EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's hockey team has long shown itself to be one of the class programs on either side of the Mississippi River; the Tigers are often mentioned with programs such as CBC, Vianney and St. Louis University High as being among the best in the entire St. Louis area.
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The Tigers recently got to show their wares to a national audience, however; they were selected by Missouri Hockey to represent the organization, the area's representative to USA Hockey (the national governing body for international and amateur hockey), in the recent Toyota USA Hockey National High School Championship tournament in Reston, Va., located near Washington.
The Tigers certainly represented the St. Louis area well; they swept their three group-play games and reached the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated 4-2 by Brookings, S.D.
Reaching the national championship was one of the goals the Tigers had set for themselves going into the season; EHS had been defeated by CBC in a play-in game for the tournament spot the year before when the event was being held in Chesterfield, Mo. “It was one of our goals going into this season,” said Tiger coach Jason Walker. “Once we got into the tournament, we wanted go in there and win our group,” which the Tigers did – sweeping their three group-play games to get to the quarters.
“We had a very successful tournament,” Walker said. “Getting there was one of our big goals this season, and I felt we represented our school and our city well.”
The Tigers won their first and third group-play games rather easily, but their second game against host school Stone Bridge, Va., proved to be rather difficult – the Tigers got a pair of goals from Tyler Schaeffer, including the game-winner in overtime, to defeat Stone Bridge.
One thing the Tigers got to experience in the tournament was different styles of play from the teams they played. “There were a lot of styles we faced there,” Walker said. “There were a lot of different teams with different styles, and we did a great job against them to get to the quarterfinals.”
Despite the long distance they had to travel, the Tigers had some good fan and parent support during the weekend, with the tournament as a whole well-supported by Washington-area hockey fans. Still, the tournament wasn't all hockey all the time – players, parents and fans took advantage of down time to see some of the attractions in Washington.
“We got to see a lot of things there,” Walker said. “We had folks who went to the Washington Monument, the World War II Monument, the Air and Space Museum (part of the Smithsonian in Washington) and to Arlington National Cemetery; we went OT see the graves of John, Bobby and Ted Kennedy. That was a good experience to see that and getting to see so many things there.”
When the Tigers returned Monday night from the tournament, they were greeted by a good number of supporters and even athletes from other Tiger athletic teams, something that Walker was very pleased with.
“I can't ask for better support than what we've gotten from the administration here,” Walker said. “We're well supported by the administration and the school and they've really taken care of us. We're proud to be a part of the athletic program here and I can't think of a better place to live than Edwardsville.”
Though the playing season is over, the activity around hockey continues; tryouts for next year's edition of the Tigers will be held in April, followed by the off-season program. EHS is hoping to be able to play in next year's national tournament, which is slated to be held in Cleveland.
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