Monday marked the final day of the Pittsburgh Penguins' development camp, which concluded with four scrimmages.
Team Stevens, Patrick, and Johnston did a round-robin tournament, with Team Stevens and Team Patrick advancing to the title game. Team Stevens beat Team Patrick in the first scrimmage of the day, 4-0.
Iiro Hakkarainen opened the scoring for Team Stevens before Jake Sondreal made it 2-0 a short time later. Bill Zonnon and Quinn Beauchesne had a nice give-and-go with one another, resulting in Zonnon making it 3-0 before Nolan Renwick sealed it with an empty-netter.
Team Stevens played Team Johnston right after and advanced to the title game thanks to a 3-1 win. 2025 first-round pick Will Horcoff was the lone goal scorer for Team Johnston, and it was a pretty one. He cut to the net and went top shelf with the shot. Even though his team lost, he was the best player on the ice. He was creating scoring chances and skating very well. Ryan Miller, David Breazeale, and Iiro Hakkarainen scored for Team Stevens, sending them to the title game.
The third game between Team Patrick and Team Johnston needed a shootout to decide who would play in the title game. It looked like Horcoff was going to send Team Johnston to the final after he walked top defensive prospect Harrison Brunicke in the offensive zone for the go-ahead goal. Horcoff got the puck outside the blue line and came in on the left side, going right around Brunicke. Still, Brunicke got some revenge when he scored the tying goal with 8.9 seconds left.
A shootout was required to decide who would join Team Stevens in the final, and Brunicke got the winner for Team Patrick with a nice shot.
Team Patrick jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the title game thanks to goals from Chase Pietila and Carter Sanderson. Sanderson's goal was especially impressive after he fired a shot and followed his rebound to bury the puck into a wide-open net. Seventh-round pick Kale Dach had the pass of the tournament for Team Patrick shortly after when he went between the legs for a cross-ice pass, but the puck didn't find its way to the back of the net.
Team Stevens eventually tied the game thanks to goals from Ryan Miller and Hakkarainen, before winning the Michel Briere Cup in a shootout. Miller and Caden Taylor scored the shootout goals.
It was a super fun tournament that showcased a lot of the top prospects' skill sets. Brunicke. Horcoff, Miller, Dach, and Hakkarainen were some of the biggest standouts.
The atmosphere was also fantastic. There wasn't an empty seat at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, and the fans were into each game.
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Featured Image Credit: Hunter Hodies - The Hockey News