East Region

Below are the 2005 choices for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Stellar 6 Congratulations to Mt Lebanon's Tony Valerino, who was selected Post Gazette Player of the Year. Tony Valerino - Mt. Lebanon - Senior - Forward Josh Fodor, Pine-Richland - Junior - Forward Phil Mains, Plum - Senior - Defense Paul Dittrich, North Allegheny - Junior - Defense Mike Diethorn, Bethel Park - Senior - Forward Rob Madore, Peters Township - Sophomore - Goaltender The Post Gazette has decided NOT to publish the Stellar 6 Regional Selections. Pa Hockey has released its selections for the Stellar 6 Regional Selections in the East, North, South, West, Washington and a special Great Lakes / Nittany region........Only on Pa Hockey ! Stellar 6 - East Chris Cerutti Penn Trafford Forward Junior Ryan Homanics Greensburg CC Goaltender Freshman Justin Lubasch Serra Catholic Forward Senior Phil Mains Plum Defense Senior Joey Manning Serra Catholic Forward Senior Dan Sidle Penn Trafford Defense Senior Stellar 6 - North Tom DiDinato Pine Richland Forward Sophomore Paul Dittrich North Allegheny Defense Senior Josh Fodor Pine Richland Forward Junior Matt Pekins North Allegheny Forward Senior Bryan Ross Mars Goaltender Junior Wes Waldschmidt North Allegheny Forward Junior Stellar 6 - South Jacobus Bliek Bethel Park Defense Senior David Crockett Upper St Clair Forward Senior Rob Madore Peters Township Goaltender Sophomore Tyler Murovich Mt Lebanon Forward Freshman Tim O'Brien Bethel Park Forward Junior Tony Valerino Mt Lebanon Forward Senior Stellar 6 - West Mario Panucci Montour Forward Senior Ryne Savisky West Allegheny Forward Junior Brian Dugan Montour Defense Senior Mark Polidor West Allegheny Forward Junior Andrew Slifkin Moon Goaltender Senior Tommy Miller Chartiers Valley Forward Senior Stellar 6 - Washington Eric Lang Canon McMillan Defense Senior Dustin Roux Peters Township Forward Junior Drew Stanton Canon McMillan Goaltender Senior Bryan Papciak Peters Twp Forward Senior Jeff Hannan Peters Twp Forward Sophomore Justin Cormack Canon McMillan Forward Junior Stellar 6 - Great Lakes / Nittany [Area outside the Post Gazette in Johnstown/Indiana/Meadville/Erie] Cory Mock Bishop McCort Defense Senior Joel Shriver Kittanning Forward Senior Ryan Zapolski Cathedral Prep Goaltender Senior Cory Mills Indiana Forward Senior Marc Domonkos Bishop McCort Forward Senior Zach Hepler Freeport Defense Junior

2005 Chicago Showcase Bensenville, Illinois 4/18/05 Team Pittsburgh vs Team Minnesota Ok so its Sunday morning and while many of us from Western Pennsylvania expected to be in our cars on our way home, instead for the dozen to two dozen of us who started this journey, we all were treated to a real thrill watching our boys from Western Pennsylvania provide a miracle finish against California with three goals in the final 4 ½ to gain a spot besides the mecca of Interscholastic Hockey Minnesota in the 2005 Chicago Showcase semi-finals. Team Pittsburgh has defied the odds with getting here and for more reasons which I will expand upon in this summary. An opportunity to visit with Minnesota Head Coach David Hendrickson yesterday was a pleasure and discovery as I found that the head man of a powerhouse from this Chicago Showcase once coached Steve Carlson, who played professional hockey and spent some time in Johnstown playing and coaching a team called Bishop McCort to some Pennsylvania State titles. As a gesture of goodwill to the coach was a Pa Hockey Yearbook and one of respect for what Minnesota Interscholastic Hockey has done as a model program for the now 43 states who compete for State Championships across the United States. And an opportunity for Team Pittsburgh to compete against the best the sport has to offer and for all you historians out there, we can point back to the 1999 finals when Pittsburgh went all the way to the finals and lost 6-2. As Paul Dittrich, who was seriously injured in last night’s game came out to take the warm up, it just was another little reminder of what this means for this group of kids and possibly an inspiration to the other 19 guys of how the belief and will to win can overcome the most trying of circumstances. What gives Pittsburgh a chance is maybe a stellar goaltending performance by Ryan Zapolski or maybe an over achieving group effort, but the best approach would be a simple hockey game of clearing the zone and playing disciplined with 51 minutes of hard work and maybe just maybe they’ll provide some more excitement. The opening minutes where in the Pittsburgh end and survival. At 13:03, Pittsburgh had their first chance as Mark Polidor broke free and just missed. Minnesota continued their possession game and Pittsburgh kept surviving early on. At 11:27, Minnesota went on the power play and Mark Polidor made as he has this whole tournament another big play forcing the Minnesota defenseman to pull him down nullifying the man advantage. Then a mental mistake as Mike Penkrot left the bench early resulting in another Minnesota power play. With 4:15 remaining in the first, Pittsburgh was whistled for a play after the whistle and then Minnesota was whistled for the same at 3:01. Then at 2:40, Minnesota struck as Jamie Ruff tipped a shot from the point past Ryan Zapolski for a 1-0 lead. A marginal tripping call on Pittsburgh at 2:05 put Team Pittsburgh in a 4 on 4 situation. Ryan Zapolski made his first terrific save with just two ticks left and Minnesota took a very rare undisciplined penalty putting Pittsburgh on the power play to start the second. At 10:46 of the 2nd Minnesota found a wide open backside and Scott Kozlak chipped it past Ryan Zapolski for a 2-0 lead. Pittsburgh went on to the power play at 7:29 which was nullified after a scrum in front of the Minnesota net. Minnesota took advantage of a 4 on 4 situation as sniper Josh Brodeen finished off a super cross ice pass over the shoulder of Zapolski to make it 3-0 with a little over six minutes left in the seconds period. Pittsburgh was overmatched physically and started to show more undisciplined taking another penalty. With 1:01 left, Minnesota’s Ryan Guentzel made a beautiful tip of a shot from the left point off the stick Pat Fogerty for another power play goal and a 4-0 lead. The third period would be a test of character for Team Pittsburgh. For the first time in this tournament they were overmatched physically and had a big hole to climb being down 4-0. An opportunity on the power play at 16:10 for Pittsburgh, which they didn’t score on but at 13:13, Bill Repass stole the puck and was in on a breakaway and converted to make it 4-1. Then at 11:39 another bad penalty killing an momentum for Pittsburgh and another opportunity for the lethal Minnesota power play and with 10:56 the dagger came as Mitch Ryan tipped a perfect feed past Zapolski. Just 32 seconds later at 10:24 Cory Johnson converted an odd man break as Shea Walters threaded a perfect pass to make it 6-1. With 7:10 left Cory Johnson served the toast for breakfast and an exclamation point for another trip to the finals for Team Minnesota turning the Pittsburgh defense inside out and lofting a dart over the glove side of Ryan Zapolski for a 7-1 lead and went on to victory and a spot in the finals. For Team Pittsburgh a great tournament and a measuring stick of where we stand nationally. We are not at Minnesota’s level, but we learned that we can compete with and beat some of the premiere programs chasing Minnesota in the United States. What it will take is to bring our best AAA midget players here to Bensenville, which is no knock on the 20 who suited up, but 7-1 doesn’t cut it at this level. It was a great effort by mostly a group of high school and midget players, who started a ride of the unknown Wednesday and then where like many other teams in this event sent back to school by the masters, who exploited the lack of discipline of Team Pittsburgh by playing hockey the way its supposed to be played Minnesota style.

Team Pittsburgh's trip to the Semi-Finals brought a prestigious individual award to Cathedral Prep's Ryan Zapolski, who was named the most outstanding goaltender of the 2005 Chicago Showcase. Ryan joins McDowell's Brent Klimow in 2001, Bethel Park's Keith Stanich in 1997 and Forest Hill's Martin Wilde in 1995 as recipients of awards for the Chicago Showcase. Congratulations to Ryan and Team Pittsburgh for an outstanding finish !

2005 Chicago Showcase Bensenville, Illinois 4/17/05 Pittsburgh snatches victory from the jaws of defeat over defending champ California ! Quarter-Finals Pittsburgh vs California It is a long time from Wednesday morning when Team Pittsburgh began their voyage of the unknown in the 2005 Chicago Showcase. A narrow 5-4 loss to semi-finalist North Dakota in a game where the team will admit that they didn’t play three periods of hockey, but a superb third period almost yielded a tie game. The complete game victory of another semi-finalist Wisconsin 3-1, which was easily one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. A thrilling 1-1 tie in the final game of the preliminary round featuring a goaltending dual between Northern New England’s Raymond Quattrucci and Team Pittsburgh’s Ryan Zapolski [who was the winner of the Peggy Fikis award for the outstanding goaltender of the 2005 Chicago Showcase, joining Brent Klimow of Erie McDowell in 2001 and Martin Wilde of Forest Hills H.S. in 1995 as Team Pittsburgh’s recipients of Chicago Showcase award winners]. So now Team Pittsburgh sets up to face a Team Cailfornia team, who are the defending champions of the Chicago Showcase, for the privilege to meet Team Minnesota, who has dominated the Chicago Showcase tournament since its inception in 1984. California, like Team Pittsburgh, has enjoyed a tempermental Showcase with a 3-2 loss to Minnesota in a tight contest, defeated Michigan 4-2 and then lost to Illinois 4-3 to complete the round robin at 1-2-0. California is a very good team with a core group of players from a strong AAA midget program out of Los Angeles. The decision to start the line of Billy Repass, Alan Halapin and Lee Heilman paid off as they penned up California in the opening minute. Then it was Mark Polidor, who made a great individual effort and slipped a backhand past Bryan Roden at 15:52 to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Then a great breakout pass by Kyle Sidle to brother Dan Sidle netted a wrist shot which fooled goaltender Roden low on the stick side at 13:26 for a 2-0 Pittsburgh lead. At 11:29, Mario Panucci almost made it 3-0, but goaltender Roden made a great stop sliding to the opposite post. At 10:45, California went on the power play with a chance to cut into the early lead and Pittsburgh killed it impressively. California struck at 5:23 of the first as Alan Aiken buried a wrist shot on the short side past Drew Stanton to make it 2-1. With 1:35 left in the opening period, Team Pittsburgh committed another penalty as a result of running around and another killing the penalty with 48 seconds left giving California a golden opportunity to tie the game. And with 24 seconds left the LA Kings Midget AAA line struck fast as Richard Leitner took a back door pass from Ramin Taheri and deposited it past Drew Stanton to erase a 2-0 lead of Pittsburgh. On to the second we went and Pittsburgh still had to kill a minute on the 2nd power play and the didn’t as the forward Richard Lietner sped through the middle of the ice and blistered a wrist whot low to the stick side for a 3-2 California lead and another power play goal. Pittsburgh went on the power play at 15:42, but could not capitalize. At 12:19, Pittsburgh got caught pinching and Drew Stanton made a great stop on Lietner. At 8:36, California went on another power play and Pittsburgh killed it off. Great effort by Ryne Savisky drew a penalty on California at 6:07, giving Pittsburgh a chance on the power play to no avail and another power play with 2:37 left and a 5 on 3 with 1:27 left and another 5 on 3 with 1:10 to work with 36 seconds left, which was nullified by an undisciplined penalty by Pittsburgh with 2 seconds left. At 16:17 of the 3rd Period, Drew Stanton made a great save on Cal’s John Stoddard sprawling out and keeping the puck out and the game 3-2. Bryan Roden returned the favor on Mario Panucci at 14:50 from point blank range. Then the arena was silenced as Anton Volkov, via the Ukraine Penisula of California, who blistered a wrist shot high over the shoulder of Drew Stanton on the short side at 12:50 to give California a huge insurance tally and a 4-2 lead. Pittsburgh went on the power play with 10:50 left and a chance to get back in the game and then again at 8:05, but was nullified by another undisciplined penalty by Pittsburgh. Another power play # 5 at 6:51 and not a chance. Steven Adams scored on his first opportunity on the power play with a wrist shot high over the glove side to cut the lead to 4-3. Another power play # 6 with 4:50 left and the chance again to tie it and no goal. With 2:13 left, another power play # 7 and only one goal to show for it. The chances and time were running out on Team Pittsburgh and then a miracle goal with 1:27 left as Mark Polidor threw the puck to the front of the net and it bounded past the California goaltender to tie it at 4 apiece. Then with 24 seconds left, Dan Sidle threw it to the net and Mike Penkrot rammed it home to give Pittsburgh a miracle 5-4 lead. And they held on to win and play another day against Team Minnesota in the semi-finals of the 2005 Chicago Showcase with a heartstopping 5-4 win.

2005 Chicago Showcase Bensenville, Illinois 4/14/05 Team Pittsburgh vs Team Wisconsin Team Pittsburgh opened up the 2005 Chicago Showcase with a heartstopping 5-4 loss to North Dakota. Mario Panucci [Montour], Mark Polidor [West Allegheny], Ryne Savisky [West Allegheny] and Dan Sidle [Penn Trafford] scored as Team Pittsburgh rallied for three goals in the 3rd period but could not score the equalizer controlling the play, but in hockey you must play three periods. As they headed in to the second game with a highly touted Wisconsin club, one had to wonder if Team Pittsburgh would win a game and possibly fall out of the coveted A Bracket, where they have competed since 1997. Team Pittsburgh has competed in the Chicago Showcase for every year since 1984 and the past 18 years under the guidance of Dave Klasnick, who serves as General Manager for the team and provides a great experience for the players who are fortunate to make the team after the rigorous four day tryout and two weeks of practices. Head Coach Ed Figas of Serra Catholic along with assistant Kevin Zielmanski of Central Catholic, were joined by Dave Fryer of Canon McMillan for a big test for the team. So the homage to Bensenville, where I joined the Montour boys and an intimate gathering of folks who made the trip to Chicago, which was my first since 1998 after 3 years. In the opening minutes of the game, Wisconsin put Team Pittsburgh on their heels with good pressure, but where limited in their chances. Team Pittsburgh stuck first as Billy Repass [Elizabeth Forward] made a tremendous play to intercept a pass and throw it to the net and across the goal line, but the referee was out of position and waived the goal off. Then at 10:31 of the first on the power play, Kyle Sidle [Penn Trafford] dug the puck out of the corner and fed it to the slot where Mario Panucci was stationed and fired a bullet high over the glove side of Wisconsin goaltender Jeff Henderson for a 1-0 lead. Team Pittsburgh used it’s speed and played tenaciously against a much bigger and supposedly more physical opponent and countered hit for hit. Then a heads up play by Shane Ferguson [Mt Lebanon] at 5:27 led to the next goal as Fergy caught Henderson off balance and fired a snapshot on the ice to the far corner and Pittsburgh now had a 2-0 lead. Pittsburgh continued playing pretty smart defense but got a little sloppy late in the 1st period as Wisconsin’s Shay Tainter incepted a pass and beat Drew Stanton [Canon McMillan] on the short side. Back and forth the teams went in the 2nd period and both goaltenders shined as Pittsburgh held a shot advantage of 13-8. Wisconsin had their chances, but Drew Stanton stood tall and Wisconsin showed undisciplined play nullifying several power play chances and essentially killed their momentum or any momentum as Pittsburgh took a slim 2-1 advantage to the third. Wisconsin nearly tied the game at 10:07 of the third period as Brett Olson was robbed by Drew Stanton from point blank range. Team Pittsburgh had a couple of power plays midway through the third period and was looking for the knockout punch and they did it as Kyle Sidle [Penn Trafford] slammed home a rebound after a great setup by Josh Jones [Serra Catholic] and Paul Dittrich [North Allegheny] for a 3-1 lead with 6:15 left. Drew Stanton closed the door on Wisconsin stopping 26 of 27 shots including a statement save on towering Sean Wiles with 2:25 remaining for a hug 3-1 win for Team Pittsburgh and secure a spot in the playoff round, which begins Saturday. 2005 Chicago Showcase Bensenville, Illinois 4/15/05 Team Pittsburgh vs Team Northern New England After defeating Wisconsin on Thursday evening, Team Pittsburgh all but secured a berth in Saturday’s Quarter-Final round. A win over Northern New England could propel Team Pittsburgh into a preferable matchup in next step. In 1999, Team Pittsburgh danced to the finals before falling in the Championship to Minnesota and in 2001 a semi-final appearance falling to Minnesota once again. Both of those teams were laiden with players, who have since moved on to the Division 1 level from AAA midget and Junior A. This team is a little different not because of the talent, but more emphasis on this group is the team chemistry, character and unselfishness of a group of 20 players not expected to do anything in a tough A Bracket At 7:55 of the opening period, Ryan Zaploski [Cathedral Prep] made a great leg save from right in front and moments later Pittsburgh went on the power play, but could not capitalize, but built momentum and started to get scoring chances. Goaltenders Raymond Quattrucci of Northern New England and Ryan Zapolski faced 16 and 12 shots respectively in a scoreless opening period. In the second period, when it looked like Team Pittsburgh was in trouble Ryan Zapolski kept NNE out and then the speed kicked in as Kyle Sidle [Penn Trafford] set up Raymond Gillies [Serra Catholic], who buried a snapshot past Quattrucci for a 1-0 lead at 11:06 of the 2nd. At 7:26 of the 2nd New England went on the power play and then at 6:49 Ryan Zapolski made another great save sliding across to stop a chance on the back side. In a very entertaining two periods of hockey, Team Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead to the locker room. On to the third we went and in the opening minute Team Pittsburgh did a lot of running around and failed to clear the zone and through that struggle did not give up a goal, but committed a penalty at 12:48 giving NE an opportunity on the power play and this time they converted as Dan Rautenburg snapped a rebound over a fallen Zapolski to tie the game at one apiece. At 11:04, Team Pittsburgh went on the power play, which became a 5 on 3 at 9:57 with a golden opportunity to take the lead. At 9:25, Mark Polidor was absolutely robbed by Quattracci, who sprawled got a glove on it at the last moment. Pittsburgh went back on the power play with 5:56 left and Quatracci made another big save on Polidor with a little over 4 minutes remaining in regulation. At 2:36, Tyler Martin got stone by Zapolski with the glove. With 1:48 left, Pittsburgh went on the power play and at the buzzer Mark Polidor’s slap shot rang of the post and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. 2005 Chicago Showcase Bensenville, Illinois 4/16/05 Team Philadelphia vs Team Ohio Team Philadelphia entered this morning’s contest against Team Ohio with a 1-2-0 record in the 2005 Chicago Showcase under Germantown Academy coach Gump Whiteside. The amazing fact if you look at the Team Philadelphia lineup is the absence of the best players from Malvern Prep [Nick Averona did participate], Germantown Academy [Jack Morrison was injured], Archbishop Carroll, Archbishop Wood and even Pennsylvania Class A State Champions Penncrest are nowhere to be found. The Chicago Showcase is to represent ‘the best players’ in each area and it doesn’t. In fact, of the Pa Hockey top 25 in Eastern Pa, Philly has a half dozen to a dozen players, which may answer why it is stuck in the C bracket of the Chicago Showcase. They don’t have to look far as the next bench over to Team Ohio, which seems to have the same dilemma as their lineup does not include any participants from perennial State Champs St Edwards and Ohio powers Bowling Green, St Ignatius among others. These are states who have been playing interscholastic hockey for well over 30 years and should be competitive with the rest of the country and they are competing in brackets with Florida, Team South [Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia & Mississippi] and Team Southwest [Arizona, New Mexico, Texas & Oklahoma]. The cost may be one issue which can be addressed [currently $ 500 – 700 per player] and possibly a little more publicity through Webcasting the event for Team Pittsburgh and Team Philadelphia, which will be put on the table for next season’s event, with the proceeds from sponsorship over and above the costs going to fund both teams and giving people across the country an opportunity to tune in to a great event. Team Ohio struck first at 13:32 as Andrew Lachiewicz [Troy HS] took a pass from Jake Coyle [Padua] and beat Alex Adoni [Plymouth Whitemarsh] to give Ohio a 1-0 lead. At 5:22 of the first, LaSalle’s John Williams got loose shorthanded and buried a wrist shot upstairs past Craig Butler [Kent Roosevelt] to tie the score at 1-1. Ian DeLong [Kutztown] made a great play at 1:43 left in the opening period with a backhand upstairs to give Philly a 2-1 lead. At 3:52 of the 2nd, Team Ohio’s Jake Coyle tied the game on a deflection of a pass from the sideboards. Less than a minute later, Team Ohio regained the lead as Mike Kasmer crashed the net and beat Adoni to make it 3-2. With 15:22 left in the third period, LaSalle’s L.G. Gattison had a chance on a breakaway but was stopped by Butler. Then with 13:53 left in the final period, Ohio’s Mike Kasmer [Trinity] scored on a wrist shot from the top of the circle to give Ohio a 4-2 advantage. With 25 seconds left Ohio put the game on ice as David Goldsmith [Shaker Heights] scored on a wide open chance on a nice setup by Charlie Fox [St Francis DeSales], which was almost a gimme to make the final 5-2 in favor of Team Ohio.