Midget 3 - Silver Stick Champions

A scrappy Darien Huskies Midget 3 team traveled to Niagara Falls, Ontario January 12 and after 6 nerve wracking games of hockey returned with the 2006 Midget A/E Silver Stick championship.   Their come from behind 5-4 overtime victory on Sunday was just the last in a series of events that showed the mettle of this team.

Because of conflicts with Semester finals, the team traveled north Wednesday short 5 players and arrived at their hotel at 3AM.   Seven hours later they stepped on the ice to play their first of 2 games that first day.   The Memphis Blues were a stubborn opponent for the opener responding to goals by Luke Baumgarten and Brett Coomer with their own goals and the game ended in a 2-2 tie.   Cam Koziarz, Ben Larson and Max Parry each had assists in the opener.

The second game of the day was highlighted by the attendance of Walter Gretzky, Wayne's dad.   Walter was in attendance to watch his son Glen coach the Brantford Saints.   Walter was generous enough to speak to the Huskies before the game and came over at posed for pictures with an admiring group of Huskies parents.   An exhausted group of players hung on for a 0-0 tie.   Mike Raher earned the shutout for the Huskies.

The final game of the round robin was against the season long undefeated Port Dover Pirates.   This team of 15-17 years old against the primarily 15 year old Huskies provided big and tough competition.   First and second period goals by the Pirates were too much for the Huskies who came on strong in the end but could only get a single third period goal by Matt Quiter with assists from TMac Lee and Max Parry.   Jake Phillips had his second strong game of the tournament.   The 2-1 loss was made tougher when the Huskies lost a player for the rest of the tournament due to a major penalty.

The Huskies ended up tied for 2 nd place in their bracket with 2 other teams all with 0-1-2 records and were seeded 3 rd for their quarter final game later that day.   The host Pelham Panthers was the opponents for their 4 th game.   The Huskies dominated this very physical team and walked away with a 3-1 victory.   The Panthers goalie was forced to make numerous quality saves.   Huskies goals were by Nick Grundhoefer and Evan Mosey (2).   Husky assists were credited to Luke Baumgarten, Matt Quiter, Larry Wacyra, Cam Koziarz and Nick Grundhoeffer.   Only a last second 2 nd period goal prevented Mike Raher from registering his second shutout of the tournament.

Saturday's semi-final game was a rematch with the Gretzky coached Brantford Saints.   It was the strongest measure of this team's mettle so far.   Already down a player, the Huskies lost 2 players to Misconducts and another player to an injury for part of the game.   The Huskies came back twice in the game. Evan Mosey's 2 nd period goal tied the game at 1-1 with assists from TMac Lee and Cam Koziarz.   After the Saints scored early in the 3 rd period, TMac Lee poked in a pass from Larry Wacyra to tie the game 40 seconds later.   Evan Mosey had the second assist on the tying goal.   The game appeared to be headed for overtime when Max Parry hit Evan Mosey with an in-stride pass and Evan streaked in on the goalie to score the game winning goal with 2:02 left on the clock.   Jake Phillips had his 3 rd solid 2 goal game in nets to back stop the win.

Sunday's rematch with the Post Dover Pirates was a game that the players and fans will never forget.   Twice during the game the Huskies played 2 men short.   Twice in the game the Huskies lost players for extended periods when hits damaged player's helmets and they had to be repaired.   The Pirates used their power play opportunities to build up an early second period 3-0 lead.   The Huskies pulled within 2 on their own power play goal 1:52 into the 2 nd period when Larry Wacyra scored with assists from Luke Baumgarten and Cam Koziarz.   The Pirates temporarily took the wind out of the Huskies sails when they scored a short handed goal 2 minutes later to make the score 4-1.   At this point in the game, the 9 hour bus ride home was looking longer.

With 1:33 left in the second period Larry Wacyra again brought the Huskies within 2 when he scored on a well executed rush up the ice after assists from TMac Lee and Nick Cermak.   With the game within reach, the Huskies started to take control of the 3 rd period with constant fore checking pressure. It was not until 9:46 of the period that the Huskies, on a power play,   broke through when Nick Grundhoeffer poked in a centering pass by Evan Mosey.   Larry Wacyra was credited with the 2 nd assist.

There was still work to be done and only 5:14 to get it done. Finally, with 1:38 left in the 3 rd period, Nick Cermak took a high slot pass from Evan Mosey and rifled home a wrist shot to tie the game.   Luke Baumgarten was credited with his 2 nd assist of the game.   This set up a memorable 4 on 4 overtime period.   Fortunately for everybody's nerves, Matt Quitter made fast work of overtime.   Mike Raher stoned a Pirate on a breakaway with a little more than a minute gone in overtime.   Matt Quiter picked up the rebound at center ice and drove on his off wing hard through the defenseman to the net.   He fired a tough angle wrist shot over the goalies shoulder on the short side of the net to start the celebration.

Just to show the team that the difficulties were not behind them, the team bus decided the team needed to spend another 7 hours in Canada and broke down.   The delay was greatly tempered by the pizza, the wings and the savoring of the victory.

The championship was a true team effort with 8 different scorers and 12 different players getting points.   The defense gave up a paltry goals against average of 1.83.   The victorious Huskies are Luke Baumgarten, Nick Cermak, Dave Clark, Brett Coomer, Nick Grundhoefer, Eddie Hartmann, Cameron Koziarz, Ben Larson, TMac Lee, Evan Mosey, Max Parry, Jake Phillips, Matt Quiter, Mike Raher, Larry Wacyra, Iain MacDonald, Mike Rickey, Jake Knotts, Chris Rubey and Jake Dore.   The Huskies are coached by Bill Sunagal and Paul Koziarze