The Buffalo Regals Squirt Minor Hockey team that consists of all 9 year old players participated in the 44th Annual Wayne Gretzky International Hockey Tournament that was held in Wayne Gretzky’s hometown of Brantford, Ontario from December 27-30th.
The tournament consisted of 116 teams in 14 different divisions with teams representing the United States, Canada, Norway and Finland. The Buffalo Regals team was the only team representing the United States in the Minor Atom division with 7 other teams representing Canada.
This tournament format is very similar to the format of the WJC that is currently going on in Malmo, Sweden. The Regals went 2-0-1 (10GF, 6GA) in Round Robin play beating teams from Brantford and Kitchener while tying Uxbridge. This tie put the Regals into the Quarter-Final game as the 2nd seed from Group A as they went on to face and beat the team from London 2-1.
This win would put the Buffalo Regals into the Semi-Finals against the top team from Group B, the Woodstock Jr. Navy Vets which they went on to beat 5-3 to advance them into the Championship Game against the team they tied in Round Robin play, the Uxbridge Stars.
The Regals went on to beat the Uxbridge Stars 3-1 to take home the Championship! The Buffalo Regals were the only team from the United States to go on to win the Championship from all 14 divisions. In the Championship ceremony, the team was presented with the winning banner, gold medals and t-shirts from Walter Gretzky the father of Hockey Legend, Wayne Gretzky.
Leading the way for the Buffalo Regals forwards was: Carson Schlager (7G, 3A, 10pts) Nathan Stachowiak-C (4G, 6A, 10pts) Kameron Lopez (2G, 4A, 6pts) Miles Brown-A (2G, 3A, 5pts) Colton Clendening (3G, 0A,3pts) Grady O’Hara (0G, 2A, 2pts) Mason Besant (1G, 0A, 1pt) Aaron Johnson (0G, 1A, 1pt)
Leading the Buffalo Regals Defensemen was: Trevor Ward-A (1G, 2A, 3pts) Jordan Ozmanski (0G, 2A, 2pts)
Backstopping the Buffalo Regals to the Championship win was: Christian Kohr (GP 5, GA 10, GAA 1.96) and Michael Georger (GP 1, GA 1, GAA 1.88)
Congratulations to the Buffalo Regals Squirt Minor team on not only winning the 44th Annual Wayne Gretzky International Hockey Tournament with a tournament record of 5-0-1, but to be the only team from the United States to take home a Championship!
Pictured from Left to Right Top Row: Assistant Coach Kevin Kohr, Head Coach Jim Ward, Walter Gretzky, Assistant Coach Dave Stachowiak, and Assistant Coach Daryl Besant.
Middle Row: Grady O’Hara, Brendon Cox, Carson Schlager, Matthew Bajer, Aaron Johnson, Colton Clendening, Miles Brown (A), Trevor Hasley.
Bottom Row: Mason Besant, Trevor Ward (A), Ethan Iozzia, Michael Georger, Christian Kohr, Nathan Stachowiak (C), Kamren Lopez, Jordon Ozmanski, and Team Mascot Bronson Besant.
