Atlantic Youth Hockey League

Team Maryland Reaches U18 International Silver Stick Finals

Release Date : 1/28/2014

SARNIA, ONTARIO, CANADA – Over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, the Team Maryland U18 AAA hockey team competed in the International Silver Stick Tournament in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada and advanced all the way to the Championship game. Prior to the tournament, remarkably, Team Maryland was ranked only 93rd in the United States, and went to Sarnia with only eleven skaters. Team Maryland’s Midget Majors went 3-0-1 against Canadian teams ranked 10th, 26th and 31st to advance to the semi-finals.

In the preliminary round, Team Maryland defeated the Lambton Junior Sting 4-3, tied the Brampton 45’s 4-4, defeated the Oakville Rangers 2-0 and beat the Toronto Marlboros 4-3.

In the semi-finals, Team Maryland’s defeated national powerhouse Shattuck Saint Mary’s U18 AAA team, by the score of 4-1. In the tournament’s championship game, Team Maryland lost to #5 nationally ranked Honeybaked by the score of 3-1.   

The Silver Stick operational structure is based on a series of regional tournaments. These tournaments identify Regional Champions that move on to compete against each other in age and skill appropriate International Finals Tournaments. As such, Regional Qualifying Tournaments are designed to determine which of the teams within a specified region have earned the right to move on and play against other Regional winners. It is at this International level, the Finals level, that teams will play against new and different teams who are therefore the very best in North America.

Reflecting representation from some of the best international competition in the world, other teams in the Silversticks U18 AAA division included also the London Knights, Little Caesars, Brampton, Madison Capitals, the Oakville Rangers, the Toronto Marlboros, the Toronto Titans, Lambton Junior Sting and the Grey Bruce Highlanders.

“We went in with the goal of sticking with our systems,” said Team Maryland Captain Will Rambin (’96 birth year/Manassas, VA). “Thanks to excellent coaching, solid goaltending, and outstanding play from Jack Barton (’95 birth year/McLean, VA) and Alex Worgo (’96 birth year/Arnold, MD), it worked.”

“We didn’t know how we were going to do going into the tournament,” added goaltender Ben Zienty (’95 birth year/Leesburg, VA). “But every guy on the team stepped up. It was an awesome experience.”

“Everyone dreams of playing in an International Final, and we got to do just that in Sarnia.,” said Team Maryland U18 Head Coach and Team Maryland Director of Coaches Dan Houck. “We went to the Silver Stick International clear underdogs, but made the very most of this excellent opportunity to show that we can and did compete at the top level. With all the top level programs watching us, I was so gratified to watch our boys get to showcase their talent and come out of Canada as Silver Stick Finalists.  Given this accomplishment, all of Team Maryland is proud for them.”