Atlantic Youth Hockey League

The season has officially come to a close now that USA Hockey’s national championships are over. The AYHL was represented very well at the 2019 Chipotle National Championships at the 14U, 15 Pure, 16U and 18U age levels. The 14U was represented by the Atlantic District Champion Valley Forge Minutemen. The minutemen didn’t get the outcome they wanted but they still played hard. Valley Forge went 0-3 on the weekend but still made the AYHL proud for making it!

              At the 15 Pure age level the North Jersey Avalanche were chosen as an at large bid. The 15P avs also didn’t get the outcome they wanted going 1-2 on the weekend. At 16U we had two teams Team Maryland and the North Jersey Avalanche, the 16U avs went 3-1 on the weekend losing to the Saint Louis Blues in the semifinal game in Grand Rapids, MI. Unfortunately Team Maryland went 0-3 on the weekend bringing their fantastic season to an end.

              Finally the 18U the AYHL had two teams represented, The Washington Little Caps and the North Jersey Avalanche. The Little Caps fought hard but had some tough opponents in the pool play. They went 0-3 to end their season. The boys from the Ice Hose in Hackensack, NJ were there with one thing on their mind…bring back a national championship to the Ice House. The Avs came out strong in the first game beating the Jr. Ducks 7-2. On Thursday they came back strong winning game 2 against the Colorado rampage 4-0 giving Tyler Franchi his first shutout of the tournament with 34 saves. Friday came around and the team from North Jersey were handed their first loss by Yale 4-1. With this loss the Avs had to win the last game they had to have any shot at making it to Monday, and they did just that winning 3-1 on Saturday advancing to the semifinals on Sunday to take on Northwood prep. The Avalanche jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one period of play holding on to win 4-1 and advance to championship Monday!

              The North Jersey Avalanche took on Central CT Selects. With a scoreless first period the Selects struck first 1:07 into the second period then again about seven minutes into the 3^rd. the Avs fought back playing very disciplined hockey, the blue and yellow scored with just under a minute left in the 3^rd then again to tie the game with 10 seconds left! The North Jersey Avalanche took home second place at the 18U age level, losing in overtime 3-2. Tyler Franchi again played an unbelievable game between the pipes for the avs stopping 61 shots! Tyler Sedlak and Christopher Carroll each had 5 goals and 3 assists in six games for the avs.

              The AYHL would like to congratulate all of the teams that participated in the 2019 USA Hockey National Championships. We hope that everyone has a safe trip home and we look forward to next season!   

The Atlantic Youth Hockey League is the USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier I AAA youth hockey league of the Atlantic District. From Connecticut to Maryland, the AYHL’s membership is comprised of over 100 teams, representing four districts, and is spread across six playing divisions. The AYHL’s mission is to develop young players with competition, fun, and good sportsmanship, and move them on to the next phase of their hockey career. With a distinguished alumni list of players that spent a portion of their playing career in the AYHL, today’s players choose to play in the AYHL knowing that it is a proven stepping stone for those serious in their hockey pursuits.