WEST CHESTER, PA-Team 1996 wins 4 in a row to capture the Bantam Minor championship at the Memorial Day Philadelphia AAA Shootout!  After a controversial  2-1 opening round loss to the Syracuse Stars, when a game tying goal was waived off with 0.2 tenths of a second left on the clock, team 1996 never lost focus.   The team rebounded in game 2 to defeat the NY Suffolk Selects 5-2. In a must win game 3 against the Little Flyers, Washington All-Star William Nylander (#92) dangled his way to a four goal performance to quiet the home crowd and lead his team to an exciting victory.  As the #1 seeded team in South Division, Team 1996 continued the assault on NY based hockey teams.  Team 1996 lit up the scoreboard with a 6 - 3 semi-finals playoff victory over the Sound Shore Selects to advance to the championship game.  In the other semi-final game, the Little Flyers advanced to the finals by pounding, the defending Shootout Champions, Connecticut Yankees 8-4.  The Yankees had been the #1 seed team from the North Division.  With both teams flying high into the finals, the fans were not disappointed in the championship game.

The Washington All-Stars stunned the local fans by building at 4-1 lead over the Little Flyers.  Not willing to submit to a home rink pummeling, the Little Flyers battled back to knot the score at 4-4.  However, the Washington All-Stars could not be denied and went on to defeat the Little Flyers 6-4 to capture the 1996 Bantam Minor Championship.   A couple of mile stones:  Washington All-Stars Team 1996 becomes the ONLY team south of Philadelphia to ever win a 1996 division title, quite an accomplishment for a tournament dominated by northern clubs. The Connecticut Yankees, the 2008 champions, have won the AAA 1996 title twice in the last 4 years.  Team 1996 also captures the 3rd AAA Championship title for the Washington All-Stars AAA Spring Hockey program.  "Coach Fredrik Nygren did a marvelous job crafting a team together in such a short period of time" said Jeff Forrest, Director for the Washington All-Stars.  With players representing Team Maryland, Little Capitals, Hampton Whalers, Ashburn Xtreme, Prince William Panthers, Tri-City Eagles, and Richmond Royals, its very clear that Coach Nygren's Swedish influence and "torpedo style" of hockey enabled this team to beat some well established AAA club teams.  You can bet there are a few Northern Clubs that now know that our regions Washington All-Stars can play with best of them and that great coaching can bring together top players from various clubs!  Coach Nygren has received rave reviews by parents AND players for his intense Swedish style practices.  Coach Nygren stated to his team in an email that he "really had fun and will keep all those memories with me for many years!  I am very proud over ALL players in the Team, and it feels like I picked the right Team on the try outs".   It appears that the Washington All-Stars "picked the right coach", enabling them to earn it's coveted 3rd AAA championship in two years!   Coach Nygren keeps a blog at http://fredriknygren.blogspot.com/, you can hit the translated to English button for those who don't know Swedish!  In addition to local instruction, Coach Nygren also operates an elite hockey camp in Sweden, the first week in July.  Several top players from our DC region will be traveling to Sweden to participate at Coach Nygren's Camp this year. If you are interested in learning more about Coach Nygren's Swedish Camp, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Overall at the Philadelphia Shootout, all the Washington All-Stars teams that participated fared very well.   3 out of 5 teams advanced to the semi-final playoff rounds- Team 1998, Team 1997, and Team 1996.  Team 1998 went undefeated in the round robin - 2-0-1 and outscored their opponents 17-9.  They faced a tough North Jr. Rebels team and lost in Semi-Finals 4-0.  Team 1997 breezed through the round robin undefeated and outscoring their AAA opponents 20 - 3, going 3 -0.  They faced a determined Jr. Flyers team in a grudge rematch, after the 1997 team embarrassed the Jr. Flyers earlier with a 7-0 beating.  Jr. Flyers capitalized on an overconfident 1997 team and earned a 5-2 Semi-Final upset.  The Jr. Flyers went on to win the 1997 title.  Team 2000 beat the NJ Renegades 8-2, lost a close game with Sound Score Selects 4-2 (includes empty net goal) and fell to the Little Flyers in a high scoring 8-5 battle.  Team U16 faced a tough draw but played very competitively going 1-2, with some tight games. Team U16's  2-1 loss to the Quakers snuffed out the U16's playoff hopes, allowing the Quakers to advance to the semi's.