The only thing better than earning a trip to an International Silver Stick Tournament might be making a return visit to the January competition that gather teams from across North America annually.
As the Sudbury Silver Stick “AA” Tournament wrapped up Sunday at the Gerry McCrory Sports Complex, a pair of northern Ontario teams were among those who were celebrating far more than the “been there, done that” folks might expect.
“You want to have fun when you are there because you won’t have a chance to keep doing this for the rest of your life,” noted 12 year old Timmins U13 "AA" North Stars' defenceman Ty Presseault, the grade 7 student at École Catholique Intermédiaire Sacré-Coeur clearly wise beyond his years.
After picking up a tie in four games at the 2025 U12 “AA” International showdown, the young man who was still basking in the joy of a dramatic 5-4 overtime win over the Leaside Flames will return to Port Huron in January with a much greater perspective in tow the second time around.
“Don’t underestimate any team,” stressed Presseault. “They are all good. They all won (regional) Silver Stick tournaments.”
In earning their ticket in Sudbury, the U13 "AA" North Stars had to overcome the disappointment of relinquishing a 4-2 lead with under two minutes to play, capitalizing on a power play 1:38 into three on three (but now four on three) action.
“Our coaches told us: don’t stop, we’ve got this,” Presseault recalled of the pre-overtime pep talk. “It’s our game; it’s our barn – so just keep going.”
A stalwart on the defensive side of the puck, Presseault enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the snipe that would earn his team gold. “We played the umbrella so we put it down to Easton (Horbul), our defenceman on the left side,” recalled the well-spoken athlete. “He passed it to Kolton (Lefebvre), on the right - and he’s left-handed so he had a perfect one-timer to tuck it in.”
The Copper Cliff U11 “AA” Reds might not have required overtime but that did not make their 2-1 win over the Soo Jr Greyhounds in an impressively well-played game any less exciting.
“They (SSM) are fun to play against; they are so good,” said Copper Cliff winger Nico Gianfrancesco, his team netting a pair of goals just 19 seconds apart in period two (Bo Michelutti; Cruz McHugh) and then holding on through the final ten minutes of play as only Leo Veira managed to solve Reds’ netminder Patrick Wing.
“It’s just a battle every time between both our teams. I recognize a lot of them from last year.”
Whether he recognizes any familiar faces when his crew makes the repeat visit to International Silver Stick in January remains to be seen, but Gianfrancesco knows that he is carrying a far more well-rounded game into his second appearance. “Last year, I didn’t backcheck nearly as hard,” he said with a sheepish smile.
“This year, I am much better at backchecking.”
In fact, it was the defensive acumen of the Reds, as much as anything, that was central to this most recent tournament win. “After the second (period), we talked about gaining the red line and getting it deep,” said the grade five student at Holy Cross, his older brother (Massimo) a member of the U14 AAA Wolves.
“We try and stay on the defensive side of the puck, work hard and backcheck as much as you can. I would try and play a little more defensive. I’m pretty decent at that.”
And in those dying seconds when all the temptation in the world is luring young players to take their shot at an empty net, the U11 “AA” Reds know better. “When they pull their goalie, our coach says not to focus on the empty net – focus on playing good defense,” noted Gianfrancesco.
“But if we do get a chance, try and get as far as you can in and then shoot it. We just don’t want to focus on the empty net.”
A second local entry to the next stage of play just barely failed to materialize as the Ottawa Valley Silver Seven rode a second period tally from Logan Potts and the shutout netminding of Nathan Philpott to a 1-0 win over the Sudbury Wolves in the U10 “AA” final.
The Timmins North Stars earned a second regional Silver Stick banner at Countryside, this one courtesy of the U12 “AA” crew as goals by Tayze Fortin and Charlie Pirie were just enough to offset a snipe from Daxton Filion, edging the Nickel City Cubs 2-1 in the gold medal affair.
Fittingly, perhaps, the final two encounters of the weekend also needed extra time to settle matters, with four out of town teams looking for bragging rights. The Kitchener Jr Rangers bounced back from a game-tying goal with just five seconds to play, slipping past the Oshawa Generals 3-2.
Reilly McCarten forced the OT period with his late tally but Thomas Thorman rendered than all for naught, two minutes into overtime as the Jr Rangers captured the U18 “AA” banner. The U16 “AA” hardware was also heading south as the Mississauga Rattlers needed just 23 seconds of three on three hockey to emerge triumphant, with Logan De Sousa providing the heroics.
Matteo Loconte buried the first two goals of the game for the Rattlers while the North York Knights countered with strikes from Everett Caldwell and Loukas Koromilos.
Last but not least, the Sudbury U14 “AA” Wolves fought valiantly 'til the end, down 1-0 (Jacob Dishaw) much of the game but holding firm until the Gloucester Rangers iced the championship tilt with an empty-net insurance goal from Nikola Duvnjak with 14 seconds showing on the clock.
