The 2011 Hockey Night In Boston Elite Tournament features the arrival of the Magnitogorsk Steel Foxes from Russia’s Junior Hockey League. The Steel Foxes won the Russian League in 2010 and this past season made it to the championship game before falling to the eventual champion Red Army team.
    
     The idea for this Elite Showcase spawned in August of 2010, when Hockey Night In Boston Director Lance LoFaro met with Dmitri Efimov, the director of the Russian Junior League. Efimov was in the area after attending the World Hockey Summit in Toronto.
    
     HNIB put together a coaching staff of five top coaches to put together teams to form the six-team tournament. HNIB also held an Elite Tournament back in 2009, when top teams from Sweden and Finland participated. The winner of that tournament was New England, coached by Sean Tremblay of the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. Tremblay is back with another powerful New England squad, led by UNH-bound defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.
    
     Boston Bulldogs mentor Mike Addesa will coach Northeast, which will feature the scoring duo of Chris Lewis and Steve Buco. A Massachusetts team, headed by Rob Gagnon of Cushing, will have some of the top young starts in the Showcase. Bruce Shatel, the longtime successful head coach at Delbarton School (NJ) is in charge of putting together the Mid-Atlantic club, which will feature recent NHL draft pick Colin Sullivan on defense. Tim Kyrkostas of South Florida is in charge of the Southeast team.