Defender Hockey Tournament - Mite Winter Classic

OVERVIEW

Welcome to the Mite Winter Classic, Pittsburgh, Hockey Tournament from January 24-25, 2026. Our tournament, catering to Tier II 8U A, B, & C teams, will take place at Palmer Imaging Arena

Round Robin with Playoffs (Minimum of 4 games)

Divisional allocation is based on USA Hockey roster classification. However, the tournament operations staff may adjust placements to fit individual team competitiveness on a case-by-case basis.

ARENAS

Palmer Imaging Arena
100 Center Ice Drive, Delmont, PA 15626

HOTELS

As a reminder, this event is a Stay to Play Event. All teams are to utilize official event hotels. Please click on the link below to secure your team block. Please make sure to designate the number of rooms needed each night when creating the block. You will then receive a confirmation email that contains the booking information to forward to the team families so they may make their individual reservations. All hotels are convenient to arenas. Please make sure families only book via the link provided. Families are not to contact the hotel directly to book rooms for the event.

Please note, the link below will allow you to initially block a maximum of 16 rooms. Once your initial block is filled, rooms can be requested . Please email ibhcbookings@gmail.com to request additional rooms (once the initial rooms have been filled).

Complimentary rooms are awarded based on actual nights paid for in the team block, not reservations booked. One (1) complimentary guest room will be provided per team per night for every 16 guest rooms booked through the team block. Complimentary rooms are awarded on a per-night pick-up basis over the tournament dates. The complimentary room is applied to the 16th room reserved by the team. Teams that appear to qualify for a complimentary room will receive an email with instructions the week of the event on how to designate the recipient of the complimentary room. Please make sure all rooms for coach(es) are booked prior to the cutoff date. Please note that the complimentary guest room will be required to check in with a credit card. The comp room night(s) will be awarded at checkout. NOTE: The hotel(s) credit(s) eligible stays back to the credit card in the days following the event.

RULES

All game day protocols can be found here

IN THE AREA

Restaurants

The Lamplighter, 6566 William Penn Hwy, Delmont, PA 15626
Jigger’s Pub, 5835 Washington Ave, Export, PA 15632
Sweet Tillie’s Bakery & Cafe, 1001- B 5th Ave, New Kensington, PA 15068
Kings Family Restaurant, 6297 US-30, Greensburg, PA 15601
Italian Village Pizza, 7807 US-22, New Alexandria, PA 15670
Primanti Bros., 4501 Steubenville Pike, Pittsburgh, PA 15205

Activities

Northmoreland Park, 280 Markle Rd, Apollo, PA 15613
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, 7370 Baker St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Kennywood Park, 4800 Kennywood Blvd, West Mifflin, PA 15122

Shopping

Monroeville Mall, 200 Mall Cir Dr, Monroeville, PA 15146
Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, 590 Pittsburgh Mills Blvd, Tarentum, PA 15084
Waterworks Mall, 934 Freeport Rd, Blawnox, PA 15238

CONTACT

Cindy Irving, Director of Operations - cindy@defenderhockey.com

TOURNAMENT DETAILS

DATE

Jan 24-25, 2026

SKILL LEVEL

A/B/C

DIVISION

ENTRY FEE

$995/team (8U)

NEWS

President’s Cup, Weekend Recap

February 18, 2025

Mite Winter Classic