Between Christmas, New Year’s celebrations and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships, it’s both a busy and exciting time of year for hockey families. On top of all that, the Seacoast Performance Academy will also be in Coral Springs, Florida, this holiday season to compete at the first annual Champions League hockey tournament; the first world championship ever in youth hockey.
It’s certainly a balancing act, managing time with the family in celebration of the holidays while also taking advantage of winter break to play in an elite hockey event. The players, families and coaches are willing to accept the challenge for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at Champions League next week.
“Our coaching staff here at Seacoast Performance Academy are all very excited and eager to participate in this year’s Champions League event,” said head coach Peter Ferraro. “We look forward to playing at a world-class venue against some of the world’s best competition and wish good luck to all the teams.”
The Spartans will make history at the event on Dec. 28th, when they take the ice for the very first game of the tournament. They’ll share the ice with Järved IF from Sweden, and then go on to play two teams from Finland — Kiekko Espoo and Kiekko Blues — the next day. After three straight games against Scandinavian opponents, Seacoast will play fellow U.S. teams Windy City Storm and Yale Jr. Bulldogs. Both of those teams rank among the top 20 in the country, and will present the two toughest challenges SPA has faced all season.
Seacoast is 28-8-5 this season, and enters the tournament on a 10-1-1 run in its past 12 outings. The offense averages 5.3 goals per game; a mark they’ve hit 24 times in the first four months of the season.
Tyler Callander, Benjamin Clary and Danick St. Pierre are a trio of towering forwards at 5-foot-10, 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10 respectively. After that is a slew of speedy skaters in Blake Cash, Hunter Chadbourne, Evan Ferraro, Jameson Glance, Russell Kelleran, Sully Martin and Garrit Turcotte. Be prepared for a track meet with this group, as they aren’t shy to get up and down the ice in a hurry. They’re comfortable in high-scoring games, with 22 of the team’s wins coming in games with six or more total goals scored.
The back end is littered with lefties like Easton Genest, Matthew MacInnis, Jacoby Oliveira and Gavin Wakeland. Cameron Clark and Levi Kossatz balance out the group a bit and play in front of a tandem that is eerily similar to one another, with Tristin Leck and Kamden Jackson sharing goaltending duties.
One could argue that the five round-robin games at Champions League will be the five most challenging games that Seacoast plays all season. How will they fare? Follow World Hockey Hub on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for continued coverage of the tournament, upcoming features, highlights and recaps, and so much more!
From one end of the continent to the other, the Los Angeles Jr. Kings will travel 2,700 miles cross-country to compete at the 2022 Champions League next week. Currently ranked 2nd in the U.S. and 9th in the world, the Jr. Kings come into the tournament as a confident bunch with a wealth of talent throughout the lineup.
“We are looking forward to playing some of the best teams from around the world,” said head coach Shawn Pitcher. “The competition will be fierce which will make it a great show.”
‘Fierce’ may be underselling it, too. The team’s first game of the tournament comes against a top-notch Slovakian team in HK Dukla Trencin. From there, they take on No. 1 U.S. team Windy City Storm who has already tied (4-4) and beaten (3-1) the boys from L.A. this season. They close out pool play with matchups against Järved IF, Kiekko Blues and Little Caesars.
Can the Jr. Kings keep pace with top international competition? Forwards like Kue-Gene Park, Cooper Soller, Tyus Sparks, Sammie Ochoa, Jake Brown and Nolan Beddow are averaging more than a point per game. Logan Stuart, Noah Davidson and Aidan Yu add even more depth of firepower up front as well.
Defensively, Michael Block, Sean Burick, Jacqueline Gasseau,Karsten Hirasawa, Kevin Shi and Alofa Tunoa Ta’amu have suffocated opposing offenses. Collectively, they’ve held opponents to two goals or fewer in 17 of their 25 games this season, and enter the tournament on a 12-0-1 run.
Morgan Stickney and Sascha Pitaev are two of the top 2008-born goaltenders in the country as well, providing a strong one-two punch between the pipes for Los Angeles. Both net minders maintain a save percentage north of .900 this season.
The Jr. Kings will have a chance to prove they’re not just the best in their home country, but the best in the world next week at Champions League. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for continued coverage of the tournament, upcoming features, highlights and recaps of the tournament, and so much more!
Based out of Espoo, Finland, no more than 11 miles west of the nation’s capital of Helsinki, Kiekko-Espoo is a top program with teams currently ranked No. 2 and No. 6 in the country in the 2008 age group. Its players will compete at the Champions League later this month, and will again be divided into two teams for tournament play. They’ll play under the names Kiekko Blues and Kiekko Espoo, and we’ll take a deep dive into the program as a whole, how they’ve performed thus far this season and what players you need to know about before puck drop on Dec. 28th.
Finland AAA hockey teams are divided into Blocks during the season — six blocks at the 2008 age level — based on geographic location. Kiekko-Espoo has two U14 teams competing in Block 1, with the first-place Blues I maintaining a 14-0-2 record and the second-place Blues II at 14-1-0. The two teams have yet to go head-to-head with one another, but with a strong showing, there’s a chance of an All-Kiekko matchup in the playoff rounds at Champions League later this month.
The coaches and players of Kiekko-Espoo share some core beliefs that carries them to success both on and off the ice:
“There is no shortcut to success. Consistency, dedication and putting in the effort on a daily basis is the only way to succeed. Respect everyone involved in the sports and carry yourself and your team with dignity. Our team has pushed for these goals and tries to live by these values. We are honored to be involved in this tournament.”
Kiekko Blues
The Blues squad opens up tournament play with four straight North American teams: No. 1 Windy City Storm, No. 3 Little Caesars, Seacoast Performance Academy and No. 2 Los Angeles Jr. Kings. A matchup with Barys on New Years Eve will conclude pool play for the Blues.
Forwards Onni Kovalainen (38), Juuso Fredrikson (31) and Toomas Reijonen (31) are one, two and three in points this season. Julius Heinrichs, Joel Ikonen, Alvari Kuusisto, Remi Leppӓlӓ, Nicolas Mero, Matias Salmijӓrvi and Riko Salutskij provide a diverse makeup of hockey IQ and raw skill that will allow the Blues offense to attack with speed and precision.
Oskari Ahmajӓrvi and Sisu Alanen are not tall in stature, listed at 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-3 respectively. However, Both Ahmajӓrvi (96.50) and Alanen (89.78) have posted impressive save percentages in what is a high-scoring Finland league that averages nearly eight total goals per game.
The defensive group will have its hands full, with just five players on the blue line. Emil Finell, Jone Mӧlsӓ, Nooa Jӓrvenpӓӓ, Lauri Pajunen and Luukas Vahvaselkӓ make up a small but talented group that will see plenty of ice time between the five of them.
Kiekko-Espoo
Espoo, on the other hand, will play five teams from four different countries. A matchup with U.S.-based Yale Jr. Bulldogs to begin tournament action for Espoo, followed by contests against Seacoast, Slovakia’s HK Dukla Trencin, Barys and Järved IF from Sweden.
With seven defensemen, Kiekko-Espoo has good size and depth on the back end with 5-foot-10 Max Syrjäläinen, 5-foot-8 Aleksi Ahola and 5-foot-7 Olli Ronkainen. Couple that size with Marcus Christodoulou, Kalle Kuntanen, Luukas Lehtimäki and Ossi Nyman who are good puck movers and defensively responsible, and the group is tough to score on.
Matias Ruuskanen is the lone goaltender on the roster, with an impressive 94.01 save percentage in 12 games this season, allowing just 17 goals against.
Forwards Noel Pakarinen (23) and Emil Holopainen (18) are averaging a point per game in Finnish action. Emil Holopainen, Eero Ilmonen, Matias Koukkunen, Max Laatikainen, Noel Pakarinen, Tomas Raunio, Oliver Torkki, Joona Virta and Atte Vuori add grit and toughness to the lineup. With strong goaltending and a scrappy game plan, Kiekko-Espoo could thrive in low-scoring contests that frustrate opponents.
Will we see an All-Kiekko matchup in the playoffs? Only time will tell, as these teams take the ice with eight others vying for youth hockey’s first ever world championship. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for continued coverage of the Champions League, upcoming features, highlights and recaps of the tournament, and so much more!
They are the top ranked team in the United States, and on Dec. 28th, the Windy City Storm will get a chance to prove they’re the top team in the world when they take on the international field of opponents at Champions League. With a 38-6-3 record this season, coach Ryan Ward his the Storm firing on all cylinders and ready for the inaugural event at the end of the month.
“We are thrilled to be able to compete in the Champions League Tournament in Florida over the New Year,” said Ward. “It is a privilege to be asked to play against top competition from across the Globe and we certainly do not take that for granted.”
Based out of the Chicagoland area in Illinois, The Storm will start off the tournament with the Kiekko Blues (Finland) on the first day of the tournament. After that, a rematch with the No. 2 ranked U.S. team, Los Angeles Jr. Kings. It will be the third time this season that the two teams have met, with Windy City holding a slight edge at 1-0-1. The remaining round-robin action includes Barys (Kazakhstan), Seacoast Performance Academy (USA) and HK Dukla Trencin (Slovakia). Five games against teams from four different countries will present unique style matchups and challenges for everyone on the ice.
Peter Chlebowski and Jack Zilewicz combine to post a 1.55 goals-against average this season and an impressive 13 shutouts. It also helps playing behind a defensive corps of seven strong, with four lefties in Zach Klaich, Ethan Miller, Augie Vennetti and Louis Vittorio and three righties in Logan Chesna, Patrick McCormick and Memphis Wilcox. The blue line has been involved at both ends, producing at least 92 points through the first 40 games of the season.
Offensively, the Storm is deep, with 11 talented forwards including the line of Nathan Hauad, Jack Hextall and Caden Dabrowski. Kalder Varga, Luke Dubsky and Cody Powels provide a dangerous wave of offense as well. The group of Ashton Drozd, Jack Dwyer, Ashton Flores, Lawson Krueger and Jacob Lukes is a bit compact — all listed at or below 5-foot-5 — but their games are larger than life with a ton of speed and energy.
It is not an easy team to keep down. They’ve earned the top spot in the U.S. through skill, grit, toughness and hockey IQ. ‘Four’ seems to be the magic number for Windy City, as the team is 38-0-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game. Having hit that plateau that many times in a 47-game stretch means opponents will have to quite literally weather the storm in order to keep up with Windy City.
“On behalf of the entire Windy City Storm organization, we would like to thank World Hockey Hub, the Florida Panthers, and everyone that has helped put this first-class event on for our student-athletes and their families,” said Ward.
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The last time Silver Stick champions were crowned in Whitby, Ontario, an American team won the prestigious title at the U16 age group.
This time around, only one U.S.-based program was even in attendance for the premiere November event – but nobody was complaining.
It’s great to have events like the Gloria Rints Memorial International Silver Stick Tournament taking place once again, even if it means spectators didn’t get to see many border battles.
After missing an entire year of Silver Stick because of COVID-19 last season, a field of Canadian teams (and one American) returned to Whitby to battle for the best trophy in youth hockey, and memories of the good kind were made for all the participants.
Here is a look at how the four AAA age groups – U16, U14, U12 and U10 – played out last weekend at the prestigious tournament:
U16 Canada/15O U.S. AAA (2006)
The Toronto Jr. Canadiens are ranked No. 1 in Canada on the World Hockey Hub’s rankings, and after this past weekend’s performance, they will be staying at the top. They opened tournament play with a 1-0 nail-biter against the Waterloo Wolves on Nov. 25; the Jr. Canadiens’ offense exploded the next day, as they beat the Lambton Jr. Sting 7-2 and the York Simcoe Express 7-1. Saturday started with a 3-3 tie against the Niagara North Stars, before the Jr. Canadiens started elimination-round play with a 4-3 win over the Vaughan Kings in the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, they posted a convincing 4-0 win over the Ajax Pickering Raiders to secure a spot in the title game. There, it was a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, as the Jr. Canadiens faced off against the Mississauga Senators. The Sens brought with them four of the five leading scorers in the tournament – William Moore (13 points), Caden Kelly (12), Michael Misa (12), and Malcom Spence (11) – but it didn’t matter, as the Jr. Canadiens skated to a 4-2 win and major bragging rights moving forward.
Jack Van Volsen and Porter Martone led the Jr. Canadiens in scoring with 10 points apiece, while Antonio Tersigni had nine and Anthony Cristoforo and Micheal Hage both had eight. Paolo Frasca is listed as the starting netminder for all seven of the Jr. Canadiens’ games at Silver Stick, which means he registered a 6-0-1 record with a 1.64 goals-against average and two shutouts.
This age group offered a rare glimpse into how one of the top American teams stacks up against their Canadian counterparts this season, as the Bishop Kearney Selects sent a mix of their ’06 and ’07 players to Whitby – the only American participants in this Silver Stick tournament. The BK Selects beat the host Whitby Wildcats 4-1 on Thursday to start the tournament before tying the Thunder Bay Kings and losing to the Mississauga Senators 5-2 on Friday. They also beat the Huron Perth Lakers 6-3 on Saturday.
U14 Canada/13U U.S. AAA (2008)
Much like the older age group, the No. 1-ranked team in the country took care of business in Whitby. The Vaughan Kings emerged victorious, and their final day at the tournament was a gauntlet of other ranked teams.
The Kings started with a 6-1 win over the Huron Perth Lakers on Thursday before a pair of ties on Friday — 4-4 against the Soo Greyhounds and 1-1 against the Ottawa 67’s. To wrap up the preliminary round, the Kings posted a 7-0 win over the Kingston Jr. Gaels in their lone game on Saturday.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final were all played Sunday, and they featured an impressive collection of top teams at the ’08 age group. First, the Kings battled the No. 4 Peterborough Petes to a 3-2 win. Then, they knocked off the No. 6 Jr. Canadiens 2-1. In the final, the Kings could breathe a little easier, as they topped the No. 8 Toronto Marlboros 4-1 to capture a Silver Stick banner and hardware.
U12 Canada/11U U.S. AAA (2010)
While the two older age groups played out as expected, the 2010 age group introduced some surprises, with the Peterborough Petes taking it all. The No. 1-ranked Toronto Marlboros weren’t in attendance, but the rest of the World Hockey Hub’s Canadian Top-10 clubs were. That didn’t scare the Petes as they marched through the tournament en route to the Silver Stick.
After recording a 2-2 tie in their tournament opener against the Gloucester Rangers, the Petes racked up six consecutive victories. They beat the Niagara North Stars 4-2 and then from there, the Petes won five games against ranked opponents in two days. On Saturday, they started with a 3-1 victory over the No. 8-ranked Brantford 99ers, and then they posted a 2-0 win over the No. 6 Sun County Panthers.
On Championship Sunday, Peterborough started with a 4-1 win over the No. 2-ranked Vaughan Kings in the quarterfinals, followed up with a 2-1 win over the No. 3 Markham Majors. In the final, the Petes bested the No. 7 Soo Jr. Greyhounds 4-1 to capture the title.
U10 Canada/9U U.S. AAA (2012)
The North York Rangers captured the youngest division at the Whitby Silver Stick, and to say they did so convincingly would be an understatement. They out-scored the competition 84-8 in a dominating weekend. To start things off, the Rangers posted a 17-2 win over the Oshawa Generals, and if that wasn’t enough to scare the rest of the field, they registered a mind-boggling 32-0 win over the Cumberland Jr. Grads in their first game on Friday. What did they do in their second game? Only a 9-1 victory over the Sun County Panthers.
On Saturday, the Rangers recorded a 9-3 win over the Oakville Rangers, storming into the elimination rounds with more than enough momentum. There, they shut out the London Jr. Knights 5-0 before beating the Mississauga Rebels 7-1 in the semifinals and the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs 5-1 in the final.
Five different players registered 20 points or more in the seven-game span for the Rangers in their dominating Silver Stick championship.
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Food, family…and face-offs?
In what has become a tradition in the youth hockey world, the weekend following American Thanksgiving has become perhaps the biggest tournament weekend of the season. Turkey dinners, family gatherings, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and a whole lot of hockey action across the country.
It’s a wonderful way to skate off the turkey hangover, and it seems like each and every year, more and more teams are getting in on the Thanksgiving action.
When we say there was a remarkable amount of tournaments taking place across the country, we’re not exaggerating.
There were 16 U.S. tournaments listed on the World Hockey Hub alone, and it’s easy to assume there were even more taking place across the country. Those 16 events took place in 12 different cities, with more than 1,500 teams in action.
In a ‘normal’ year, plenty of Canadian teams would take part in American festivities, partaking in some of the very tournaments mentioned below. Canada, however, had its own busy weekend of youth hockey, with tournaments like Silver Sticks; more on that later this week.
Here is a look at some of the highlights from the U.S. tournament weekend:
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The Stockholm District playoffs concluded over the weekend, where the top teams in the region battled it out for Swedish youth hockey supremacy. The process for crowning district champions began back in September with Group Play; teams were divided into five pools of five teams each, competing in a round-robin format over the course of three weeks. From there, the top seed in each pool advanced to District-A Playoffs, the second seed placed in District-B, third seed in District-C, fourth in District-D and fifth in District-E.
District Playoffs consisted of a second set of round-robin games, this time featuring the top five teams in the region in District-A, the next five in District-B, and continued through Districts C, D and E.
U15 (2007) District Championships
District-A
The top district among ‘07s consisted of three teams from our World Rankings: No. 5 Nacka HK, No. 6 Viggbyholms, No. 9 Djurgårdens IF, Flemingsbergs IK and Järfälla HC.
Järfälla had a strong showing in the top district, winning three games by four goals or more and producing the top four scorers in the series. Linus Rudslätt Debou led with eight goals and 10 points, while teammates Eric Nilson (nine), Viktor Klingsell (eight) and Isac Harju (eight) followed close behind. However, a hiccup in their meeting with top-ranked Nacka would end their bid at a district championship. Zacharias Berglin and Ruben Westerling combined to put up six points to help Nacka hand Järfälla its only loss of the playoff round in a 7-4 finish. Westerling would finish with seven points, as Nacka won its first three games of round-robin action.
In its final game of the series, Nacka needed to pick up just one point to clinch first place in its matchup against Djurgårdens. Goals from Jakob Görnebrand and Georgia Cservjacsenko gave DIF a 2-1 lead at the halfway point of the game though. Teodor Friberg knotted the game a 2-2 from the blue line, and Rasmus Lindström Calland and Olle Sjöstedt would continue the scoring for Nacka late into the game. A goal from Djurgårdens forward Kean Tollet would tie the game at 4-4 with 3:29 left to play, but Nacka would escape the contest with the one point they needed in the standings to finish in first place.
District-B
No. 2-ranked Täby HC headlined this group of five which also included IFK Tumba IK, Solna SK, Trångsunds IF and Vallentuna Hockey.
After four games, Solna, Täby and Trångsunds would all finish with a 3-1-0 record and nine points in the standings for a three-way tie for first place. Each of the three teams maintained a win over one and a loss of the other, only furthering the deadlock at the top. Solna’s plus-15 goal differential was enough to break the tie and crown them the winners of the series. Their leading scorer, Mattias Nyberg, led all skaters with nine goals and 11 points in four games.
Melvin Novotny, Liam Redstedt and Theo Stockselius were the most dominant trio in pool play, combining to score nine of Täby’s 23 goals and each of them finishing among the top five in points.
District-C
They came in as the highest-ranked team in the District, and No. 7-ranked AIK took care of business. Allowing just two goals against in the four-game series, Regnars Capars posted two shutouts in their two biggest games; a 3-0 victory over SDE and a 1-0 win over Tyresö Hanvikens SK. Hampus Persson and Hugo Håkansson combined to stop 30-of-32 shots, splitting time in the other two contests, as AIK finished the weekend with a 4-0-0 record and the maximum 12 points in the standings.
Torkel Jennersjö was the leading scorer of the District, with six goals and seven points for second-place Mälarö Hockeyförening.
District-D
Hässelby Kälvesta HC dominated District-D, scoring 25 goals in just four games to finish 4-0-0 and first place in the standings. Boo HC and Huddinge IK would end up in second and third respectively, but provided little resistance to Hässelby’s high-powered offense. Both opponents would fall to the eventual champion by a score of 8-4, with Artur Yanchalouski and Camilo Lovell proving to be unstoppable with 19 points and 17 points respectively. The dynamic duo accounted for 80 percent of their team’s offense, with no other player producing more than five points over the weekend.
District-E
The first game of the series would prove to be the deciding one in a matchup between Älta IF and IFK Österåker Vikings HC. They wouldn’t know it at the time — the two teams shared the ice on Friday — but they would eventually end up finishing first and second in the standings.
Österåker jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but there would be nine total goals scored in the second half of action, as Älta made a strong push but fell to the eventual champion 9-5 in Game 1 of the weekend.
Both Värmdö HC and Göta Traneberg IK took a run at knocking off the Vikings as well, but Österåker found ways to survive not once, but twice, by way of one-goal games 6-5 and 4-3 respectively. Viking forwards Vilgot Rietz (12 points), Atle Kjellnäs (eight) and Vilmer Ytterström (seven) proved too tough to stop, leading the District in scoring and their team to a championship.
U14 (2008) District Championships
District-A
In a District that was expected to be tightly contested and close and ’08s, consisting of five teams that all won their Groups to reach the A Playoffs, one team still proved to be dominant amongst the best.
SDE HF Svart went unbeaten against the group of top teams, out-scoring Djurgårdens IF, Göta Traneberg IK Röd, IFK Täby HC and AIK by a 23-5 margin in four games. It started with a 6-1 win on Friday, and two more six-goal games on Saturday, and finished with a statement, 5-0 shutout in the final game.
Defenseman Alexander Command and center Marcus Nordmark tied for the District lead with eight goals and 13 points each. Nordmark was part of an impressive trio for Täby, alongside Viggo Björck and Max Johannesén who combined to score 15 of their team’s 20 goals. Command, on the other hand, achieved an impressive feat of his own as the only defenseman to lead his District in scoring.
District-B
Nacka HK won District-B convincingly, going 3-0-0 and finishing with a six-point cushion in the standings. A close call with Boo HC could have completely changed the outcome of the final placements, as Nacka held off a late comeback to win its final game 3-2 on Sunday.
A balanced offensive attack fueled Nacka to a championship. David Holst led his team — and all scorers — with four goals and five points, and was one of nine players to account for Nacka’s 18 goals.
District-C
Despite losing to second-place Brinkens IF on Sunday, Väsby IK HK was able to hang on to its first-place billing and rack up nine points in the standings to Brinkens’ seven.
Dorotea Forslin completed a 20-save shutout in Väsby’s 4-0 game on Friday. The offense then roared to life in its second game, with a hat trick from defenseman Adam Pawel Kubat in an 8-2 drubbing of Tyresö Hanvikens SK. Pawel Kubat finished second in the division in scoring with four goals and seven points. Teammates Mille Forslund and Troy Zajac added six and five points respectively to help Väsby to its first-place finish.
District-D
In one of the most commanding performances from District Playoffs, the Haninge Anchors won their four-team District-D with a 3-0-0 record and impressive 23-2 goal differential. Back-to-back 6-1 wins over Älta IF and Sollentuna HC, then an 11-0 win over Vallentuna, and Haninge took the District convincingly.
Anchors forwards finished one, two, three and four in scoring with Albin Hurtig (eight points), Emil Forslund (seven), Robin Horn (five) and Andreas Tingshagen (five). Jonathan Bylund Lundberg was in net for all three victories, posting a .931 save percentage in playoffs.
District-E
It was the first game of the series, but it proved to be a good one, as eventual first-place finisher and eventual second-place finisher Lidingö Vikings HC and Värmdö HC skated to a 6-5 finish on Saturday.
Värmdö jumped out to a 5-3 lead just past the halfway point of the game, with two goals and an assist from the team’s leading scorer, Melwin Lundberg Bergström. However, Lidingö would rattle off three consecutive goals in the span of just two minutes and 10 seconds of game action from Ludvig Malmström, Hugo Friberg and Charlie Eriksson Hedin to roar back to a 6-5 lead and the win.
That victory eventually led to a District championship as the Vikings won their next three games by a margin of 26-1.Tibor Baran’s nine goals and 12 points led all skaters in the District as well.
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The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) resumed regular hockey activities on Nov. 1, but its teams have been up and running for a regular hockey season since October. That means plenty of hockey to analyze and start figuring out who the teams to beat are in the most storied youth hockey league in North America. Here are our teams to beat in the GTHL this season.
The Toronto Jr. Canadiens are the team beat to beat in the GTHL this season at the U16 age level. As we head into the third weekend of November, they hold a perfect 14-0-0 record, which puts them in the top spot of the Canadian Rankings, and No. 2 in the world. On Oct. 10, the Jr. Canadiens gave the Mississauga Senators their first loss of the season by a 6-4 final; on Nov. 14, they did it again, this time with the scoreboard reading 6-2 at the final buzzer. It’s early in the season, sure, but the Jr. Canadiens are picking up steam and its hard to see anybody derailing them at the moment.
Much like their 2006 counterparts, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens are dominating early in the season at the U15 age group, too. Checking at No. 1 in the Canadian Rankings and No. 3 worldwide, the Jr. Canadiens have a nearly flawless 10-0-1 record on the young season. The Jr. Canadiens kicked off their 2021-22 campaign against the Toronto Marlboros and picked up a 5-3 win. To make sure it wasn’t a bit of opening-game luck, they did the same on Oct. 10, beating the Marlboros 4-2. The Jr. Canadiens’ one tie came at the hands of Ottawa Myers Automotive, a squad that has played to a 13-7-4 record so far this season. We’re not counting out the Marlboros just yet though — an 18-2-1 record makes them a terrifying next-on-schedule for any of the GTHL clubs.
They won the Toronto Red Wings Early Bird tournament to bring in some early-season hardware, and the Vaughan Kings have won a whole lot of other games too. Ranked No. 1 in Canada and ranked No. 2 worldwide, the Kings have a 15-0-0 record alongside an 82-18 goal differential so far this year. Some of their wins have come against top competition, as well, as the Kings have taken down the No. 4-ranked Peterborough Petes, the No. 5-ranked North York Rangers, the No. 6-ranked Toronto Jr. Canadiens, the No. 8-ranked Toronto Marlboros and the No. 10-ranked Elgin Middlesex Chiefs.
The Don Mills Flyers have been climbing up the World Rankings, and for good reason. They check in at No. 2 this week as their record grows to 14-2-0 on the season. In a recent battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, it was Don Mills prevailing over top-ranked North York Rangers 4-3, and they celebrated by beating the No. 3-ranked Toronto Red Wings 4-0 three days later. Don Mills has No. 4 ranked Ottawa Myers Automotive next on the calendar, and they have also already beaten the No. 6-ranked Toronto Titans. One of their two losses came at the hands of the No. 7-ranked Sun County Panthers, the other a 5-4 OT thriller to the Huron-Perth Lakers.
It was a close call between No. 1 and No. 2, but when No. 1 has already beaten the team below it in the rankings, you have to go with the top dogs. The Toronto Marlboros have a 19-2-1 record so far this season, including a win over the No. 2 Vaughan Kings (a 3-1 final, if you were interested). Both of their losses have come to ranked opponents (No. 4 Toronto Jr. Canadiens in overtime and No. 7 Soo Jr. Greyhounds), and they’re outscoring their competition 96-28 in 2021-22. Other big victories for the Marlboros include two over No. 5 North York and one over No. 10 Oakville, as well as a win to avenge the OT loss to the Jr. Greyhounds.
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One of the most demanding positions in any sport is playing goalie. All eyes are on them. They can’t hide from a mistake or a misstep. When the game is over the goalie is analyzed by everyone including their own coach, teammates, parents of the team, the opposing team and coaches, and even themselves.
The position often receives the most credit for a team win, but at the same time receives the most criticism following a loss. The most elite goalies not only require physical strength but mental and emotional strength as well.
An invaluable asset to goalies is to have a mental recovery plan. One that works following a loss, but also can be used right after a bad goal.
Goalies have, on average, less than a minute to get ready and set for the next play. That means if the goalie is thinking about the past mistake, what they should have done better, complaining about the ref, or worrying about their teammates, their mind is not where it needs to be.
If your mindset is not focused on the present play, your performance suffers.
A great question I like to ask athletes I work with is, “Who is the person you listen to the most?” Often, answers include parents, coaches, teammates, or teachers. Many people tend to forget that saying “myself” is an option.
The person you listen to most is yourself. Your internal narrative or self-talk consists of the thoughts and dialogue in your mind that you have all day long. This occurs automatically and we may not even pay attention to messages we send ourselves daily.
When goalies are in the crease, they need to be intentional about the messages they have on repeat. Their self-talk is critical for top performance.
If your self-talk is negative, overly critical and harsh, you are not helping yourself. You need to support yourself through positive self-talk. You don’t have to lie and tell yourself everything is great. But you need to be intentional about helping yourself perform better.
Cue yourself with instruction; “see the puck,” “play strong,” and “quick feet.” These phrases help you stay on task. You can also use motivational self-talk; “trust yourself,” “I got this,” “I’m ready,” or “I trained for this.”
Have 3 to 5 self-talk phrases that help keep you ready, positive and focused. Don’t help your opponents out by beating yourself. Create your top performance through great self-talk.
The best way to let your opponent know they’ve gotten the best of you is through body language. Many athletes don’t recognize the importance of body language.
Picture your opponent throwing their head back, then putting their hands up as if to blame their teammates for a bad play. Or if your opponent bends over, slams and breaks their stick, and skates slowly to the bench. Or imagine the players who have their head down on the bench and no one’s communicating with each other. Those players have already lost. They have been mentally beaten. They have checked out and their mindset is not in a place for their top performance.
As a goalie, you cannot let the opponent take up space in your mind. Be intentional about your body language. Imagine 5 things a goalie with good body language does.
Could you do all those things in practice and in games? Don’t allow your body language to be something that just happens. Practice it. Do not allow your body language to give anything away for free.
Positive body language for goalies includes keeping your head up, eyes on the play, standing tall in between plays and communicating effectively with teammates. Work to avoid blaming teammates, slamming your stick, throwing your head back or hanging your head, bending over in disappointment or getting in the referee’s face.
Goalies need to use their mind to their advantage. It’s great to keep the positivity up through self-talk and body language but these skills bring you back to your baseline performance. Imagery and visualization take your performance to the next level.
You cannot outperform your self-image. That means if you don’t see yourself making incredible saves, showing up big in the third period or shutting down the opponent’s power play, your chances of doing so greatly diminish.
Imagery involves all the senses — seeing, feeling, hearing, movement, smelling, taste — to recreate positive plays in the mind’s eye. The mind is so powerful that simply imagining great plays and good techniques solidify those brain-thinking patterns leading to quicker reaction times, increased performance and improved self-confidence.
Create a self-image of an elite goalie. See yourself succeeding and making the clutch plays.
It’s easy to get stuck in the last play. Our minds want to analyze the past and make corrections for the future. But there is not time to go through that thinking process during a game. This activity is better saved for after the game.
Instead, you need to forget the last play and re-focus on the immediate task. This is easier said than done, it’s a skill that requires practice.
With intentional attention shifting, you can get yourself back into the present by focusing on exactly what is right in front of you.
One of my favorite re-focus cues from a collegiate goalie I’ve worked with is, “Next Shot. Next Save.” This four-word phrase moves the attention to the next play. The past play doesn’t matter anymore, I need to focus on my next save.
Another goalie reset focus through a physical routine of tapping the goal post with their stick, adjusting their pads and getting back into their ready stance. Doing this routine intentionally helps them reset their mind and body.
The paradox of being a goalie is that you must be alert while at the same time relaxed.
If you become too anxious, you may play ahead of yourself. Getting yourself out of proper position, cheating on your corners or playing too far off the crease.
If you contract your muscles too tightly, you lose reaction time, your movements lose their flow and you get tired much more quickly.
If your mind is not relaxed, tunnel vision occurs and you may not be able to see the entire ice as you should. You may start overthinking about the last couple of plays and losing present focus.
The best performances for goalies requires the right amount of energy.
I’m not saying you should be falling asleep out there; that’s too far in the other direction. You need to find the right energy level for you. Some of your teammates require their energy to be at 10, headbutting one another, jumping up and down, and hyping themselves up. Others require a lower energy level of 3 or 4, listening to music and being calm but ready.
Think of your best performance, what was your energy level at on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s important to work to recreate that exact energy level. Many professional goalies tend to have a lower energy level where they are intensely focused, in the zone and ready for anything.
If your energy level gets too high, which is often the case, you need to be able to relax the body and the mind. Through squared breathing you can calm the mind and the body. This technique requires four-second inhale, four-second hold, four-second exhale, four-second hold and then repeat. This short breathing exercise can be done in between plays, after a goal or during the period break.
Also combine your self-talk and re-focus cues to bring your energy level to where it needs to be. These techniques do not have to occur in isolation and help improve your recovery plan while used together.
Having a planned recovery plan will set you apart from your competition. Some of the best goalies in the NHL credit their success to sports psychology skills. Those goalies include Braden Holtby and Carter Hart.
Create your personal recovery plan using the suggestions above. As a goalie you need to be able to shake off the last play. Good or bad, it’s in the past. The most important play is the next one.
By Blaise Fayolle, EdD, CMPC, LLPC
Blaise Fayolle holds a doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology and is credentialed as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® through the Associated for Applied Sport Psychology. Blaise is also a licensed mental health professional in Michigan.
The 2021 CCM World Invite Chicago brought 504 teams to the Chicagoland area for a massive early-season tournament this past weekend. Who emerged victorious? Let’s take a closer look at the top Super Tacks divisions for the ’05 through ’10 age groups.
16U Super Tacks
Chicago Mission took advantage of their home ice for the 16U age group, as they cruised to a 6-0-0 record in the Windy City. They dominated preliminary-round play, posting a 6-1 win over the NEW Jr. Gamblers and a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Vengeance on Friday before a 5-0 win over Belle Tire on Saturday. From there, it was a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Lakers on Saturday evening, and then a 7-2 win over the Connecticut Jr. Rangers Sunday morning before Mission finished things off with a 4-1 win over Culver Academy in the finals. Hats off to Culver, too, for a nearly flawless weekend, as well.
15U Super Tacks
Team Wisconsin gave up four goals at the CCM World Invite…over six games. With that type of defense and goaltending, it’s easy to see how they emerged victorious at the 15U age group. They registered 5-0 and 2-0 shutout wins over the MDHL (Michigan) and Pittsburgh Vengeance, respectively, on Friday, before a 3-1 win over Florida Alliance Saturday to charge into the elimination rounds. There, it was another shutout win — 3-0 over Team Illinois — in the quarters before a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Barons Sunday morning in the semifinals. In the finals, Chicago Mission managed to score twice, but, it wasn’t enough, as Team Wisconsin headed home champions thanks to a 4-2 victory.
2007 Super Tacks
Compuware had some fun after making the four-hour drive down to Chicago. With a 3-2 win over Team Wisconsin in the finals, Compuware secured a perfect weekend. They started things off with a 4-3 win over the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes and a 3-1 win over CarShield on Friday, before really hitting their stride on Saturday. There, Compuware posted back-to-back five-goal games, beating St. Louis Park 5-2 and then the Indy Jr. Fuel 5-1 in the quarterfinals. On Sunday, they recorded a 4-0 win over the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets before winning it all a few hours later.
2008 Super Tacks
The Los Angeles Jr. Kings entered the CCM World Invite Chicago as the highest-ranked participating team, and they lived up to the billing. The Kings posted a perfect 6-0 record on the weekend, out-scoring the competition 34-13 in the process. After posting a 6-2 win over the Indy Jr. Fuel and a 7-3 win over the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals to start, the Kings followed up with 7-1 and 4-2 wins over Sioux Falls Power and the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets Saturday. On Sunday, an 8-4 win over the Nashville Warriors secured their spot in the finals, where the Kings beat the Chicago Reapers 2-1.
2009 Super Tacks
The home cooking served the Chicago Reapers well this past weekend, as they emerged unscathed from a crowded 2009 class at the World Invite in their backyard. The Reapers pitched three shutouts during their run to the Super Tacks title – including back-to-back Friday 6-0 wins over the California Golden Bears and Nashville Warriors to start things off with a bang. Their last shutout? The finals, of course, as the Reapers blanked Florida Alliance 5-0. The hometown team scored 34 goals in their six games, while only allowing three all weekend – never more than one goal against in each game.
2010 Super Tacks (Crosby)
In a super-stacked Super Tacks at the 2010 age group, tournament organizers split the birth year into Crosby and Ovechkin divisions. In the Crosby division, there were seven ranked teams among the 12, and it was No. 1 holding the rest at bay. Chicago Mission navigated the tournament field with ease, posting a 6-0-0 record en route to a championship. They played the St. Louis AAA Blues in the first game and then again in the last game, and both times, Mission posted 7-1 wins. Along the way, they also took down the No. 2 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and No. 5 L.A. Jr. Kings, too.
2010 Super Tacks (Ovechkin)
The Madison Capitols took care of business in the other 2010 Super Tacks division, registering their own perfect 6-0-0 record in the Ovi division. No strangers to winning close ones, the Caps never won by more than two goals, but each and every time out, they found a way to win – including a 4-3 final over the Colorado Thunderbirds in the final on Sunday.
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