The 3rd Annual AEB Minnesota State Tournament was held on March 24-26, 2023 at Augsburg Ice Arena in Minneapolis, MN. A total of 36 teams competed across 3 divisions (Men’s A, B, and C, Women’s A and B, and Co-Rec A and B). The arena was buzzing with excitement all weekend! Players were lucky to have Instant Replay Sports on-site for equipment needs as well as Align Chiromedical Clinic for wellness care. The tournament took an important pause to celebrate and welcome the 2022 Broomball Hall of Fame Inductees. What a special honor and a HUGE congrats to Tony Sikich, Jason Revels, and Kelly Osterbauer! You don’t get a member’s only jackets, but those plaques are pretty sweet and your names will forever be connected to broomball! Also honored were players and teams from the 2020 and 2021 classes.
Women’s A/B
Achieving the top title of the MN State Tournament in any division is a coveted position to behold. This year the Women’s A/B State division was made up of 9 teams.
In Class A, a very talented L’Equipe squad finally took down Arctic Blast 1-0 in a great battle. These 2 teams have been taking it to each other on the ice for the past couple years. This is a great accomplishment for L’Equipe as Arctic has been the “team to beat” for several years. Hats off to both squads for continuing to level up women’s broomball over the years.
In Class B, TFA defeated TJ Champions (a very talented team based out of Duluth) 3-1. TJ Champs won their way out of the larger pool and defeated Lumberjacks in the semifinals to play in the championship vs a strong and well run TFA team. We expect and hope to see several of the Duluth players in the years to come.
Men’s A
The Class A Men’s division consisted of six teams, separated into two pools. Pool A ended with Kelly Lake having a 2-0 record, C&L went 1-2, and Watkins Legion went 0-2. Pool B finished with MetX going 2-0, Chiefs going 1-1, and Blizzard 0-2. Bracket play started with two play-in games, Chiefs beating Watkins Legion and C&L beating the Blizzard. In the first semifinal, C&L pulled off another semifinal upset, beating MetX 3-2 to advance to the championship. In the second semifinal, Kelly Lake beat Chiefs 6-2.
Kelly Lake captured its 3rd consecutive Class A Men’s State Tournament Championship with a 5-0 win over C&L in the final. Kelly Lake goaltender Mike Sikich was lights out in the championship game.
Championship Game: Kelly Lake vs C&L
Men’s B
The Class B Men’s division consisted of six teams and featured some excellent games. The incoming hot Wolves team took the title winning a close game 2-1 over the Nordic Stars. Wolves Keeper Jon Noyes led the way only giving up 5 goals all tournament. Nordic scored first and played a solid tournament not losing a game until the final. On the other side of the bracket Red Rock pulled a good upset win over the Flames in the quarters, but could not fend off a full benched Nordic.
Mel’s Boys put together a good run and showed some serious signs of being a top B team, falling just short in the semifinals. Ice Mafia had a few close games, but just couldn’t seem to get over the hump and get that big W when they needed it.
Men’s C
The Class C Men’s division consisted of seven teams. The Ice Pirates won the championship 3-1 over the Silverbacks. Unfortunately, we’re lacking details for competition in this Class. If you want to provide a summary for a tournament you competed in, please reach out to us and we’ll happily include it.
Co-Rec A/B
The 2023 AEB State tourney co-rec division was made up of 8 teams. It was very exciting to continue to see a co-rec division at MN State, mostly since there are no indoor co-rec leagues! Impressive Minnesota! With undefeated records in their respective pools, Squall and Rudy AKA “El Equipo” went head-to-head for the A division with Squall defeating Rudy 5-0.
Championship Game: Squall vs Rudy
In the co-rec class B division, Sweeping Loons had a great victory over Griffins with a final score of 6-0.
This tournament has been running for many decades and typically draws in the highest number of women’s teams of any Minnesota run tournament. We thank AEB broomball for continuing the tradition and hosting a fun, competitive, successful tournament.
All photos and scores are credited to AEB. You can follow them on twitter here: AEB Broomball.