Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

MT LEBANON – A lot of people have caught the fancy about the ‘Green Acres’ characters used in the ‘Game Summaries’ and with that said another perfect opportunity presented itself as I headed back to Mt Lebanon for one of the biggest games of the season. Enter Arnold ‘Slick’ Ziffel, the famous pig who knew one thing and that is how to change the channel on the Ziffel family television and since tonight’s game was being televised to somewhere, how appropriate to for Arnold ‘Slick’ to make his debut on Pa Hockey. Anyway young Arnold had a favorite TV show if you might remember and that show was ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and the modern day version of late in PA Hockeyland, not to be confused with TV Land, is the Bethel Park – Mt Lebanon rivalry, which I am sure Arnold would have just loved. Take us back to last March, when Bethel Park met Mt Lebanon in the Penguins Cup Elite 8, only to lose 2-0, which the Blue Devils used as a springboard to win the 2004 Penguins Cup. This season, it was undefeated Bethel Park, who pasted Mt Lebanon early in the season 6-2. So a great rivalry in one of the best places to watch a game in Western Pennsylvania at the Mt Lebanon Rec Center with the # 2 ranked Hawks and the # 3 ranked Blue Devils before a packed house with people around the glass, as parking was at a premium. No Who’s Who night and No Clipboard Rule in effect, this would be a pure hockey game and with great atmosphere which I am sure even Arnold ‘Slick’ Ziffel would mutter ‘shame on you for six weeks for missing this one. The first period was a chess match of line matching between Paul Taibi and Jim ‘Mort’ McVay as Bethel trapped Mt Lebanon only yielding two shots. Mt Lebanon had the best chances of the opening period at 12:26 as Bryce Merriam stopped Tony Valerino and Michael Diethorn made an all-world play to break up a possible 2 on 0 with Tony ‘Tom’ Valerino and Tyler Murovich at 9:56. Bethel Park pummeled Evan Baehr with nine shots. But the game remained scoreless after one. On to the second and the Blue Devils had another decent opportunity as Craig Anderson was stopped by Merriam at 12:02. Back came Bethel Park who worked the puck into the Mt Lebanon zone and but could not beat Baehr after they controlled the play for well over two minutes. Mt Lebanon overextended their shift and finally worked the puck out of the zone and Bethel Park maybe got a little overzealous as a defenseman pinched creating an odd man break for the Blue Devils. Shane Ferguson chased down the loose puck in the Bethel zone and got just enough on the chip pass to find freshman Tyler Murovich in front at 9:10. Murovich quickly gathered the puck and made more moves than ‘Mae West’ beating Merriam to give Mt Lebanon the games first goal and a 1-0 lead. Murovich got loose again on the very next shift and was hauled down giving the Blue Devils a power play and a chance to go up two. Bethel Park had the best chance as Tim O’Brien nearly scored on a backhand shorthanded at 6:12 and then was stopped by Evan Baehr at 4:03. The third period was all Bethel Park as they applied good pressure early on outshooting Mt Lebanon 10-4. The best chance came as O’Brien was stoned on a backhand attempt at 7:51. The Blue Devils took a page out of Bethel’s book during the last five minutes blocking several shots and limiting the Hawks scoring chances. Conner McLean nearly tied the game on a tip with :26 seconds left which was gloved by Baehr. Bethel pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and nearly tied the game as Michael Diethorn’s backhand beat Evan Baehr cleanly just seconds after the games final buzzer giving the Blue Devils a heartstopping 1-0 victory over previously undefeated Bethel Park.

MEADVILLE - Special Report to PA Hockey provided by McDowell McDowell's Kaylan Rhoades had two goals and one assist to lead the Trojans to a hard fought 5 - 3 victory at Meadville. McDowell never trailed in the game, but never enjoyed more than a one goal lead in the high energy contest. Tony Michylak and Mark Skirzynski each chipped in with a goal and an assist for McDowell while Adam Haas rounded out the Trojan scoring. Meadville's Pat Leone struck twice while teammate Tyler Learn scored once. Trojan netminder John Cleary stopped 27 of 30 Bulldog shots while Meadville's rookie goaltender stopped 20 of 24 shots with an empty netter closing out the scoring for McDowell. Goals By Period: McDowell / 2 - 2 - 1 = 5 Meadville / 1 - 2 - 0 = 3

Bethel Park Martin Luther King Invitational January 14-17 2005 Friday Bethel Park 6 Hudson 0 Predators 4 North Allegheny 0 Sycamore 4 Lancaster 2 Orchard Park 9 Carmel 1 Saturday Bethel Park 5 Lancaster 0 Hudson 5 Sycamore 1 Carmel 5 North Allegheny 2 Predators 3 Orchard Park 1 Bethel Park 6 Sycamore 0 Lancaster 6 Hudson 5 Orchard Park 4 North Allegheny 1 - Shootout Predators 4 Carmel 3 Sunday Semi-Finals Bethel Park 1 Orchard Park 0 Predators 7 Hudson 1 Championship Predators 2 Bethel Park 0 Congratulations Predators AA ~ 2005 Bethel Park MLK Champions

Every February Pa Hockey goes through the process of picking the top 25 players in Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. Soooo....... after much anguish and paring down a list of about 100 players the Top 25 in Western Pa is here and its sister Top 25 in Eastern Pa is here as well. And if that isn't enough our annual list of the top 5 Fans is here and Top 5 Freshman who have bolted onto the scene as well as our Top 5 coaching performances[ Eastern and Western Pa]. Finally, if you are going to battle or want to build a company the question is who would you want to be on the Board of Directors of that entity....well our Top 10 Scholars are a start and I have a sneaking suspicion some of these kids are Ivy League material and the top 10 'Green Acres Moments in Pa Hockey ! Enjoy it ! Comments are welcome ! And if you don't like it go cry about it on PIHLWeb Discussion Forum ..... The Pa Hockey Top 25 is one reason why it the # 1 Interscholastic Hockey Website in the State of Pennsylvania ! The Pa Hockey Top 25 is now available !

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****