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A Salute to the Big 5

By Tony Scott, 12/03/13, 2:30PM CST

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Five kids with a lot of W's and one L


Liam Malmquist, one of the Big 5, knocks home a goal for Edina last year.

The numbers are gaudy.  No matter how you slice them, what they've accomplished is a nice feat.  From 2010 to 2013, Ben Brinkman, Liam Malmquist, Jett Jungels, Grant Silianoff and Mike Vorlicky had never lost a game in Association hockey.

In this time, they've won roughly 80 Squirt games including 2 District 6 Championships and 2 Fargo International Tournament Championships and several more prestigious trophies along the way. As PeeWees, they won 55 games last year without a loss or a tie to a Minnesota team (Editor's Note: Edina lost to HoneyBaked last year in Detroit). This year, they had won 20 straight without a loss or tie.  All tolled, that is 155 games without a loss or tie to Minnesota teams over a 3 year career. 

On Sunday, the streak ended when they fell to Chaska Chanhassen on a Bobby Brink tip in goal in Overtime.


Grant Silianoff, always dangerous around the net, scores for Edina in their 3-2 loss Sunday.

Much can be attributed to their success. If strength is measured in numbers or victories, Edina is definitely the best association in Minnesota Hockey. Winning a lot of games is a lot more than having great participation.  These kids spend countless hours training and playing in order to be as good as they are. In addition, it's not a mistake that all five play together on the same AAA team in the Summer (MN Machine Orange). 

Of the five, each plays a unique role for their team:

Ben Brinkman - some call him a Man-Child, but Brinkman is more than just size.  He possesses all of the necessary tools that make up a great defenseman.  He can skate, stickhandle, pass....but most important he has a rocket of a shot.

Jett Jungels - a great combination of speed and quickness, Jungels' game has really progressed in the past two seasons.  MVP of our BIG Pumpkin, Jungels looks to have a great season this year.

Liam Malmquist - incredible speed, and probably the best hands we've seen this year. Liam always has a way of winning puck battles and scoring important goals.

Grant Silianoff - great two way player, Silianoff sees the ice well and plays with a win-at-all cost edge to him.  One of the state's best 2001 birth year players, Silianoff seems to fill the score sheet both with goals and assists.

Mike Vorlicky - another great defenseman that plays the game as if everyone else were in slow motion. Vorlicky has great hockey sense and a signature backhand reverse pivot move that seems to fool them all.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jack Jensen should also be mentioned in this article. Jensen participated in roughly 115 of these 155 games, playing one season of Squirts with this gang and these two seasons of PeeWees.  Oh and yes, he is also a member of the vaunted 2000 Machine Orange team.


Jett Jungels with one of his many goals the last 3 and a half seasons.

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