The bright lights of Angel Of The Winds Arena shined down on Everett Youth Hockey Jr. Silvertips player, Joaquin, as he retrieved the puck from center ice and advanced toward the Euguene Jr. Generals goal. Displaying his stickhandling abilities, he meticulously switched the puck from forehand to backhand, attempting to deceive the Oregon goalkeeper which direction he would shoot.
Once Joaquin was just a few feet away, he feinted a shot to his left, moved his stick to the right and calmly lifted the puck into the back of the net. His teammates, coaches and fans cheered as the team now had a 1-0 advantage in the sudden-death shootout of the 2026 Great Northwest Challenge MLK Tournament 12UC championship game. The goal came minutes after the buzzer sounded to conclude regulation, which resulted in a 2-2 draw. After a row of high-fives, Joaquin took his position on the bench and anxiously looked on as his goalie, Atlas, needed to block the following shot to secure the victory.
The Euguene player performed the same routine as Joaquin: He collected the puck from center ice and advanced toward goal. As he approached down the right side of the rink, Atlas shifted to his left inside the crease, opened his glove, squatted and absorbed the shot. After a few seconds, the puck, which was nestled comfortably into Atlas’ padded chest, dropped to the ice, the referee signaled a saved goal, and the game was over. Atlas then skated to the bench area as his teammates swarmed him in celebration.
This was just a snippet of the action that took place during the USA Hockey/Hockey Canada-sanctioned tournament, which featured 12 teams in the 10UC division and 10 teams in the 12 UC division. The majority of teams were from Washington state with a few from Oregon and Canada.
The Everett Youth Hockey Bruins team made an appearance in the 10UC championship game but faced a challenging Cloverdale Firestorm squad from British Columbia, Canada, which recorded a 4-0 win and celebrated in style by skating around the rink with the Canadian flag.
Everett Youth Hockey’s 8U Major & Minor Great Northwest Challenge Presidents Day Tournament takes place Feb. 13-15. Go to https://www.everettyouthhockey.com/8u-tournament to register.
Results:
12UC Championship: Everett Youth Hockey Jr. Silvertips (Everett, WA) (3), Eugene Jr. Generals (Eugene, OR) (2)
12UC Consolation Champion: Jr. Kraken Navy (Seattle, WA) (5), Kent Valley Black (Kent, WA) (0)
10UC Championship: Cloverdale Firestorm (Cloverdale, BC) (4), Everett Youth Hockey Bruins (Everett, WA) (0)
10UC Consolation Game No. 1: Tacoma McCann (Tacoma, WA) (9), Kent Valley Black (Kent, WA) (0)
10UC Consolation Game No. 2: SnoKing Vandermeer (Seattle, WA) (5), Jr. Kraken Sky Blue (Seattle, WA) (3)
Photo Gallery:
12UC
10UC
Consolation Games
