'97 Squirt Major Team Battled Past Assabet on the Way to Finals!
Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008 (Submitted by Mike Scully)

The Springfield Junior Pics 1997 Squirt Major team put on a brilliant display of hustle, tenacity and team-work to advance to the finals of the MBHL play-offs, coming within a whisker of winning the title.  After finishing fifth in regular season play, the Junior Pics Squirt Majors faced the fourth-seeded Worcester Crusaders in the first-round.

The hard work put in by every player throughout a long season of practices and games paid off.  With two goals by Cam Kagan and the game winner by Joey Saracino, the Junior Pics came away with a 3-2 victory.  They then faced the first-seeded Assabet Valley Patriots in the semi-finals.  Assabet was last year’s MBHL champion in the 1997 division and had only lost two games in the MBHL in the last two years.

In a game that is difficult to accurately describe, the Junior Pics looked like a team on a mission, with every player skating hard and hustling – battling for every loose puck.  Goaltender Brandon Bryant, and the Junior Pics defensemen, shut down the high-powered Assabet offense, particularly in the face of strong offensive pressure by Assabet in the first period.  The Jr. Pics never let up and ultimately beat Assabet 2-1, with a goal by Tyler Noll, and with Zeke Emerson scoring the game winner in the second overtime.

The Junior Pics then faced the second-seeded NH Avalanche in the finals.  The game was exciting and intense --another brilliant display by the Junior Pics of hustle and team work.  They truly gave it all they had.  With goals by Ethan Gamble and Michael Grise, the Junior Pics and New Hampshire were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and through two overtimes.  Brandon Bryant, with strong support from his defenseman, was again stellar in goal.  The Junior Pics came on strong late in the game, and many times in the third period and overtime the ice seemed tilted towards New Hampshire’s end.  The Junior Pics held New Hampshire to less than 5 shots during that time but just could not get the break they needed.

In the end, it came down to a shootout.  Unfortunately, the puck bounced the New Hampshire’s way and they won the game.  Head Coaches Glenn Van Orman and Vern Meyer said: “In all our years of coaching we have never seen a team play with more heart and determination or a team that supported their teammates more than this group of young men.  It is a team in every sense of the word and is an inspiration to be around.”