Recaps of all the Elite and AAA divisions at the Bauer Tournament in Chicago: http://youth1.com/hockey-headlines/bauer-international-invite-recaps.html

Great tourney! Congrats to all Chicago teams that participated!

Just more of your money going into the wrong hands....95% of the players will never take it to the next level....all hype with no ROI.

It's not about the next level. It's about having fun now.

you think spending $10-$15k on hockey just so little louie has fun...

vinnie, vinnie, vinnie because you either choose not to or can not does not mean others should or shouldn't. also, AAA in most other places doesn't cost nearly what it does in illinois. finally, many of the teams that compete at the Bauer are AA that just shows the weakness of AAA

There were 5-6 AA teams out of 32 in the Bauer 97 AAA division. 2-3 of them made it into the final round of 8, and only 1 competed well. The presence of AA teams does not prove that AAA is watered down. That conclusion overlooks the AA teams that have AAA quality players who either choose not to play AAA or cannot afford it.

it doesn't imply AAA is watered down, it shows there is little difference between the two. if 3 of the final 8 teams were aa in a field of 32, where only 8 were aa it doesn't speak well for aaa.

There is a massive difference between AAA and AAA Elite. If the last several posters to this blog don't understand the marketing spin behind KM's 'AAA Elite' and 'AAA' divisions, then the joke is on you. The AAA is a separate tournament, and it allows KM to charge 32 additional teams with $1,295 entry fees, plus whatever deal he has on hotels, etc., AT EACH AGE LEVEL (read, lots of incremental players means lots of incremental revenue!) To say that there is no difference between AA and AAA??!!! Just wrong. AAA Division participants, semi-finalists, finalists and winner. Congratulations. Excellent tournament, job well done etc. But to draw some conclusion connecting the apparent fact that the 3 of 8 AAA division finalists were in fact AA teams, and that this somehow waters down the quality of the AAA Elite level teams/players. Wrong, misguided logic, stupid and funny all wrapped into one!

The only people that this tournament benfits are the operators. wolves in sheep clothing...

sure its a money maker and mission always gets easiest path to final 4 but many of the best teams in north america and some from europe come to chicago for a tourney. whats so bad about that. think of all the money i just saved in hotels and going out to eat every meal/

at the 99 level, the mission had the number 4 team from canada, then knocked off the number 5 team in the states in the sweet 16, number 1 team in the states in the semis and then the number 3 team in the states to win it all. easier path----i don't think so

Dont worry the only ones that say its an "easy path" to win it are people from teams that never have and never will, win it!

Because we don't run our own tournament.

For the person who said this tourny is a waste of money and time you have no idea what you are talking about!! My sons team played in this tourny the last 3 years and I can tell you everyone of the kids on his team look forward to it every year. We are from out of state and it is by far the best run, best organized, best competition we see all year. Of course it is a parent saying it is worth less not the kids, I forgot in some places hockey is about the parent feeling good not the kids. Well done BAuer Inviataional!! our team will be back next year for more fun and great hockey.

For the person who said this tourny is a waste of money and time you have no idea what you are talking about!! My sons team played in this tourny the last 3 years and I can tell you everyone of the kids on his team look forward to it every year. We are from out of state and it is by far the best run, best organized, best competition we see all year. Of course it is a parent saying it is worth less not the kids, I forgot in some places hockey is about the parent feeling good not the kids. Well done BAuer Inviataional!! our team will be back next year for more fun and great hockey.