Ocean City Maryland Beach Bash Summary :1/30/26 - 2/1/26

Northern New Jersey is facing the coldest stretch it has experienced in over 20 years, so it is only natural that the Dare Devils would seek out a tournament in a beach location. The Dare Devils travelled from snowy, 10 degree NJ to a snowy, windy, 11 degree beach destination. While not much of a reprieve, it was a great opportunity for the team to seek out competition and camaraderie. Ten Dare Devils players travelled down to Ocean City Maryland for the annual Special Hockey Beach Bash 3 vs. 3 tournament, held at the historic Carousel Resort. Below is a summary of the events:

Friday, 1/30/26 @ 1:40pm vs. North Carolina Cat Canes:

In one of the earliest slates of the tournament, the Dare Devils squared off against the talented Carolina Canes. Friday was a school day, so only a portion of the Dare Devils roster made it down to Maryland in time for the opening matchup. Despite being short-handed, the Dare Devils still muscled out a victory against a team they were facing for the first time. There was a lot of action throughout the contest but the Dare Devils were led by superstar goalie, Matty Brighton, who made countless high-danger saves all afternoon. Patrick Hung opened the scoring for the Dare Devils and the team kept the pressure on the entire game. The game was back and forth throughout, but the Dare Devils narrowly escaped with a victory behind stellar goaltending and strong defense from Connor Hung, Kieran O'Malley and Danny Giger. The Dare Devils making the box score were Patrick Hung (4 goals), James Cooney (2 goals), Liam Smith (1 goal) and Ayden Duran (1 goal). Way to get a victory in honor of Captain Ryan Griffin's birthday!

Saturday, 1/31/26 @ 9:20am vs. Cape Cod Great Blizz:

After an epic pizza and dance party on Friday night, the tournament hosts were kind to the Dare Devils, scheduling our Saturday morning contest against our Cape Cod, Massachusetts rivals at a reasonable 9:20am. Similar to Friday's game, both teams matched up well and played an exciting, back-and-forth battle. Once again led by otherworldly goaltending from Matty Brighton, the Dare Devils had a well balanced attack and ultimately prevailed, squeezing out a narrow victory. With a full squad, the Dare Devils were able to roll three lines to match-up with the strong Blizz squad. There was the Finesse Line (Danny Giger, Shea Passikoff and Kieran O'Malley), The Chuckle Head Line (James Cooney, Ayden Duran and Owen Silverstein) and the Hanson Brothers Line (Patrick Hung, Connor Hung and Liam Smith). All of the  Dare Devils lines contributed to the win with strong defense and scoring. The box score is as follows: Patrick Hung (5 goals), Connor Hung (2 assists), Shea Passikoff (1 goal), Owen Silverstein (1 goal), Liam Smith (1 assist) and Matty Brighton (1 assist).

Saturday, 1/31/26 @ 12:50pm vs. Baltimore Saints B:

After some morning naps and lunch, the Dare Devils were back at it in this early afternoon battle against the bruising Baltimore Saints B squad. This could have been the most physical game the Dare Devils have ever experienced but the team made their coaches proud by battling, keeping their composure and ultimately winning a hard fought battle. The Dare Devils were once again led by superstar goalie, Matty Brighton, but he wasn't the only star of the game. The Hanson Brothers Line and the Chuckle Head Line earned the enviable task of matching up against two of the strongest lines in Special Hockey. Both lines held their own and were major influences on the outcome of the game. Shea Passikoff led off the 1st shift with two quick goals and the NJ squad kept attacking as the game progressed. The Dare Devils were led by Shea Passikoff (3 goals), Patrick Hung (2 goals, 1 assist), Owen Silverstein (2 goals), Danny Giger (2 assists), Connor Hung (1 goal), Ayden Duran (1 assist), Kieran O'Malley (1 assist), Liam Smith (1 assist) and Matty Brighton (1 assist). James Cooney played a standout defensive game, battling throughout against some of the biggest, baddest players in Special Hockey. The Dare Devils efforts in the round robin portion of the tournament have put them in a great position for Championship Sunday - we will find out our opponent for the Championship Game later this evening.

Sunday, 2/1/26 @ 8:20am vs. North Carolina Cat Canes - Championship Game:

After the Saturday games, the Dare Devils players had a busy rest of the day. The team gathered at Alley Oops to help Owen Silverstein celebrate his birthday. All of the players seemed to figure out how to navigate the games as everyone left with some cool prizes. After the party, some of the players relaxed, some went swimming and others were on pins and needles trying to figure out when and who we would be playing on Championship Sunday. Shortly before the team was set to meet at the Green Turtle loft for our annual team dinner, we found out we would be playing the Carolina Canes at 8:20am on Sunday morning. The team proceeded to enjoy the awesome atmosphere, food and drink at the Green Turtle and listened to stories from our esteemed Manager and Coach, Bernard, about his coming of age shenanigans at the Turtle. Perhaps it was the late night at the Turtle, the howling wind that prevented the players from getting a good nights sleep, the early morning fire alarm or the fact that our star goalie, Matty Brighton, and skaters Danny Giger and Owen Silverstein couldn't play on Sunday morning, but the Dare Devils came up short against our friends from North Carolina. Coach Bernard pulled out all the stops by wearing his Old Bay Seasoning jersey but it wasn't enough to overcome the hot Canes goaltender. Patrick Hung tried to single handedly win the game for the Dare Devils but his 6 goals weren't enough to overcome the scoring onslaught put on by the Canes. Liam Smith recorded 4 assists, Connor Hung netted 1 goal and 1 assist, James Cooney had 1 assist and Kieran O'Malley recorded one assist. Shea Passikoff, Ayden Duran and Liam Smith all had several goals stolen by the Carolina goaltender. In addition, a valiant effort was also put in by our guest goalie from the Nova Cool Cats. He made a multitude of acrobatic saves throughout the afternoon. The Dare Devils had to settle for the silver medal but it was still a successful and enjoyable weekend. Great job, team!