St. Mary's Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Recreation Center Kids Score Goals At Street Hockey Tourney

While the recent NHL lockout forced the cancellation of the Winter Classic planned for New Year’s Day in Detroit, NYC Parks hosted a Winter Classic of our own at the 2nd Annual Winter Classic Street Hockey Tournament at St. Mary’s Recreation Center in the Bronx.

On Monday, January 21, over 80 children ages 8-11 participated in this contest, using the skills they honed over the past six weeks in the New York Rangers Street Hockey instructional clinics. Nine teams from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens competed against each other to see who was the best and would raise the 2013 Winter Street Hockey Cup in victory. The players were active and the games were very fast paced and exciting. The gymnasium was filled with players, spectators, parents, and coaches. Al Oerter, Lost Battalion, Sunset, Alfred E. Smith, St. James, St. Mary's, Chelsea, Sorrentino and East 54th were the nine centers who fielded teams to compete in this single elimination tournament. Three of the games were decided in a tie-breaker shootout. In the semifinal game, Chelsea Recreation Center faced St. Mary's Recreation Center. Chelsea quickly jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead in the first period. St. Mary's battled back to score two goals in the final two minutes of the third period to tie the game, only to lose in a tie-breaker shootout 1-0, which was scored on the final shot by Chelsea. Awaiting Chelsea in the finals was the defending champion Al Oerter Recreation Center. Ultimately after a spirited contest, Chelsea emerged victorious by a score of 4-3 after another intense shootout.

All in all, the children enjoyed the competition and everyone played very well and displayed sportsmanship. Winning coach Mike DeRosa of Chelsea Recreation Center announced that he would be treating his team to a pizza party at their next hockey clinic. This announcement seemed to elicit more cheers than the team winning the tournament.

Special thanks to Cory Shaw, Sarah Cantatore, Christopher Suarez, Richard Barreto, Tyrone Fosmire, Roberto Barreto, Danny Miller, Richard Costello and all of the coaches and their teams who participated in the 2012 - 2013 New York Rangers Instructional Street Hockey clinic.

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St. Mary’s Recreation Center

St. Mary's Recreation Center Pool