The Esmark Stars AAA Hockey midget teams headed west to Detroit this past weekend, Jan. 10-12, as they travel to the Motor City to participate in the 2020 Motor City Winter Invitational, sponsored by Honeybaked Hockey.

The Stars went a combined 10-1-1-1 in 13 combined games played at the showcase event featuring East Coast teams against Mid-Western Tier I AAA teams.

The U15 Stars opened play on Friday, dropping a 3-0 decision to the USPHL's U15 AAA Middlesex Islanders Hockey Club. Fedor Tabako suffered the loss in goal.

On Saturday morning, the U15s got into the winning column capturing a 3-2 overtime shootout win against the USPHL's Northern Cyclones U15 AAA team. Owen Tutich and Logan Scanlon scored the Stars goals in regulation. Chase Stormer, Tristan Lloyd, Liam McClaine and Kirill Maslov picked up assists. Scanlon would then score in the third and final round of the shootout, while goaltender Paul Potosnak slammed the door shut in both the overtime and three shootout rounds to earn the win in goal.

Saturday afternoon, the U15 Stars skated to a 4-3 win over the USPHL's Middlesex Islanders U16 American Hockey team. Niven Delano, Tristan Lloyd, Zach Hixon (1G, 1A) and Kobe Rickabaugh scored for the Stars. Chase Williams and Luke Rose added assists. Fedor Tabako earned the win in goal.

The U15s closed their showcase schedule with a 5-1 win over USPHL's Northern Cyclones U15 AAA team early Sunday morning. Chase Williams  (1G, 2A) and Logan Scanlon (1G, 1A) led the Stars scoring attack. Owen Tutich, Luke Rose and Kirill Maslov also scored for Esmark. Liam McClaine (2A) and Zach Hixon added assists. Paul Potosnak earned the win in goal.

With the 3-1-0-0 showing in Detroit, the U15 Stars overall record improves to (19-17-2-1).

Esmark's U16 AAA club opened play on Friday evening with a 4-2 win over the USPHL's New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. Adis Ultanbekov and Shane Miller each scored shorthanded goals while Alex Keller and Keith Smilowitz added goals in the winning effort. Hunter Fairman added an assist. Nathan Dickey earned the win in goal.

Early Saturday morning the U16 Stars skated to a 9-0 shutout win over the USPHL's Northern Cyclones. Adis Ultanbekov paced the scoring attack as he collected a three-gaol hat-trick. Ethan Zupanc (2G, 1A) and Hunter Fairman (2G), each found the back of the net twice, while Keith Smilowitz (1G, 1A), and Liam Varmecky also scored goals. Egor Busygin (3A), Regan Kallis (2A), Shane Miller (2A), Justin Mettrick, Conall Quish, and Alex Keller added assists. Logan Marnik earned the shutout and win in goal and picked up his first assist of the season.

Late Saturday afternoon the Stars skated by the USPHL's Middlesex Islanders AAA National team, 8-4. Neil Domico (1G, 2A) and Adis Ultanbekov (1G, 2A) paced the Stars attack. Keith Smilowitz (1G, 1A), Alex Keller, Egor Ramanau, Nolan Merulli, Shane Miller, and Justin Mettrick also scored goals for Esmark. Regan Kallis (2A), Ethan Zupanc and Hunter Fairman added assists. Nathan Dickey earned the win in goal.

The U16s closed their showcase schedule on Sunday morning with a tough 3-2 overtime loss to the USPHL's Jersey Hitmen U16 AAA team. Adis Ultanbekov scored both Stars goals, finding the back of the net in all four showcase games. Justin Mettrick, Kamil Zainullin, Shane Miller and Liam Varmeck each picked up an assist. Logan Marnik suffered the loss in goal.

With the 3-0-0-1 showing in Detroit, the U16 Stars overall record improves to  (30-15-0-2).

The U18 Stars opened play Friday afternoon with a 7-2 win over the USPHL's Northern Cyclones. Ed Pazo (2G) led the offensive attack with a pair of goals. Jerome Oliver (1G, 3A), Corbin Ragno, (1G, 1A), Tyler Stewart (1G, 1A), Dalton Swartz (1G, 1A), and Gio Palombo also scored goals. Stewart, Swartz and Oliver connected on the power-play, as the Stars went 3 for 6 with the man-advantage. Ryder Brophy (2A), Lane Ruffner, Dustin Geregach and Nikita Zapolski added assists. Connor Strobel stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in goal, to pick up the win.  He also collected an assist.

The U18 Stars returned to the ice Friday night and skated to a 7-1 win over the USPHL's Boston Junior Bruins. Ed Pazo (2G, 1A) again led the offensive attack with a pair of goals and an assist. Dalton Swartz (1G, 2A), Dustin Geregach (1G, 1A), Dominic Dezort (1G, 1A), Luke Reiser and Corbin Ragno also scored goals. Pazo, who scored both of his goals on the power-play, Geregach and Dezort all scored with the man-advantage as Esmark went 4 for 9 on the power-play. Trent Gray, Ryder Brophy, John Camp, Preston Muha, Gio Palombo and Lane Ruffner added assists. Danny Mitchell stopped 22 of 23 Bruins shots he faced and earned the victory in goal.

Early Saturday afternoon, the midget major Stars skated to a 2-2 tie with CP Dynamo. Corbin Ragno, on the power play, and Dalton Swartz found the back of the net for the Stars ... who finished 1 for 4 on the power play. Jon Michaels, Dominic Dezort, Lane Ruffner, and Ryder Brophy picked up assists. Connor Strobel stopped 19 of 21 Dynamo shots he faced, earning the tie in goal. The game was stopped with about four minutes remaining in regulation following a serious injury to a player for CP Dynamo. (Good news ... the player, following a trip to the ER, was back at the arena later in the evening having suffered a concussion and getting some staples in the head to seal up a nasty cut, but released without further medical issue.)

Late Saturday night, the 18U Stars returned to the ice and skated to a 5-3 win over the USPHL's Jersey Hitmen. Gio Palombo led the scoring attack finding the net three times to collect a hat-trick, including two power play goals as the Stars went 2 for 9 on the power play. John Camp and Dalton Swartz also scored for the Stars. Ryder Brophy (3A), Ed Pazo, Jon Michaels and Jerome Oliver added assists. Danny Mitchell stopped 22 of 25 Hitmen shots to earn the win in goal.

The U18s closed their showcase schedule early Sunday afternoon with a 6-1 win over the USPHL's 18U Middlesex Islanders AAA National team.  Dalton Swartz (2G) and Ryder Brophy (2G) led the scoring attack, as Swartz tallied at least one goal in all five showcase games the midget major Stars played. Ed Pazo (1G, 1A) and Lane Ruffner also scored for the Stars. Pazo, Brophy and Swartz all picked up power play goals as the Stars went 3 for 7 on the power play. Brophy added a shorthanded goal. Jerome Oliver (3A), Corbin Ragno (2A), Nikita Zapolski, Gio Palombo and Brayden Morgan all added assists. Connor Strobel stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced in goal to pick up the win.

With the 4-0-1-0 showing in Detroit, the U18 Stars overall record improves to (37-3-5-3).