Three players from the Langley Saxons winter club ice hockey team and its head coach, Patrick Keough, were members of a high-school squad from the metro area that recently won a national USA Hockey showcase tournament in Dallas.
The team, called DMV, represented the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association. It won the Lone Star Showcase event with a 4-1 record, after losing its first match in a shootout, 4-3, to Team Washington.
Keough was the team’s head coach. The Langley players on his squad were goalie Harrison Smith and skaters Noah Scheinerman and Chris Valko. Players on the team from other local high schools were Colin Barnett of Flint Hill, Oliver Black of Washington-Liberty and Jack Spiess of Madison.
Barnett, Scheinerman, Spiess and Black scored goals and had assists in the showcase. Valko also had assists. Smith had a win in goal. Spiess and Scheinerman had assists in the championship match and Black scored a goal. Smith made 11 saves in the final.
Overall, the DMV player roster consisted of 20 from 14 different high schools – public and private – throughout Virginia, Maryland and D.C. Langley had the most from any one school.
The Potomac Valley squad defeated a team from Colorado, 3-1, in the championship match. Other wins were over Team Midwest, 2-2, Team Oregon, 9-0, and Team Arizona, 8-1.
The showcase tournament, hosted by the NHL’s Dallas Stars program, is considered a premier national high-school scouting event. Many scouts from college and junior-hockey programs across the country were on hand watching the competition.
“It is an intense experience for the players,” Keough said.
During Langley’s 2023-24 high-school season, those three showcase players were big contributors when the Saxons won a third straight Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League championship, finishing with a 13-0 record.
