Freeport Yellow Jackets

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.

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If your organization is interested in making a change or not ........you should ALL know that your organization has a choice in the PIHL Election Wednesday April 13, 2005 - CCAC Boyce Campus Monroeville 7:00 PM [Please make sure your league rep brings a letter signed by the club to be eligible to vote !! To be Nominated and running for: President of the PIHL - Mr John Eddy, President of the Somerset Hockey Club with 15 + Years in High School and Amateur Hockey Treasurer of the PIHL - Mr Eddie Martin, Central Catholic Hockey Club Secretary of the PIHL - Mr Dave Fryer, Head Coach, Canon McMillan High School These folks are interested in re-building Interscholastic Hockey Programs across Western Pennsylvania in the Interest of ALL of the member organizations by promoting the sport, reducing costs and involving the member organizations with an active Board of Governors : 2005-2006 Season Mission: The league is designed for the continued development of Developmental, Freshman and Junior Varsity teams within their respective programs for Competitive Varsity Programs. Ÿ The League is a low cost option design to decrease costs for participating organizations. Organizations with three teams should realize a savings of $4500 to $6000 from their current situations. Ÿ Scheduling and the Alignment will promote better competition and rivalries locally resulting in better attendance to benefit of the home team to further help defer costs. It is expected that with control of ice times and natural rivalries, attendance will increase. Ÿ Games and practices will be scheduled during the week to avoid scheduling conflicts with amateur teams. Co-operation with amateur organizations will be encouraged and the goal is to have working arrangements with amateur organizations in the association’s home rink or area to have as many participants play both High School and Amateur logistically and financially. Ÿ It is estimated that each team will have a 16 - 22 game schedule at the Junior Varsity and Freshman levels.

COLUMBUS - The Denver Pioneers won their 2nd straight NCAA Division 1 title on Saturday April 9, 2005 over North Dakota 4-1. Former Pittsburgh Forge goaltender Peter Mannino is the most valuable player in the Frozen 4 for his stellar play and former Forge teammates Ryan Dingle and Mike Handza of Shaler are also members of this championship team. Congratulations to Peter, Ryan and Mike on a once in a lifetime championship !

As Bx Video and the PA Hockey Network brought you live action from the 2005 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships, we did experience some technical difficulties beyond our control. So if you would like to see any of the games in their entirety including interviews from hockey analysts from across the Commonwealth, please consider Heck Video Productions, who captured ALL 3 games. Their is an order form attached or you may log on to the Heck's Video Productions website. A great service available to the HOckey Community for 17 years in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Pennsylvania. Eastern Pa's Jeff Nolan, Pa Hockey's Jeff Mauro and Canon Mac head coach Dave Fryer are there to bring you all of the action from Hersheypark Arena with Bx Video and the Pa Hockey network ! If you click on the TITLE ABOVE or the Peters Township photo you can securely ORDER ONLINE OR download the form and order by mail by clicking on the Bethel Park or Penncrest Logo.