Barnstable U18 Ice Hockey Team in Michigan Vying for National Title

TROY, MI – The Barnstable U18 Coastal boys’ ice hockey team has their work cut out for them if they want to win a USA Hockey National Championship title.

After raising nearly $18,000 and traveling 800 miles via plane to Detroit, Barnstable’s top high school-aged hockey stars dropped a tough opener Thursday (March 26) to Littleton, Colorado’s U18 Tier 2 team, 8-0.

The Barnstable U18 boys' hockey team is in Troy, Michigan tonight, vying for a national title. Photo courtesy of the Pasic Family

The Barnstable U18 boys’ hockey team is in Troy, Michigan tonight, vying for a national title.
Photo courtesy of the Pasic Family

In September, Barnstable captured the Tier 1 Face-Off Tournament championship title, followed by winning the Nauset Cup championship title in October. In November, Barnstable captured the NPDHL league championship title and followed that win with a runner-up finish in the Massachusetts State Championship. The boys play under the auspices of Barnstable Youth Hockey at the midget level.

Still, Barnstable Coastal received an invitation to the national championships in Michigan.

After falling in overtime for the state title, the team put its season on hold this winter once the high school varsity season began and once that season ended, regrouped two weeks ago to make a run at the National title. Some players simply could not make the trip, according to head coach Mike Pasic, but his boys still have a shot this afternoon at 5:15 pm when they square off against the defending U18 National Champion Mid-State Mustangs from Altoona, PA. The Mid-State Mustangs were recently crowned Pennsylvania State Champions.

“It’s a good thing for the kids,” Coach Pasic said. “It’s a great experience.”

Pasic, who played hockey at the collegiate and professional level, has been coaching the Barnstable boys for the past four years and twice in that time Barnstable has earned a trip to vie for the National championship. Barnstable will face the Chicago Bruins tomorrow, Saturday, March 28, at 1:00 pm.

“If we win these next two games, well, we’re in a pool and the top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday morning,” Pasic said. “Depending on how the other teams do, we have a shot of possibly getting a chance to play in the quarterfinals.”

Some pretty big names in Barnstable hockey are on Pasic’s roster, but a handful of players, as mentioned, could not make the trip.

Barnstable High junior star Matt Kaski is on the squad, as is former Red Raider star Cody Pasic who transferred to the Salisbury School (CT) last fall. In essence, Barnstable High’s entire varsity roster is on hand to make a bid for the title, a bid which is every bit as much possible even in spite of the opening-game loss yesterday (Thursday). Barnstable was called for 11 penalties in the opener, while its Littleton, Colorado opponent was not penalized once in the opener.

“We didn’t lose 8-0 because of jet lag,” Pasic said. “We lost because these kids haven’t had time to play together (again). Yeah, all of our kids played at Barnstable High School, but they played under a different coach, a different system, a different way and different coaches have different philosophies.”

Pasic didn’t offer that as a criticism of the Barnstable High program, one steeped in decades of tradition, but offered it more so to show that his squad has not had enough time to regain the “chemistry” and momentum it had built last fall.

“It’s difficult to get that chemistry,” he said.

The Barnstable U18 team is also coached by Rick Rainville and the team is staying about 22 miles north of Detroit. The games are being played at the Troy Sports Center.

“We’ll see how we do,” Pasic said.

Barnstable Coastal U18 Boys Hockey Roster

1  Jacob Kaczynski
2  Michael McDonough
3  Noah Oakley
4  Connor Rainville
6  Stephen Megnia
7  Kyle Rood
8  Jason Silvia
9  Ben Barattini
10  Ben Corbett
11  Donnie Brodd
12  Michael “Cody” Pasic
13  Joe Demayo
14  Kevin Conway
15  David Ryder
16  Nick Dunne
17  Matt Kaski
18  Nick Cugini
19  Peter Theoharidis
30  Shaun Aalto
99  Alex Barattini

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm

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