MR. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association’s (MYHA) Squirt AA Blue team for winning the 2016 International Silver Stick championship in Sarnia, Ontario. I am proud that this year –for the third year in a row – the name of the Montgomery Blue Devils from Rockville, Maryland will be on a plaque placed alongside the Silver Stick trophy in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada.
The International Silver Stick tournament has attracted teams from all over the United States and Canada since 1958. The laudable purpose of the tournament is to develop and promote “Citizenship and International Goodwill through hockey.” The Montgomery Blue Devils team of 9- and 10-year-olds – a squad of 15 boys and one girl – exemplified this philosophy both on and off the ice. Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Reid Pehrkon, the Squirt AA Blue team outscored its opponents by a margin of 30 goals to 17. The team defeated the North York Knights in Toronto, Canada in four overtimes, 5-4, to win the championship for a third consecutive year. Compiling 145 victories in the process, the Blue Devils can legitimately lay claim to being the best AA team in North America.
In addition to winning the International Silver Stick tournament, the team won its regular season title, the league playoff championship, and the International Silver Stick regional championship.
Throughout the season, the AA Blue team lived up to its simple rallying cry of “Work!” and never wavered from the main goals established by Coach Rob Keegan and assistants Dave Cohen, Stu Margel and Lee Rosebush, which were “to be the hardest working team around and to always believe that the team is more important than the individual.”
Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me today in congratulating the MYHA Blue Devils Squirt AA Blue Team for its dedication to the values of teamwork and perseverance while winning a third consecutive International Silver Stick Championship. Team members include Ethan Birndorf, Caden Blazer, Will Cohen, Andrew Fou, Nick Garner, Cody Keegan, Alexander MacMillan, Dylan Margel, John McNelis, Jack Oliver, Reid Pehrkon, Dakota Rosebush, Brady Silverman, Jack Slater, Lucy Thiessen, and Maddox Tulacro. We should also express our appreciation to the coaches mentioned above and to the parents, other family members, and friends who have tirelessly supported and mentored this superb group of youngsters.
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