One pass, one move and done.

That's how 7-year-old Monroeville resident Beau Ritson summed up his time on the ice at King of the Rings tournament held in Toronto two weeks ago.

Ritson and his Pittsburgh Knights teammates finished the three-day tournament, held Aug. 4-6, undefeated and skated away champions in the 6- and 7-year-old division.

“It was pretty good,” said Ritson, who names Kris Letang as his favorite NHL player. “It was a lot of fun scoring a lot of goals, going wide and getting the puck in.”

Ritson was ninth in scoring among all competing age groups with 11 points and a 2.2 goals-per-game average. Ritson and his teammates left Canada with championship rings and a team trophy.

King of the Rings consisted of 12 teams with players born in 2010. The Knights were the only American team in the age group.

Ritson's father, Sean, didn't know what to expect on the trip to Canada, where hockey is considered the national sport.

“I was impressed with how the weekend went. I wasn't expecting much,” Sean Ritson said. “I think with the Penguins success and (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin coming in 2005 and 2006, hockey has blossomed in Western Pa. Those kids up there are big, fast and strong.”

The competition might have been bigger, faster and stronger, but there was no way they were stopping the 4-foot-4, 55-pound center who is a rising second grader at Ramsey Elementary School.

Ritson's performance didn't go unnoticed by his peers. He was named game MVP following the Knights' 6-1 win over North York, Ontario's Creative Hockey Development, in the semifinal game. The honor surprised Ritson, especially since he had to spend two minutes in the penalty box for hooking earlier in the game.

“It was pretty fun being MVP,” said Ritson, who learned to skate when he was 4. “I couldn't even believe it.”

Riston followed his MVP performance by scoring a hat trick in the Knights' 9-4 win over Newfoundland's Xtreme Hockey in the championship game. Riston also had a hat trick in the Knights' 8-3 opening-game win over KRBN.

Ritson also plays for Steel City Ice Renegades, where he made the top level under-8 Red team last fall as a 6-year-old. He also plays for the Gateway under-8 team and plays catcher and infielder for Monroeville Baseball Association's under-8 coach-pitch team, where he his team finished the season as champions.

“It was pretty fun, and there was a lot of Canadians that we played against and a lot of good hockey players,” Ritson said.

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

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