Weekend Preview: Shuffling Off to Buffalo, Minnesota & Calgary for Halloween Hockey
Trick or treat?
For hockey families, we hope that the weekend of Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 brings many tricks that require the tossing of hats and plenty of postgame treats for the players, coaches and transportation providers.
Halloween is here, and the great hockey action continues all over North America during the 10th hockey weekend of the 2025-26 season.
The Fromen Injury Law Showcase in Buffalo, N.Y., has become one of the fall’s annual treats, attracting top USA Boys AAA and Canadian Tier 1 teams. This year’s tournament runs from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 and features a total of 52 teams competing in the 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U age groups. There are between two and five top 10 USA Boys Tier 1 teams competing in each division.
We are just a week or two of way from our MHR Minn-Kota Peewee and Bantam AA rankings going live, and this week 44 teams are in Rochester, Minn., for the Youth Hockey Hub’s 2025 Big Pumpkin Peewee Invitational.
The tournament began Friday, Oct. 3, and concludes Nov. 1. It’s Big Pumpkin Division includes 32 AA/A teams, while the Little Pumpkin Division has 12 A teams. Teams that participate in the Little Pumpkin A Division must come from an organization that also rosters a Peewee AA team.
Much like our Minn-Kota Peewee and Bantam AA rankings category, the MHR Western Canada U17 AAA Boys rankings should have enough inputted game results and interplay among leagues for that category to go live in the very near future. So, that’s where we head for our final highlighted event of this spooky weekend as the Calgary Edge School is hosting its U17 Western School Sport Challenge Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
The Western School Sport Challenge is held at Edge School’s two rinks and brings together teams from the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) and other top Western Canada non-CSSHL U17 Boys AAA programs to showcase their skills against top competition.
The 2025 Fromen Injury Law Showcase is being held Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 in Buffalo. There will be 14U (2011), 15O (2010), 16U & 18U divisions in the event, which attracts top Tier 1 USA and AAA Canada Boys teams.
Games are being played at Cornerstone CFCU Arena, Northtown Center at Amherst, Hyde Park Ice Rink (Sunday Only) and the Paddock Chevrolet Ice Arena (Sunday Only).
These rinks all have LiveBarn feeds for live and on-demand viewing.
CLICK HERE for the Fromen Showcase Guide
CLICK HERE for the Fromen Showcase Master Schedule
CLICK HERE for Fromen Showcase schedules, scores, standings & stats
Fromen Showcase 14U Division Top Participating Teams
There are 14 teams in the Fromen Showcase 14U Division. Four of the teams are ranked in the MHR Week 6 USA Boys 14U Tier 1 top 10, and nine are among the top 20. The Toronto Marlboros, ranked second in Ontario’s Week 6 U15 rankings, also are participating.
#2 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
#2 Ontario Toronto Marlboros
#6 Bishop Kearney Selects
#9 Chicago Mission
#10 Philadelphia Jr. Flyers
#11 Chicago Reapers
#13 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies
#16 Woodbridge Wolfpack
#18 St. Louis AAA Blues
#19 Pittsburgh Vengeance
Fromen Showcase 15O Division Top Participating Teams
The 15O Division also features 14 teams, with each American team ranked among the Week 6 MHR top 33. Five teams are ranked in the USA Boys Tier 1 top 10, while the Nos. 7 and 16 Ontario U16 teams also are participating.
#3 Woodbridge Wolfpack
#4 Chicago Mission
#6 Fox Motors
#7 Bishop Kearney Selects
#7 Ontario Toronto Marlboros
#9 Buffalo Jr. Sabres
#12 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
#16 Canada Prep Upper Canada College
#17 St. Louis AAA Blues
#21 New Jersey Rockets
#22 Chicago Reapers
Fromen Showcase 16U Division Top Participating Teams
There are no Canadian teams in the Fromen Showcase 16U Division, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less challenging. All 14 participants are ranked among the Week 6 MHR USA Tier 1 Boys top 50, and all but one are in the top 40. Four teams are in the top 10, and 10 are among the top 25.
#2 St. Louis AAA Blues
#5 Woodbridge Wolfpack
#9 Chicago Reapers
#10 Pittsburgh Predators
#11 Bishop Kearney Selects
#13 Buffalo Jr. Sabres
#15 Wilkes Barre-Scranton Knights
#22 New Jersey Rockets
#24 Chicago Mission
#25 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
Fromen Showcase 18U Division Top Participating Teams
The 18U Division includes nine USA Tier 1 Boys teams and one Canada Independent Prep team. There are two teams ranked among the MHR Week 6 Boys USA Tier 1 Top 10, and all nine of the American sides are in the top 36. There are five USA top 20 teams participating along with the No. 16 Canada Independent Prep team.
#6 New Jersey Rockers
#7 Bishop Kearney Selects
#15 Woodbridge Wolfpack
#16 Canada Prep Upper Canada College
#19 Gilmour Academy
#22 Nichols School
#30 Jersey Hitmen
#31 Little Caesars
#35 Chicago Reapers
#36 Windy City Storm
Big Pumpkin Peewee Invitational.
There are 24 AA/A teams in Rochester, Minn., Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 competing in the Big Pumkin AA/A Division. The Big Pumpkin format is very similar to the Minnesota district and state tournaments, with all 32 teams placed in two 16-team brackets. First-round winners advance to the winners’ bracket, with each round’s losers dropping into a consolation round. The team that wins the championship will have to win five games without losing in three days.
The 12 teams competing in the Little Pumpkin A Division are divided into two five-team pools. They will play four round-robin games to determine playoff seedings.
Osseo-Maple Grove teams won the championship in both divisions a year ago and have returned to defend their titles. Traditional top Minnesota programs such as OMG, the Minnetonka Skippers, White Bear Lake, Chaska-Chanhassen, Moorhead, Prio-Lake Savage, Woodbury, Rogers, Edina and Stillwater all have sent teams to participate.
Games are being played at the Graham Arena Complex in Rochester, Minn., and should be available for live and on-demand viewing via LiveBarn.
CLICK HERE for the Big Pumpkin AA/A Division bracket
CLICK HERE for the Little Pumpkin A Division schedule
CLICK HERE for links to the upcoming game schedule, scores, stats & standings
Edge School U17 Western Sport School Challenge
This unique event brings together top U17 teams from the CSSHL and some of the best non-CSSHL AAA Boys teams from Western Canada for high-level competition and exposure.
The tournament began Friday, Oct. 31, and concludes with Sunday’s WSSC Championship game at 12 p.m. ET.
All tournament games are played at the Edge School’s two rinks and can be viewed live and on-demand via FloHockey.
The 2025 WSSC includes eight teams grouped into two four-team pools. Round-robin play concludes the morning of Sat., Nov. 1, with consolation and semifinal games scheduled for that afternoon.
CLICK HERE for the WSSC Challenge program
CLICK HERE for WSSC schedule and results
Edge School U17 WSSC Participating Teams
Edge School U17
Edge School U17 Prep
South Alberta Hockey Academy
Northern Alberta Xtreme
OHA Edmonton
Pilot Mount Academy
Calgary NWCAA Flames
KC Centennials
