Hockey team gains world stage
As seen in the Sunday Republican on Sunday, December 23, 2007
Bill Wells at wellsb6@charter.net

It's been a fun year for the Springfield Junior Pics PeeWee Major team.

In February, it's going to get even better.

The Pics qualified for the Quebec International Hockey Tournament, which is the world's largest event for 12-year-olds. The 10-day event draws teams from Canada, the United States, Russia, Finland, Ukraine and Sweden, as well as other countries.

"It's a great group of kids," coach Brian Foley said. "They work hard. We have great families. It's been a fun year. The best is yet to come.

"It's winter carnival. It's a hockey tournament, a family vacation, and a lifetime of memory for the kids."

Since the tournament is just for 12-year-olds, players have just one opportunity to qualify. This year's Pics players fully understood the situation, and made sure they put themselves in the best possible position to qualify.

The Pics play in the Metropolitan Boston Hockey League. The qualifying round winner of the league receives an automatic berth to Quebec. The qualifying round includes a team's record in its first meeting against a league opponent.

The Pics couldn't afford a slow start to its season.

"We did some things we hadn't done in the past," Foley said. "We played in three summer tournaments, so when our season started we were more prepared, instead of starting in September and playing our first game seven days later. One loss could cost you."

The Pics played in tournaments at Marlboro in May and July, and at Foxborough in August. The tournament at Foxborough was particularly tough, with a number of the top peewee major teams in the country attending. Those opponents had all-star teams, as opposed to the Pics' regular team. The Pics went 1-3.

The Metropolitan schedule started soon thereafter, and the Pics were ready.

"We grew a lot as a team from that tournament," said Foley, whose team has been together for four seasons.

"We were certainly as prepared as we could be. They also did dry land (workouts) throughout the summer. We did that the month of August, and before practices. They did things to improve themselves."

And when the regular season, and subsequent qualifying round, started, the Pics never suffered that one loss, going 7-0-1. The team clinched its trip to Quebec Nov. 10 with a 5-2 win over Edgewood, R.I.

The team, which won the Metro League playoffs the last three seasons, stands 13-2-1 in the league and 19-5-1 overall. They also won the Minuteman Flames Fall Classic in Marlboro in October.

"The strength of our team is our balance. We have balance throughout the offense," Foley said. "We have six very good defensemen and two very good goalies. Our goals against average is 1.5. We're tough to score against, which helps in those low-scoring games. We play very good team defense."

East Longmeadow's Ryan Cloonan, Agawam's Corey and Kyle Jenks, Westfield's Nate Summers and Nate Tremblay, Longmeadow's Cormac Kennedy and Matt Stockley, Jason Lamott of Coventry, Conn., and Danny Kycia of West Hartford, Conn., play forward for the Pics.

The defense includes Ludlow's Artie Potter, Hatfield's Zach Langlois, Longmeadow's Matt Foley, South Hadley's Eric Fernandes and Cullen Geary, and Kurt Weissenburger of Hebron, Conn.

Springfield's Johnnie Liquori and Palmer's Eddie Sablak are the team's goalies. Ludlow's Nick Forzano and Aaron McNamara are team alternates. Serving as assistant coaches are Peter Langlois, Andrew Wright and Jim Pagliaro. Cloonan and Potter are the team captains.

NHL legends such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Guy Lafleur have played in the 49-year-old tournament, which is held at The Colisee. The championship game typically draws 14,000-15,000 spectators.