U15 A Boys earn silver at the Buffalo tournament

The A.N.A.F. U15 A Boys St. Marys Rock returned home from the Buffalo River Outdoor Classic tournament Jan. 9-11 with the silver medals. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Drew Bomasuit and Braydon Wheeler. In the middle row, from left, are Landon Hewlett, Hayden Barker, Will Richardson, Quinn Porter, Owen Pletsch, Ashton Elliott and Luke Showers. In the back row, from left, are Ryan Hewlett, Colin Urquhart, Ben Graham, Grayson Urquhart, Evan Wolfkamp, Landon McDonald, Elliott Hudson, Luka Verkuyl, Luke Simons, Jacob Savile, Greg Wolfkamp and Sean Porter. Contributed photo

By Spencer Seymour

The A.N.A.F. U15 A Boys St. Marys Rock left Buffalo with the silver medals at the Buffalo River Outdoor Classic tournament Jan. 9-11.

Head coach Ryan Hewlett told the Independent the team’s ability to keep their composure throughout the weekend was a big factor in their success.

“Resilience and restraint were major themes in this tournament,” said Hewlett. “We didn’t know what to expect with USA rules and refereeing tendencies. We cautioned our guys to keep body-checking low and avoid head contact at all costs due to the chance that this may be heavily regulated with consequences. I was proud of how our players showed restraint when receiving multiple head contact incidents in multiple games, as these sacrifices allowed us to stay out of the penalty box and get our powerplays.”

The Rock went a perfect three-for-three in the round-robin play, with Hewlett noting several memorable moments in the three games leading up to the finals.

“Beating Lake Erie in the first game showed that we are a resilient team. We kept pushing and wearing down our opponent before pulling ahead in the third period. It was a great win, and as always throughout the year, we had all lines contributing well. We were a little sleepy in our Saturday morning 4-2 win over Perth-Lanark, but our captain, Evan (Wolfkamp), showed great leadership by putting the team on his back and scoring three goals and adding an assist.”

Though St. Marys fell in the final game, resulting in the Rock bringing home the silver medals, there were plenty of valuable takeaways for the group with the postseason on the horizon.

“All year, we have emphasized getting pucks on the net and sprinting to the net to get rebounds. Throughout the tournament, we scored many goals that way, which was a big part of our success. It was another reflection of teamwork and racing to opportune areas on the ice.

“We have gone 13-4 in tournaments this year, and after winning a tournament earlier in the year, this tournament gave us the bitter taste of defeat,” Hewlett continued. “This will definitely fuel our stretch towards the playoffs, remembering the sting of defeat and how much we need to press to avoid it again in the playoffs.”

With the tournament being played outdoors, Hewlett credited the group for battling through ice conditions that weren’t always advantageous.

“The ice gets pretty chewed up,” Hewlett said. “By the third period, there is a lot of snow on the ice. In all honesty, it limited our strengths a bit because we are built on fast skating, quick transitions and crisp passing, but with softer ice, some of that gets limited.”

However, according to Hewlett, it was well worth it to give the players the unique experience of playing outdoors.

“The outdoor tournament experience is one that the players were very interested in. Due to COVID limitations in their earlier years, only a couple of them have had the chance to experience this. The setting makes it pretty fun and there are different elements to prepare for, obviously, with temperatures, precipitation and the glare of the sun. The players had fun sporting toques, balaclavas, warmers and eye black to resist the elements. The parents braved it all, too, as it gets pretty chilly watching from the stands.

“The venue also allowed us to take in a Buffalo Sabres NHL game, where the excitement and energy of our players caught the attention of the Sabres players,” Hewlett added. “All in all, we’re very happy that our team could experience this together, and while not the outcome we were going for, it was great team bonding and definitely made lasting memories.”

The tournament was yet another notch in the team’s solid season to date, with Hewlett noting how the team’s development over the last several years under Sean Porter and Greg Wolfkamp, who currently serve as assistants on the coaching staff, was pivotal in reaching this calibre of play.

“This is the most successful season most of these players have had, but really, it is the product of a couple of years in the making of instilling hockey skills, hockey sense and camaraderie among the players. Current assistant coaches Sean (Porter) and Greg (Wolfkamp) have been brewing this success for years. The players are a very high-character group who buy in, give their maximum effort and are genuinely friends on and off the ice, who want to win and compete for each other every shift. This combination of coaches and players is resulting in the upward trend we continue to see with this team.”