Girls teams join the Kiwanis par

Kiwanis tourney fills the void for hockey fans

By JUSTIN PEARSON
For The Patriot Ledger

QUINCY - For the past week, the epicenter of the youth hockey universe has been located right here at the 32nd annual Quincy Kiwanis International Youth Hockey Tournament.

While their NHL heroes and brethren have left arenas such as the FleetCenter (or whatever it is called today) vacant, these kids have packed throngs of fans into the Quincy Youth Arena for each of the last seven days and wowed all of them with their goals and glove saves, as well as their speed, skill and sportsmanship.

While yesterday's five group finals each had a decidedly local flavor, the tournament continues to draw teams from across the United States and around the world.

Lewiston, Maine; Los Angeles; and Klagenfurt, Austria, were all represented in Quincy this week, and while none of those teams reached the finals, that didn't matter to tournament co-director and rink manager Michelle Stenberg.

‘‘I have so much pride in the way this tournament is run and the kids and teams it draws,'' she said of the Kiwanis Tournament, which counts current NHL players such as Chris O'Sullivan and Thomas Pöck among its alumni. ‘‘To be able to get teams from California, Canada and even Austria is incredible. These kids do fund-raisers in order to get sponsors to get here, so some teams can only come every other year, but it is still a fantastic achievement for them and for the tournament.''

Stenberg nearly got to see the home team start the tournament's deciding day in rousing fashion as Quincy fought its way to the Bantam Division finals. However, despite a brief surge late in the second period that saw Ted Walsh, Scott Richardson and Casey Conley score, their opponents from Needham were able to hold on for a 7-3 victory and cap their first-ever Kiwanis appearance.

‘‘I've wanted to get my team into this tournament for a long time but had not been able to,'' said Needham coach Steve Maxwell, who had watched his team pick up a win in another game in Dorchester earlier in the morning before making its way to Quincy. ‘‘I have only ever heard great things about this tournament, and it completely lived up to the expectations. This is a nice win for us.''

But Needham's win would serve only as a precursor to the tournament's real and most memorable first. After 32 years, teams from Weymouth and Braintree squared off in the first-ever Girls Division final.

‘‘This is huge; it's the best,'' Stenberg said. ‘‘This year we had four (girls) teams, next year I think we'll have at least eight and it will keep growing. As the number of girls programs grows, so will we.''

Amanda Abromson of Braintree scored in the first period and Kiera Dwyer of Weymouth knotted the game in the second, setting up a thrilling final 12 minutes of hockey.

Braintree's Justine Hasson needed just 30 seconds to score the game-winner before Sam Tutty tacked on an insurance goal - giving her team a 3-1 triumph and the championship.

‘‘I am just so proud of all of these girls,'' Braintree coach John Tutty said. ‘‘This is something special.''

The same two towns squared off again in the final of the boys' Mites Division, with Weymouth this time gaining some redemption for the girls team defeat.

Trailing, 3-2, with less than three minutes left in the game, Weymouth forward Patrick Riley took a pass from Brendan Keenan and stuffed home a shot to tie the game at 3-3. Three minutes into the overtime session, Keenan, a typical mucker and grinder who had also assisted on his team's opening goal, gained control of the puck in the Braintree zone and feathered a pass in front to Riley, who scored his second goal of the game to set off a raucous celebration on the ice and the Weymouth bench.

‘‘There is always a lot of town pride when these two teams meet,'' Weymouth coach Tom Keenan said, ‘‘and they are always great games. It was nice to come out on top in this one,''

The Squirt final between Norwood and Quincy was scoreless after 36 minutes of regulation, thanks in large part to the play of the respective goalies - Norwood's Patrick Clifford and Quincy's Justin Keenan. Despite giving up the game's only goal near the end of the first overtime period, it was Keenan who, despite being shorter than the crossbar while in full uniform, stood tallest on the afternoon. He made a series of spectacular saves to keep his team in the game and delight the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation as he came off the ice following the heartbreaking defeat.

‘‘That's a lot of pressure for a 10-year-old kid to be under,'' Quincy coach Tim Wood said of his diminutive goalie. ‘‘He had the weight of his whole team on him, but he handled it incredibly, and to get an ovation like that will only help him in the future.''