Bethel Park Blackhawks - 1997-2000 -2001-2002-2005 AAA

The 21st Chicago Showcase tournament will be played on April 13th through the 17th at the AHAI Center in Naperville, Illinois. Team Pittsburgh and Team Philadelphia will participate again in this years Showcase and the tryouts will be held in March to select the teams to participate in this event. Pa Hockey will be there today to cover all the action !!! Saturday April 16, 2005 Consolation Round Ohio 5 Philadelphia 2 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Highlights: Ohio breaks open a 2-2 game in the 3rd period to defeat Philadelphia. Quarter Finals Minnesota 8 Team SouthEast 2 Wisconsin 4 Team New York 2 North Dakota 4 Team New Jersey 1 Pittsburgh 5 Team California 4 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Highlights: Pittsburgh is down 4-2 with a little over 5 minutes to go in the 3rd. Stephen Adams of Pine Richland scores on the power play to cut it to 4-3 and Mark Polidor of West Allegheny ties the game with 1:40 left on a wraparound. The miracle finish concluded as Mike Penkrot of USC scored on a Dan Sidle [Penn Trafford] rebound with just 24 seconds left to win it. Sunday April 17, 2005 Semi-Finals Minnesota 7 Pittsburgh 1 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Wisconsin 4 North Dakota 3 Finals Minnesota 5 Wisconsin 4 Wednesday April 13, 2005 Team North Dakota 5 Team Pittsburgh 4 Highlights: Furious rally by Team Pittsburgh falls short as Mark Polidor [WA], Ryne Savisky [WA], Mario Panucci [Montour] and Dan Sidle [Penn Trafford] score for Pittsburgh. Team Tri State 7 Team Philadelphia 4 Highlights: Andrew Marenco, George Melanchuk, John Williams, and Jon Golden score for Philly. Thursday April 14, 2005 Team Pittsburgh 3 Team Wisconsin 1 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Highlights: Kyle Sidle [Penn Trafford] , Shane Ferguson [Mt Lebanon] and Mario Panucci [Montour] score and Drew Stanton [Canon McMillan] turns back 26 of 27 shots Team Philadelphia 5 Team Florida 4 Highlights: Philly overcomes a 4-3 defeicit in the 3rd to defeat Fla Friday April 15, 2005 Team Southwest 6 Team Philadelphia 3 Team Pittsburgh 1 Team Northern New England 1 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Highlights: Ryan Zapolski [Cathedral Prep] stops 28 of 29 shots and Ray Gillies scores in the 2nd period as Pittsburgh advances to the quarterfinals ***PLEASE CHECK OUT THE GAME SUMMARIES****

Gateway had a lot of high expectations coming into the 2004-2005 season with a group of seniors who overachieved last season down the stretch and secured a playoff spot in the season’s final week. Coach Lou Biancanello has watched his team play well against some good teams and just awful against some not-so good teams, but the end result has been a disappointing 5-12 season for the Gators. One more loss to this evening’s opponent Shaler would leave Gateway in the cellar of the North Division. Shaler coach Ron Steedle has seen a lot in 20 + years at the helm with Shaler, but has never had a team which scored less than the 2004-2005 squad with just 23 goals in 17 games. The Titans have suffered from players who started out in the program and have departed to places like Shady Side Academy or North Allegheny or are playing in a beer league or bantam program near you. So coaching this team has been a challenge, but this team made up of a handful of seniors and mostly underclassmen including almost a dozen freshman who have competed in the lineup, has never quit and has improved drastically from the season’s first half as evidenced by the past four games where Shaler has been leading, tied or trailing by a goal entering the final period. Shaler played a very efficient first period keeping the Gators out of their end and getting a few quality chances of their own on J.D. Dominick. The Titans hard work paid off with 2:30 remaining in the opening period as sophomore Will Moushey pounced on a rebound and beat Dominick to give Shaler a 1-0 lead. The 2nd period was a little different as Gateway had a couple of chances, but this time it was Titan goaltender Ben Burns stoning the Gators on all of the 21 shots through the first two periods. Shaler went on the power play midway through the 2nd and capitalized as freshman Robert Kuhn chipped a rebound past J.D. Dominick to give the Titans a 2-0 lead, which they took to the locker room for the ice cut. Gateway came out storming in the 3rd and would outshoot Shaler 15-3 in the third period, but Ben Burns was phenomenal and looked like the Gators would not beat him, until Ryan Whitfield found a wide open chance with 9:57 left in regulation to put the Gators back within one at 2-1. Shaler had a great opportunity with a little over five minutes to play as P.J. Domski had a breakaway, but shot it wide of Dominick. The Gators took an undisciplined penalty with a little over three minutes left, but Shaler could not capitalize keeping the score at 2-1. Gateway pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and made it count as Michael Delorenzo burst down the slot and lofted a wrist shot through traffic which eluded Burns to tie the game with just 14 seconds left in the regulation. Then in the overtime, it was DeLorenzo again, a kid who I coached at Gateway as a freshman and was looked at as a liability by many Gateway people [but not me] and is now Gateway’s best player [aside from goaltender J.D. Dominick] and wasn’t even nominated for an all-star position. DeLorenzo took this game into his hands and took the Gators from being 14 seconds into last place to winning a crucial game in overtime by scoring on a wrist shot from the slot to give Gateway a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory and put them back within striking distance for a playoff spot down the stretch.

Gateway had a lot of high expectations coming into the 2004-2005 season with a group of seniors who overachieved last season down the stretch and secured a playoff spot in the season’s final week. Coach Lou Biancanello has watched his team play well against some good teams and just awful against some not-so good teams, but the end result has been a disappointing 5-12 season for the Gators. One more loss to this evening’s opponent Shaler would leave Gateway in the cellar of the North Division. Shaler coach Ron Steedle has seen a lot in 20 + years at the helm with Shaler, but has never had a team which scored less than the 2004-2005 squad with just 23 goals in 17 games. The Titans have suffered from players who started out in the program and have departed to places like Shady Side Academy or North Allegheny or are playing in a beer league or bantam program near you. So coaching this team has been a challenge, but this team made up of a handful of seniors and mostly underclassmen including almost a dozen freshman who have competed in the lineup, has never quit and has improved drastically from the season’s first half as evidenced by the past four games where Shaler has been leading, tied or trailing by a goal entering the final period. Shaler played a very efficient first period keeping the Gators out of their end and getting a few quality chances of their own on J.D. Dominick. The Titans hard work paid off with 2:30 remaining in the opening period as sophomore Will Moushey pounced on a rebound and beat Dominick to give Shaler a 1-0 lead. The 2nd period was a little different as Gateway had a couple of chances, but this time it was Titan goaltender Ben Burns stoning the Gators on all of the 21 shots through the first two periods. Shaler went on the power play midway through the 2nd and capitalized as freshman Robert Kuhn chipped a rebound past J.D. Dominick to give the Titans a 2-0 lead, which they took to the locker room for the ice cut. Gateway came out storming in the 3rd and would outshoot Shaler 15-3 in the third period, but Ben Burns was phenomenal and looked like the Gators would not beat him, until Ryan Whitfield found a wide open chance with 9:57 left in regulation to put the Gators back within one at 2-1. Shaler had a great opportunity with a little over five minutes to play as P.J. Domski had a breakaway, but shot it wide of Dominick. The Gators took an undisciplined penalty with a little over three minutes left, but Shaler could not capitalize keeping the score at 2-1. Gateway pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and made it count as Michael Delorenzo burst down the slot and lofted a wrist shot through traffic which eluded Burns to tie the game with just 14 seconds left in the regulation. Then in the overtime, it was DeLorenzo again, a kid who I coached at Gateway as a freshman and was looked at as a liability by many Gateway people [but not me] and is now Gateway’s best player [aside from goaltender J.D. Dominick] and wasn’t even nominated for an all-star position. DeLorenzo took this game into his hands and took the Gators from being 14 seconds into last place to winning a crucial game in overtime by scoring on a wrist shot from the slot to give Gateway a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory and put them back within striking distance for a playoff spot down the stretch.

MT LEBANON - Since we haven’t had one in a while it is the time of the year one would expect a Who’s Who night and with the stars aligning and NO Bob Montana [supposedly off on a cruise…. probably on the Goodship Lollipop] in sight, we all decided it would be a great night to commence. In attendance tonight, Mt Lebanon Rec Center staples Jamie Cummings, Rick Woods, Dave Hornack, & Chuck ‘the real Mr Hockey’ Kelly, my sidekick and fellow Shaler head coach Ron Steedle, Jack ‘Camera in Hand’ Bliek, Plum braintrust Jerry ‘Dr Evil’ Bass and Stu ‘they need a Pizza Pub in the South Hills’ Rulnick, Ralph ‘Mr Ice Castle’ Murovich, Bob ‘can sing a mean National Anthem, but is saving it for Sunday’ Sebastian, with Ron ‘I am Tom and Tony’s father’ Valerino and his old pals Mr. Sloan and Uddstrom, Bethel’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay and NA’s Tommy ‘Tax Season’ Pandolfo. The only ones missing by my count were our contractor Mr. Haney and our scheduler Mr. Kimball, who took the night off for more important duties. What a difference a year makes between games for Fox Chapel and Mt Lebanon. Coach Jim Damp’s Foxes have struggled to a 10-7-0 campaign after their greatest season in history a year ago due to some key graduation on defense and between the pipes. The Blue Devils on the hand have fought off roster distractions to post a strong 14-2 record with losses only to current # 1 seed Bethel Park and current # 2 seed North Allegheny. Coach Taibi is trying to gear up for a big rematch with Bethel next week, which should be a good barometer of the progress of the Blue Devils. In last year’s game, FC All-Star Matt Quigley played the first two periods of a 0-0 tie game and left for reindeer practice only to not see his team succumb to Mt Lebanon 3-1. This years game started with no # 14 in the lineup for the Foxes, which has been a common distraction for a team in need of a win over a team ahead of them in the standings and also trying to secure a home playoff game as the current # 8 seed. The first period was all Mt Lebanon and at 9:35 James Cichra walk in alone and beat FC netminder Eric Thiessen high over the glove hand for a 1-0 Mt Lebanon lead. At 4:08 of the opening period, Tony’Tom’ Valerino beat Thiessen with slick move on the forehand for a 2-0 Mt Lebanon lead. To cap off the first at 1:01 Eric Thiessen stopped Chad Uddstrom twice, but Rick Beuke found the puck on the doorstep and deposited it into the empty net for a 3-0 advantage and a 13-4 shot total in favor of Mt Lebanon. On to the 2nd Period and at 7:52 Fox Chapel broke through on the power play as Kyle Misour banged home a rebound of Tyler Keenan to cut the lead to 3-1 in favor of the Blue Devils. Then at 6:34, the Foxes came right back as Justin Kreps would not be denied and scored on his own rebound to make it a 3-2 game after some good work by linemates Joe Budz and Kyle Misour. Mt Lebanon would turn the tide with 5:05 left in the 2nd as Rick Beuke had a golden opportunity to regain a two goal advantage and missed a wide open net as the puck fluttered off his stick and hit the side of the net. The Blue Devils did capitalize at 1:11 as Mt Lebanon got an odd man break and took advantage of lackluster backchecking by the Foxes and Shane Ferguson made a great pass to Tyler Murovich who was parked in the crease to make it 4-2. Tony Valerino wasted no time getting into the act just 7 seconds later and beat Thiessen to extend the lead to 5-2 at 1:01. The Foxes and the Blue Devils both had 11 shots, but Lebo went to the intermission with a three-goal lead. The 3rd Period started and Matt Quigley entered the building and you just wonder if the Mt Lebanon players saw him when they scored in the end of the 2nd. At 13:44 of the 3rd the Blue Devils made it not matter [that Quigley showed] as Shane Ferguson found a wide open Tyler Murovich, who beat Thiessen on the backhand to make it 6-2. At 12:38, James Cichra got behind the FC defense and beat Thiessen on the forehand for a 7-2 runaway. The Blue Devils smothered the Foxes the rest of the way for an impressive victory at the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center.

MT LEBANON - Since we haven’t had one in a while it is the time of the year one would expect a Who’s Who night and with the stars aligning and NO Bob Montana [supposedly off on a cruise…. probably on the Goodship Lollipop] in sight, we all decided it would be a great night to commence. In attendance tonight, Mt Lebanon Rec Center staples Jamie Cummings, Rick Woods, Dave Hornack, & Chuck ‘the real Mr Hockey’ Kelly, my sidekick and fellow Shaler head coach Ron Steedle, Jack ‘Camera in Hand’ Bliek, Plum braintrust Jerry ‘Dr Evil’ Bass and Stu ‘they need a Pizza Pub in the South Hills’ Rulnick, Ralph ‘Mr Ice Castle’ Murovich, Bob ‘can sing a mean National Anthem, but is saving it for Sunday’ Sebastian, with Ron ‘I am Tom and Tony’s father’ Valerino and his old pals Mr. Sloan and Uddstrom, Bethel’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay and NA’s Tommy ‘Tax Season’ Pandolfo. The only ones missing by my count were our contractor Mr. Haney and our scheduler Mr. Kimball, who took the night off for more important duties. What a difference a year makes between games for Fox Chapel and Mt Lebanon. Coach Jim Damp’s Foxes have struggled to a 10-7-0 campaign after their greatest season in history a year ago due to some key graduation on defense and between the pipes. The Blue Devils on the hand have fought off roster distractions to post a strong 14-2 record with losses only to current # 1 seed Bethel Park and current # 2 seed North Allegheny. Coach Taibi is trying to gear up for a big rematch with Bethel next week, which should be a good barometer of the progress of the Blue Devils. In last year’s game, FC All-Star Matt Quigley played the first two periods of a 0-0 tie game and left for reindeer practice only to not see his team succumb to Mt Lebanon 3-1. This years game started with no # 14 in the lineup for the Foxes, which has been a common distraction for a team in need of a win over a team ahead of them in the standings and also trying to secure a home playoff game as the current # 8 seed. The first period was all Mt Lebanon and at 9:35 James Cichra walk in alone and beat FC netminder Eric Thiessen high over the glove hand for a 1-0 Mt Lebanon lead. At 4:08 of the opening period, Tony’Tom’ Valerino beat Thiessen with slick move on the forehand for a 2-0 Mt Lebanon lead. To cap off the first at 1:01 Eric Thiessen stopped Chad Uddstrom twice, but Rick Beuke found the puck on the doorstep and deposited it into the empty net for a 3-0 advantage and a 13-4 shot total in favor of Mt Lebanon. On to the 2nd Period and at 7:52 Fox Chapel broke through on the power play as Kyle Misour banged home a rebound of Tyler Keenan to cut the lead to 3-1 in favor of the Blue Devils. Then at 6:34, the Foxes came right back as Justin Kreps would not be denied and scored on his own rebound to make it a 3-2 game after some good work by linemates Joe Budz and Kyle Misour. Mt Lebanon would turn the tide with 5:05 left in the 2nd as Rick Beuke had a golden opportunity to regain a two goal advantage and missed a wide open net as the puck fluttered off his stick and hit the side of the net. The Blue Devils did capitalize at 1:11 as Mt Lebanon got an odd man break and took advantage of lackluster backchecking by the Foxes and Shane Ferguson made a great pass to Tyler Murovich who was parked in the crease to make it 4-2. Tony Valerino wasted no time getting into the act just 7 seconds later and beat Thiessen to extend the lead to 5-2 at 1:01. The Foxes and the Blue Devils both had 11 shots, but Lebo went to the intermission with a three-goal lead. The 3rd Period started and Matt Quigley entered the building and you just wonder if the Mt Lebanon players saw him when they scored in the end of the 2nd. At 13:44 of the 3rd the Blue Devils made it not matter [that Quigley showed] as Shane Ferguson found a wide open Tyler Murovich, who beat Thiessen on the backhand to make it 6-2. At 12:38, James Cichra got behind the FC defense and beat Thiessen on the forehand for a 7-2 runaway. The Blue Devils smothered the Foxes the rest of the way for an impressive victory at the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center.