Weekend Wrap Jan. 9-11: Season Gathers Momentum Heading Toward the Stretch Run
It was full steam ahead for the weekend of Jan. 9-11 as the unofficial second half of the 2025-26 North American season gathered momentum follow a few quieter weekends to open the new year.
Weekend highlights included some of the top school-based boys teams in North America competing at the annual GameSheet Prep Cup in New Hampshire, the final regular-season weekend for the Northeast Pack Hockey League in Rochester, N.Y., and the U13/12U AAA/Tier 1 Port Huron Silver Stick Finals in Michigan.
The GameSheet Prep Cup was held at the Rinks at Exeter in New Hampshire Jan. 9-11, bringing together some of the top school-based boys programs in North America.
The tournament included the Nos. 5, 6 and 14 New England Prep programs, according to the MHR Week 16 Rankings, the top-ranked Canadian Independent Prep team, as well as the USA’s second-ranked 18U Boys national-bound team. It also featured three school-based USA Boys Tier 1 programs that were ranked in the top seven among USA Independent Prep programs.
Established in 2020, the GameSheeet Prep Cup brings together eight of the top school-based hockey programs in North America for three days of elite-level competition in New England, within reasonable driving distance of many top NCAA college hockey programs. The tournament regularly draws scouts from NCAA teams, top junior leagues and even National Hockey League organizations.
The 2025 Prep Cup was won by Northwood School, which returned to defend its title as the fifth-ranked USA Boys Independent Prep team and No. 24 USA Boys overall 18U team. Joining Northwood was Culver Academies (No. 2 national-bound, overall and Independent Prep), South Kent School (No. 20 overall, No. 4 Independent Prep) and Nichols School (No. 7 Independent Prep, No. 34 national-bound and No. 47 overall).
Participating prep programs included New England’s fifth-ranked Kimball Union Academy, sixth-ranked Salisbury School and 14th-ranked Frederick Gunn School. St. Andrew’s College, the top-ranked Canadian Independent Prep team, rounded out the field.
Games began Friday morning, Jan. 9, and continued through Sunday, Jan. 11. Friday’s winners played in the semifinals Saturday for the right to advance to Sunday’s championship game. Friday’s losers also played each other Saturday, with the winners and losers of those games meeting Sunday.
GameSheet Prep Cup Results
#2 National Bound Culver Academies 9, #7 USA Prep Nichols School 2
#6 NE Prep Salisbury School 7, #4 USA Prep South Kent School 3
#1 Canada Prep St. Andrew’s College 4, #14 NE Prep Frederick Gunn School 5 (OT)
#5 NE Prep Kimball Union Academy 3, #5 USA Prep Northwood School 5
Semifinals - Saturday, Jan. 10
Salisbury School 4, Frederick Gunn School 3 (OT)
Caden Creech scored with 6:43 left in overtime after Elliott Watson had forced the extra session by scoring on the power play with 6:30 left in regulation as Salisbury completed the comeback win. Riley Slovis and Luca Desjardins scored the other Salisbury goals, while Dylan Hall, Nathan DeSanto and Lukas Reisen scored for Gunn.
Culver Academies 7, Northwood School 3
Culver scored three times in the game’s opening 18 minutes before surrendering a goal, then tallied twice to open the second period and cruised from there. Phillip Shargorodsky, Patrick McSharry, Kam Hodgson, John Crawford and Blake Manning staked Culver to the 5-1 lead, with Tobias Tilley tallying twice in the final frame to ice the win. Devin Smith, Charles Pigeon and Henry Cress scored for Northwood.
Championship Game - Sunday, Jan. 11
Culver Academies 6, Salisbury School 1
After only scoring once in the opening 20 minutes, Culver exploded for three goals in the opening 7:28 of the middle frame to take control of the title game. Austin Brekelmans scored twice during the decisive four-goal run, with Leo Fullerton and Kam Hodgson providing the other two markers. Elliot Bibeau-Rivard cut the margin to 4-1 for Salisbury before Maxon Davis put the game out of reach by scoring twice in the final frame. Winning goalie Cale Ackerman made 29 saves.
CLICK HERE for links to GameSheet Prep Cup scores, standings and stats
Northeast Pack Rochester Showcase Weekend
Teams from all but one age level of the Northeast Pack Hockey League were in Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 9-11 for another NE Pack showcase weekend.
A number of the top 14U, 15O, 16U and 18U teams in the United States, according to the Week 16 MHR Boys Tier 1 rankings, participated in the league’s first event of the new year, which also was the final NE Pack Showcase of the season as teams jockeyed for seeding in the playoffs to be held Feb. 6-7 in Utica. N.Y.
Teams from the 13O division did not participate.
The Northeast Pack Hockey League is comprised of six youth hockey organizations from the Northeast, along with Little Caesars from the Midwest at the 18U age level. Founded prior to the 2019-20 season, the league was established by nationally prominent Tier 1 youth hockey organizations that shared a vision for player-focused development and consistently produce teams that compete for USA Hockey national championships at various levels.
Showcase games were played at Rochester Ice Center in Fairport, N.Y., and Tim Horton’s Iceplex in Rochester and should still be available for on-demand viewing via LiveBarn.
Northeast Pack 14U Division
Entering the final regular-season showcase, second-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins Elite had a stranglehold on first place with an 11-point advantage over No. 4 Bishop Kearney Selects. BK was just one point in front of third-place and fifth-ranked Mount St. Charles, while the No. 15 Woodbridge Wolfpack were four points behind the Jr. Mounties with 17 standings points.
Pen’s Elite went 3-0 on the weekend, including a pair of wins over No. 4 Bishop Kearney by 9-4 and 7-1 margins to skate away with the regular-season title at 14-1-0.
Northeast Pack 14U Overall Standings
#2 Pens Elite - 14-1-0; 42 PTS
#4 BK Selects - 9-7-0; 28 PTS
#5 Mount St. Charles - 7-4-0; 21 PTS
#15 Woodbridge Wolfpack - 6-8-0; 17 PTS
#56 Mid-Fairfield Rangers - 4-11-0; 11 PTS
#44 New Jersey Rockets - 3-12-0; 8 PTS
Northeast Pack 15O Division
With every team having played 12 league games, the No. 6 Bishop Kearney Selects entered the weekend leading the NE Pack 15O Division with 30 standings points, two ahead of the No. 4 Woodbridge Wolfpack and seven in front of No. 10 Mount St. Charles. No. 12 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite had 11 points.
15O NE Pack league members were joined in Rochester by a pair of guest teams, the 23rd-ranked Chicago Reapers and Notre Dame Hockey Academy from Utica. Notre Dame was ranked eighth in New York and 90th in the US among all 15U and 16U teams. Canada’s Hill Academy, the 16th-ranked Canada Independent Prep team, also played Woodbridge Sunday.
In some of the weekend’s more noteworthy matchups, BK took on Woodbridge Jan. 10, with the Wolfpack recording a 2-1 victory, and knocked off the Reapers, 6-2, Jan. 11. Pens Elite beat the Reapers, 7-0, Jan. 9.
Woodbridge went 3-0 in Rochester, beating the Rockets, 5-1, and Hill Academy, 4-1, to go along with the win vs. the BK Selects.
Northeast Pack 15O Overall Standings
#4 Woodbridge Wolfpack - 12-3-0; 37 PTS
#6 BK Selects - 11-4-0; 36 PTS
#10 Mount St. Charles - 8-4-0; 23 PTS
#12 Pens Elite - 7-8-0; 19 PTS
#19 New Jersey Rockets - 4-11-0; 12 PTS
#28 Mid-Fairfield Rangers - 3-12-0; 9 PTS
Northeast Pack 16U Division
Through 12 regular-season tilts, the fourth-ranked Woodbridge Wolfpack entered the weekend holding a three-point lead over No. 12 Mount St. Charles, 27-24. The New Jersey Rockets were next at 21 points, followed by the BK Selects with 17 and Pens Elite with 14.
Culver Academies 16U, the Chicago Reapers and the Pittsburgh Predators joined the fray for the weekend as guest teams. The Reapers were ranked 16h in the Week 16 MHR Tier 1 Rankings, while the Preds were No. 10 and Culver was 28th.
BK tangled with the Wolfpack Jan. 10, falling 2-1, and beat the Preds the next day, 5-2, while the Rockets lost to Pens Elite, 3-1, Jan. 10 and the Reapers, 3-0, Jan. 11. Woodbridge won three more games in Rochester, beating Pens Elite, 2-1, and Culver, 7-0, to go with the victory vs. BK.
Northeast Pack 16U Overall Standings
#4 Woodbridge Wolfpack - 12-3-0; 36 PTS
#12 Mount St. Charles - 8-4-0; 24 PTS
#16 New Jersey Rockets - 8–7-0; 24 PTS
#13 BK Selects - 8–7-0; 23 PTS
#14 Pens Elite - 6-9-0; 20 PTS
#27 Mid-Fairfield Rangers - 1-14-0; 4 PTS
Northeast Pack 18U Division
It was a tight race at the 18U level heading into the final regular-season showcase weekend, with the top four teams separated by just five points.
The 13th-ranked BK Selects led the pack, so to speak, with 24 points, followed by the No. 6 New Jersey Rockets with 22, the 18th-ranked (overall USA Tier 1) Woodbridge Wolfpack with 20 and No. 23 Mount St. Charles with 19. No. 22 Little Caesars and No. 11 Pens Elite rounded out the group at 14 and 12 points, respectively.
No. 41 Victory Honda, the 27th-ranked Chicago Reapers and Canada Independent Prep No. 9 Upper Canada College participated as guest teams in Rochester.
BK faced off against the Wolfpack in an important contest Jan. 9, dropping a 5-3 decision. The Rockets and Wolfpack played Jan. 10, with New Jersey recording a 5-3 victory. Those two teams play again to conclude the regular season Jan. 17, with the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead over Woodbridge in the standings.
Northeast Pack 18U Overall Standings
#6 New Jersey Rockets – 9–5-0; 28 PTS
#18 (All Teams) Woodbridge Wolfpack – 9-5-0; 26 PTS
#13 BK Selects - 9–6-0; 24 PTS
#23 Mount St. Charles - 6–3-0; 19 PTS
#22 Little Caesars - 5-10-0; 18 PTS
#11 Pens Elite - 7–8-0; 17 PTS
CLICK HERE for links to Northeast Pack schedules, scores, standings and stats
Silver Stick U13/12U AAA/Tier 1 Port Huron Finals
There were 28 of the top USA 12U Tier 1 and U13 Canadian AAA Boys teams in Michigan competing from Thursday, Jan. 8, through Sunday, Jan. 11, in the Sliver Stick Port Huron Finals.
This year marks the 64th annual International Silver Stick competition, which features teams at various age groups and skill levels competing in a series of regional tournaments around North America to advance to an international final event.
The 12U/U13 Port Huron Finals featured 28 teams broken down into seven four-team pools. Teams played every other team in their pool once to determine who advanced to the playoffs.
The quarterfinals were played, Jan. 10, with the semifinals taking place early Jan. 11 and the championship game held later that day. Games were played both at Glacier Pointe Ice Complex and McMorran Place, and all should be available for viewing on LiveBarn.
This year’s Port Huron Finals included seven teams ranked in the Week 16 MHR USA Boys Rankings top 10 and 12 that were among the top 20. From the other side of the border, eight of Ontario’s top 10 and 11 of the top 20 competed along with Western Canada’s second-ranked club and the fifth-ranked team from Quebec.
Here is a look at the Port Huron Finals pool standings:
Pool A
#3 USA Chicago Reapers (4-0-0; 30GF, 10GA)
#4 Ontario Toronto Nationals (1-1-2; 19GF, 13GA)
#2 WC North Shore Winter Club (1-2-1; 12GF, 20GA)
#15 USA HoneyBaked (0-1-3; 7GF, 15GA)
Pool B
#6 USA Cleveland Barons (4-0-0; 15GG, 6GA)
#5 Ontario Toronto Jr. Canadiens (2-1-1; 15GF, 11GA)
#11 USA Chicago Mission (2-2-0; 10GF, 9GA)
#5 Quebec Kuper Academy (0-4-0; 6GF, 23GA)
Pool C
#1 Ontario Toronto Marlboros (4-0-0; 19GF, 3GA)
#6 Ontario Waterloo Wolves (1-3-0; 10GF, 13GA)
#8 USA Woodbridge Wolfpack (3-1-0; 19GF, 10GA)
#19 USA St. Louis AAA Blues (2-2-0; 12GF, 17GA)
Pool D
#3 Ontario Vaughan Kings (3-1-0; 21GF, 11GA)
#7 Ontario Hamilton Steel (2-2-0; 12GF, 16GA)
#23 USA Buffalo Jr. Sabres (0-4-0; 4GF, 18GA)
#29 USA Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (1-3-0; 9GF, 18GA)
Pool E
#1 USA Little Caesars (2-1-1; 19GF, 12GA)
#9 Canada Toronto Red Wings (0-1-3; 11GF, 13GA)
#17 USA Northern CT Nor’easter (1-1-1; 7GF, 10GA)
#10 Ontario Burlington Eagles (1-3-0; 10GF, 19GA)
Pool F
#4 USA Team Illinois (4-0-0; 23GF, 6GA)
#10 USA Syracuse Nationals (2-1-1; 11GF, 8GA)
#12 Ontario Niagara North Stars (0-2-2; 6GF, 16GA)
#18 Ontario Sarnia-Lambton Sting (0-3-1; 11GF, 18GA)
Pool G
#5 USA Mid-Fairfield Rangers (3-1-0; 18GF, 12GA)
#16 USA Milwaukee Jr. Admirals (2-1-1; 14GF, 12GA)
#19 Ontario Credit River Capitals (1-2-1; 10GF, 13GA)
#24 Ontario Don Mills Flyers (1-3-0; 9GF, 17GA)
Quarterfinals
Vaughan Kings 6, Cleveland Barons 1
Mid-Fairfield Rangers 6, Chicago Reapers 1
Toronto Marlboros 3, Woodbridge Wolfpack 2
Little Caesars 3, Team Illinois 2
Semifinals
Vaughan Kings 5, Mid-Fairfield Rangers 4
Toronto Marlboros 4, Little Caesars 0
Championship Game
Toronto Marlboros 4, Vaughan Kings 0
CLICK HERE for links to Port Huron Silver Stick Finals schedules, scores and standings
