2009 Nationals Summary

The 2009 Got Skills Championships were held in New York at the Aviator Sports Complex from June 26th - June 28th. The event included over 100 competitors from twelve states and Canada. The 2009 event welcomed youth hockey players from the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadians regions.

The event was very competitive. In the Squirt House division, the Fastest Skater competition was decided by tenths of a second and Jared Prince from the Chicago Blackhawks was able to capture the title. In what will go down as one of the fastest cumulative times ever accomplished at a Got Skills event, Troy Henley, from the Philadelphia region was able to take the Pee Wee Travel title for Fastest Skater.

In the Squirt House Hardest Shot competition, Jackson Delfosse, representing the Chicago Blackhawks was able to capture his second title(also won Accuracy) of the weekend with an impressive average of 44.8 mph. In the Pee Wee Travel division of Hardest Shot, Frankie Castrodale, Columbus Blue Jackets, accumulated an impressive 56.8 mph average for the competition and emerged as the winner.

Thomas Neal representing the Nashville Predators performed very well in the Accuracy competition and emerged as the winner in the Pee Wee House division. In the Pee Wee Travel Division of Accuracy both Gabriel Malo, Montreal Canadians and Brad Truel,Columbus Blue Jackets, boasted very high numbers and became co-champions of this event.

In quite possibly the closest Goaltender competition to date, three goalies from the Pee Wee house division, Michael Des Groseillers: Montreal Canadians, Ryan Coffey: New York Islanders and Eric Ziegler: Chicago Blackhawks, were all tied with impressive scores of 89 points out of a possible 100 points. Through a tiebreaker of using save percentage, Ryan Coffey emerged as the winner with a save percentage of 81%.

In the Sports Illustrated kids Top Skills competition, Squirt Thomas Tresca Boston Bruins, won his third event of the weekend (also won Accuracy and Shootout) by taking home the crown of Squirt Top Skills Champion. In The Pee Wee division, Troy Henley, Philadelphia Flyers, defended his 2008 Squirt Top Skills award by winning the Pee Wee Top Skills competition in 2009.

In the Sports Illustrated kids Top Skills Goalie competition, Pee Wee James Mainland: Nashville Predators, defended his 2008 Top Skills Goalie title with a repeat winning performance in 2009 and was co-champions with Eric Ziegler: Chicago Blachhawks. In the Squirt division, Ian Gibbons from the Anaheim Ducks claimed the Squirt Top Skills Goalie title.