2008 US NATIONALS  Champions  A  & B Divsions    38 Teams and over 300 players participated for the coveted Street & Dekhockey crowns this past Memorial Day. Two teams also made the journey from Canada to compete, Innisfil Ont WAVE and Hamiton Marine Canucks from Niagara Falls. Plenty of action and excitement in 78 fun filled games, and a few upsets thrown in for good measure. Ken Bergeron's Egg Harbor squads had a great showing winning the Penguin A" and Runner Up in Penguin B" and Beaver B". Team Jersey, coached by Butch Knoblauch  lost to Steve Kendall's Kings in Round Robin then reversed the score in the final.  The Leominster Capitals coached by Zach Marquis upset the Blue Devils coached by Bernie Saulnier 2-1 in Overtime.  Mike Shelton's Athols Av's upset EHT and the big news was the Rick Defazio's STARS edging the Innisfil Ont WAVE coached by Paul Ciccone 1-0. The STARS and WAVE had  tied 2-2 in Round Robin, the WAVE had adapted from Ball Hockey to play a great tournament. Full story for the tournament and pics will be posted soon

Penguin B  Athol Orange Ma  Avalanche   3   Egg Harbor NJ  Phantoms   1

Penguin A  Egg Harbor NJ  A"                     3    Leominster Ma Flames        1

Beaver   B  Pittsburgh Knights                     4  EHT NJ Phanatoms               0

Beaver  A  Leominster Stars                        1  Innsifil Ont Wave                    0

Cadet B    Leominster Capitals                   2  Leominster Blue Devils         1 OT         

Cadet A    Team Jersey                                 3  Leominster Kings                   2         

The 2008 Maple Leaf Cup Penguin and Beaver Divisions saw a very close matchup in the Beaver A as rivals from the US Nationals,  the Innisfil Wave and Leominster Stars met again in finals. The Stars coached by Rick Defazio beat the Wave 6-4. The Wave coached by Paul Ciccone fell behind 5-0 after a period and a half and struggle to get back into the match, until the 3rd period when they scored 3 unanswered goals. Tyler Warila of the Stars led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists, other goals coming from PJ Dupre, Jon Palotta, Nick Marin. Wave got goals  from Ryan Shaw (2) ,Brandon Shaw and Marco Franza.

The Beaver B Niagara Falls 1st Choice Transmission beat the Leominster Storm 3-0. The Storm coached by Tony Johnson had met NF in round robin and had a rare 0-0 tie. Tony Vertone coach of 1st Choice also found it difficult to get balls past Storm goalie Andrew Carter until mid way through the 2nd period. McKenzie King did a great job with another shutout to help his team to the championship. 1st Choice goal scorers were Matt Vanderzalm a pair and Callum MacGregor.

Penguin Division  Niagara Falls Flyers beat the Leominster Storm  5-0 in the final. Both teams had met in round robin and had an exciting 6-5 game, the Flyers edging the Storm. Jim Devine coached the Flyers and had 2 goals from Nathan Ellis and singles from Mac Hollowel,Pete Falavina and Mike O'Rourke, Derek Howard had the shutout.

Pittsburgh G O D S Freshmen Champions 07 Maple Leaf Cup Coached by Corey Herschk

 US Nationals  Rams 3 Pittsburgh 2 OT The Rams of Leominster Ma defeated Pittsburgh United  3 to 2 in Overtime, in an action packed exciting final game. The Rams coached by John Stamas &  Ray Richard took an early lead on a goal by Conan Langlois assisted by Ted Reynolds & Brad Forrest. Rams outshot United 9 to 3. The second period United coached by Mark Madden & Corey Herschk came alive and took over the play, veteran Steve Russell fired home a powerplay slapshot to tie the game, Ryan Jones & John Kalichuck assisting. A few minutes later Jones wristed home the lead goal after a pass from Russell. Pittsburgh continued to dominate the period and squash the Rams offence, outshooting their rival 7 to 5. The third period was evenly played, Pittsburgh taking their second period momentum into the first half of the period.  The Rams continued to press,  time running out  pulled their goalie and with a faceoff deep in Pittsburgh's end only 17 seconds left set in motion the Rams final play.

The Rams Bobby Housser then came from behind the net setting up teammate Steve Kendall's shot into the top corner tying the game at 2-2 with just 8 seconds left.         Overtime saw Pittsburgh United take charge & fire 5 shots at Rams goalie Breau, who turned all away.   Rams Cody Warila broke out of his zone with Bobby Housser trailing and fed a drop pass to Housser who fired a blast into the upper net past goalie John Rethage for the victory at 5:55. Shots for the game Rams 23 United 21.

Rams Bobby Housser was voted Most Valuable Player, Steve Kendall Most Valuable Defenceman, and United goalie John Rethage Most Valuable Goalie. Pittsburgh's Ryan Jones was Tounament Leading Scorer, with 9 goals & 4 assists, Housser was right behind with 4 goals and 8 assists.

2008 US NATIONALS  LEOMINSTER RAMS  3-2 in OT vs PITTSBURGH UNITED MVP Rams Bobby Housser ( 4 goals & 8 assists)   MVD Rams Steve Kendall

MVG United John Rethage 0.83 GA 3 Shutouts Leading Scorer United  Ryan Jones 9 goals & 4 assists

2007 US NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Leominster Rams >> The Leominster Rams will attempt to defend their 07 Crown against a strong field of teams this May 2, 3, 4. The Gr Boston Stars 07 Runner Up, Bufflao 9MM Can Am Runner Up, Leominster Jets and Elite, Team Pittsurgh are a few of the strong teams. This will also be the first year the US NATIONALS will break into two seperate Playoffs A" and B" after Round Robin.