Back in early December 64,000 youth hockey players in North America set out on a quest to win the prestigious and coveted “SILVER STICK”. This past weekend, 16 kids from the Greater Grand Rapids area won it!! The 97 GRAHA Griffins Pee Wee A hockey team showed up in New Market, Ontario Canada ready to play!
They defeated teams from Canada and the US, showing solid goaltending, strong defense, fierce offense and most importantly a strong sense of TEAM and determination to win!
This is the team’s second straight year at International Silver Sticks, winning back-to-back Regional titles and finishing 5th overall last year.
The team trophy is an actual Silver Stick that is housed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, along with a plaque with all the winning teams names from the past 23 years engraved on it.
The team is lead on offense by JR Gates (East Grand Rapids), Brendan VanSweden (Kentwood), Campbell Balk (Grand Haven), Jay Stecco (East Grand Rapids), Jared Domin (East Grand Rapids), Patrick Lunt (Ada), Jacob Nestell (Middleville), Jake Morse (East Grand Rapids), and Tad Dobre (East Grand Rapids). The teams strong defense is from Reece Lindemann (Holland), Cameron Miller (Holland), Tim Sharky (Lansing), Adam Alkema (Caledonia) and Christopher Heath (Dorr). Team goaltenders are Mitchell Maier (Ada) and Eric Bourdo (Muskegon). The team is coached by John Stecco and assistants Andy Maier, Mike Lunt and Kevin Zaschek, managed by Gary Dobre, and supported by a great group of parents, siblings, sponsors and friends.
