There will be no coveted Silver Stick championship pins returning to Sudbury — at least, not yet.

A total of five local teams kicked off the convoy of hockey hopefuls heading to International Silver Stick Tournaments January 11-13, with none laying claim to divisional bragging rights.

In Newmarket, a pair of squads competing at the Minor-aged tournament lost close games in elimination encounters. The Nickel City Atom A Flames posted a record of 2-1 in round-robin play, before being ousted in the semis, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Oakville Rangers.

The Flames managed to defeat both the Newmarket Redmen (4-3) and Butler County Redhawks of Ohio (3-1), sandwiching a 3-1 loss to the Uxbridge Stars in between.

The Nickel City Midget A Flyers finished first in their three-team pool, despite posting a record of 1-2, as all three competing squads finished with an identical mark after round-robin play.

Playing in their cross-over quarter-final, the Flyers lost a tough one, beaten 3-2 by the Ayr Flames.

The Northern boys looked strong in their opener, outscoring the Toronto Avalanche 4-1 before being handed close losses by both the Bowie Bruins from Maryland (3-1) and the Arapahoe Warriors from Denver, Colorado (3-2).

The Nickel City Peewee A Hawks found the going awfully tough in their grouping, taking it on the chin at the hands of the Barrie Colts (10-0), Napanee Stars (12-1) and Woodstock Jr Navy Vets (7-0).

Over in Port Huron, site of the AAA championships, the Nickel City Major Peewee AAA Sons posted a record of 2-2, dropping their first two before closing out play with a pair of victories.

Both Detroit Little Caesars (5-1) and Detroit Honeybaked (3-1) managed to upend the Sons, with the locals turning things around, triumphant over both the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (2-1) and the Barrie Colts (3-1).

Finally, the Nickel City Major Bantam AAA Sons could muster only a single tie in four outings, eliminated after preliminary-round action. The Sons lost to the Michigan Admirals (3-0), London Jr. Knights (5-2) and Huron Perth Lakers (3-2), while playing to a 4-4 deadlock with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Silver Stick play resumes next Jan. 18-20 in Sarnia, with both the Nickel City Major Atom AA Rebels and the Nickel City Midget A Devils heading to southwestern Ontario.

Northern Ontario was not shut out completely, as the North Bay Minor Atom AA Trappers managed to pull off the trick, emerging as champions with a 4-1 win, in Newmarket, over the Birmingham Rangers of Michigan.