Locals compete in hockey tourney Locals compete in hockey tourney (December 21, 2005)

During Thanksgiving weekend, four of Menlo Park's youth hockey players were on the ice in San Jose competing in the Pacific Regional Qualifying Tournament for the International Silver Stick.

Seventy-six hockey teams from throughout the western United States competed in the five-day tournament at Logitech Ice, with A- and B-level age divisions for hockey players 8-years-old up to 18-years-old.

The Squirt A division (10 and under) was won by the Santa Clara Blackhawks, one of the top Squirt A teams in the West, with stand-out defenseman Arthur Morgan, 10, of Menlo Park.

After being upset in the first game of the tournament, the Blackhawks roared back with three straight shut-out victories to reach the championship game against their rival, the San Jose Jr. Sharks.

Playing in front of more than 200 vocal fans, the Blackhawks trailed the upstart Jr. Sharks 2-1 midway through the second period after a series of penalties for physical play.

But the Blackhawks settled down to score two unanswered goals for a thrilling 4-2 victory to take home the Silver Stick trophy and champion's pin.

As regional champions, Morgan and his Blackhawks team will travel January 19 to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, where the Silver Stick North American Finals will be held.

The Squirt B division was won by the San Jose Jr. Sharks. Led by top forward Connor Mesec, 10, also of Menlo Park, the Sharks won a tense and very close championship game 3-2 over the Portland Lumberjacks. Mesec and Morgan are both fifth-grade classmates at Encinal School.

Hockey siblings Gabriel Morgan, 8, a center, and Madison Mesec, 8, a right wing, also played well in the Silver Stick tournament, leading their San Jose Jr. Shark Mite A team all the way to the championship game before falling 9-3 to a powerful L.A. Hockey Club team.

Sunday morning, the Morgan and Mesec families had the pleasure -- and extreme challenge -- of trying to watch three championship hockey games all being played simultaneously on three ice rinks at Logitech.
Report submitted by M. Reynolds Morgan of Menlo Park.

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