The Garden State Games Tournament, a yearly ice hockey event the draws some of the best young talent in the state, will be held at Montclair State College this upcoming weekend.
Several local schools will be represented in the event, including Jaime Zimmel and Brendan Keelan of Middletown South, Mike Artale and Jimmy Hall of Middletown North, and Brendan Smith, Evan Ely and Scott Dickson of Rumson-Fair Haven.
RFH coach Dave Smith will also be coaching one of the four teams in the older division.
There was a small tryout period used to divvy up the talent evenly, and Smith will be coaching the Jersey Shore team.
"It was an honor to be asked to coach in the tournament," Smith said. "Coming off a great winter season, anything we can do to better establish the RFH name in New Jersey high school hockey is a plus."
"It’s a big challenge taking 20 kids who are virtual strangers to each other and to me and try to quickly mold them into a team, but it’s been lots of fun," he added. "I’m also enjoying having great kids from rival high school programs like Zimmel and Artale playing on my squad, and at the same time coaching against three of my own best players."
Smith is confident that all of the players involved will leave the tournament as better players, and is especially pleased that his players will be participating.
"Since three out of the four GSG teams have at least one RFH representative, the odds are pretty good that someone from our program will come home with some gold," he said. "Obviously I’d like one of my RFH guys or me to win it, but as long as we all represent the program well I’ll be happy."
Founded in 1983, the tournament has expanded drastically throughout the years to now include more than 8,000 participants. Special events have even been added to accommodate handicapped skaters throughout the state.
According to the tournament’s official Web site, www.gsgicehockey.org, the NHL has drafted 19 Garden State Games alumni in its 18 years of existence.
— Paul Salus