Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Wisconsin White 4 Philadelphia 2 2007 Chicago Showcase BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS - Team Philadelphia entered the 2007 Chicago Showcase with aspirations of winning the Kevin Kodalen C Bracket and advancing to the round of 8 this year. Unfortunately for Germantown Academy Head Coach Gump Whiteside and General Manager Kenny Haas, President of the Suburban High School Hockey League, the area of the Delaware Valley with 141 High School Hockey teams is unable to attract the best players from the Philadelphia area from schools such as Malvern Prep, LaSalle, Holy Ghost Prep, Haverford High and the other premiere programs to participate and even try out for this team. The reasons for which I don’t quite understand, the best players tend to listen to travel coaches, who apparently discourage the participation, which is typical and I know its not from lack of effort to market the program, which is done over all of the 7 League Websites that make up the Flyers Cup program. So with all of that said, Philadelphia needed a victory over Wisconsin White, the 2nd Wisconsin team in the Chicago Showcase, which is a team brought together with players from almost 500 miles of area and really amazing to see kids from Milwaukee to Superior to Madison and all over as a unit of 20. The other remarkable thing is that in all of that area, they do not have nearly the number of High School teams as Philadelphia. As a person who represents Pa Hockey, I am willing to help promote the process of getting the best players here to Chicago on a national stage and challenge the best players in Philadelphia to come experience a great event for themselves. When I first got involved in Team Pittsburgh in 1996, our team was in the C Bracket and after 1997 began the climb the A Brackets, where we have been since 1999 and have not left since. Philadelphia’s plight looked good in the opening period as Wisshickon’s Jayson Ritchey scored to give them a 1-0 lead at 13:04. Wisconsin tied the game on a goal by Vince Hagman at 6:50. The second period saw Philly take the lead again as Justin Krute of the Hill School scored on an assist from Eric DeFelice of Central Bucks West at 6:53 to give the Orange and Black a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia missed a golden opportunity to take a two-goal advantage on a breakaway. Wisconsin White rallied scoring a power play goal by Brody Zebro at 3:43 and then took the lead on a shorthanded goal by Casey Lutz with just :09 left in the period to take a 3-2 lead. The third period was penalty filled and Philadelphia was killing off the majority of them. A late power play gave them a chance to tie the score, but was unsuccessful dashing the hopes of Team Philadelphia advancing to the Quarter-Final round as Wisconsin’s Brody Zebro scored an empty netter with 18 seconds remaining and gave Wisconsin a 4-2 victory outshooting Philly 31-25 in the opener of play on Friday at the 2007 Chicago Showcase.

Pittsburgh 3 North Dakota 2 2007 Chicago Showcase BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS - Team Pittsburgh opened the 23rd Annual Chicago Showcase with 4-1 loss to a very strong and talented Michigan team. Head Coach Jim ‘Mort’ McVay and assistant Dave ‘the Boy Wonder’ Fryer are pretty studious coaches and had an opportunity to scout North Dakota and Illinois on Wednesday afternoon and any time you give good coaches an chance to see their next opponent, the adjustments and game plan can be made. This is exactly what the coaches hoped to accomplish and from knowing these two guys for a few years, I can tell you that they were pretty confident that Pittsburgh could get back on track. History is another story as North Dakota has been a thorn in Pitssburgh’s side the past few years in the A Bracket, most recently knocking off Team Pittsburgh to advance to the finals of the 2006 Chicago Showcase, were they were defeated by New Jersey. Pittsburgh came out flying in the opening minutes as there appeared to be a mismatch in speed as they caught North Dakota flat footed a couple of times. Seneca Valley’s Matt Jarrett chipped a lead pass to Central Catholic’s Chris Urso, who made a great move on ND goaltender Jamall Wold on a deke and beat him on the forhand for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead at 7:01. Pittsburgh continued to pile on the shots in the opening frame and Bethel Park’s Bryan Brown scored on his own rebound at 5:58 to make it 2-0 in favor of Pittsburgh. With the shots 14-7 in favor of Pittsburgh in the first, a huge one came off the stick of Freeport’s Zach Hepler as his long wrist shot from the right point made it’s way through traffic and past Wold on the stick side at knee level to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead with 4:21 to go in the first period. North Dakota was able to muster some offense in the 2nd period as they began to pressure Pittsburgh, but North Allegheny’s Max Richards came up big at 7:53 of the period stopping the best Sioux scoring chance of the hockey game at 7:53. Pittsburgh countered with some offense of its own as well in the period resulting in a power play with a little over two minutes remaining and continued to control the play, but could not score. North Dakota had a golden opportunity with a shorthanded 2 on 1, but Seneca Valley’s Nick Jones made a terrific play to intercept a pass and Pittsburgh headed to the ice cut with a 3-0 lead and 26-15 shot advantage through two periods. One of the most dangerous leads in hockey is 3-0 and Pittsburgh had many opportunities in the 2nd period to extend the lead to 4-0. North Dakota was able to get on the board at 13:53 as Zach Welding got behind the Pittsburgh defense and beat Max Richards to cut the lead to 3-1. Pittsburgh took a penalty and North Dakota capitalized as Zachery Miller was on the back door and roofed a pass from Scott Samuelson for a power play goal and the lead was now only 3-2 for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh took another penalty giving ND a chance to tie the game, but the Sioux took a hooking call behind the play to nullify the man advantage at 9:43. Pittsburgh took another penalty at 8:37, but a very questionable call and break for Pittsburgh came at 7:15, which kindof killed the North Dakota at that point of the game. Pittsburgh and North Dakota battled over the last half of the third period and each team had their chances and the score remained 3-2 in favor of Pittsburgh. With :52 to go in regulation, Pittsburgh was whistled for too many men creating a 6 on 4 power play for North Dakota. Pittsburgh’s defense and Max Richards stiffened and they held the Sioux off the board to earn a 3-2 victory over nemesis North Dakota.

Pittsburgh 3 North Dakota 2 2007 Chicago Showcase BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS - Team Pittsburgh opened the 23rd Annual Chicago Showcase with 4-1 loss to a very strong and talented Michigan team. Head Coach Jim ‘Mort’ McVay and assistant Dave ‘the Boy Wonder’ Fryer are pretty studious coaches and had an opportunity to scout North Dakota and Illinois on Wednesday afternoon and any time you give good coaches an chance to see their next opponent, the adjustments and game plan can be made. This is exactly what the coaches hoped to accomplish and from knowing these two guys for a few years, I can tell you that they were pretty confident that Pittsburgh could get back on track. History is another story as North Dakota has been a thorn in Pitssburgh’s side the past few years in the A Bracket, most recently knocking off Team Pittsburgh to advance to the finals of the 2006 Chicago Showcase, were they were defeated by New Jersey. Pittsburgh came out flying in the opening minutes as there appeared to be a mismatch in speed as they caught North Dakota flat footed a couple of times. Seneca Valley’s Matt Jarrett chipped a lead pass to Central Catholic’s Chris Urso, who made a great move on ND goaltender Jamall Wold on a deke and beat him on the forhand for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead at 7:01. Pittsburgh continued to pile on the shots in the opening frame and Bethel Park’s Bryan Brown scored on his own rebound at 5:58 to make it 2-0 in favor of Pittsburgh. With the shots 14-7 in favor of Pittsburgh in the first, a huge one came off the stick of Freeport’s Zach Hepler as his long wrist shot from the right point made it’s way through traffic and past Wold on the stick side at knee level to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead with 4:21 to go in the first period. North Dakota was able to muster some offense in the 2nd period as they began to pressure Pittsburgh, but North Allegheny’s Max Richards came up big at 7:53 of the period stopping the best Sioux scoring chance of the hockey game at 7:53. Pittsburgh countered with some offense of its own as well in the period resulting in a power play with a little over two minutes remaining and continued to control the play, but could not score. North Dakota had a golden opportunity with a shorthanded 2 on 1, but Seneca Valley’s Nick Jones made a terrific play to intercept a pass and Pittsburgh headed to the ice cut with a 3-0 lead and 26-15 shot advantage through two periods. One of the most dangerous leads in hockey is 3-0 and Pittsburgh had many opportunities in the 2nd period to extend the lead to 4-0. North Dakota was able to get on the board at 13:53 as Zach Welding got behind the Pittsburgh defense and beat Max Richards to cut the lead to 3-1. Pittsburgh took a penalty and North Dakota capitalized as Zachery Miller was on the back door and roofed a pass from Scott Samuelson for a power play goal and the lead was now only 3-2 for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh took another penalty giving ND a chance to tie the game, but the Sioux took a hooking call behind the play to nullify the man advantage at 9:43. Pittsburgh took another penalty at 8:37, but a very questionable call and break for Pittsburgh came at 7:15, which kindof killed the North Dakota at that point of the game. Pittsburgh and North Dakota battled over the last half of the third period and each team had their chances and the score remained 3-2 in favor of Pittsburgh. With :52 to go in regulation, Pittsburgh was whistled for too many men creating a 6 on 4 power play for North Dakota. Pittsburgh’s defense and Max Richards stiffened and they held the Sioux off the board to earn a 3-2 victory over nemesis North Dakota.

The 2007 Keystone State Summer Games were held on July 27-29 at the York City Ice Center in York, Pennsylvania. 2007 Keystone State Games July 26-29, 2007 ~ York City Ice Center East ~ Blue Mountain/Pocono/Capital South ~ Philadelphia Central ~ Great Lakes/Nittany/Laurel Mtn West ~ Pittsburgh FINAL RESULTS Bantam Division West 5 East 1 West 1 South 0 East 5 West 4 South 4 East 2 West 4 South 0 Gold - West Silver - East Bronze - South Midget Division South 5 Central 1 East 4 West 3 Central 4 West 3 East 3 South 2 West 5 South 3 East 8 Central 3 Gold - East Silver - South Bronze - West Junior Division East 6 West 1 Central 8 South 3 West 5 Central 2 East 8 South 1 West 9 South 0 East 7 Central 3 Gold - East Silver - West Bronze - Central Female Division East 5 West 2 South 8 Central 3 West 6 Central 2 East 9 South 0 East 9 Central 1 West 3 South 2 Gold - East Silver - West Bronze - South

The 2007 Keystone State Summer Games were held on July 27-29 at the York City Ice Center in York, Pennsylvania. 2007 Keystone State Games July 26-29, 2007 ~ York City Ice Center East ~ Blue Mountain/Pocono/Capital South ~ Philadelphia Central ~ Great Lakes/Nittany/Laurel Mtn West ~ Pittsburgh FINAL RESULTS Bantam Division West 5 East 1 West 1 South 0 East 5 West 4 South 4 East 2 West 4 South 0 Gold - West Silver - East Bronze - South Midget Division South 5 Central 1 East 4 West 3 Central 4 West 3 East 3 South 2 West 5 South 3 East 8 Central 3 Gold - East Silver - South Bronze - West Junior Division East 6 West 1 Central 8 South 3 West 5 Central 2 East 8 South 1 West 9 South 0 East 7 Central 3 Gold - East Silver - West Bronze - Central Female Division East 5 West 2 South 8 Central 3 West 6 Central 2 East 9 South 0 East 9 Central 1 West 3 South 2 Gold - East Silver - West Bronze - South