92 teams - 14 divisional banners - back to back weekends - yes, it’s been a pretty chaotic stretch for the organizers of the A and AA Silver Stick tournaments in Sudbury.

Thankfully, but for the post-mortem, their work is largely done for the next six to nine months or so. That’s not the case for the entries who have successfully moved on to International Silver Stick play in January, either in the Sarnia - Port Huron corridor, or in Newmarket for what was formerly the minor-aged groupings.

As has been the case for the past decade or more, out of town squads garnered much of the hardware while visiting the nickel city. In fact, in terms of local teams moving on, that honour in 2022 goes to the Nickel City U13 AA Jr Sons - though it would take a third period short-handed breakaway goal from Mason Hampel and a shutout performance from Braeden Thibault to accomplish the feat with a 1-0 win over the Toronto East Enders.

“It was kind of like a fumble,” recalled Sons forward Ethan Gallagher, the 12 year old grade 7 student at Jean-Paul II still basking in the afterglow of victory a few hours after the game. “We put a lot of pressure on them and they coughed up the puck. We hit it up and Mason went in and scored.”

After posting a 3-0 record in pool play and knocking off the Soo Jr Greyhounds (4-1) and Scarborough Young Bruins (4-2) in quarter-final and semi-final action respectively, the Nickel City lads were full measure for the tournament triumph, one that they had prepared for well in anticipation of the potential big moment.

“Before the games, we would listen to this (recorded) speech, concentrate and close the lights,” said Gallagher. “We would visualize ourselves winning Silver Stick and going to the International tournament. That just made us go crazy.”

Still, with six minutes still to play after the Hampel marker, there was plenty of work to be done in terms of protecting a precarious lead. “We had a little bit left in the tank and we were pushing as hard as you can,” admitted Gallagher. “We were putting pressure on the puck, get it over the red line and dump it in and then try and keep it down low.”

“We are very well coached by all of our coaches.”

Coming closest to duplicating the efforts of the U13 crew were the Nickel City U16 AA Jr Sons.

With four of the five teams in that pool being extremely competitive, the locals overcame a round robin loss to the Waterloo Wolves (5-2), edging that same opponent 3-2 in semi-final play, but dropping a 3-0 decision in the finals to a Gloucester Rangers side that they had beaten 3-2 back on Friday.

It all made for a very good set of encounters for coach Darryl Smith and company, his Nickel City troops now looking to tackle a few points of emphasis as they work their way towards a January visit to the nation’s capital for a tournament that could easily see these two adversaries meeting again in a critical Sunday matchup.

“We need a little more urgency on getting on that puck,” stressed Smith. “There’s a little too much of a delay and a good team will be all over that - a little more speed and communication and a little harder on the forecheck.”

“These are good kids,” Smith added. “They’ve got a lot of heart. Win or lose, they try hard.”

Gloucester coach Terry Lemieux was equally as happy to share some thoughts on his team, the one time goalie with the Hanmer Sabres high-school hockey team making a return to the city in which he grew up. “It’s more than just with the hockey - these kids are gentlemen off the ice, very approachable,” said Lemieux.

“We’re a very offensive minded team and we’re trying to promote a bit of a change of culture, focusing more on the defensive side of the game. It’s not always easy to think that not scoring a goal is better than scoring a goal.”

While there was only one Greater Sudbury rep to emerge victorious from the two weekends of play, there were plenty of banners making their way across northern Ontario. Goals from Scott Szyczgiel and Cameron Lockhart pushed the North Bay U15 AA Trappers past the North York Knights 2-1 as coach Guy Blanchard will bring another team to International Silver Stick competition.

The North Bay U11 AA kids were even more dominant, blasting Nickel City 6-1 as Ari Anello and Colton Brunette showed the way with two goals apiece for head coach Justin Carré and his staff. A similar story in the U10 AA bracket, only this team with bragging rights veering their way west as the Soo Jr Greyhounds bounced North Bay 7-1 with Lucca D’Agostini and Drew Calvano finding the back of the net twice each.

Rounding out the northern swing on week #2 of Sudbury Regional playdowns were the Timmins U12 AA North Stars, slipping past the Cumberland Jr Grads 4-3 as Hayden Horbul netted his second of the game with five minutes to play, providing the margin of victory.

One week earlier, Sault Ste Marie Bulk Barn trimmed Sault Ste Marie Trucor 1-0 in an all Lock City U11 A final, with Mitchell McLeod accounting for the only offense in support of starting netminder Adrian Scaglione. At the other end of the age spectrum, the Wawa Legionnaires split their attack between Issac Dechamplain, Miko Castonguay and call-up Easton Rancourt, blanking the New Tecumseh TNT Tornadoes 3-0 in the U18 A championship affair.

And coming full circle with another gold medal battle that remained scoreless until midway through the third, Bryson Dubé broke the ice on a 0-0 game as the Kapuskasing Ice Hawks laid claim to a U13 A banner with a 1-0 whitewashing of the Porcupine Jr Gold Kings.