skip navigation

GPYHA Bears Feast on Thanksgiving Tournaments!

By GPYHA, 11/29/16, 9:15PM EST

Share

Impressive tournament showing by several Jr. Bears teams last weekend!

Several Jr. Bears travel teams took part in tournament play over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, bringing home much success for GPYHA!

GPYHA Squirt Smythe - 2016 WJHA Thanksgiving Tourney Champs
Congratulations to the Bears Squirt Smythe team, who fought and battled through a 6 team field of Massachusetts and Rhode Island teams over the long weekend.  Bears went undefeated through pool play, beating the South Coast Panthers, Warwick Wave Blue, Springfield Rifles and SRI Jr. Rams to set up a championship game against an excellent Burrillville Broncos team. The game went back and forth, but in the end the Bears took home the championship with a final score of 5-4. 

GPYHA Squirt Wales West - 2016 Woburn Turkey Day Classic Runner-ups
Congratulations to the Bears Squirt Wales West team, who fought hard to place #2 out of 8 tough Valley League AAA and AA teams. They battled Burlington Devils, Andover Eagles and Winchester Braves, outscoring their opponents 17-4  and overcame a deficit twice versus Andover to land a spot in the championship game against a strong N. Reading team. While they came up short in the championship game, the Bears skated hard all tournament and should be very proud of their finish.

GPYHA PeeWee Wales White - NRI Thanksgiving Tournament Champs
Congratulations to the Bears PeeWee Wales White team, who went undefeated through pool play to beat the NRI Vikings Green, NRI Vikings White, North Devils and SRI Jr. Rams to set up a championship rematch against a much larger NRI Vikings Green team.  The PeeWee Wales White team proved once again that it is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.  The Bears came back from a 1-0 deficit in the first by roaring back with 4 straight goals for a 4-1 victory. It was a true team effort throughout the tournament  The forwards were attacking and back-checking harder than they have all season and, thanks to stellar play from each defenseman and solid net-minding, the Bears only allowed 4 goals in all 5 tournament games.

GPYHA PeeWee Wales Red - Holy Name Tournament Runner-ups
The GPYHA Peewee Wales Red team traveled to Springfield, MA for an awesome hockey weekend. During the round-robin portion of the tourney the team won 2 and lost 1 game, which was enough to get them into the championship game Sunday vs. Winchester, MA. Providence jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the 1st period but fell behind 3-1 by early in the the 3rd period. The Bears kept playing hard and narrowed the gap to 3-2 with 2 minutes left in the game, however in the end they fell just short, coming in second place for the tournament. The best part of the weekend was kids playing hard and having just as much fun off as on the ice.

GPYHA Bantam Wales Red - NRI Thanksgiving Tournament Champs
Congrats to the GPYHA Bears Bantam Wales Red, 2016 NRI Thanksgiving Champs.  The Bears finished the tournament with 34-4 goal differential in the 4 game tournament including 2 shutouts to take home the championship. The Bears cycled the puck, ran the triangle and defended like champions with outstanding goaltending to cap off a true team effort.  In the skills competition the bears swept. Peter Carriuolo won the fastest skater, Jeff Pimental won the goaltending competition and Andrew Azevedo went 4 for 4 to win the shootout. The relay team of Kyle Costa, John Gower, Aidan Padien, and Mickey Becker-Norton took home top honors.

Congratulations to all Bears teams on their successful Thanksgiving weekends!

Go Bears!!