Churchill Chargers - 1977 & 1979 AAA

NEVILLE ISLAND ~ Sewickley Academy coach Erik Hoolihan is looking forward to the programs first winning season in their program’s history and subsequent playoff berth. The Panthers have had a great start to their season, but have been sidetracked by losses to Blackhawk, Westmont Hilltop, Quaker Valley and most recently a tough 3-2 decision to Wheeling Park. SA is looking to put itself in position for a home berth in the playoffs and needs to knock off some teams ahead of them to accomplish that. Somerset on the other hand has had a breakthrough season with a group of players, who know each other and their coach Cliff Ziegler well. The Eagles are undefeated and a Serra loss to Quaker Valley earlier in the week has Somerset knocking at the # 1 ranking in Western Pennsylvania. The line Bret Ziegler, freshman Cullen Eddy and Matt Rouch has shredded opposing defensive units for astronomical numbers leaving some to question who Somerset has played, but lets not kid anyone these kids are talented and can score, which could be trouble for the rest of Class A. The Eagles are anxiously awaiting their big game with rival Bishop McCort, which was changed from next week to the 29th of January and according to the Somerset folks, they just found out about it, which is par for the course for the PIHL, who notifies no one about game changes, until the last minute of course. The first period was an offensive display by Somerset as they pelted Sewickley Academy goalkeeper Peter Dimmick with very good scoring opportunites. At 12:20, Dimmick stopped Cullen Eddy after a nice feed by Ziegler. Just 17 seconds later, it was Bret Ziegler who Dimmick stopped. Not to be outdone, the rangy Panther goaltender stopped both Ziegler and Eddy again at 10:52. Wes Cramer, the Somerset goalie, saw little action in the first, the best chance coming as Alec Shannon rang one off the post at 6:29 in a scoreless opening period. On to the 2nd and it didn’t take long for the Eagles to strike as Matt Hay found the loose puck and beat Dimmick to give Somerset a 1-0 lead at 14:05. Dimmick kept the advantage just a goal as he stopped Cullen Eddy again with 7:17 remaining in the period. The momentum looked to be switching as Sewickley Academy found itself on a 5 on 3 power play at 7:17, but the Eagles stiffened and only allowed a couple of shots during the advantage and only 7 shots through the first two periods. Then a backbreaking goal as Cullen Eddy finally solved Dimmick on a great individual effort walking the Panther defense and slamming home a shot past the SA goalie with just 1:05 remaining for a huge goal and a 2-0 lead at the end of two periods. Somerset extinguished any thoughts of a comeback just 17 ticks into the third as Matt Rouch took a great pass from Ziegler and buried it past Dimmick for a 3-0 lead. Sewickley mounted a challenge in the middle of the third and tallied 12 shots in the final period, but Wes Cramer stopped them all, the best save coming on a Trevor Heck wrist shot at 7:49. The Eagles closed out the game scoring goals in the waning moments as Eddy scored on a beautiful backhand to the upper corner at 2:44 and Bret Zeigler wheeled through the slot and scored with 45 seconds left to put the cap on an impressive 5-0 win over Sewickley Academy and capture the # 1 ranking in Class A.

CASTLE SHANNON ~ When the PIHL was formed in 1999, the hope was amongst the teams that what would not be lost were the rivalries of the old leagues and one of the great rivalries during the mid to late 1990’s and into the 21st century was South Park – Canevin. Both schools at the time were in the hunt for the Penguins Cup year after year, in fact Canevin captured the Class AA State Championships in 1983, 1984 and 1989 and most recently a trip to the Penguins Cup final in 2000 in Erie where the Crusaders fell short to three time champion Thomas Jefferson in a classic 2-1. Somehow, Canevin hockey has not been the same since, but a little birdie told me that the program could be on the rise including a great developmental program and that little birdie also mentioned that the Crusaders will be back in contention in the next few years. Nonetheless, Canevin is a very young team in 2003-2004 and coach Brian Henderson is working toward the development to bring Canevin back to prominence. South Park is more of a here and now program with a lineup lined with upperclassman and head coach Bob Juha knows that his team has one of the best goaltenders in all of Class AA in Director’s Dozen selection Ian Artim. The Eagles have had their moments this season in upending Peters Twp, but fell to a much improved Canon McMillan squad 3-0 prior to the holiday break. An excellent showing in the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase has Eagle fans optimistic that they can push for a possible Penguins Cup semi-final appearance if not more. South Park came out and took control of their game with Canevin from the outset but the young Crusaders hung in there through the games first 10 + minutes in a scoreless tie. Matt Slogan finally broke through with 2:50 remaining in the opening period beating Dan Hertzberg on a wrist shot with 2:50 left in the first. The Eagles took advantage of some sloppy play by the Crusader defense as Jared Miley slammed home a rebound with 1:19 to play to make it 2-0 and just 17 seconds later it was the big man again as Matt Slogan overpowered Hertzberg with a wrist shot and South Park now had a quick 3-0 advantage. After a scoreless and evenly played second period, Canevin looked to close the gap, but Slogan dashed those hopes in finding a loose puck and completing the hat trick with 13:48 remaining in regulation. Ian Artim kept the Crusaders off the board stopping everything Canevin could muster including a Dane Hetland shot from the slot at 6:30 and robbing Hetland with just 3 seconds remaining to put an exclamation point on a 4-0 South Park victory before the usual nice crowd at Ice Castle.

01/02/04 ~ Franklin and Baldwin battle to a 1-1 deadlock ! Delmont ~ Franklin Regional has had an interesting season in the first half of 2003-2004 and head coach Jim Damp is hoping for a little better finish to the season and maybe a repeat of last season for his Panther. FR will undoubtedly run away with the South Division title but may face a strong surge from Penn Trafford, who looks to be making noise in Class AAA after a strong December. The Panthers will be looking to get healthy and have a full lineup for the first time all season and while doing so may be looking to secure a first round home ice advantage. Baldwin on the other hand is one of those schools which is on the rise after its first playoff appearance in 11 years, coach Mike Cox’s crew is hungry for more in 2004. The Highlanders are a team which has a recipe for upsets with an excellent goaltender in Matt King and a few budding superstars in sophomore’s Lou DelGreco and defenseman Denny Urban, who are gaining notice among Class AAA’s most steady performers. Baldwin gave Plum a little taste with a 4-3 upset before the halfway break and was looking to do the same on the road at Franklin Regional. This game would be a game of goaltending as Franklin’s Chris Fonzi and Matt King would be nearly perfect throughout regulation and in overtime. A mistake apiece by the goaltenders led to two empty net goals from bad clearing attempts as Denny Urban scored at 7:06 of the first period and Franklin’s Joel Sirianni scored into the open pantry with 2:51 remaining in the opening period. Baldwin out shot FR 24-22 on the night and had a chance to win it in overtime on the power play as Joe Jena was stopped on a golden opportunity in front by Fonzi in the extra frame.

Plum has been one of the surprises early on in the 2003-2004 season, but lately has shown signs of not being able to overcome tough situations, with a 4-3 upset loss to Baldwin prior to the break in which the Mustangs clearly outplayed Baldwin, but ran into a hot goaltender in Matt King and lost. So Stu Relnick’s squad figured the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase would be a proving ground and the Mustangs were impressive in beating Greensburg CC and Latrobe, but came up short in losing to Holy Ghost Prep in overtime in the opener of the tournament. Plum is missing that intangible in becoming a true contender in this years Penguins Cup race and would be tested again against Central Catholic before a packed house at the Center Ice ‘Genie Garage Door Opener’ rink in a who’s who’s night in Western Pa Hockey. Central Catholic coach Kevin Zielmanski could offer Relnick a little advice because coach Z has seen just about everything this season including you guessed it an overtime loss to Holy Ghost in the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase semi-finals last Sunday night. Undoubtedly, after a few Pizza Pub sessions [the favorite stop of many at the half way point on the Route 22 maze], we all come to realize the factor of a few bounces here and there and the fact that a hot goaltender may be a block in the road or maybe just maybe just one time our players will have a little discipline and do what we all tell them time and time again is gonna occur if we maybe ‘listen’. Hey, every coach’s frustration is ultimately satisfying when the old light bulb goes on and these teams start clicking and great hockey occurs…..and that’s why many of the who’s who were in the house jostling between Center Ice rinks to watch Baldwin-Franklin Regional and Central Catholic-Plum. With my faithful assistant Jamie, with stick in hand, and even Ms Pa Hockey made the trip, the assistant of the Starship Pa Hockey Dave ‘Scotty’ Scott, Jamie’s surrogate parents Ed and Sherry Martin, former Plum stud Robbie Tunon, longtime Plum staple Fred Bruce, Penn Hills coach Jan Battista, Central diehard Billy [why is he not on the bench when there are at least 100 people I’ve seen with NO proper coaching level certification on the benches] Zuri, former Central defenseman Zach Roberts, John Fedorek [who did a random audit of the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase Wall of Champions], NA skipper Tom ‘I scouted Derry’s and Ringgold’s JV last night’ Pandolfo, Bethel Park’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay, Mt Lebanon’s Paul ‘the Rock’ Taibi and the infamous Bob ‘five penalty’ Montana, with camera in hand in our first true ‘who’s who night amongst the filled to the rafters crowd at CI Arena. The goaltenders, Russ Hefner [CC] and J.P. Balson [Plum], dominated the landscape of the first period as the teams exchanged scoring chances. Russ Hefner robbed John Kalichuk in the middle of the first in the games best scoring opportunity. On to the second and Plum tried to confuse the Central defense by stretching the ice and it worked as Aaron Arnold found himself in on the breakaway and beat Hefner to the stick side at 11:48 to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. The Vikings poured on the pressure in the middle period holding a 15-7 shot advantage through two periods, but J.P. Balson was the difference as he stooped consecutive chances for Matt Urso and Matt Friday at 3:01 and then made a great poke check of Chris Urso on the breakaway at 2:04. Plum used this mometum to seize a 2-0 lead as Jon Smith beat Hefner high to the glove side on a 2 on 0 with 1:03 left in the period. Balson kept Central off the board with an unconscious save on Matt Urso with just 26 seconds remaining in the 2nd. Central just kept on coming in the third period and would take 10 more shots on Balson for a 25-14 advantage for the game. Matt Urso finally got Central on the scoreboard with a wrist shot high over the glove side of Balson to cut the lead to 2-1 with 5:40 remaining. With Plum’s best player Travis Senchur in the box for a misconduct penalty, he could only watch as Balson stoned Urso at 4:57 and hope that his team could hold on. The drama built as the Vikings pulled Hefner for the extra attacker and Plum and Balson seemed to be closing in a huge win, but Central kept banging away and after Balson stopped Billy Connelly in a scramble in front it would be Eddie Martin, who would swoop out of no where and ship the puck past Balson to tie the game with just 35 seconds left in regulation. For Plum, a ‘Holy Ghost’ nightmare from exactly a week ago at the same time, in the same rink and for Central Catholic maybe redemption for ‘the Holy Ghost nightmare’ from Sunday night when they watched a 3-1 lead evaporate in the game final four minutes and lose in overtime. So now for both teams ANOTHER chance and a lesson, for if you go to overtime ‘ you always have a chance’. This would be the lesson which coach Z learns and maybe coach Relnick and his star players will learn too……no matter what happens in a game all overtime is …is a chance to steal a game that maybe you should or shouldn’t win and Central Catholic seized the moment as freshman Chris Urso delivered the big blow at 4:22 by re-directing a puck past Balson which just seemed to trickle into the net sending the Viking faithful into a frenzy and the Plum faithful back down Route 22 wondering when its team would get a bounce…..only the Father, Son and Holy Ghost MAY know and that’s why who’s who night on this night was a thriller !