WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. -- This may be the USA Hockey National Championships, but for the Tier I 14-and-Under Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Jr. Knights, there is definitely an international flair. A number of children of Russian immigrants as well as some Canadian kids play for the Jr. Knights. Their coach, Alex Vasko, communicates in his second language, a heavily accented English.

Whatever the languages spoken, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won the national championship with a hard fought 4-2 victory Sunday over the St. Louis Blues.

“Awesome season,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant coach Scott Lewis said. “Great game. This is the fourth time we played them. The first time was a 2-2 tie. The next two times, we beat them 3-2 in overtime. Today was 4-2 with an empty netter. They are an unbelievable team to play against.”

“Our boys played really well,” St. Louis coach Jordan Janes said. “I thought they competed well for three periods. A couple of bounces just didn’t go our way. That’s a very talented hockey team we just played there. They won all year, and we gave it our all.”

The teams traded even-strength goals in the first period. First it was at 5:19 thanks to St. Louis’ Jake Henderson. Three minutes later, Alex Rowella tied it.

The second period saw a fast-paced contest with numerous scoring opportunities. The Jr. Knights took their first lead of the game at 6:07 on the power play. Daniel Sprong’s shot from the left point was tipped in by Nikita Anistratenko.

However, it only took 35 seconds for St. Louis to tie the game on their own deflection. Michael Davies’ shot from the left side was redirected up high by Luke Radetic.

Both goalies played superb, but it was the St. Louis goalie Luke Opilka who was particularly strong, as he was all tournament. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton needed a strategy to beat him.

“Just throwing shots on net, going for the rebounds if we can,” Lewis said. “Just throw more and more shots. Every chance you get, just get the puck on the net.”

It finally paid off at 13:40 of the second when Nikita Pavlychev gave the Jr. Knights a 3-2 lead. After a number of shots, a number of saves, and lots of scrambling, a rebound finally came out to the side. Pavlychev was there to put it into the open near side.

The third period was more of the same, with St. Louis trying everything they could to tie the game. The Blues pulled their goalie at the end, but Sprong scored the empty netter with 17 seconds left to seal the game.

“We had a tough schedule, but that’s what you want when you come here,” Janes said. “You want to play the best teams, and we certainly worked hard.”

“This is our fifth or sixth year,” Lewis said. “We compete in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. It’s all about making the kids better hockey players and moving them onto the next level, whatever that is for the individual. Our organization owns the rink, so that makes it a lot easier for the kids to train.”

No matter what language that training is done in, the international flavor of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to form the proverbial melting pot to claim a national title.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.