Middletown, NJ – Following up a successful open to the Spring and Summer season in the World Selects Invitational, the 87s Spring and Summer Program, NorthStar Elite Hockey ventured out to Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Spring Invitational. 

                Teams competed at the following levels in Pittsburgh for NorthStar Elite: 2005 Green and Black, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 at the fantastic UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the RMU Island Sports Center, the Alpha Ice Complex, and the Baierl Ice Complex.

                When the dust cleared, the program was able to claim their first two tournament Championships in Pittsburgh with the 2006 and 2007 teams who each finished 6-0 over the course of the weekend.  In addition to these Championships, the 2005 Green and Black teams each made the Semifinals as well as the 2009 team.  The 2008 team played three fantastic games and was close the whole weekend, while the 2010 team got a nice introduction to the level of play and was very competitive all weekend.

                The 2007s used strong defense, goaltending, and unselfish and opportunistic offense to find their best stride midway through the tournament en route to a decisive 7-4 win in the Finals over SHD Midwest.  The 2006s used depth on the back end and some timely goals to ultimately prove to be the most consistent team at the 06 level all weekend and capped it off with a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Vengeance in the Finals.

                The two finals on Sunday capped off a great weekend of hockey for the program and its staff, as well for the players who represented eight different states this weekend and got the Summer off to a fantastic start.  We look forward to getting back on the ice at our Training Camps and at NAPS Buffalo, NAPS Beantown, and the Big Apple with these groups.