The American Legion Post 44 hockey team of Marquette is the host squad for this weekend’s 14U AA Tier II state tournament to be held at Lakeview Arena. The 45-10-6 team includes, front row from left, Finn Scott, Ethan Jensen, Wyatt Shunk, Mason Hartz, Caleb Aho, Easton Dellies, Cooper Andresen, Tyler Matulewicz, Jacob Spagnoulo and Jacob Geller. Top row from left, assistant coaches Brian Nebel and Matt Matulewicz, Joey Provost, Riley Nevenhoven, Evan Mattila, Jameson Sandstrom, Skylar Blackburn, Dylan Matulewicz, McCarty McKie, Taylor Manis, head coach Jon Nebel and Post 44 representative Jim Provost. (Photo courtesy Jon Nebel)

This weekend: Admission free for all games that begin at 2 p.m. Friday and wrap up with the championship at 4 p.m. Sunday

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MARQUETTE — If you want a sneak peek at the future of hockey at Marquette Senior High School, Lakeview Arena is the place to be this weekend.

Starting Friday afternoon, the Marquette American Legion Post 44 team will join seven other teams in the 14-Under AA Tier II state tournament at the Marquette venue.

The 14-Under is the age group for these teams, almost entirely 13- and 14-year-old players, while the AA Tier II are travel teams that are community-based with only a limited number of players allowed to be from outside the team’s base area.

What’s neat about this event is that admission is easy on the wallet, in fact, you don’t even have to bring your wallet if you don’t want to — it’s free to attend any or all of the 15 games that run through late Sunday afternoon.

The state tourney for this specific age group — which used to be called Bantams — is being held in Marquette for the first time since 1993, according to Post 44 head coach Jon Nebel.

“We’ve been the (state) runner-up the past two years, so I’m hoping home ice can push us over the top,” the long-time coach said Wednesday.

It may not take much of a push since Post 44 has a pretty impressive 45-10-6 record playing its league games in the Northern International Hockey League.

Nebel said that the state tourney champion advances to the national 14U event, he thinks to be held in New York state in late March or early April.

The Marquette hosts open play at 4 p.m. Friday at Lakeview’s Russell Arena — both the big Russell and smaller Olson rinks will be used throughout the weekend — against the Kalamazoo K-Wings.

The tourney field is filled out by representatives from each of the state’s seven districts, which includes two from the Upper Peninsula. They are the Houghton-based Portage Lake Flyers from District 8 and the Sault Ste. Marie Soo Lakers from District 7. District 8 covers the central and western U.P., while District 7 includes the eastern U.P. and northern Lower Peninsula.

Other teams playing are the K-Wings from District 6, Port Huron Flags from District 5, Kensington Valley Raiders from District 4, St. Clair Shores Saints from District 3 and Dearborn Belle Tire from District 2.

District 1 apparently doesn’t exist geographically as that is what the host team — Post 44 — is listed as representing.

The field is split into two four-team divisions, with a round-robin format within each division for a total of three pool-play games for every team.

Marquette’s other games are at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Dearborn at the Olson rink and 7 p.m. Saturday against Portage Lake at the Russell rink.

Sunday is reserved for the semifinals and finals. The top two teams from each division advance to the semifinals, the second-place squad from one division playing the first-place team from the other division, with those games at 9:30 a.m. at Russell and 10 a.m. at Olson.

Seminal winners advance to the state championship game scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at Russell.

While admission is free, concessions will be available at Lakeview, and Nebel said there will be souvenir apparel specifically for this tournament available for sale, too.

Nebel is excited about this year’s team as he has eight players back from a team that was quite young last year. And he said a scan of the team’s roster shows all 18 players are headed to — if they’re not already at — MSHS.

Wyatt Shunk and Evan Mattila are the team’s leading scorers, with numbers that any pro player would be excited to have. Shunk has 72 goals and 42 assists for 114 points, while Mattila is right there with him at 52 goals and 60 assists for 112 points.

Post 44’s two goalies have split their time in net right down the middle. Finn Scott has a 24-6-3 record with a 1.74 goals-against average and .912 saves percentage, while Jacob Geller is 21-4-3 with a 1.38 GAA and .925 saves percentage.

Here is the entire schedule of divisional games:

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Friday — 2 p.m. at Russell, Kensington Valley vs. St. Clair Shores; 2:30 p.m. at Olson, Port Huron vs. Soo; 4 p.m. at Russell, Marquette vs. Kalamazoo; 4:30 p.m. at Olson, Portage Lake vs. Dearborn

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Saturday — 8 a.m. at Russell, Soo vs. Kensington Valley; 8:30 a.m. at Olson, St. Clair Shores vs. Port Huron; 11:30 a.m. at Olson, Kalamazoo vs. Portage Lake; 1:30 p.m. at Olson, Marquette vs. Dearborn; 3 p.m. at Russell, Kensington Valley vs. Port Huron; 5 p.m. at Russell, St. Clair Shores vs. Soo; 7 p.m. at Russell, Marquette vs. Portage Lake; 7:30 p.m. at Olson, Kalamazoo vs. Dearborn

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 552. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.