U12 (2014) | Dec 01, 2025 | Brendan Magee | 94 views
U12 Lakers International Silverstick Finalists!!!
The 2014 Huron Perth Lakers travelled to Whitby this weekend to compete in the International Silver Stick finals. The tournament hosted most of the top 30 teams from the USA and Ontario and was sure to be the toughest test yet for this talented young team. The Lakers would be in a pool with a familiar foe in the Quinte Red Devils but would be rounded out by 3 new teams in the Vaughn Kings, Chicago Reapers and the Boston Minutemen Flames.
Friday morning would see HPL square off with the Minutemen Flames, through two periods the teams were knotted at zero's. With the shots heavily favoring the Lakers they would continue to press and eventually break through scoring three goals in the third period on route to a 3-0 opening win. With the opening game nerves out of the way the boys were chomping at the bit to get on the ice for game 2.
The second game of the tournament and of the day would be against the Chicago Reapers, the venue being the six pad Iroquois Park Sports Centre filled with fans and scouts there to watch the action. After battling for 3 periods to get on the board in game 1the boys would look for a faster start in this matchup and that they would get scoring 5 minutes into the first period. The Reapers would answer late in the frame on the power play and end the first period tied at 1. The Lakers would take over scoring the next 4 goals on route to a 5-2 win and a great opening day that would see them tied for first in pool C with Quinte.
After playing two teams from south of the border on Friday, HPL would face off against two Ontario teams on Saturday. Game 3 saw them square off with a perennial GTHL powerhouse in the Vaughn Kings. Vaughn would prove to be ready for a battle coming out hot and scoring midway through the first period putting the boys on their heels for the first time this tournament. The Lakers would continue to push and would break through late in the 2nd period on a seeing eye shot from the point to square the contest. The relentless play of the Lakers would eventually wear down the Kings as they would put 4 goals past the Kings goalie in the 3rd period on route to a convincing 5-1 win. If the teams from the GTHL didn't know who the 2014 Huron Perth Lakers were before, they did now!!
With Quinte playing their first game of the day, it would see the two undefeated teams square off in, the winner a berth in Sunday's medal round and the loser waiting to see if they might still get in. The Lakers fate was squarely in their hands and they would not disappoint. After a closely fought scoreless first period the Lakers would get on the board early in the 2nd period and not look back taking a 4-0 lead late into the 3rd period. After a suspect roughing penalty with four minute left, the Red Devils would finally break through with a power play goal cutting the lead to 3. A funny bounce off a skate on an innocent feed from the corner would find it's way in the net cutting the lead in half and giving life to the Quinte skaters. A comeback was not to be on this day as the resilient Laker squad would score with 6 seconds left and take the game by a score of 5-2. This would mean they would win pool C, punch their ticket to Sunday and be left waiting to see who they might play with many games still to play.
Once the dust settled and the math was done, HPL would find out their quarterfinal opponent would be Florida Alliance, a sunshine vs snowfall matchup at 730AM on Sunday morning. After a slow drive to the rink the boys would settle in and get ready for what could be an epic Sunday. The typically slow starting Lakers would come to life early in this contest scoring less than 2 minutes in and following it up with a power play marker a mere two minutes later to take an early 2-0 lead. There was no quit in the boys from the Sunshine state as they would fight back with two goals and end the first period at a 2-2 tie. Florida would take two second period leads but Huron Perth would match each time. The third period would see no action on the score sheet with no penalties and no goals, this meant overtime in the QF. Everyone loves overtime but the Lakers would end it early and spoil the fun with a beautiful feed to the slot buried into the back of the Alliance net that would send HPL to the semi finals!
With the Toronto Marlies taking down Little Caesars 2-0 in their QF, the stage was set for a rematch from a semi final earlier in the season that saw the Marlies take down HPL 4-3 in triple overtime. The teams would feel each other out early not wanting to make a mistake and give the other team an opening. The Lakers would eventually break through late in the first and then add the next 3 on route to a 4-0 lead. A shocked Marlie crowd were silenced as they saw their top ranked team behind mid way through the contest. They would eventually break through on the power play late in the 2nd but it would be as close they would come, an empty net goal would seal the deal on route to a 5-1 win and a berth in the International Silverstick final!!!!
Their opponents in the final would be the Middlesex Islanders, the top ranked team in the United States and heavy pre tournament favorite who didn't give up a goal in their quarter final or semi final matchups. It was set to be the toughest test these young Lakers had seen to date. After two Islander goals the Lakers would find themselves in a hole but quit isn't in this teams DNA and they would get on the board late in the first cutting the lead in half and ending the period down 2-1. An early power play goal would stretch the margin to 2 but late in the period HPL would score again getting back to a 3-2 deficit. Unfortunately this would be as close as they would come as Middlesex would add two more on route to a 5-2 win and the crown of International Silverstick Champion.
The boys played their hearts out as they always do and although disappointed should be extremely proud of their accomplishment of International Silverstick Finalists. This was the culmination of over 4 years of hard work for this group and has put them on the map as one of the top teams in North America. The coaches have done a wonderful job with this group of boys that gels off the ice just as well as they do on it. Your families and fans are all extremely proud of you all!!!
Hockey is the ultimate team sport and this team understands that fact placing team success over individual accomplishments. The coaches are great to give props to a big save by the goalie, a defenseman making a breakout pass that creates a goal and doesn't get credited with an assist or a blocked shot that prevents a scoring chance. The boys recognize this as well always cheering on their teammates when they make a great play. That being said, it should be noted that the Lakers had 3 players finish tied for 2nd in tournament scoring. Max Mari, Tripp Matthews and Ty Walker all notched 10 points in the tournament, well done boys!!!
Aside from continued Alliance league play, next up for the U12 Lakers is a trip to Ft Lauderdale, Florida to compete in the Paradise Puck Series where they will once again battle top teams from south of the border like Florida Alliance, Mid Fairfield Rangers, Boston South Shore Kings, Boston Top Gun and Florida Surf.
Big things ahead for these young Lakers!!!!!