Ukrainian boys team already winner at Peewee tournament

No matter the outcome in the games ahead, coach Evgheniy Pysarenko knows his hockey team of young Ukrainian refugees has already won.

“That’s what I told them,” Pysarenko said after the Ukrainian Selects’ 2-0 win over Team Romania at the International Peewee Tournament in Quebec City earlier this week.

What impresses Pysarenko about this collection of 11- and 12-year-olds cobbled together from Ukraine and bordering countries where their families fled the Russian invasion is not so much the two victories they’ve already posted.

Instead, it’s the stoic resilience they’ve displayed — mature beyond their age, he says — in balancing playing a game while buffering the life-and-death realities occurring at home. Some of their fathers and fathers of friends are in battle; one player’s father died fighting on the front lines.

In a time of crisis, this team has fulfilled Pysarenko’s vision of symbolizing a message of peace and hope he anticipated the boys might help deliver to the world and to those following the tournament from afar.

“The people in Ukraine, they send us messages, thank us, wish us good luck, whether they suffer with us or support us. It’s like a piece of color in their darkness,” Pysarenko said. “These kids bring joy.”

The Ukrainians return to the ice today, when they face the Vermont Flames Academy in a Class AA elimination game. They would then need to win two more elimination games on Saturday in order to advance to play in the championship on Sunday.

Win or lose, the team is already scheduled to leave for Europe on Monday. Difficult as that might be, the validation for Selects officials is having accomplished their objective in providing the boys a brief respite from the troubles at home.

Since arriving in Quebec City in early February, the Selects have been embraced by the community, touring the city, playing street hockey and pickup basketball games, while also enjoying a shopping spree at a sports equipment store.

Another highlight came Tuesday, when they were special guests of the Montreal Canadiens for a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. After meeting with Montreal players in the morning, and issued Canadiens jerseys, the boys watched the game from a pair of suites.