East Coast Prime’s Total Team Effort Leads to 15U Title
PHILADELPHIA— Nearly one year after losing the 14U World Selects Invitational in Sweden last spring, East Coast Prime returned to the 2010-born championship game, this time at the 15U age level. Last May, Prime Hockey reached the finale as a 4-seed in the international tournament. There, they lost a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of host Sweden Selects. Just 360 days later, as many as 12 players from that Prime Hockey squad found themselves back in the title game with a chance at redemption.
After a 5-0-0 record in pool play and out-scoring opponents 33-7, East Coast Prime earned the top seed in the playoffs. A three-point performance from Kain Martinuik propelled Prime Hockey to a 5-3 win over DraftDay Red to advance to the quarterfinals. A 7-2 victory in the next round eliminated Maroon Hockey, and ECP earned a rematch with the East Coast Kings in the semifinals.
Just like the first meeting, a late second-half push would propel Prime Hockey past the Kings, this time, with goals from Bo Chrisitini, Caden YAle and Chase Schulberger to solidify a 4-2 win. That set the stage for a 15U championship final between SDP Hockey and East Coast Prime on May 6th.
Based out of Maple Grove, Minnesota, SDP Hockey’s roster consisted primarily of players from the State of Hockey. Conversely, Prime Hockey featured players from across the United States, as well as a pair of Canadian-born goaltenders. This marked the sixth straight time that the North American-based WSI event featured a championship game between two North American-based teams. In fact, a European team has not won the 15U tournament in the U.S. since Sweden Selects in 2015. That 2000-born roster featured future NHL players like Ryan Merkley, Rasmus Sandin, Lucas Wernblom and Oliver Wahlstrom.
John Foye opened the scoring in the 15U championship to make it 1-0 early for Prime Hockey. Less than one minute later, the tournament’s top scorer, Maverick McKinnon, quickly tied it up with his fifth goal. After 40 minutes of action, the two teams remained deadlocked at 2-2 and needed overtime to determine a winner. Skating 3-on-3, it was Prime’s Bobby Spang who delivered late-game heroics, scoring the game-winning goal with a beautiful wrist shot over goalie Will Arnold’s left shoulder.
It’s the second year in a row that the team who lost the 14U WSI championship returned the following year to win the 15U tournament. Pro Hockey 2009s lost in 2023 to the Czech Knights, only to run the table in 2024 and win in Philadelphia last spring.
For East Coast Prime, the core group of players have experienced a wealth of international competition to this point in their young careers. Players like Daley, Bobby Spang and Bo Christini have now played as many as 17 WSI tournament games in the last year. This experience can prove to be invaluable as them, and others, continue to advance through their youth hockey careers.
The 2025 15U WSI featured 40 teams from as many as nine different countries. More than three-quarters of the field consisted of teams from North America, but representatives from Russia, Finland, Czechia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and the Alps Region of Europe were in action as well.