Another 'Thanksgiving on Ice' to Pay Tribute to J. P. Medeiros Jr.

The East Bay's annual “Thanksgiving on Ice” takes place Wednesday evening, Jan. 8.

The event is the 12th annual J. P. Medeiros Jr. Memorial Hockey Cup game between the boys' teams from Barrington and Mt. Hope high schools. It starts at 6:30 pm at the Portsmouth Abbey ice rink.

The game is a continuing tribute to a young man through the scholarship fund set up for local student-athletes by his father, John P. Medeiros Sr., a retired coach and teacher at Barrington High School, and his mother, Maryem. They have been helped by a host of family members, friends and school officials over the years.

Medeiros was a Mt. Hope graduate from Warren who was killed in a car crash in April, 2002, while he was a junior at Quinnipiac University. Funds usually are sufficient to give out four scholarships each year.

The game always matches the boys’ team from Barrington and Mt. Hope high schools.

Medeiros helped Mt. Hope win a state hockey title as a senior captain in 1999. His wish at that time was that Mt. Hope and Barrington could have a rivalry similar to the Thanksgiving football game each year. That wish became a reality in January of 2003, when the teams played for the first time.

Barrington won last year’s game to take a 6-5 lead in the series. The Eagles have a 3-2-1 overall record this year and 2-1-1 in Division I. The Huskies are 1-7 overall and 0-1 in Division III.

The game will be preceded by a matchup of the Barrington/Mt. Hope/Portsmouth Co-op girls’ hockey team trading slap shots with Narragansett/North Kingstown/South Kingstown Co-op team at 5 pm.