Foxboro, MA - The Boston Junior Whalers U16, 2008, 2010, and 2011 Elite teams all headed to Foxboro this past weekend to take part in the Blue Chip Invite, and walked away with a great weekend and some hardware.  The U16 & 2008 Elite teams were looking to defend their titles as 2018 Champions, and all four teams advanced to at least the semi finals, with the three youth teams combining for an 11-1 Round Robin record, and the U16's walking away as back-to-back champs.

The U16 Elites started off as slow as can be, falling in two devastating shootout losses on Friday, picking up a point in each contest.  On Saturday morning, the team fell to the Tropics by a score of 3-2, and needed a win in the last name and a miracle in order to move on to playoff Sunday.  The boys defeated the Mass Edge 67's 6-2 and were able to sneak into Sunday's semi-finals by winning out a tiebreaker.  On Sunday, the boys upset the #1 seeded Hatfield Huskies by a score of 1-0, and then avenged an early tournament loss to the Tropics 4-1 to take home the hardware for a second straight year.  Former US NTDP & Cornell University defenseman Ryan Bliss coached the team all weekend, and we are extremely proud of how they battled back with a lighter bench on Sunday!

The 2008 Elites had another great weekend, defeating the Boston Jr. Blues and Providence HC by big scores on Friday, and echoed that performance with a tight 3-2 win over the CT Jr. Rangers and then a 6-1 win over the Westchester Sting in the nightcap in a game that was much tighter than the score entailed.  After earning a bye past the Quarter-Finals, the team ran out of steam in the semi-finals and bowed out after a great weekend.

The 2010 Elites mirrored the Round Robin success of the 2008's, going 4-0 on the first two days of the event after defeating the Mass Edge 67's and the Tropics handily on Friday, and the CT Jr. Rangers Brick and Boston Hockey Club with ease on Saturday.  They ran into a talented Southside Warriors team from Texas in the semi-finals, and fell victim 2-0 despite a valiant effort and several hit posts.

The 2011 Elites kicked off the weekend with a battle of a win over the CT Jr Rangers Brick on Friday morning by a score of 7-3, and followed that up with an 8-2 defeat of Boston Hockey Club in the nightcap.  On Saturday, the team advanced to 3-0 with a big win over the Tropics, but fell to the host Blue Chip Selects in Saturday's second match.  On Playoff Sunday, the boys battled past the CT Junior Rangers Brick 4-2 to advance to the Championship Game.  After coming out of the gates hot and jumping out to early 1-0 and 2-1 leads, the team eventually fell to the Blue Chip Selects 5-3.

All in all, it was a great weekend for all four Boston Junior Whalers teams, and congratulations again to Coach Ryan Bliss and the Boston Junior Whalers U16 Elite Team on repeating as Blue Chip Invite Champions!