Tupper Lake teen heads to USA hockey nationals | News, sports, jobs

Abby Stalhammar will head to the USA Hockey National Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on April 3 with her team, the Chazy Selects. (Enterprise photo Oliver Reil)

TUPPER LAKE — In just six days, a Tupper Lake student will head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to play in the USA Hockey National Tournament.

Abby Stalhammar was sitting on the bench with her team, the Chazy Selects, at the New York State Amateur Hockey Association state tournament when the buzzer sounded, sealing their spot in the national championships.

“I didn't even think it was like that, almost… it was mind-boggling,” she said.

Stalhammar, 14, didn't start playing hockey right away. Growing up, her older sister Izabella was a figure skater. Stalhammar took up figure skating in an attempt to be like her sister, and did so for most of her life. She quit a few years ago and decided to play in Tupper Lake youth hockey at the age of 10.

“I just wanted to enjoy being with all the boys because they always talked about their fun weekends in the hotels where they stayed,” she said. “I wasn't nervous about playing with them because they're my friends.”

After some time with the Tupper Lake team, she tried out for Canton's 12U girls team. She didn't succeed the first time, but the next year she tried again and it worked. She played with them for two years. Last year, her father Magnus heard from an old college friend about tryouts for a brand new team, the Chazy Selects. Stalhammar tried and made it, and the team played their way to states.

The team has girls from all over the world, including the Syracuse area, Glens Falls, Irvington, Vermont. Emma Clark and Briar Beaney of Lake Placid are also on the team. Only one of the girls on the team is from Chazy, Magnus said.

Stalhammar's mother, Brigit, said the Chazy Selects only have 14 girls on the team, while other teams in the state have about 25. This means a lot of play time for each girl, but also a lot of extra effort. She said they work incredibly hard to achieve what they have.

This year, Stalhammar said, the team lost many girls, making their success uncertain. Still, the Selects returned to the United States and finished second in New York after losing the semifinals. They were now qualified for the national championships.

“I'm very excited, it took a lot, hard work to get there,” she said. “Everyone is pretty excited.”

The only option for high school hockey in Tupper Lake is the boys' varsity team, Izabella explained. Because they check — when a player uses his body to slam another player against the ice or boards to separate him from the puck — the boys' team isn't an option.

Stalhammar said she will try out for the Adirondack Northstars 16U team from Glens Falls after the national championships since she is over 14U. Since 2021, the 16U Northstars have won state championships every year.

Two of the girls on the Northstars 14U team, twins, currently play for the Chazy Selects, Magnus said. Their team won the national championships in California last year. Stalhammar said they are now her best friends. Playing with them is inspiring, she said.

Stalhammar's love for hockey has evolved exponentially. When she played with the boys on the Tupper Lake youth team, she found the sport fun enough. She said she enjoyed it more and more as she competed on the girls' teams, starting with Canton's 12U team. She moved to an even better team, the Selects, and really started to fall in love with the sport.

Stalhammar wants to pursue hockey collegiately and beyond, she said. Although the family are New York Rangers fans, she hopes to attend Boston University.

“That's like the greatest hope, like I want to study and go beyond that,” she said.

The Chazy Selects include Bailey Barnett, Briar Beaney, Sophia Browning, Anya Buhrmaster, Emma Clark, Miriam Felton, Ele Fullum, Rhianna Gilligan, Megan Miller, Maddie Oliver, Morgan Oliver, Reese Peryer, Rowan Ryan and Abby Stalhammar.

The team is currently running a 99pledges fundraiser to help with April 3 travel expenses to South Dakota. Donations can be made at app.99pledges.com/fund/chazyselec.

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