Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

NEW KENSINGTON ~ The beautiful Valley Sports Complex offers fun for the entire family with weight facilities [which fellow Shaler coach Ron Steedle was checking out in the first period], a daycare center [which looks like Miss Jane’s Romper Room], a NEW fully stocked snack bar [with the biggest and best soft pretzels I’ve ever seen and French Fries, which my faithful assistant 4-year old Jamie just loved and plenty of Heinz Ketchup], is convenient to Penn Hills, Plum, Fox Chapel Murrysville and the rest of the Alle-Kiski Valley, an ice rink for THURSDAY night hockey to replace Harmarville [which since 1992 has hosted Interscholastic Hockey for Shaler, Fox Chapel, Central Catholic and Deer Lakes and since the PIHL Commissioner did not renegotiate the contract, which is part of his nearly $ 90,000 per year in compensation job, but he failed to do it and lost the ice to the Amateur Penguin organization, who slipped right into one of the best ice slots in Western Pennsylvania as part of the building of the awesome third pad at Harmarville] and TENNIS, of all things, not to mention Bubble Hockey in the game room, in which 4 year old Jamie and Mt Lebanon assistant coach Bobby Montana, had a knock’m down drag’m out best of 7 with Ron Steedle and Mt Lebanon Head Coach Paul Taibi and Steedle looking on while they waited for me to retrieve the 7:00 game scores and Mrs. Mauro to return from cleaning out the local Shop-N-Save. Tis the season to leave early and go to may favorite subject Hornets Practice. Mt Lebanon coach Paul Taibi is a smart man and he knew Matt Quigley had a practice at Neville Island. Hey Paul…..why are you always in the middle of this one [remember Luke ‘now you see him now you don’t DeLorenzo from Franklin Regional] ? So when an unidentified lady hit a powerful two handed Chrissy Evert backhand by her opponent and through the open door of the lobby and hit the fire alarm setting it off creating chaos prior to the start of the undefeated Fox Chapel – Mt Lebanon showdown, coach Taibi cried wolf and was concerned about Carbon Monoxide in the building…..knowing all along the Mr Hornet would have to leave soon. Now league rep Kevin Keller, formally of the Golden Mile has seen it all…..believe me, including a TENNIS BALL, of all things hitting the ice during a 2 on 1 between R.J Umberger and another Plum player during the Director’s Cup final in 1998, which thwarted a potential go ahead goal, so he wasn’t buying it and said ‘play ball’ or is it hockey ? I must be sniffing too many Zamboni fumes [so all for who voted in our lasted Pa Hockey survey……you are ALL paying attention !] . Billy Leckenby, Mt Lebo’s undisputed leader, who played for the Hornets, told them to pound salt and joined Morts SHAHA Team [and not Taibi’s split season Predator’s team as previously stated], so he focus full attention on the Blue Devils leading them to their first State Championship since 1976, back when his father and late uncle where playing for South Hills Catholic and leading them to the title in 1979. Now Keith Kearney’s Foxes are undefeated at 6-0-0, in first place in the East Division, and having a great season thus far. What an opportunity to show how far the Foxes have come, especially in light of this was virtually the same Mt Lebanon team, who extinguished the Fox Chapel season in the playoffs a year ago with a 6-0 pasting at Mt Lebanon. The thing that mucks this story and the classic showdown between Mt Lebanon and Fox Chapel down is a little 10+ page contract that has the words in it something the affect that Hornet players may not miss practice for ANY High School activity…..Extor____….whoops they get sensitive about that one ! After listening to the KDKA Sports Talk with Paul Alexander [who I grew up with and lived down the street from in Forest Hills] Wednesday night on my way to Indiana, he stated in now uncertain terms…..quote: “that conflicts in amateur sports are running rampant and ANY coach who deters a young adult from excelling by creating scheduling conflicts does NOT have the best interest of the athlete in mind”….well done Po ! So this Fox Chapel team, its coaching staff and parents have busted their rear ends to get their program to the next level and its being extinguished by a choice that a player [the best player on the Foxes] and his family have to make at 8:45 on a Thursday night and EVERY Thursday night. The distraction is and will be a Cancer for the Fox Chapel Hockey Club and if you don’t believe me ask Jim Damp and Franklin Regional, who maybe could have won it all, but it finally caught up with them in the Penguin Cup final and maybe a red-hot Meadville team had a little to do with it. So we at Pa Hockey [A/K/A One Man’s Opinion] are all about solutions and I know Mr Kearney will love this one and so will Paul Taibi, who are BOTH a strong supporters of Interscholastic Hockey and ADVANCING players to the next level. Enter George Kelly, who is the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Amateur Penguin Organization……who runs a great Junior B program, headed by Dan Serakowski and Brian ‘Brains’ Errigo, who not only support High School Hockey, but have gone out of their way to encourage kids to play in their high school games like Ryan Tessmer of Pine Richland and even Ian Beitler and Sergio Somma, who for some unknown reason still don’t play for Plum ?. Let’s start a Midget AAA Travel team as a feeder program for the Junior B program or maybe Junior A NAHL or USHL [which is the big Hornet promise] that plays Saturdays and Sundays with ALL Home games in the beautiful Harmarville facility and maybe a limited Travel schedule with NO CONFLICTS and a limited practice schedule and Ron Steedle and myself will coach it and maybe Keith Kearney would like to join in. Quigley will play for it [five minutes from his house] and never miss a Fox Chapel game for his Junior and Senior years [since he is 15 years old and only a sophomore]. Then High School Hockey can return to Harmarville AND Valley Sports Center on Thursdays and I will continue to do the PIHL Comissioner’s job for him while he sits at the computer and puts scores in [sometimes the wrong scores because he’s too lazy to confirm them but at least we’re getting our monies worth keeping him up past 11 PM] and very rarely attends any games and faces the people, who pay his outrageous salary. Solutions! Solutions! Solutions! That is what Pa Hockey is all about and you only need one click to Game Summaries and there is NO need to navigate the PIHL Web maze so they can sell advertising and never report the income website. Whew ….now I got that off my chest …wasn’t there a hockey game be played tonight between # 5 ranked and undefeated Fox Chapel [6-0-0] and # 4 Mt Lebanon [6-1-1] or is it Tennis Anyone ? Zamboni fumes that’s what it is right Paul ? Need to get to the doctors ….hope Ms Mauro returns from her shopping spree soon or is this another childish rank and rave ….Mr Hockey North where are you?. The first period was well played before the intimate gathering at the VSC as the Foxes and the Blue Devils skated and backchecked and limited one another to little if any chances. The best chance of the opening period was on a Mt Lebanon power play at 5:54 as Todd Hendry made a nice save on Michael Jordan to keep the game scoreless through one as Fox Chapel held a 3-2 shot advantage. On to the second period and Mt Lebanon picked up the pace and took advantage of a Foxes turnover at 11:30, but Hendry stopped Tony Valerino. The Blue Devils almost scored again but Hendry stoned Eric Sloan from in tight at 11:07. As they always do Mt Lebanon kept on coming and on the next shift Valerino provided the work and Sloan snuck behind the Foxes defense and slid the puck just inside the near post for a 1-0 Blue Devil lead at 7:55. With his team needing to get back in the hockey game, Matt Quigley left the ice and did …..great for the team spirit…eh ! Mt Lebanon jumped all over that one as Billy Leckenby rifled a shot from the top of the circles over the glove side of Todd Hendry at 7:24 and all the sudden its 2-0. After Tony Valerino hit the post at 2:06, Fox Chapel picked up the pace and had several good chances, which was matched by Mt Lebanon’s ability to play to the final whistle and it remained 2-0 at the ice cut. The sign of a great team is their ability to go for the jugular and pounce on a wounded animal and tame it. Mt Lebanon knows all about that one and Craig Anderson provided the dagger as he scored just :59 seconds into the final period for a 3-0 lead. Matt Vaughn robbed Fox Chapel’s Joe Budz in the middle of the period but had a pretty routine night stopping all 13 Foxes shots. The Blue Devils would have the final say on this one as Michael Jordan finished a great passing play with Dan Wilen at 1:55 and Mt Lebanon walked away with an impressive 4-0 victory in a statement game in Class AAA.