For the 28th year in a row, hundreds of hockey teams spent their Thanksgiving weekends competing in the prestigious Columbia, Maryland Silver Stick tournament.  This year, the Montgomery Blue Devils Squirt AA Gold hockey team were seeded in the highest division of the tournament, along with the top clubs for the Tri City Eagles, Texas Jr. Stars, and Long Island Arrows.  As always, the stakes were high as each team competed for the right to advance to the Squirt AA Championships of the International Silver Stick Tournament in Sarnia, Ontario.  In a stunning display of team work, the Blue Devils rose to the challenge and captured first place in the tournament.  The team now advances to the International Silver Stick Tournament in Sarnia from January 11 – 14, 2018, where they will face off against some of the best teams from across North America.

The Blue Devil’s first game of the tournament had them pitted against their regional rival, the Tri City Eagles.  The game was a defensive battle and the score remained 0-0 well into the third period.  Buoyed by the outstanding goaltending of Troy Wright, the team finally got on the scoreboard with a beauty of a goal from center Gavin McCarthy, one of his many during the course of the tournament.  Minutes later, the team tallied again and were able to hang on for a 2-0 win.

The momentum from the Blue Devil’s inspiring win against the Tri-City Eagle’s carried through its next tilt later in the day against the Texas Jr. Stars, as the team walked away with a 9-1 win.  The following game the next morning was a heated back-and-forth contest against the talented Long Island Arrows.  In a true nail-biter, the Blue Devils escaped with a 2-1 victory and advanced from the round robin portion of the tournament as the number one seed. 
In the semi-finals on the final day of the tournament, the Blue Devils again faced off against the Texas Jr. Stars, who came ready to avenge their previous loss against the Blue Devils.  In this second contest between the clubs, the Blue Devils battled to a 6-4 win.  With another win under its belt, the team went on to face off again against the Tri City Eagles, this time in the championship game and a trip to the international finals in Sarnia on the line.  The Blue Devils were initially tentative, but rallied as a team and emptied everything they had left in the tank after a long weekend of hockey.  The end result was a 3-2 win for the Blue Devils, an undefeated tournament record, and a trip to Sarnia added to the team’s schedule.  The championship is the latest accomplishment for a team that has steadily improved throughout the season and continues to impress with their commitment to hard work and team play. 

The team is comprised of netminder Troy Wright (’07), defensemen Hayden Grapes (‘07), Qin Lai (’08), Beaudy Hummer (’07), and Drew Soler (’07); wingers Ollie Berger (’08), Declan Gallagher (’08), Tristan Golden (’07), Tyler Hilbrecht (’08), Ian Wandell (’07), and Chen Chen Yi (’07); and centers Gavin McCarthy (’07) and Kirk Morgan (’08).  The Blue Devils are coached by Kirk Morgan, Will McCarthy, Rick Hilbrecht, and JP Soler.