MARLBORO, Mass. — The 2021-22 National Bound Massachusetts Hockey State Championships featured competitive games at the 15-only level, with the underrated Minuteman Flames squad capturing the state title by beating some very good teams.
The Minuteman Flames under Peter Masters, Jerry Buckley and Scott McDonald, defeated three higher-seeded teams in Boston Hockey Academy, Cape Cod Whalers and Neponset Valley River Rats to take the division crown on Sunday.
They entered the competition as the No. 5 seed, beating No. 4 Boston Hockey Academy Saturday, then pulling off a big upset in the semifinal game later that day with a victory over the No. 1 Whalers, a top-10 team in the MyHockey national rankings.
The Flames completed their run by defeating the No. 3 River Rats by a 4-2 score in Sunday’s championship game. It was a superb matchup featuring two teams that made impressive runs to get there, the Rats knocking out the upstart Assabet Patriots in a shootout, then needing to come from behind and win in another shootout against an underrated Valley Jr. Warriors team in the semifinal.
This is a list of some of the more impressive 15-only/2006 birth year players from the region that we have not previously given a lot of attention to, but earned it with their superb play over the weekend. The Minuteman Flames will test their mettle against the other top ‘06s around the country as they travel to Plymouth, Mich. to represent the Bay State in the 15-only Tier I National Championship March 30-April 4, 2022.
