SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – In early June, a Vermonter got his hands on the most coveted trophy in junior hockey. On Monday, he got the chance to bring it home and hopefully inspire the next generation.

“It’s a great honor,” said Saginaw Spirit defenseman PJ Forgione. “I’ve probably been following this tournament since I was 5 or 6. It was shown all over the NHL Network. The trophy is at the Hockey Hall of Fame most of the year.”

A native of South Burlington, Forgione has spent the past three winters playing for the Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. The OHL is one of three regional leagues that make up the top division in junior hockey: the Canadian Hockey League.

“So there’s the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior and then there’s the WHL (Western Hockey League),” Forgione said.

Every spring, four teams compete for the title of CHL champion.

“The Memorial Cup, the winners of the three leagues go into this tournament, and then there is a host team,” Forgione explained. “Unfortunately, we lost in the conference finals to the London Knights. They came into the tournament and we were the hosts.”

But despite entering the tournament as underdogs, the Spirits ended up winning the entire tournament, defeating their rivals London in the final.

“It took us years to get there,” Forgione said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t the best in year one. We got a little better in year two. And then year three we really stepped up. We have all the talent in the world. We had a lot of players and young players from the NHL. We really bonded after we lost the conference finals and that really helped us a lot.”

It’s now a time-honored tradition in hockey that each championship winner gets to take home the trophy for a day. Forgione played for youth teams in the Burlington area in his younger years and wanted to inspire the next generation at Cairns Arena.

“This is the 802 Preseason Camp,” said Justin Martin, president of the Vermont Junior Catamounts. “This camp is for all young hockey players from Vermont who are getting ready for the season. We are trying to get more Vermonters to play hockey at a higher level and PJ is an example of that.”

“It’s so much fun because you’re with a lot of friends and the coaches are great,” said Junior Catamounts player Ellys Torney. “And to see the Memorial Cup is just crazy.”

Forgione had to move to another state to get noticed, but he believes there is plenty of talent here in Vermont.

“This place hasn’t really gone off the map yet,” he said. “There are still good players, but unfortunately they’re not as easy to find as some of these top spots, like Michigan, if you go to Ontario. In Vermont, it’s very difficult to find them, and you have to leave the state to find them.”

Hopefully some of the kids Forgione met on Monday can be the next to bring home an important trophy.

“It definitely inspires everyone,” said junior Catamount Malin Wilde. “Work hard to pursue your goals and dreams. I just want to have a fun, long hockey career and play D1 college hockey.”

“I think it’s just great to wipe Vermont off the map,” Forgione said. “Everyone just has to keep working hard and having fun, and anything is possible from any location.”

Forgione says he is returning to Saginaw this winter for one final season and hopes to parlay that into opportunities as a professional hockey player in the future.

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