelphia this year, with the Men’s A Pool very deep this year with all of the top USA teams ( Boston Saints, Pittsburgh Gods, Leominster Americans, Penn Hills Arsenal, Buffalo Fusion, South Jersey Supreme, Leominster Rams, and Phoenixville Graffix) facing off against some solid Canadian Teams ( Niagara War Pigs, Ottawa GodFathers, Barrie Flyers, Toronto Rage).
The top teams in North America are starting to crowd towards the top of the ballhockey.com Top 25 list, and some changes to the rankings are well deserved. While the Montreal Red Lite will remain in their number one seeded spot due to 11 Canadian Championships, the other teams moving to the top are earning their stripes and could overtake the Red Lite with continued success. The Niagara War Pigs have won the North American Championships this weekend and are a coin flip with the Niagara Rebels for the 2 and 3 spots in the rankings. We believe the Boston Saints have earned their move into the number 4 spot. These 3 teams have pushed the Pittsburgh Gods down to number 5.
Leominster Americans, Penn Hills Arsenal and Ottawa Godfathers were looking pretty solid this weekend once again and the Buffalo Fusion, Barrie Flyers, South Jersey Supreme, Leominster Rams and Graffix all were just a break or a bounce away from being into the finals as well. The Toronto Rage have moved into the Top 25, and while they dropped into the B Pool for Sunday, they learned the hard lessons on needing a full bench to compete at an event of this stature. They earned their place on the list with speed and skill that is evident in their roster.
Great weekend for the sport and amazing talent and skill on display. Time to roll into Summer.