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| February 4, 2004
By Jim Anderson
NARCh Winternationals Platinum Division
|  The 8th installment that is the NARCh Winternationals is once again rolling along in Vegas.
This year the event has been split into consecutive weekends to accommodate the 200 teams that have entered in both the Platinum and Gold divisions.
First up would be the Platinum and NARCh PRO divisions.
In the Mite division, it would be decidedly California affair with Nike OC '93 and '94, Revolution and AMB Blue joining the hometown LV Minor Hockey group. After the round robin it would be Blades '93 and AMB Blue facing off for the title. The two teams had tied in their first meeting, and the first game of WN by a 2-2 score. One notable change was Rocco Grimaldi wearing the colors of AMB and not the white/red/black of the Blades. OC would score first with just over 4 minutes left in the first as Brett Maus scored and Dane Ryan would get another for the Blades just over 2 minutes later off a Jordan Watt assist. It would stay 2-0 until late in the 2nd half when AMB would have to take more chances and OC would capitalize with Ryan scoring his 2nd of the game and then Haar and Koressel would close it out padding the lead to 5-0 in the waning minutes. Nike OC Blades would take both individual honors with Dane Ryan's 12 points (2.6ppg) leading the way and goalie Laura Chamberlin adding another Top Goalie trophy to her mantle as she stopped 68 out of 74 shots for a 0.918 save percentage.
The Squirt division would field 6 teams, 3 belonging to AMB (Black, Blue and Yellow) along with Velocity, Mission Raiders and LV Outlaws. Mission Raiders and AMB Black would meet in the first semi and it would be one of many during the weekend that would require OT. Jon Parker would get the opening goal just 97 seconds into the game with an assist to Kaelin Groon while on the PP. The Raiders would keep the 1-0 lead until just over 4 minutes remained in the contest when AMB's Lee O'Brien would score the tying goal with AMB having a 2 man advantage. The Raiders would advance to the final as Dominick Digiacomo would bring home the win with just less than 5 minutes left in the OT period. The 2nd semi would have Velocity take control and advance to the final with a 5-2 win over AMB Blue.
At 5:45 pm the Raiders and Velocity would meet up to play for the Squirt title. It wouldn't take long for the goals to start coming as Taylor Aronson scored off the Dakota Eveland feed just 55 seconds into the contest. Both teams would settle down until Culp and Thomas would score just 19 seconds apart (4:42 and 4:23) to stretch the lead to 3-0. The Raiders would bounce back on the PP with Groon scoring and it was 3-1 at the half. Velocity would go on another quick goal barrage upon the start of the second with Osborn scoring just 12 seconds into the half and then again just 52 seconds later. Thomas would add his 2nd of the game 65 seconds later and the lead would be stretched to 6-1. The Raiders would answer again with Ryan. The two teams would then trade goals just 5 seconds apart, in what is likely a NARCh record without an empty net, with McNerny (Velocity) and Mc Elwee (Raiders) tallying. Culp would close out the scoring with his 2nd of the game as the Velocity would take the Squirt final with an 8-3 win. For the individual honors, Benn Brunett from AMB Blue would take the High Scorer (2.0 ppg) and Laura Chamberlin (AMB Black) would take her 2nd Top Goalie award of the weekend as she stopped 88 of 98 shots for a .898 save percentage.
Pee Wee division had 14 teams, with the St.Louis Tour Blast '89ers, Mission Jr. Everblades and York Triumph joining the western teams. The 89'ers would come back in the playoffs to beat the Nike OC Blades' 90's and advance to the semifinals, the only lower seed that won their first round playoff game, joining the Jr. Everblades, AMB Blue and OC '89's in the semifinals. AMB and STL would meet in the 1st semifinal and it would be the Blast who would get 2 early PP goals and a lead they wouldn't relinquish as they would outpace AMB by a 7-3 score, with the last 2 coming via an empty net. The Blast was led by John McGuinness (Johnny Mac) and Joey Froelich who each had 4 points in the win. Dustin Nowick had 2 goals for AMB in the loss. OC 89 and the Jr. Everblades would meet next and OC would jump out early with Stretch and Heichmann each scoring twice in the opening half to give the Blades a 4-0 lead. Florida would answer early in the 2nd half with Boehm cutting it to 4-1. In the end Florida couldn't capitalize on its 4 PP chances in the game and Heichmann and Stretch would complete their hat tricks and clinch the 6-1 win with 2nd half goals.
In the Final, the Blades would jump out first as once again Stretch would open the scoring just 40 seconds into the contest. The Blast 89ers would then kill off a penalty before finding themselves in the box again just 22 seconds later. Johnny Mac would tie the game up at 1 on a shorthanded goal off a PJ Tallo assist at the 8:20 mark only to have OC take the lead on the same PP with Scooter Vaughn knocking one home. The 2 teams would trade penalties but it would be nearly 5 minutes before Froelich tied it up at 2, and the Blast would take the lead just 40 seconds later off a Dangos goal, with Tallo again assisting on both goals. Early in the 2nd half OC would come back again this time off a goal by Harper. Tallo would stake the Blast to another lead, as the Blast would score their 2nd shorthanded goal of the game (the teams were playing 3 on 2). OC would respond back on the same powerplay, deja vu all over again, Calma scoring the tying goal. They would remain deadlocked through regulation, 4-4, and it would be another OT Final on Sunday. It wouldn't take long as PJ Tallo scored unassisted just 91 seconds into the extra period, giving the St.Louis Tour Blast 89ers a 5-4 win and the Pee Wee championship. PJ Tallo's 2g, 3a performance was one of the better big game performances we've seen in some time.
The Bantam division would once again showcase some of the best up and coming players @ NARCh. With a few of the same teams in the mix (AMB, Mission Snipers, Black Panthers, OC Blades) and a new mix with Team International, a veritable who's who in the division. It would be the AMB and the Snipers leading the way as both went 3-0 and would advance to the semifinals. Team International would hold off a strong team effort by the Mission Raiders and advance with a 5-3 win and the Black Panthers would score a mild upset of the OC Blades by a 3-2 margin. The first semi would have Team International and the Mission Snipers meet up and Suyeshi would open the scoring just 50 seconds into the game for a quick 1-0 lead. Penalties would hurt the Snipers in the 1st half as International would score 3 PP goals (Kavaya, Marmorstein and Ellis with the goals) before Leggerio would score late in the first for the Snipers to cut it to 4-1. International would kill an early PP chance in the 2nd half and while Leggerio would score again for the Snipers, it wouldn't be enough as Stahl would score 3 more in the 2nd half and Kavaya would add his 2nd as they advance to the Final with an 8-4 win. Semifinal #2 had AMB Blue and the LaVerne Black Panthers meeting up. AMB would get take the early lead as Rockwell would score twice in the opening 5 minutes. Chavira would cut the lead in half for the Panthers only to see Rockwell get his 3rd of the game late in the first to stretch the lead to 3-1. Rodriguez would stretch the lead to 3 at the 8 minute mark before the Panthers scored late on a Middlekauf goal. AMB would advance with a 4-2 win.
The Bantam Final would be a rematch from the early rounds, which AMB won by a 2-1 margin. Originally thought to be on their way back to Colorado, International teammates Zucker, Ellis and Kavaya would all take their chances and fly standby to play in the Final. Ellis would score off a Stahl setup for a quick 1-0 lead in the opening minute. AMB would bounce back though and after PP goals from Wintemute (Rockwell) and Dillon (Wintemute) would have the lead, 2-1, at the half. Things would be different in the 2nd half though as Team International would tie it up while the teams were skating 3 on 3 on a goal by Marmorstein. They would take the lead at the 8:58 with Zucker scoring and Stahl would score shorthanded after skating through AMB for a 4-2 lead. Suyieshi would score at the 5:21 mark to stretch the lead to 5-2. Then Stahl ended the game scoring 3 straight goals, 2 of which were 11 seconds apart, and while the teams would add some late goals, International would skate away with the 9-4 win and the Bantam Title. Stahl would come back and win the High Scorer trophy with a 2.5ppg. In actuality he averaged 3.75 ppg having missed the first 2 of Team International's games while serving a suspension from the Midget Division. Mission Raiders goalie Jason Gutierrez would take the Top Goalie award stopping 75 of 83 shots for a .903 save percentage.
Midgets, the new division for '04, had its coming party at Winternationals. While the division may be new, many of the teams and players are well known. Coming into the event, Mission Snipers, Nike OC Blades, Tour West would be among the favorites and none would disappoint as they all advanced into the semifinals where they would be joined the Black Panthers. Tour West and the Black Panthers would meet first and the Panthers would get on the board first just over 2 minutes into the game while on the PP. While they scored early, the Panthers weren't able to score often, and Tour West would take a 2-1 lead on goals by Ellis and Stephens. In the 2nd half Stephens two goals would bookend tallies from Brookwalter and Ellis and Tour West would be on their way to the Final with a 6-1 win. Mission Snipers a
 
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