Toronto Marlboros Tournament On The Horizon

The stretch run to the Michigan U-16 State Playoffs begins in January.

But first, our sixteen 92's will venture back to Toronto for the third time this season to play a major showcase tournament.

The first two trips to Toronto have yielded terrific results in the two biggest tournaments in Ontario with appearances in the Joe Maire Semi-Final Game and the International Silver Sticks Championship Game.

With 7 days off from all skating (no practices or games) and over two weeks away from game competition our players should be very well rested, albeit a bit rusty.

We are looking for another long tournament run in Toronto in the Marlboros Tournament to be our catalyst for a strong stretch drive towards the Michigan State Playoffs.

OHL Cup Rankings Week 6 Announced

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 6
(last week's ranking in brackets)

1. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO (1)
2. Toronto Marlies - GTHL (2)
3. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL (3)
4. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA (5)
5. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA (4)
6. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA (6)
7. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL (7)
8. Detroit Honeybaked U16 - MWEHL- USA (NR)
9. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA (10)
10. Halton Hurricanes - OMHA (NR)

Honourable Mention

Barrie Colts - OMHA
Toronto Young Nats - GTHL (8)
Peterborough Petes - OMHA (9)

First Half Of Season Ends; Accomplishments Noted

Sunday's 3-0 loss to Compuware was a disappointing end to the first half of a very good season. Team accomplishments to date include:

* Semi-finals appearances in both the Joe Maire Tournament and Border City Cup.

* Finals appearance at the International Silver Sticks Tournament in Whitby.

* Undefeated record (4-0) at the Nike Bauer Tournament.

* Undefeated record (5-0) against GTHL opponents

* 4-2 victory over the Toronto Junior Canadiens in the International Silver Sticks Tournament Semi-finals.

* Wins over highly regarded teams across North America - Texas Attack, Chicago Mission, Toronto Young Nats, Rochester Alliance, Toronto Red Wings, Halton Hurricanes, and York Simcoe Express.

* Ranking as high as #4 for the OHL Cup Showcase (currently #5).

Spiral Sliced

Honeybaked's three game losing spiral was sliced Thursday Night with a 6-2 win over our Belle Tire team.

Honeybaked took advantage of their speed and execution in transition, and our numerous defensive breakdowns, to generate a slew of odd-man rushes.

Fatigue, both mental and physical in nature, appears to have set into our team. But we need to be tough enough to overcome it and finish the first half of our season with a strong performance against Compuware on Sunday.

Following the Compuware game a one-week break from practices and games appears just what the doctor ordered to recharge our batteries.

Two Big Games In Four Days

Make no mistake about it....the two big games with Honeybaked and Compuware over the next four days are not of the make or break variety.

Nothing is really at stake except for pride; and nothing will actually be decided until the state playoffs.

Still, these games have significant importance to our team as a measuring stick to see how we stack up against two of the country's best teams.

These two games will reveal whether at this point in the season our team is a true contender....or merely a pretender.

Compuware ranks as the nations best team on every mathematical based national ranking site and Honeybaked is right behind them in either the number two or three slot.

Our season record against these two teams thus far is 0-2-1 with a 1-1 tie against Honeybaked in a late August exhibition game and a 3-1 loss in MWEHL league play; along with a 3-0 loss to Compuware in the Joe Maire tournament in early September.

Little Caesars Games Moved To February

Both MWEHL league games against Little Caesars that were to be played this month have been moved to February due to scheduling conflicts.

Updated schedule of all games appears along the right side of this weblog.

OHL Cup Rankings Week 5; Team Keeps 4th Spot Despite Loss

Despite losing to Victory Honda on Sunday, Belle Tire retained the #4 ranking in the latest OHL Cup Showcase Tournament Rankings.

Needless to say, we need to perform at a level in our upcoming games against Honeybaked (tomorrow) and Compuware (Sunday) that will substantiate how high we are ranked.

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 5 (last week's ranking in brackets)

1. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO (1)
2. Toronto Marlies - GTHL (2)
3. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL (3)
4. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA (4)
5. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA (5)
6. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA (6)
7. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL (7)
8. Toronto Young Nats - GTHL (8)
9. Peterborough Petes - OMHA (9)
10. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA (10)

Honourable Mention

Detroit Honeybaked U16 - MWEHL- USA
Halton Hurricanes - OMHA
Rochester Alliance - USA

Dallas Stars Forward From Westland Shines

A Dallas Stars forward from Westland scored a highlight reel goal tonight to tie the game against the Columbus Bluejackets and send the game to overtime.

No, the Dallas Stars forward from Westland was not Mike Modano, it was the other forward from Westland, Chris Conner .....

Chris Who?

Chris Conner is a 24 year old, 5 foot 7, 175 pound forward from Westland, Michigan who is an undrafted free agent and played 4 seasons at Michigan Tech University.

Conner has played 23 career NHL games over the last two seasons and has totaled 3 goals and 3 assists.

He is an NHL swingman spliting time between the Dallas Stars and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in Iowa. Still Conner has made it to the NHL. Presumably overcoming all his odds, all his naysayers, and most importantly all of his competition.

Conner is an inspiration to every young player - especially our local Michigan boys - that you can make it to the NHL regardless of your size.

Don't ever let anybody tell you that you can't make it to the NHL ....especially when they tell you that you can't make it because of your size.

"Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

Honeybaked Game Rescheduled For Thursday

Our game versus Honeybaked originally scheduled for Sunday, December 16th has been moved to this Thursday, December 6th at Hazel Park. Game Time is 7:30 PM.

Victory Honda Rolls Over Flat Tires

Hard to find anything positive about our MWEHL loss on Sunday to Victory Honda by the score of 5-3.

Hopefully our team will realize that all 16 league games against our Michigan MWEHL opponents are going to be battles and we have to be prepared to compete hard in every one of them.

Now 4 league games have been played against Michigan MWEHL opponents with 12 league games to go and our record is a mediocre 2-2.

Can we expect a more spirited effort in the 12 league games that remain?

2-1 Victory Improves Team Record To 5-0 Versus GTHL This Season

Alex Frere scored the game winner, his 12th on the season, in the second period as we took a 2-0 lead and held on for 2-1 victory over the Mississauga Reps in Exhibition game action.

For the season our team is now a perfect 5-0 versus GTHL teams.

We resume MWEHL action against Victory Honda on Sunday at 1:00 PM at Taylor Sportsplex.

Note: Rusty Hafner tallied the first goal of the game for Belle Tire, his 3rd on the season which leads the team amongst defensemen.

Old Ball Coach Influences Hockey Team

Until such time as he might read this post, Frank Orlando ("Coach O") will have no idea that his spirit breathes in the character of our hockey team.

I was fortunate to play varsity baseball for Coach O at my alma mater Detroit Country Day School.

In the Michigan High School ranks Coach O is legendary. As an inductee to both the Michigan Baseball and Michigan Girls Basketball Coaching Hall of Fames, he's won state championships in both sports, and his girls basketball team (once again favored to win the state championship this season) is amongst the greatest dynasties in the history of michigan high school athletics.

But above all the wins and championships, Coach O set the example and preached the type of virtues that influenced all who ever played for him in a positive manner.

Coach O's message, his creed if you will, is team "UNITY". The belief that no individual player is more important than the team, that an entire team needs to be unified to reach its potential, and everybody on the team plays an important role in the team's success.

This message of UNITY is proudly emblazen upon our team's dryland t-shirts and personified in our team's concept of "20 players all pulling on the same rope, all pulling in the same direction."

Coach O's other powerful message that influences our team culture is the message of young athletes as gentlemen and all those associated with a team handling themself with dignity and class.

Granted our players are no choir boys. Hockey is a gladitorial sport and the nature of the competitive spirit for those who excel in it dictates that certain events often transpire during the course of games that are emotionally charged. Even the calmest of souls gets roused to act out of character in the most heated of moments.

However, to the extent that our coaches, players, and parents handle themself on and off the ice, win or lose, in good times or bad, with dignity and class was the example set by Orlando which exemplifies the culture of our team.

What I was most proud of about our team's remarkable Silver Stick showing in Whitby was not that we made it within an eyelash (a dime) from winning the Championship, but rather the notable feedback we received from so many scouts in attendance, tournament organizers, hotel staff, parents on other team's, etc, etc, about the quality of character of the people associated with our team.

Players who believe they are good and believe they will win without acting arrogant, level-headed coaches who set an example for great sportsmanship, and parents who handle themselves with the type of class and perspective that puts our team in a positive light to all those who watch us play.

When Coach Jabar and I founded the Wizards Hockey Club in 2002, I made it a mission of mine to plant the seeds of Coach O's virtues into our program and have watched them grow steadily into the team we have today.

In this my fifth and final season, I'm confident that our team is the kind that would make Coach O proud, and I'm hopeful that our players may one day carry on these same virtues to all the teams they have the opportunity to influence in the future.

Reminder/Notice

Game time for our exhibition game versus the Mississauga Reps is 3:00 PM at Taylor - moved up from our normal 5:00 PM ice time - to allow the Reps time to finish our game and head to Yost Ice Arena to watch the U-M vs Ohio State hockey game.

Team Looks To Stay Unbeaten Versus GTHL

This Saturday afternoon's exhibition game against the visiting Mississauga Reps provides us with a chance to improve our unbeaten record this season against the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) to five wins with no losses.

So far we have defeated the Toronto Young Nats 4-2, North York Rangers 3-0, Toronto Red Wings 3-1, and Toronto Junior Canadiens 4-2. Note: On the schedule for the Toronto Marlboros Tournament is another matchup with North York.

Red Hot: Forward Daniel Cesarz was mired in a miserable scoring slump to start the season that saw him tally only 1 goal and 4 assists in his first 23 games. But since that time Cesarz has been red hot tallying 9 goals to go with 8 assists for 17 points in his last 16 games.

To The Point: Nick Paluch leads the team in assists with 23, points with 35, and is tied for second on the team in goals scored with Garrett Ross at 12; Austin Czarnik leads the team in goals scored with 15; Garrett Ross leads the team in points per game average (PPG) at 0.925 with 25 points in 27 games. Cody Donnay leads in scoring amongst defensemen with 2 goals and 20 assists for 22 points in 39 games, with Rodney Lalonde second on the team in defensemen scoring with 2 goals and 16 assists for 18 points in 39 games.

Las-Hi: Goalie Kyle Laslo's spectacular play during the Silver Sticks Tournament caught the attention of many Ontario Hockey League (OHL) scouts. Laslo who backstopped the 1992 Los Angeles Hockey Club to the U-14 National Championship Game last season is from Irvine, California and thus geographic property of the Western Hockey League (WHL); however if Laslo goes undrafted in this year's WHL draft he becomes an unrestricted free agent and would be able to sign with any OHL team if he wished.

New OHL Cup Rankings Announced; Belle Tire Top Ranked Team From USA

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 4
(last week's ranking in brackets)

1. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO (8)
2. Toronto Marlies - GTHL (1)
3. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL (2)
4. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA (6)
5. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA (3)
6. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA (5)
7. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL (4)
8. Toronto Young Nats - GTHL (10)
9. Peterborough Petes - OMHA (9)
10. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA (7)

Honourable Mention

Detroit Honeybaked U16 - MWEHL- USA
Halton Hurricanes - OMHA
Rochester Alliance - USA

Letter From OHL Commissioner David Branch

The following letter was received by our Assistant Coach, Kevin Hess, who is the Midwest United States Coordinator for Ontario Hockey League Central Scouting.

It was sent by David Branch the Commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League and the Head Coach of the Whitby Wildcats who we defeated in the quarterfinal qualifying game 3-2 in overtime.


Kevin:

Congratulations to all your players and staff on an outstanding Silver Stick Tournament in Whitby over the past weekend.

I was at the final game yesterday against Elgin and of course the game could have gone either way and it was certainly a thrilling Championship Final Game.

The level and quality of play, passion and character shown by your team was truly magnificent.

Please express my sincere congratulations to everyone.

Looking forward to hopefully having the opportunity to connect with you and to possibly play against your team once again.

Best Regards,

David Branch
Commissioner
Ontario Hockey League

92's Represent; Deliver Amazing Silver Sticks Run

THE BUILDUP:
Developing our players is our team's #1 goal.

Showcasing our players is our #2 goal.

Winning the Michigan State and USA National Championships are goals #3 and #4.

With this in mind our team roster was constructed to include our five 91 birthyear players because our coaches felt they were clearly the right players to include on our roster to give us the best opportunity to accomplish our #3 and #4 goals.

Still, with 15 1992 players we are one of only three ELITE teams in the United States (Compuware and Rochester Alliance the other two) with enough 92's to be invited to the International Silver Stick Finals in Whitby; which is the most important showcase tournament of the year for OHL draft eligible players.

So our 92's finished their Thanksgiving Day meals and headed to Whitby with 1 goalie, 4 defensemen plus converted forward Brent Formosa, and 9 forwards.

First Two Games:
The tournament opened with a sloppy 5-4 win for us against the North Central Predators, followed by a lethargic 3-1 loss to Elgin-Middlesex (more on them later).

With his father visiting from California to watch him play for the first time since July, Goalie Kyle Laslo looked nervous and way off his game, and as the only goalie we brought to the tournament there was no backup available.

To add to our obstacles the Elgin game ended after 10:30 PM and we would have to play our third and last preliminary round game against a strong Halton Hurricanes team at 7:50 AM the next morning.

Watching the uninspired performance of our players on the first day of the tournament, and knowing the schedule and quality of the team we had to play in the morning, it certainly appeared that our stay in Whitby would be a short one.

But fortunately the tide was about to turn.

Next Two Games:
Our incomparable team chemistry and toughness kicked in early Saturday Morning as our team played a near flawless game in a 2-0 victory over the Halton Hurricanes.

(Note: This game was the first of an incredible display of goaltending by Kyle Laslo who caught fire Saturday morning and was spectacular in net for the last five games of the tournament.)

Unfortunately, we did not have the scoring percentage necessary to advance straight through to the quarterfinal round and had to play a quarterfinal qualifier game against the host team, Whitby Wildcats.

(Note: Early in the first period of the Halton game Alex Frere was ejected for a hit from behind and missed the rest of the game plus the next game against Whitby which meant our team had only 13 skaters for both of those games.)

Against the host team Whitby in the quarterfinal qualifier the arena was packed with OHL scouts and local Whitby supporters and the atmosphere was electric.

Despite controlling the game, our team found themselves down 2-1 with less than 20 seconds remaining when Garrett Ross scored to even the game at 2-2 and send it to overtime where Austin Czarnik roofed a shot from the slot to win it and send us on to the quarterfinals.

Running The Gauntlet:
A tired and battered team hit the ice on Saturday night for our third game of the day and the first of three games against a trio of premiere teams from the province of Ontario.

In our first game, the quarterfinal, against the well rested and powerful Toronto Red Wings team we raced out to a 2-0 lead and extended it to 3-0 before hanging on for a 3-1 victory.

(Note: During the game defensemen Chris Barile suffered a fractured ankle after falling to the ice when speared in the leg by a Red Wing player which left us with only 3 defensemen plus converted forward Brent Formosa for the remainder of the tournament. Formosa proved to be our team's most important skater in the tournament, and as he got more comfortable on defense with each successive game, he became a major factor in our team's run to the championship game.)

Our victory over the Toronto Redwings set up a semi-final match with the famed Toronto Junior Canadiens who advanced to the Semi-finals by beating Detroit Compuware 2-1 in their quarterfinal game.

The Junior Canadiens took the lead on us only seconds into the game when they scored on their first shift. But we would not be denied and rallied back with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. The Junior Canadiens scored to make it 3-2 before DJ Hastings sealed the game with a late goal for a 4-2 victory that sent us to the championship game and a rematch with Elgin-Middlesex.

(Note: Our team became only the second Michigan team and third team from the United States to ever defeat the powerful Junior Canadiens.)

The toughness and chemistry that helps to make our team the most complete Midget Minor team in the United States was on display once again in the Championship game as it was obvious that with only 13 skaters, playing our 7th game of the tournament, coming off three very physical hard fought victories against great competition...we had next to nothing left in the energy tank.

The score after two periods was 0-0 heading into the third. Five minutes into the third Austin Czarnik scored off a beautiful feed from Daniel Cesarz to give us a 1-0 lead. Elgin scored two goals a few minutes later to take a 2-1 lead. But right off the faceoff following the second Elgin goal, Garrett Ross took a pass from Cody Donnay at center ice and skated in to score a beautiful goal to make it 2-2 heading into the game's final seconds.

Off a faceoff in the Elgin zone a play designed by the coaches almost won us the game as Austin Czarnik took a pass from behind the net with 4 seconds remaining and shot the puck off the near side post which ricocheted straight across the goal line to the far side post and out as regulation time expired.

To use an analogy to silver (for the Silver Sticks), Czarnik came the width of a dime away from winning us the Championship and himself the Tournament MVP.

Unfortunately, Elgin would score a few minutes into the first overtime session and deny us the Silver Sticks Championship. Despite the loss we couldn't be more proud of a group of players and coaches who displayed tremendous heart when faced with a great challenge and established our Belle Tire team as one of the best in North America.

MWEHL Rule Change Favors Belle Tire

A new MWEHL rule change which allows resurfacing of the ice after the first and second periods ensures a clean fast sheet of ice for each period and substantially favors skilled teams like us.

Here is the new rule as announced today:

 Midget Minors with 2.0 hour ice time may play 18-minute stop-time periods with one (1) ice resurface after the first period and a second ice resurface after the second period.

Silver Sticks Primer

The 2007 International Silver Sticks Finals in Whitby, Ontario is the most important SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT of the season for the 1992 age group.

Players who play well this weekend will move themselves up OHL team draft lists or emerge as primetime targets for NCAA recruiters.

AND

Teams that perform well this weekend will move themselves up the OHL Central Scouting Team Rankings and into position to receive an invitation to attend the OHL Cup.

According to the current OHL Cup Rankings the six favorites to win Silver Sticks are the Toronto Marlboros, Toronto Junior Canadiens, Detroit Compuware, Toronto Redwings, York Simcoe Express and Detroit Belle Tire.

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 3
(last week’s ranking in brackets)

1. Toronto Marlies - GTHL (1)
2. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL (2)
3. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA (3)
4. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL (4)
5. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA (5)
6. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA (6)
7. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA (8)
8. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO (10)
9. Peterborough Petes - OMHA (7)
10. Toronto Young Nats - GTHL (NR)

Honourable Mention

Detroit Honeybaked U16 - MWEHL- USA
Halton Hurricanes - OMHA
Chicago Mission U16 - MWEHL- USA

Remarkable Surge Continues

With a 3-0-2 record in the MWEHL Showcase #2 we moved into sole possession of third place in the MWEHL standings with 18 points after 13 games.

On the season we've lost ONLY 5 of 33 games played and are currently riding an 11 game unbeaten streak (9-0-2).

With just one loss since October 7th (11-1-4 in this span) when our 92's take the ice to represent our team at the International Silver Sticks on Friday morning we will have gone almost one full month without losing a game (last loss October 27th vs. Honeybaked) with a remarkable one loss total in 48 days.

Two of our five losses on the season were avenged this past week with wins over Little Caesars and Chicago Fury.

Compuware (lost 3-0 in the Joe Maire Tournament) and Honeybaked (tied 1-1 in exhibition play and lost 3-1 in league play) are the only two teams we have lost to this season that we have yet to beat.

Noteworthy: Kudos to the newly constructed Lander-Johnston-Formosa line which has been RIDING high in all 7 games they've played together since debuting as a unit against Little Caesars one week ago.

Outlook For Aspiring NHL Goalies Playing In Michigan

Its always interesting to listen to the debates between competing factions (NCAA College Hockey and the Ontario Hockey League) over which path of development is best for players aspiring to play in the NHL.

This feature looks only at how that debate relates to goalies playing their minor hockey in Michigan.

When it comes to goaltenders playing in Michigan who have the option to play NCAA College Hockey or in the Ontario Hockey League the following statistics I crunched together prove there is absolutely no difference between the two development paths in terms of providing a better or worse opportunity for a goalie to play in the NHL.

(1) There has been 10 goalies who have played at least one game in the NHL this season who played in the Ontario Hockey League. The average age of those 10 goalies is 29 years old.

(2) There has been 10 goalies who have played at least one game in the NHL this season who played NCAA College Hockey. The average age of those 10 goalies is 29 years old.

(3) There has been ONLY 5 GOALIES TOTAL born in the United States who have played at least one game in the NHL this season - Yikes! Three of those five are over 30 years of age. The other two are 26 and 27 years old. Four of those five played NCAA College Hockey (Ryan Miller - Michigan State, Tim Thomas - Vermont, Rick Dipietro - Boston University, John Grahame - Lake Superior State) and the other (Brent Johnson from Farmington, Michigan) played in the Ontario Hockey League.

Note 1: If you think making the United States NTDP is your ticket to the NHL - think again. Rick Dipietro who played just one season of NCAA College Hockey at Boston University before turning professional is the ONLY goalie who has played at least one NHL game this season who is a product of the United States National Development Program in Ann Arbor (NTDP).

Note 2: It cannot be disputed that the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL, QMJHL) has produced more NHL goalies than any other region in the world, but those numbers are skewed by the huge number of goalies produced in Quebec who came through the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and more importantly grew up playing in the Quebec Minor Hockey System.

The Value Of Skilled Defensemen

The last three games our team has greatly benefited from highly skilled play by our defensemen.

Often times people might mistakenly believe a skilled defensemen is one who rushes the puck up the ice, slaloms around oncoming forecheckers, and carries the puck deep into the offensive zone to create goal scoring chances.

While there are a rare few examples of exceptional defensemen like Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr who were effective playing this style of game, the reference to a skilled defensemen (power play ability excluded) most often refers to something much different.

A "Skilled Defensemen" is one who can:

(1) Turn and out-race a pursuing forechecker to a loose puck dumped in behind them that goes deep into their defensive zone.

(2) Keep their feet moving as they pick up the loose puck and then evade a hit or takeaway attempt of a pursuing forechecker by protecting the puck with their reach or body.

(3) Pull away from the pursuing forechecker and move with the puck into an area of open ice in order to create time, space, options, and passing lanes.

(4) Make a perfectly placed pass through an open passing lane right onto the tape of a forward who is in stride in the neutral zone in order to spring him into the offensive attack.

While any one of the above are regarded as a highly skilled play, when a defenseman is able to perform all four of them on the same play ... well that's a real thing of beauty.

While watching a game this evening between the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks the color commentator said the following about the importance of a team having highly skilled defensemen:

"If you look at teams that score alot of goals in this league (NHL), you don't look at the defensemen scoring alot of goals themselves but rather their ability to hit the forwards with passes while the forwards have speed in the neutral zone so your team can move the puck quickly into the offensive zone...and if you want a great example of this just flip on the television when the Detroit Red Wings are playing and you will see skilled defensemen play executed at its highest level."

At the time of this post the Detroit Red Wings are the NHL Western Conference's best team.

Same Rope; Same Direction

Ok so maybe its a biased observation ... but ...

I have yet to see another team in the United States at the U-16 level that is as complete a TEAM in terms of its speed, skill, toughness, and chemistry all the way through its ENTIRE ROSTER as our team.

Its taken about 1/3 of the season to gel and get on the same page with each other, but starting with our dismantling of a very good Richmond Hill team at the Nike Bauer Tournament, then carrying over to two impressive league victories over Little Caesars and Victory Honda, its become clear that we're finally all pulling on the same rope - in the same direction.

If the type of disciplined, intelligent, and unselfish team play we've displayed in our last three games not only continues, but intensifies, there is no doubt we have the POTENTIAL to become a great team and win the MWEHL, Michigan State, and U.S. National Championships.

Let us consider the limited time that we have together as a team and use it wisely with diligence and foresight, and whatever these days ahead bring to us, may they bring forth the best that is in us.

20 Focused Players - All Pulling On The Same Rope - All Pulling In The Same Direction.

Week 2 OHL Cup Rankings

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 2
(last week’s ranking in brackets)

1. Toronto Marlies - GTHL (1)
2. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL (2)
3. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA (3)
4. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL (4)
5. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA (5)
6. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA (6)
7. Peterborough Petes - OMHA (10)
8. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA (8)
9. Halton Hurricanes - OMHA (7)
10. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO (9)

Honourable Mention

Detroit Honeybaked U16 - MWEHL- USA
Toronto Young Nats - GTHL
Ottawa Jr 67's - ODMHA

Game Time Change For Tuesday Night

Notice to players and parents. Tuesday Nights MWEHL game at Artic Pond vs. Victory Honda has been moved from up 30 minutes from 8:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Please arrive one hour early at 6:30 PM.

Impressive Belle Tire Begins at # 6 In Midget Minor Rankings For OHL Cup

There are several different team ranking services and publications. For instance TheScoutingNews.com is an online publication that produces its rankings based on feedback from sources. MyHockeyRankings.com and NationalHockeyRankings.com rely on formulas based on won-lost record, strength of schedule, and goal differential.

But, no published rankings for Minor Midget teams is nearly as accurate as those produced by the OHL and its panel of professional scouts who spend countless hours actually watching and evaluating North America's top teams.

NOTE: Based on feedback which our coaches have received from OHL scouts so far this season, our team may have as many players selected in the 2008 OHL Draft as any team in the United States.

PRESS RELEASE FROM http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/news/
OHL Announces Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament
Created: Nov 6, 2007

The Ontario Hockey League today announced the first weekly minor midget rankings for the 2008 Ontario Hockey League Showcase for the OHL Cup, hosted by the GTHL.

The weekly rankings are determined by a panel of OHL Central Scouting Staff and reflect the top teams that are competing to play in the annual year-end championship tournament.

The 2008 OHL Showcase for the OHL Cup will be played at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, from March 19, 2008 through March 23, 2008.

The Tournament will include 20 participating teams from across Ontario and the United States. The champions and finalists from minor hockey associations in Ontario, including the GTHL, OMHA, ODMHA, the Alliance and a representative from the NOHA will participate in the tournament, along with additional teams identified by the Tournament Selection Committee.

Minor Midget Rankings for the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament - Week 1
1. Toronto Marlies - GTHL
2. Toronto Jr Canadiens - GTHL
3. Compuware U16 - MWEHL-USA
4. Toronto Red Wings - GTHL
5. York-Simcoe Express - OMHA
6. Detroit Belle Tire U16 - MWEHL-USA
7. Halton Hurricanes - OMHA
8. Ottawa Senators - ODMHA
9. Elgin-Middlesex - MHAO
10. Peterborough Petes - OMHA

Honourable Mention
Cambridge Hawks - MHAO
Toronto Young Nats - GTHL
Ottawa Jr 67's - ODMHA

Last March, the Mississauga IceDogs defeated the Toronto Marlboros 2-1 in the championship game of the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament, which was hosted at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga for the first time.

The IceDogs lineup included first round OHL picks Casey Cizikas (Mississauga St. Michael's Majors) and Andrew Agozzino (Niagara IceDogs). Ethan Werek (Kingston Frontenacs) and Michael Zador (London Knights) were first round picks from the Marlboros.

Notes On Nike Bauer Tournament: Letter Sent To Tournament Organizer Says It All

Attention Kevin Mann:

By now I am sure you are aware of the fact that our U-16 Belle Tire team went undefeated at your Nike/Bauer Tournament this past weekend yet did not have the opportunity to advance to the playoff round of 16 teams.

Having also run tournaments in the past I understand what a great undertaking is involved in producing them, not to mention a tournament of such a large scale as the Nike/Bauer. I do wish to compliment you on the first class organization of this event in almost all respects.

Unfortunately, as was clearly proven by our team being denied the opportunity to advance to the playoff round of 16 teams despite going undefeated in pool play, the format used by the Nike/Bauer Tournament for creating divisions and breaking ties, at least at the U-16 age level, was no doubt poorly conceived.

There is no possible justification for any tournament format that is structured in such a way so as to leave open even the slightest possibility that an undefeated team in pool play might not advance to the playoff round.

Our team, players and parents spent a tremendous amount of time and money to enter and attend the Nike/Bauer tournament, we won all of our games (one of only two undefeated teams along with the tournament champions to do so) and went home extremely disappointed with our experience.

I would assume that to avoid this from occurring in the future the Nike/Bauer Tournament will be making the necessary changes to division groupings, the tiebreaker format, or both. But this leaves the coaches, players, and parents on our team this year with a smaller consolation than the game we had to play Saturday evening.

I would like you consider our request that the Nike/Bauer Tournament take responsibility for the fact that our team was denied the opportunity we earned to advance to the playoff round due to a poorly conceived tournament format, and accordingly refund us the full fee we paid to enter the tournament (the proceeds of which will be divided evenly amongst the members of the team to offset travel costs).

Respectfully Submitted;

Brian J. Feldman
General Manager
Belle Tire U-16 AAA

Facts On NCAA Division 1 College Verbal Commitments

Only a fraction of NCAA Division 1 College Hockey Players will make a verbal commitment to attend a certain college prior to their Junior year of high school.

Furthermore, only a slightly larger number make that commitment prior to the start of their Senior year in high school.

There are approximately 50 or so NCAA Division 1 college hockey teams and each team has approximately 7 players per birthyear on its roster; or roughly 350 players per birth year in the USA and Canada who advance on to play Division 1 College Hockey.

Currently, only 20 players in the USA and Canada who are 1991 birthdates have made a verbal commitment to play for a Division 1 College Hockey Team; so roughly 330 players (or 95%) of the future 1991 birthyear Division 1 College Hockey Players have yet to verbally commit to a college.

Verbal commitments to high school underclassmen are a relatively recent phenomenon, and an opportunity that may be presented to certain high end players that colleges have identified.

If a player receives an opportunity to verbally commit to a school prior to his senior year of high school, and happens to be 100% sure of the college he wants to attend, than making a verbal commitment to that college may be advisable.

However, as the numbers clearly indicate, roughly 95% of all the players in a given birthyear who are future Division 1 College Hockey Players either wont have the opportunity to, or wont want to, commit early to a college prior to their senior year of high school.

Thanksgiving At Home For 92's!!

For the 92's on our team, I am pleased to announce that the director of the International Silver Sticks has agreed to accomodate our request to change our game schedule so that we can have Thanksgiving at home in Michigan.

Our first game was slated to be played on Thanksgiving Day at 5:30 PM in Whitby, which would have ruined family meal plans for the holiday.

Now players can have a Thanksgiving day meal with family and head up to Whitby afterwards .... but please note that due to our first game of the tournament being at 9:00 AM on Friday we would like all players to be in their hotel room in Whitby by 11:00 PM so please make your holiday meal time and travel plans accordingly.

Our new schedule of games in the International Silver Sticks Tournament will be:

FRI 41 Iroq#1 9:00 AM NORTH CENTRAL
FRI 96 Iroq#1 8:15 PM ELGIN-MIDDLESEX
SAT 114 Iroq#2 7:50 AM HALTON

Issued Challenge To Forwards...Is Still Not Met

Following a stretch of late September exhibition games the coaches issued a strong challenge to our Forwards as a whole unit to start going HARD to the net, with and without the puck, and be willing to pay the price that needs to be paid physically in order to score goals.

10 games have since passed ....

Unfortunately, at the Border City Cup (with only 13 goals in 5 games) and the first MWEHL Showcase (with only 11 goals in 5 games) our Forwards as a unit failed our coaches challenge miserably.

Lets just say that our forwards (to choose one of the more pleasant analogies I have heard) attack our opponents net, with and without the puck, as if we have a carton of eggs in our pants and want to keep them from breaking.

Hopefully our coaches will not have to wait any longer for our Forwards as a unit to finally get the message that Our team will not score goals consistently until our forwards go hard to the front of the net, with and without the puck, and are willing to pay the price that needs to be paid physically in order to score goals.

LC Game Rescheduled

Tuesday's postponed game against Little Caesars has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 20th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Joe Louis Arena.

Team Members Check Emails

Attention Team Members:

Be sure to check your email today for important team related information on jersey nameplates, new pre-game dryland t-shirts, new scouts brochures, and the rescheduling of Tuesday's Little Caesars league game.

Science of Our Success

Funny how sports resemble science ... its all about formulas.

Like the winning formula that resulted in our big wins in a span of seven days over two of the top ten teams in the United States, the Rochester Alliance and the Chicago Mission. Disciplined Play (DP) + Puck Movement (PM) = Win (W).

or

Like the losing formula that resulted in our disappointing ties and losses against Team Ohio, Cleveland, Windsor, and the Chicago Fury. Undisciplined Play (UDP) + No Puck Movement (NPM)= Loss (L).

With the winning formula we yield a bit of our physicality for a more disciplined style of play and stay out of the penalty box; and we think pass first, carry the puck second to maximize the creativity and skill of the whole team.

but

With the losing formula we try to deliver big (often out of control) hits on every occasion and get careless with our sticks which result in way too many penalties; and we think carry the puck first, pass second which stifles the creativity and skill of the whole team.

(DP + PM = W)

Enough Said!

And So It Begins......

Two intense weeks of training camp, two tournament semi-final appearances, and a 10-3-4 overall preseason record is officially in the books .....

..... now on to Act 3.

Before we enter the first-half of the regular season, its a good time to reflect on what we know, what we've accomplished, and what we expect.

What We Know: Our team "fabric" has all six of the "fibers" necessary to become a championship team: Skill, Speed, Toughness, Character, Chemistry, and Depth.

What We've Accomplished: Our team has put itself on the scouting community's radar and established itself as a true force to be reckoned with at the U-16 age level in the 2007-2008 season.

What We Expect: The U-16 age level in Michigan is very strong; perhaps stronger than ever. Early returns from games already played show that all five MWEHL Michigan teams are very good and every game this season is going to be a battle.

Eclipse Sports Management Launches Website

Press Release:

Scott Greenspun, Michael Deutsch, and Brian Feldman are longtime National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) Certifed Player-Agents who advise and represent professional athletes together as Eclipse Sports Management (ESM), a boutique player representation firm with its home office on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

Today ESM launched its one-of-a-kind website located at esmhockey.com

Border City Cup Notes

When the Border City Cup Tournament schedule was announced last month we instantly pointed towards the Saturday afternoon matchup against the Rochester Alliance as a watershed game.

Playing Rochester, considered the premiere team in the State of New York this season and the #6 ranked Midget Minor team in North America by The Scouting News, was considered a measuring stick game for assessing our team at this point in the season.

The results were, needless to say, very encouraging as we crushed Rochester 6-2 in a lopsided game that virtually cemented our team's place on the national landscape as one of the best teams in the United States.

The Good: Team defense (defensemen and forwards) and goaltending this past weekend were outstanding as we surrendered only 6 total goals against in 5 games. Every team we played struggled to generate quality scoring chances and shots against us. Even in our 1-0 semifinal loss to Little Caesars we counted only 4 even strength shots on our net for the entire game with all of those shots coming from outside our defensize zone or just inside our blueline. Our penalty killing continues to be phenomenal ...... which leads to ....

The Bad: While the officiating in the tournament was by every team's account "utterly horrific", we are taking way, way to many penalties, many of which are of the undisciplined or unintelligent variety. While its nice to have a great penalty killing unit, it would be alot nicer not to have to use it so darn often each game. COUNT ON THIS BEING ADDRESSED BEFORE THE WEEKEND.

and

The Ugly: In 17 games this season no team (other Compuware at the Joe Maire) has come close to matching us in shots on goal or scoring chances. However, lack of finishing those shots and scoring chances continues to be our teams #1 achilles heel (note: see "The Bad" above for our #2 achilles heel). We managed only 13 goals scored in 5 games in the Border City Cup with half of those goals coming in the Rochester game. Hopefully its just a matter of time before we start breaking through and finding the back of the net.

Announcing: First Ontario Hockey League Seminar Event

Since the Joe Maire Tournament our team has become one of the most talked about in the scouting community. Some juinor scouting experts have went so far as to suggest to our coaching staff that our U-16 team could have as many players selected in the 2008 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft as any USA based-team.

On Thursday, November 15th at 5:00 PM prior to the Windsor Spitfires game at Windsor Arena, we will be attending a seminar held for our team by Joe Birch the Director of Recruitment and Education Services for the Ontario Hockey League. Also expected to speak at the seminar are Warren Rychel, Owner and General Manger of the Windsor Spitfires, and Bob Boughner, Head Coach of the Windsor Spitfires.

The seminar will feature important information regarding the Ontario Hockey League including the entry draft process and the hockey and educational opportunities available to players who elect to play in the OHL.

After the seminar players and their families would be welcome to stay for the game which features the Windsor Spitfires vs. the Brampton Battalion. Tickets would be $10 each for the game.

Similar seminars and events will be arranged throughout the season as several teams have inquired about bringing our players to tour their facilities and meet with their coaching and management staffs.

On The Border....At The Border

If we divide our season like a five act play it allows our players to focus on short term segments of an otherwise very long season. It also enables our coaches to set important objectives for each segment of the season, and monitor progress through identifiable performance standards.

As our team prepares to play in the Border City Cup Tournament this weekend we reach the "Border" of Act 2 in our five act season-long play, which in its entirety, consists of the following:

Act 1: Training Camp: Early August: Time to get our players in shape, improve their skills, put together our roster, and set the tone for the type of work ethic we expect from our players at practices both on and off the ice.

Act 2: Preseason: Mid-August to the MWEHL season begins: Time to test our team in real game action and make evaluations of our player personnel, our team character, and the strengths and weaknesses of each player and our team in general.

Act 3: Regular Season Phase A: From the start of the MWEHL season through December 31: Time to become battle tested and showcase our players to scouts and recruiters while playing the best possible competition we can in our league, exhibition games, and high-end tournaments. Work on making our strengths stronger and turning our weaknesses into strengths ... or at least eliminating our weaknesses.

Act 4: Regular Season Phase B: From January 1 to the end of the MWEHL Regular Season: Time to come together as one unit with all our players pulling on the same rope in the same direction. We want to constantly improve and peak as a team in terms of our execution and winning. This is the time when we develop a clear picture of what is "Belle Tire Wizards Hockey" so that each player fully understands what, and how, we must play for us to be successful.

Act 5: Playoffs: Postseason State and National Playoffs: Time to catch lightning in a bottle. Hopefully our players are injury free and have enough juice in their legs to execute "Belle Tire Wizards Hockey" at the top of our game. Goaltending becomes most key in the playoffs. If we can execute our game, outwork our opponents, play smart, play together, get great goaltending, as well as those proverbial lucky bounces, then maybe....just maybe... Belle Tire Midget Minor might repeat as Michigan State and National Champions.

Exhibition Games Notes

Sunday we wrapped up the third of three exhibition games over the last two weekends with a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Previous scores included a 4-3 win over Grand Rapids and 5-5 tie against Team Ohio (who tied the score against us with 3.7 seconds left in the game).

For the three games combined we posted an incredible 204 shots with 49 shots against (71 to 17 versus Grand Rapids, 63 to 25 versus Team Ohio, and 70-7 versus Cincinnati).

Hopefully more of our shots will start finding the back of the net in our games ahead.

2007-2008 Team Captains Announced

Voting for captains are now complete and we're happy to announce the results of the selection of our Captains for the 2007-2008 Fall Season.

Captains are Nick Paluch and Alex Frere, and Alternate Captains are Cody Donnay and Dean Pawlacyzk.

Congratulations Guys!

Soundoff From Fans Across The World

Click on the little Clustermaps Image on the lower right-side area of this website and you can view where the over 13,000 visitors to our team blog in the last 4 months are located.

Several of our biggest fans who live in the farthest reaches of the world have sent us some very interesting comments and suggestions. Here is a small sampling from the hundreds of e-mails we have recently received.

Sergio from Italy writes: Dear GM, I am a huge Belle Tire Wizards fan and stay up all night to listen to your games on satellite radio in Italy. I hear about shot after shot after shot for Belle Tire but not much is going in. Maybe players need to eat more pasta for more energy. By the way I got some "boys" over there in Detroit on the eastside, let me know if you have any issues with those referees ... we can fix dat problem...badaboom.

Amanda from New Zealand writes: Dear GM, I am president of the Belle Tire Wizards fan club at our high school here in New Zealand. We have no ice hockey team so our school has kinda adopted Belle Tire as our team. Could you please post up head shots of all your players on the blog. Also maybe you guys could do a team swimsuit calendar as a fundraiser, that would be really cool. PS. Could I please get Austin Czarnik's phone number .... he's my favorite.

Finally, Rahul from India writes: Dear GM, I am the editor of a men's style magazine here in India. One of our writers is a huge Belle Tire Wizards fan and brought to work a picture of coach Jabar. We took an instant interest in his unique hairstyle. Could you please send us some detailed information on how often he gets his hair done, what kind of color treatments he receives, how long it takes him to style his hair in the morning, and what grooming products, tools, and appliances he uses. We are planning to run a feature article on Jabar and his special hairstyle in our November Issue. Thanks and go Belle Tire!.

Team Notes

Comings: Rusty Hafner rejoins our team's active roster after being put on the inactive list for the Joe Maire Tournament weekend in order to play high school football. Hafner who assures us that he is a standout linebacker was "instrumental" in holding the opposition to under 50 points in his team's 50-47 win - a defensive struggle for the ages. Its a good thing Rusty was there to bolster his team's defense or the other team may have put up a 60 spot on them in his absence.....(hey Rusty what kind of defense is that?).

Goings: Caught in a numbers crunch at our forwards position Matt Stemkoski has left the team and will join the Honeybaked Organization. Matt is an excellent player and person from a great family. We wish him much success. With Matts' departure, Evan Johnston takes over jersey #14 on our team's roster.

Callups: Forward James Poston has been called up to Chris Coury's Midget Majors for Belle Tire's two game home series with the Marquette Electricians in MWHEL play this weekend. Good Luck James we will be watching. The move of James to the Midget Majors has cleared the way for Ivan Gaydayenko to rejoin the active roster for our games against Grand Rapids and Team Ohio this weekend. Gaydayenko who did not make the trip to the Joe Maire Tournament played in 1 game for the Rochester Rattlers Midget A team over that weekend and scored both goals in the Rattlers 2-1 victory.

Close To Return: Garrett Ross appears to be close to returning to game action. Ross, injured in a bizarre 4-wheeler incident in late-July, is expected to rejoin our team for full game action for the Border City Cup Tournament. A goal scoring sniper who is rated by The Scouting News as the 113th best 1992 birthyear player in North America, Ross will add grit and scoring punch to our forwards unit that, although very deep and talented, has struggled to produce goals in the early portion of the season at our anticipated level.

Name Game: We have six 91's on our team. All of their names end as LandER, HafnER, TillER, and ShattER along with PosTON and JohsTON. Is this a mere coincidence? And although a previous blog post satire joked that Rusty Hafner is a relative of Cleveland Indians Slugger Travis Hafner, Goalie Brach Tiller is actually the great nephew of Purdue University Head Football Coach Joe Tiller, and Forward Nick Booth claims to actually be a distant relative of the infamous John Wilks Booth.

Amazing Turnaround: In March of 2006 the 1992 Belle Tire team wrapped up its 0 - 28 MWEHL record in a season which saw them score only 29 goals and give up well over 200. Fast forward 18 months later to this week when the Belle Tire Midget Minor team comprised of a core group of sixteen 1992 birthyear players has earned the current ranking of 7th best Midget Minor team in North America. Thats one amazing turnaround.

Saturday Game Time Notice

Please note that Saturday's game time against Grand Rapids has been changed to 3:00 PM to accommodate the Marquette Electricians Midget Major team that is is travelling to Taylor to play the Belle Tire Midget Major team (ice times have been flipped).

North American Midget Minor Ranking is #7 by The Scouting News

The Scouting News online publication recently ranked the top Midget Minor teams in North America.

The major caveat to their ranking format was that based on the Canadian single birthyear system a United States-based team must have at least 75% of its roster as 1992 birthyear players in order to qualify.

Our team currently holds the #7 ranking. Early season opponents Compuware at #1, York Simcoe at #8, and Elgin-Middlesex at #9 from the Joe Maire Tournament, plus upcoming opponent in the Border City Cup Tournament the Rochester Alliance at #6 were listed in the publication's top 10.

Challenge Issued To Forwards

Our 2006-07 Belle Tire Wizards team featured arguably the MWEHL most explosive group of scoring forwards.

Not a particularly strong team defensively, the 06-07 squad relied on outscoring teams and routinely netted 5 or more goals per game with several games of 7 and 8 goals against some of the best teams in the United States.

In 06-07 all 9 forwards on our team finished in the top 43 players in the league in scoring with 6 forwards ranking in the league's top 20. The team featured three equally balanced forwards lines and all 9 forwards on the team scored between 20 goals and 31 goals.

However, through 9 games this season our forwards have combined to score a paltry 23 goals for a goals per game average as a unit of approximately 2.5 per game. While our defensemen and goaltenders have been outstanding in their performance and have met or exceeded expectations thus far, our forwards must pick it up - now.

Our entire unit of talented forwards needs to start forechecking harder and driving to the net more agressively to cause turnovers, create scoring chances, and hunt for rebounds and tip ins. Too much perimeter play and not enough aggressive play on the forecheck and in front of the opponents net has been our team's #1 deficiency so far this season.

The coaches are issuing a challenge to the entire forward unit to start doing what is needed to increase goal production to an output level that corresponds with their significant talent level.

REVISED: Border City Cup Tournament Schedule

The second tournament of the 2007-08 season is a local one albeit played on the Windsor-side of the US-Canadian Border.

The Border City Cup features 3 of the final 8 teams from the recent Joe Maire Tournament including our team along with York Simcoe and Rochester Alliance. Detroit Little Caesars will also be a participant.

All games will be played at South Windsor Arena where we played Sun County in an Exhibition Game back in August:

Oct 5 at 9:45 PM vs. Sun County Panthers
Oct 5 at 7:00 PM vs. North York Rangers
Oct 6 at 3:00 PM vs. Rochester Alliance
Oct 6 at 8:45 PM vs. Windsor Spitfires
Oct 7 at 11:00 AM Semifinals
Oct 7 at 4:00 PM Finals

Notes On Joe Maire Tournament

This past weekend in Toronto at the Joe Maire Tournament was a success.

Our most important objective at this major September Tournament was simple - to put our (previously rather unknown) team on the scouting radar in terms of top Midget Minor teams in North America so that junior scouts and NCAA recruiters will be interested in evaluating our players throughout this season.

Mission Accomplished!

Overall I would give our team a grade of "B" for game performance - lots of potential, lots of room for improvement.

Road Rules: Check Your E-mail For Team Rules For Roadtrips

Team Members please check your e-mail today for some important e-mails including Team Rules for Roadtrips.

Tuesday Practice Report Time 7:45 PM

All players please report for practice at 7:45 PM at Great Lakes Arena on Tuesday. We have a number of equipment and administrative things to take care of prior to dryland training that will require extra time.

Honeybaked Exhibition Notes

Last nights 1 to 1 tie game against Honeybaked was a very entertaining and surprising well played game by both teams considering that its only August.

Goalie Brach Tiller gave us a sneak preview of the great things we expect from him this season and why our goaltending duo of Tiller-Laslo figures to be as good as any in the MWEHL.

The combination of Frere-Hastings continues to be red hot and combined with Cesarz for our only goal (Hastings) of the game. Both players are tied for the team lead in scoring after 3 games with 5 points each.

The line of Booth-Czarnik-Pawlaczyk was our most consistent in terms of generating scoring chances and applying pressure with cycling and puck possession in the Honeybaked zone.

Defensively, this game was a huge step up from our first two. Shatter and Lander playing their first season of elite AAA hockey had very good games and made huge strides from last weekends AAA debuts, while Hafner, Wiese, Lalonde, Barile, and Donnay were all solid and very physical.

Player and Coaches Check Your E-mail For Important Information Today

Just a heads up that all players and coaches need to be sure and check their e-mail today to get the information on what they need to do and bring with them to practice this Wednesday for our team rostering and registration, and about team issued equipment and helmets.

Weekend Notes: Sun County Panthers

Training Camp Scrimmages ended Sunday with two weekend games against the Sun County Panthers Minor Midget. Belle Tire won the first game 5-2 and lost the second game 6-4.

The Belle Tire attack was led by the combination of Center Alex Frere (3g /1a) and Left Wing DJ Hastings (1g / 3a) who combined for 4 goals and 4 assists on the weekend.

Coaches selected Cody Donnay and Chris Barile as the best defensively amongst defensemen. While Rodney Lalonde tallied 3 assists on the weekend.

The 2007-2008 Sun County Panthers Minor Midgets will be a force this season in Hockey Alliance and figure to be a top 10 team in the province of Ontario. Veteran Sun County Minor Midget Head Coach Tony Ciampa has made major additions to last seasons group of Sun County 92's and not only considers this year's Minor Midget team to be his best in the last 5 years but potentially the best Minor Midget team that he has had at Sun County.

Sun county is led by forward Dylan Impens who is projected to be a top two round OHL draft selection along with standout defensemen Mitch Dunning and one of Ontario's top 93 birthdates in forward Matt Puempel.

Those who play this team down the road this season can expect to face a fast and physical team which plays with a swagger and confidence. Hockey Alliance should be a very close two horse race this season between Sun County and Elgin-Middlesex for the league title.

Team To Be Featured On New York Yankees Television Broadcast

Next Friday August 24, when the New York Yankees are in town our team will be participating in a special event run by the New York Yankees Broadcast Network.

Five Yankees fans are travelling here from New York to watch the Yankees play the Tigers, and as part of their trip those five fans will be participating in the Network's "Yankees Fan Challenge".

The Yankee Fans Challenge that will be held by the Network in Detroit will involve these five fans skating through Coach Jabar's drills with our team on Friday Afternnon August 24 from Noon until 3:00 PM at the Taylor Sportsplex.

All members of our team are welcome to participate and the practice will be filmed by the New York Yankees Broadcasting channel to be aired during the Tigers-Yankees telecast later that evening.

Joe Maire Tournament Schedule Announced

The Joe Maire Tournament begins for our team with Friday games against two of Canada's top Midget Minor teams in Elgin-Middlesex and the Toronto Young Nats.

Elgin-Middlesex is regarded as the top non GTHL team in Ontario and features two projected first round picks in next years OHL Draft in forwards Greg McKegg and Steven Shipley.

Toronto Young Nats, a top 5 team in the GTHL are led by standout forward Tyler Seguin a projected first round pick in next years OHL Draft.

Here is the complete schedule for the Preliminary Rounds on Friday and Saturday

Friday September 7
9:45 AM vs. Elgin Middlesex Chiefs
1:30 PM vs. Toronto Young Nats

Saturday September 8
9:45 AM vs. Quite Red Devils
4:45 PM vs. Richmond Hill Stars

White Wins Series

So much for bold predictions. The White Team silenced the Red Team with two more victories in games 8 and 9 to take a 7-2 advantage in the Superseries with only one game left to play.

Red Wins To Prevent Elimination, White Says "So What"

The Red Team beat the White team in a high scoring game 7 but did little to earn the respect of the White Team.

White Team players shrugged off the loss and said it wasnt a real win because it was just 4 on 4 hockey because of all the missing players including the White Team goalie.

The Red Team, miffed at the White Team's lack of respect for their second win, vowed to win the next three games and tie up the series at 5 games apiece - which would force a final shootout to determine the series winner.

When informed of the Red Team's bold prediction for three straight wins and a tied series, White Team goalie Kyle Laslo from Los Angeles, (a hold out for Game 7 while resolving a contract dispute with team management) called the Red Team "a bunch of delusional jokers who would be incapable of getting a girlfriend if they moved to California."

White Takes 5-1 Series Lead; As Red Makes Major Acquisitions

White defeated Red again on Monday to take a 5-1 lead in the 10 game Superseries. White now needs just one more victory to clinch the series title.

Red, resorting to desperate measures, has traded an undisclosed amount of cash for White defenseman Chris Barile, and then signed free agent forward Jordan Miller in the hopes that these new acquistions can somehow turn around their miserable 5 game losing streak.

Teams For International Silver Stick Finals Announced

Click Here to view the Minor Midget partcipants for the International Silver Stick Finals in Whitby.

Divisions For Joe Maire Tournament Announced

Click Here to view the divisions for the Joe Maire Tournament.

MWEHL Schedule For Michigan Teams Set

The Events Schedule on the lower right side of the screen has been updated to include all MWEHL Games that have just been scheduled with the 4 other Michigan-based teams.

Correction: White Team Wins Scoring Fest

The White Team defeated the Red Team 13-10 in a high scoring game five. Original game report had the score reversed. The Training Camp Superseries now stands at 4 wins for the White Team and 1 win for the Red Team at end of the first week of Training Camp.

White Team Takes 3-1 Series Lead

Rusty Hafner scored in the 11th round of the shootout to give the White Team a 4-3 Victory and a 3-1 series lead after four games played.

Hip Flexor Sends Czarnik To Injured Reserve

Austin Czarnik was placed on the Injured Reserve List today for a strained hip flexor. Czarnik suffered the injury two weeks ago but continued training which aggravated the condition forcing him out of action for a minimum of two weeks.

With training camp invitee Brandon Ahlgren accepting a roster spot with Compuware, and Garrett Ross and Austin Czarnik both on Injured Reserve our group of training camp forwards is shrinking from 18 to 15.

Saturday Ice Times Changed To 5:00 PM

Our Saturday ice times for this fall season have been changed to 5:00 PM - 6:50 PM.

As announced last week Sundays are at 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM and Mondays and Wednesdays are at 8:30 PM - 9:50 PM.

All skates are at the Taylor Sportsplex.

White Takes 2-1 Series Lead

the White Team defeated the Red Team 6-4 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in the 10 Game Superseries.

White Team Evens Super Series At One Win Each

The White Team bounced back from Monday's 4-1 loss to the Red Team in the first game of the 10 Game Training Camp Superseries with a 2-1 win on Tuesday in Game two.

The Super Series is tied 1-1 headed into game three at the conclusion of on-ice training on Wednesday.

Training Camp Attendance Clarification

For the purposes of clarification - attendance every day at our two week August Training Camp is MANDATORY for all players.

If there is an important unavoidable conflict in scheduling on a certain day than a player may ask to be excused from that certain day's sesssion, otherwise attendance is manadatory.

Home Ice Schedule Announced

We have just been informed by the Belle Tire Organization that our home ice for the 2007-08 Fall Season will be the Taylor Sportsplex and the weekly schedule of home ice will be as follows:

Sundays 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Mondays 8:30 PM - 9:50 PM
Wednesdays 8:30 PM - 9:50 PM
Saturdays 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM

REMINDER: MONDAY PRACTICE LOCATION

Reminder that Monday's practice is at the Peak Arena at Summit Academy in New Boston located on Middlebelt near Sibley Road. The time is still 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM.

This is last team skate before August Training Camp begins on August 6th.

Has Skates Will Travel; From Mesquite to Minnesota to Michigan

New Belle Tire Wizards Forward Nick Booth begins his 9 month hockey odyssey this weekend as a participant in the USA Hockey Select 15 Festival In St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Booth from Mesquite, Texas and formerly of the Texas Attack Hockey Club, then travels east to Michigan to join his new billet family the Whites and begin preparation for our 2007-08 hockey season in our August Training Camp.

Welcome to the team Nick!

Ross; Team Suffer Disapointment Of Unfortunate Ankle Injury

Every athlete at some point in his career will suffer a great disapointment that will test his resolve and make his appreciation for playing his sport even stronger.

Friday we received news that forward Garrett Ross had broken his ankle in a non-hockey related accident and will be out of action for no less than 8 weeks.

For Ross the injury comes only one week before he was scheduled to attend the USA National Select 15 Festival in St. Cloud Minnesota as a representative of our Belle Tire team.

Not only is the injury a personal disapointment to Ross - perhaps the biggest disapointment he has suffered so far in his young hockey career - but equally disapointing for our team entering training camp and the first portion of our season without this tremendous hockey player.

If there is any silver lining to this unfortunate situation, at least the timing and nature of the injury should allow Ross to heal and get back in action by the time our Michigan MWEHL season gets rolling in early November.

Pre-Training Camp Dryland Program Announced

MEMO FROM COACH JABAR

This 3-week program will take you right into our Fall Training Camp and prepare you for the upcoming season. I will know at the Camp if you have been doing this program. MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY!!!! After all it’s your future.

Please note that the Camp is $300 for both weeks. Please bring a check for this amount on the first day of the camp and make it out to "Jabar Askerov".

Weight Training: Many of you will be or have already started lifting weights. I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Exercise Science so please read carefully what I have to say about sport-specific weight lifting for hockey.

You are not a bodybuilder or a football player. There is a lot of misleading information and training techniques that are passed on to young hockey players. Weight training is important for you but you need to know how to train smartly with weights.

Every exercise you do should be geared towards muscle recruitment and muscle endurance because hockey is an explosive sport and your shifts don’t last 5 seconds (like football). What I mean by that is that if you lift heavy weights you are not recruiting the micro fibers (inner layers of your muscles). If your micro fibers are weak, you will get injured down the road. Also, by using heavy weights it makes it harder for you to lift explosively and do more reps. More reps means more muscle endurance.

As you are lifting, use a weight that will give you a chance to do at least 18 reps in a fast pace. You need to lift the weights explosively.

Don’t forget to stretch before and after your workouts.

Duration of training:
Do this program 5 days a week. Take 2 days off. This shouldn’t take you more than 1.5hrs per day. Try to do this in the morning since the air is not as heavy as in the afternoon. If you want to lift weights, I recommend you give your body some rest after your morning training. Go lift in the afternoon…

WEEK #1:

1) Start with a 10 min. jog.

2) Stretch well for 15-20 min.

3) JUMPING SQUATS: (Your knees have to touch your shoulders)
i) Do it for 20 sec.
ii) Take 1 min. break
iii) Do it again for 20 sec.
iv) Take 2 min. break before going to “4) SPRINTS”

4) SPRINTS: (100 feet)
i) Sprint forwards: (Explode as fast as you can) Do it 2 times and take 1 min. break before going to “ii”
ii) Sprint starting on your knees: (Explode as fast as you can. Do it 2 times and take 1 min. break before going to “iii”
iii) Sprint laying on your stomach: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 2 times and take 1 min. break before going to “iv”
iv) Sprint backwards: (Explode as fast as you can) Do it 2 times and take 2 min. break before going to “5) SQUATS”

5) SQUATS:
When squatting, bring your butt all the way down and make sure your feet are always looking forward. Don’t let your feet move sideways into a “V” position. Also, your knees have to go to the outside as your squatting down. (Not to the inside)
i) Do it for 3 minutes as fast as possible
ii) Take 1 min. break
iii) Do it again for 3 minutes

6) 10 min. jog

7) 15-20 min. Stretching


WEEK #2:

1) Start with a 10 min. jog.

2) Stretch well for 15-20 min.

3) JUMPING SQUATS: (Your knees have to touch your shoulders)
a. Do it for 25 sec.
b. Take 1 min. break
c. Do it again for 25 sec.
d. Take 1 min. break
e. Do it again for 25 sec.
f. Take 2 min. break before going to “4) SPRINTS”

4) SPRINTS: (100 feet)
a. Sprint forwards: (Explode as fast as you can) Do it 3 times and take 1 min. break before going to “b”
b. Sprint starting on your knees: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 1 min. break before going to “c”
c. Sprint laying on your stomach: (Explode as fast as you can)
Do it 3 times and take 1 min. break before going to “d”
d. Sprint backwards: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 2 min. break before going to “5) SQUATS”

5) SQUATS:
When squatting, bring your butt all the way down and make sure your feet are always looking forward. Don’t let your feet move sideways into a “V” position. Also, your knees have to go to the outside as your squatting down. (Not to the inside)
a. Do it for 4 minutes as fast as possible
b. Take 1 min. break
c. Do it again for 4 minutes

6) 10 min. jog

7) 15-20 min. Stretching


WEEK #3:

1) Start with a 10 min. jog.

2) Stretch well for 15-20 min.

3) JUMPING SQUATS: (Your knees have to touch your shoulders)
a. Do it for 30 sec.
b. Take 1 min. break
c. Do it again for 30 sec.
d. Take 1 min. break
e. Do it again for 30 sec.
f. Take 2 min. break before going to “4) SPRINTS”

4) SPRINTS: (100 feet)
a. Sprint forwards: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 45 sec. break before going to “b”
b. Sprint starting on your knees: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 45 sec. break before going to “c”
c. Sprint laying on your stomach: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 45 sec. break before going to “d”
d. Sprint backwards: (Explode as fast as you can)Do it 3 times and take 2 min. break before going to “5) SQUATS”

5) SQUATS:
When squatting, bring your butt all the way down and make sure your feet are always looking forward. Don’t let your feet move sideways into a “V” position. Also, your knees have to go to the outside as your squatting down. (Not to the inside)
a. Do it for 4 minutes as fast as possible
b. Take 45 sec. break
c. Do it again for 4 minutes

6) 10 min. jog

7) 15-20 min. Stretching

ANY QUESTIONS DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME (313) 354-4027

Belle Tire Association Golf Outing Next Monday

Below is the information for the Belle Tire Association Golf Outing being held next Monday at Indianwood Golf Course. Please e-mail brian-feldman@hotmail.com with the approximate count of the number of golfers you will have for this outing.

Please note that we are planning on having a Golf Outing Fundraiser just for our team on a weekend day in mid-September. Mike White has offered to chair the golf outing committee and is looking for assistance from other parents.

2007 Belle Tire AAA Golf Scramble
Indianwood Country Club Lake Orion Michigan
Monday July 16th 2007 Tee Time 7:00 a.m.

• Players must be registered by 6:30 .am. to play
• Power cart – beverages on coarse
• Continental Breakfast at registration
• $150.00 per golfer
• Full Coarse Brunch
• Winners Trophies
• Longest Drive Men and Ladies
• Closest to the pin
• Raffles
• Event concludes a 2:00 p.m.
• All golfing funds remain with the teams to be used as well as team funds or individual accounts as deemed by teams
• All tees must turn in at least 2 prizes per foursome – this event is pure profit for all the teams/families donating prizes makes for a better event for the golfers and returning golfers for your teams next year -prizes turned into Debra Scott at the outing.

Questions Debra Scott 248-835-4022

Exhibition Games Added To Conclude Fall Training Camp

Two weeks of intense training camp including the 10 game intrasquad scrimmage series will conclude on the weekend of August 18-19 with two exhibition games against the Sun County Panthers Minor Midget AAA team.

The August 18th game will be played in Windsor at 5:30 PM while a return game is scheduled in Metro-Detroit on August 19th game time TBA.

Team Invited To Joe Maire International Minor Midget Prospect Tournament

The new Toronto Titans AAA Organization (formerly known as the Wexford Raiders) will be hosting one of the top Midget Minor AAA Tournaments in North America in early September and has invited us to attend.

The Joe Maire International Minor Midget Prospect Tournament which features 35-40 teams including all 12 GTHL teams will begin Friday, September 7th and conclude Sunday, September 9th

2006-07 Belle Tire U-16 Places Two Players On NTDP

Defenseman Beau Schmitz and Forward Zach Golembieski, members of last season's Belle Tire U-16 team which won both the Michigan State Championship and the USA National Championship have been selected for the USA Hockey National Development Team Program's U-17 team (US NTDP U-17).

What makes the selection of Golembieski most noteworthy is that he was not selected to attend the USA National Select Festival from the Michigan District as a Select 15 player last summer, and he was not invited to attend the "Final Forty" selection camp for the U-17 team in Ann Arbor at the conclusion of this past fall season.

REMINDER: July Practices Information

We will be holding official team practices the first 4 Monday Evenings in July from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at Melvindale Arena, and the last Monday in July from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Peak Arena Summitt Academy.

All players on the Fall Team Roster and Non-Rostered Invitees should attend.

July Practice Ice Schedule
July 2 Melvindale Arena 7-9
July 9 Melvindale Arena 7-9
July 16 Melvindale Arena 7-9
July 23 Melvindale Arena 7-9
July 30 Peak Arena Summitt 7-9

All players must bring a check made out to the Belle Tire Wizards Hockey Club in the amount of $80 to cover the cost of the July Practice Ice.

In addition any player that has made the Fall team needs to make a deposit payment of $250 that will be applied towards the fall ice bills - please bring a seperate check in this amount to the first practice also made out to the Belle Tire Wizards Hockey Club.

Reminders: To Bring To First July Practice Skate On Monday

All players listed on the 2007-2008 Fall Roster on the upper right side of this webpage must bring a check with them for $330 which will include a $250 deposit towards their fall season ice bill and $80 to cover the costs of the team's July practice ice.

All players attending July practices as non-roster invitees (i.e. players not listed on the fall roster) should bring a check or cash in the amount of $20 to each skate they attend.

James Poston Starts Strong At USA Hockey Select 16 National Festival

Belle Tire Wizards 1991 birthyear forward James Poston is off to a good start at the USA Hockey Select 16 National Festival in Rochester, New York.

Poston's Royal team is 4-0 and in first place at the time of this blog entry and James has tallied 2 goals so far in the four games played.

You can follow James as he plays in Rochester by pasting the following link into your web browser: http://www.oswebs.com/usah/public/report.asp?lg=USA+Hockey+Select+16&k=1&t=1&tm=10

Schedule Announced For Fall Training Camp

Our 2-Week Fall Training Camp will be held at Hazel Park Ice Arena on Monday to Friday (August 6-10 / August 13-17) from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM each day.

The on-ice portion of each training camp day will be 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM with the last 30 minutes being designated for the 10 game scrimmage series.

The Dryland Training portion of each training camp day will be 11:45 AM to 12:30 PM.

Players are advised to bring a small snack and beverage with them each day to consume between the ice and dryland sessions.

Be Prepared - Then Seize Your Opportunity

Succeeding in sports at a high level almost always comes down to two things: (1) dedication to your preparation, and (2) taking advantage of an opportunity.

As legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was fond of telling his younger players and non-starters "be prepared and then perhaps your chance will come."

Alex Frere and Austin Czarnik were both given last minute opportunities to attend the second round of selects as alternates - finding out a spot was available for them in the Soo only one day before the selects camp began - and both players cashed in their opportunity big time when they became two of only three non-2006 National Selects Festival returnees from district 2-3-4 to make it to the 2007 National Selects Festival.

This same type of scenario plays out on all levels in hockey in many different ways as our players, and all players, at certain times in their careers become subjected to disapointing circumstances that are out of their control.

Another recent example of this is Thomas Greiss a client of my agent firm Eclipse Sports Management and the top minor league goalie prospect for the San Jose Sharks.

Before the 2006-07 season, Thomas was expected to make the jump to the NHL as the Sharks backup goalie as soon as they completed a pending trade of one of their two star goalies Vesa Toskala or Evgeni Nabakov.

Unfortunately for Thomas the Sharks never pulled the trigger on a trade deciding instead to keep both goalies which meant Thomas would spend the entire 2006-07 season with the Sharks AHL minor league affiliate preparing, waiting, and waiting some more for his chance to come.

Yesterday that opportunity arrived when the Sharks traded Toskala to the Toronto Maple Leafs thus clearing a roster spot for Thomas to finally realize his dream of playing in the NHL.

Albeit on much different levels, the above stories are inspirational examples of not allowing disapointing circumstances that are out of your control to interfere with your preparation and your taking advantage of an opportunity when one finally presents itself.

3 Belle Tire Wizards Make USA National Select Festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota

Congratulations to forwards Alex Frere, Garret Ross, and Austin Czarnik who were selected from the second round of selects in the Soo to move on to the USA Hockey National Selects Festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

On the whole, we were very happy with the performance of our players in the Soo who represented our team very well.

Brent Formosa, Nick Paluch and DJ Hasting joined Frere and Czarnik on the Championship Black team that won the 4 team round robin series of games played at the selects camp.

Note: 93 goalie Jonathan Lacoste from last seasons 92 Belle Tire Wizards team was selected at the 1993 age level to attend the USA National Selects Festival in Rochester, New York.

Updated: Our 92's Prepare For The Soo Selects

Starting Sunday is the second round of USA Hockey Michigan District Selects at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (the Soo).

As of this moment 16 of the 1992 birthdates who will be attending our team's fall training camp in August will be in attendance at the Soo, with the possibility of at least one more being added before Sunday.

Which means that exactly one of every four players from the 64 players participating in the second round of selects will be at our fall team training camp.

It would be remiss for us not to mention that the 3 other 1992 birthdates from Michigan attending our fall team training camp, who are not participating in the Soo, are no doubt good enough to be there with their peers as well.

Best of luck to all our 92 players attending.

Fall Training Camp Details

Our Fall Training Camp in early August will feature two weeks (Monday thru Friday) of intense training and competition both on and off the ice.

The Arena location and daily time schedule will be announced shortly. The total cost per player is $300 for the two week camp.

The daily sessions will include 2 and 1/2 hours of on-ice training followed by 45 minutes of dryland training.

Each on-ice session will conclude with a 30 minute scrimmage which will comprise a best-of-ten-game-series for the two weeks. In the event of a five games to five games tie at the end of the ten games, the team with the fewest goals allowed for all games played combined will win the series.

We are inviting 30 players to the Fall camp which will include 18 forwards, 10 defensemen, and 2 goalies. Invited players will include all those on the 20-Man Active Roster plus 10 non-rostered invitees.

The players will be divided into two teams of 15 players for the purposes of the scrimmage games. The preliminary rosters which are subject to change are as follows:

Red/Dark Team

Forwards
Paluch
Ross
Formosa
White
Stemkoski
Johnston
Gaydayenko
Ahlgren
Barr

Defensemen
Shatter
Lalonde
Barile
Lander
Sisk

Goalie
Laslo


White/Light Team

Forwards
Frere
Poston
Cesarz
Pawlaczyk
Hastings
Czarnik
Globke
Gruse
Booth

Defensemen
Hafner
Donnay
Wiese
Powell
Kello

Goalie
Tiller

NEW: Updated Canadian Tournaments and 91 Players

As many of you know the Canadian Midget Minor tournaments that we are participating in for 2007-2008 will not allow 91 players to participate or limit the number of 91's that a team can have on their roster (usually limited to between 2-5 players).

The International Silver Sticks Finals in Whitby has notified us that we will not be allowed to bring any of our 91 players.

The Border City Cup in Windsor has notified us that we are permitted to bring five 91 players to their tournament.

Toronto Marlboros Holiday Tournament rules on 91's have yet to be determined but will be announced here when the information becomes available.

Exit Meetings and Dryland Training Programs

Coach Jabar will conduct spring exit meetings and set up each player with a summer dryland training program via one-on-one phone calls beginning Monday and continuing through early next week.

Each player on the Fall Roster should expect a phone call from Coach Jabar next week.

2007-08 Schedule Of Tournaments and Showcases

Below is the preliminary list of Tournaments and Showcases our team will be attending for the 2007-08 Fall Season.

The Canadian Tournaments generally place a limit on the number of 91's that can attend which will affect the roster composition for those tournaments.

Border City Cup
October 5-7
Windsor Ontario

MWEHL Showcase #1
October 12-14
Taylor Michigan

Nike/Bauer International Invite
November 2-5
Chicago, Illinois

MWEHL Showcase #2
November 16-18
Taylor, Michigan

International Silver Sticks Final
November 23-25
Whitby, Ontario

Toronto Marlboros Holiday Classic
December 27-30
Toronto, Ontario

MWEHL Showcase #3
February 16-18
Chicago, Illinois

Spring Training Program Wrap-Up; 20-Man Active Roster Announced

Forward Evan Johnston was added to the 20-Man Active Roster which currently includes 2 goalies, 7 defensemen, and 11 forwards.

Though we are limited to 20 players on the 20-Man Active Roster at any one time, there is no limit to the number of players we can carry on our team as non-rostered players. In addition, the final team roster, for the purposes of the postseason, does not need to be set until December 31st.

Invitations will be given to additional players to attend our July Practice Skates each Monday Evening in July, and our Fall Training Camp the first two weeks of August.

At the conclusion of the Fall Camp we will extend offers to some of these players to join our team. While these players may, or may not, be on the 20-Man Active Roster at the start of the season, they will be on the team and in a great position to compete for active roster status and take advantage of various opportunities to make the 20-Man Active Roster.

Here is our alphabetical list of non-rostered players receiving invitations to attend our July Practice Skates and Fall Training Camp as non-rostered invitees: Players offered these positions must confirm acceptance by e-mail or phone call by Wednesday, June 6th or their spot will be opened up to another player.

Ahlgren, Brandon (confirmed)
Barr, Johnny (confirmed)
#17 Czarnik, Austin* (confirmed)
Davis, Christian (confirmed)
#6 Gaydayenko, Ivan* (confirmed)
Kassner, Garth
Powell, Kyle (confirmed)

*Indicates player has made the fall team but not currently on 20-Man Active Roster.

To all players who did not receive a spot on the 20-Man Active Roster, or an Invitation to attend our July Practices and Fall Training Camp as a non-rostered invitee, thank you for attending our Spring Training Program and we wish you the very best of luck in your future hockey endeavors.

Updated Intrasquad Scrimmage Game #3 Lineups

Here are the lineups for Sunday's Intrasquad Scrimmage Game #3 at Great Lakes Ice Arena at 1:25 PM.

Any player who has been in our Training Program this spring but is not listed below is welcomed to participate and will be placed on one of the two teams when he arrives at the rink.

White Team
Forwards
Pawlaczyk
Poston
Ross
Frere
Barr
Gaydayenko
Kassner
Peltier
Ahlgren
Cotton
Moggell

Defensemen
Donnay
Lalonde
Shatter
Powell
Sisk

Goalies
Tiller
Davis


Red Team
Forwards
Hastings
Johnston
Formosa
Paluch
Czarnik
Cesarz
Stemkoski
White
Egbert
Bunch
McMahon
Portillo

Defensemen
Hafner
Lander
Wiese
Barile
Dennis

Goalies
Smolarek
Lacoste

Sammy Pahlsson Takes Center Stage In Stanley Cup Finals

Here is the link to a great article written about Sammy Pahlsson a client of my athlete representation firm, Eclipse Sports Management.

Sammy scored the game winning goal in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to knock the Red Wings out of the playoffs, and then came up big in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals scoring the only goal in the Ducks 1-0 victory over the Senators.

While he's scored big goals in the playoffs its defense, not scoring, that is Sammy's forte as he is among the world's best defensive players and one of three finalists this season for the Selke Award as the NHL's Best Defensive Forward.

Sammy provides an excellent example to young players of the importance of players who can bring different skill sets to their teams and make substantial contributions at both ends of the ice.

Forwards Roster Spot Updated

Forward, DJ Hastings, has accepted a fall roster spot for the 2007-08 fall season.

The commitment of Hastings leaves two open roster spots for the fall season for forwards heading into the Intrasquad Scrimmage Game #3 on Sunday.

Final Goalie Roster Spot Update

Goaltender, Brach Tiller, has just re-affirmed his commitment to our team and will join Kyle Laslo as our goaltenders for the Fall 2007-08 season.

Following a very competitive two month process of evaluating over 20 goaltenders from the time of our initial tryouts through the end of May, Brach emerged as the top goaltender who participated in our Spring Training Camp.

We believe that the 1991 Tiller and 1992 Laslo have the makings of one of the best U-16 goaltending tandems in the nation.

Our coaches and team management applaud the tremendous efforts of the other goaltenders who participated in our Spring Training Program.

We wish all of you the best of luck and hope to see you Sunday for the final Intrasquad Scimmage Game. Coaches Blake and Jabar along with myself would be very happy to speak with you on Sunday to provide further evaluation and assistance with finding a team for you for the fall.

Decision Made to Expand Forwards Roster Spots

Many variables come into play that affect roster depth over the course of a season at the U-16 age level which includes U-18 callups, injuries and illness, game suspensions, academic endeavors, and players leaving a team.

Fortunately, there is an abundance of high quality players available this season which enables us to expand the team roster from 11 to 13 high quality forwards.

The expansion of the roster will provide us with added depth and versatility and foster healthy competition amongst players to crack the active 20 man roster of players who will dress for games.

The result of the forward roster expansion means that three forward roster spots are open to be filled at the conclusion of Sunday's Intrasquad Scrimmage Game #3.

Goalie Spot Roster Updates; Goalie Kyle Laslo Commits

Goalie Brach Tiller who played U-18 last season continues to be in the running for a goalie position with the U-18 Cleveland Barons AAA team, and has indicated his desire to try and play up next season at either the U-18 AAA or Junior Level.

For the time being Brach's roster spot has been re-opened as he goes through the process of trying out for and selecting a team.

It is the feeling of the coaches and team management that while we have several goalies in our Spring Training Camp who are capable of playing at the U-16 AAA level, outside of Brach, none of the other goalies at this moment in time have established themselves as being the type of "Go-To-Goalie" that would enable our team to challenge for the MWEHL, Michigan State, and National Championships.

For this reason, it became necessary for us to broaden our search for a "Go-To-Goalie" to also include players residing and playing outside of the State of Michigan and Northern Ohio.

During this search process we identified a standout goaltender from Irvine, California, Kyle Laslo who is the #1 goalie for the LA Hockey Club. We recently offered Kyle the opportunity to move to Detroit and play for our team. I am very pleased to announce that Kyle has just accepted our offer for a roster spot and will be playing for our team for the 2007-08 fall season.

The second goalie position for our team remains open at this time.

In the next couple days we will have further conversations with Brach about his intentions, and also speak with the goalies in our Spring Training Camp who remain on the bubble for making our team.

We are hoping to make a final decision on the second goalie spot as soon as possible.

Travis Hafner Declines Roster Spot; Names His Replacement

Cleveland Indians power hitting First Baseman, Travis Hafner, has unexpectedly declined the fall roster spot offered to him last week by the U-16 Belle Tire Wizards Hockey Team.

Hafner, a lifetime .294 hitter with 127 career home runs in six Major League Seasons has decided to stay with the Indians baseball team through October as the Tribe prepares for the pennant race.

A teary-eyed Hafner, flanked by his wife and agent at his side, made his decision public at a news conference Tuesday Evening, and offered up his namesake, Rusty Hafner, as his replacement.

Said Hafner, "This was a very difficult decision for me to make. I took a few days to think it over with my family but decided that my $9.5 million dollar salary and the opportunity to play in the postseason with the Indians this fall was just too much for me to give up. Besides, this Rusty Kid is a big strong defenseman, and unlike me, he actually plays hockey and will be a much better fit on the Belle Tire Wizards blueline."

Said namesake Rusty when reached by phone while lifting weights at his Suburban Toledo residence, "I will do my best to represent the Hafner name with great honor and dignity. This is a tremendous opportunity, I am very thankful to Travis for giving it to me and I will not let him down."

Detroit Tigers Fans were obviously disappointed with Travis Hafner's decision. Said one Tigers fan who spoke on the condition of anonymity, "We were all very excited to see Travis leave the Indians to pursue hockey. This reversal of fortunes is a major blow to the Tigers chances of making the playoffs and repeating as American League Champions this season. This Rusty kid will not be received kindly by Tigers Fans when he crosses state lines."

When asked if he was worried about retribution from angry Tigers Fans, Rusty responded, "No they are all just a bunch of wimps, I can take them. This type of thing comes with the territory, being from Ohio I am used to being harassed all the time, and it has made me mentally tougher".

Remaining Spring Ice Schedule

5/31 DISC 8:00 PM
6/03 GLSC 1:25 PM

Practice Added

We have added a practice next Sunday, June 3rd at 1:25PM at Great Lakes Michigan Arena. This practice replaces last weekend's canceled practice due to the arena's closure

Canceled Practice Information

Apologies for the cancellation of Sunday's practice at Great Lakes.

Our team management was never notified that the arena would be closed and we had no reason to believe that it would be considering it only closes Christmas Day.

We will attempt to make up the canceled practice by adding another practice for next Sunday to schedule.

Fall Roster Updated; Just 2 Spots Left

Defenseman Travis Hafner has accepted a fall roster spot offer for the 2007-2008 Fall Season. This brings the number of fall roster commitments to 18 with 1 opening left for a skater and 1 opening left for a goalie.

There are several strong candidates for these positions in our spring camp and we are fielding calls and e-mails on a daily basis from more players asking for a look.

The final decision on these last roster spots is an agonizing one. At the Midget Age level MAHA should really allow teams to roster up to 25 players for the fall season and let the players compete throughout the season to determine which 20 of them will dress for games.

Unfortunately, this is not the case right now, and whatever decision is made for these final roster spots will mean that some very good players won't make the fall team.

Summer Program Details

Specifics will be announced later, but we wanted to give players a heads up on what is planned for the summer months of June, July, and August in terms of team activities and training:

(1) All players who will be playing on the team in the Fall will have exit meetings with Coach Jabar via phone calls between player and coach.

(2) During the exit phone meeting Coach Jabar will assign each player with a player-specific off-ice summer training program and it is imperative that the player follow this program as prescribed by Coach Jabar.

(3) There are no official team activities of any kind planned for June.

(4) In June, Players (with my assistance) should organize some voluntary practices to stay in shape and keep sharp. This is particularly important for those players attending the MAHA or Mid-Am Selects Camps.

(5) In July we will have official coach-run team practices held one day per week. Players are welcome to continue organizing their voluntary practices on other days.

(6) The first two full weeks of August (August 6 - 10, and August 13 - 17) will be an intense Pre-Season Training Camp. This camp will be run by Coach Jabar, will be held locally, and is mandatory for all players. More details to follow. Note: This camp might be open to any player who attended the Spring Training Program who wants to attend this camp as well, more details about this will follow.

(7) Regular team practices will resume on/about Tuesday, August 21st.