Local Clubs Celebrate Made in the USA Titles Jr. Coyotes, Knights rule the roost at the Sonoran-hosted Labor Day showcase
By Shane Dale C
oyotes and Knights dominated Labor Day Weekend in the Valley.
The Phoenix Jr. Coyotes’ Squirt A and Mite A teams, along with the Arizona Hockey Union Knights’ White and Minor squads, won their respective divisions of the Made in the USA tournament hosted by the Sonoran Youth Hockey League (SYHL) over Labor Day Weekend. “This is a preseason warm-up kind of event,” said SYHL commissioner Bob Strong of the seventh annual tourney, which was played at the Polar Ice facilities in Chandler and Gilbert. “It’s always been designed to let coaches have an op- portunity to see what they’ve got.” In all, 21 teams participated in this year’s tournament. Here’s a breakdown of the champs from each division:
Squirt A - Phoenix Jr. Coy-
otes: With seven tournament championships last season - five against a higher age group - coach Mike Panowyk’s Jr. Coyotes Squirt squad is no stranger to success. The Jr. Coyotes defeated the Arizona Runners, 3-2 in overtime, in the tournament’s Squirt A championship contest.
“A bounce actually went in our favor in the last few seconds of the championship game as the final buzzer sounded, just a second before the Runners snapped a potential winning goal into our net,” Panowyk said. “Josh Doan is playing defense for the first half of our season as a
to say coach Steve Potvin was not expecting his Mite A squad to win the Squirt B division. “We expected to be competitive, but we were very happy with the outcome, obviously,” he said. The Jr. Coyotes’ 02s went 5-0 in the tourney, defeating the Jr. Coyotes’ 03s, 3-1, in the champi- onship game. “We outshot them by quite a bit, but their goal- tender was exceptional that day and we couldn’t sneak one in,” Potvin said. “It was a real exciting game. We managed to score our first goal late in the second period and then we scored two in the third to win.”
The late second-period marker was huge, Pot- vin said.
a 3-1 win over the New Mexico Ice in the title contest. “We only played one game before the tourna-
ment,” said coach Jeff Shevalier. “We want to win every game, but we went into the tournament to find out where we stand as a team. I was very pleased with how our team performed. “We played a solid team out of New Mexico (in
the championship game), and our goalie played re- ally well. He made some key saves during the final five minutes.” Shevalier said both of his team’s goalies
stepped up during the showcase. “We have three lines and, every game, one of
them stepped up and played really well,” he said. “We really never had a game when all three lines played well collectively, but that’s to be ex- pected from 12-14-year-old men.” Pee Wee A - Arizona Hock-
ey Union Knights: Two Knights teams squared off against each other in the championship con- test of the Pee Wee A bracket, with the White team prevailing, 2-1, over the Silver squad. “From the beginning of the
game, the kids really were ready to go,” said Knights White coach Jason Roque, who wasn’t sure just how well his club would fare against some of the best teams from inside and outside the state. “They just hustled and did every- thing they could. “They continued to listen to
Winners of seven tournament championships a year ago, the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes’ Squirt A team is up to its old tricks again this season after capturing its division’s title at last month’s Made in the USA tourna- ment.
development experience, but, in the overtime, we brought him up to play forward. On his second shift there, he scored to win the game with about a minute left before we (would’ve gone) to the shootout.”
The Jr. Coyotes’ top performers throughout the tournament were goaltender Hunter Mitchell, who allowed just three goals in four games, along with Hunter Hastings and Mathew Knies, both of whom notched hat tricks in the tourney, and the entire defensive unit, Panowyk said. Squirt B - Phoenix Jr. Coyotes: Suffice it
“It gave us a little bit of momentum,” he said. “I just think it kind of eased us a little bit instead of trying to do everything all at once. It definitely relaxed us a little bit.”
The Mite A squad received great performances in the tournament from its goaltender and its backline, according to Potvin.
“We didn’t give up a lot of shots,” he said. Bantam A - Arizona Hockey Union
Knights: The Knights’ Minor team went 4-1 in the five games it played in the tournament en route to the Bantam A championship, earning
the coaches and their teammates to motivate themselves; they did a good job.”
Roque credits a total team effort for its success
at the showcase. “That’s why we did so well; there wasn’t one
guy or even one top performer,” he said. “It was just constant hustle. “I think everyday we’re going to have to work
harder as time goes on, and other teams are go- ing to get better as well, so we’re going to have to push as hard as we can. “It’s not going to be an easy year, I can tell you
that. We’re going to have to push hard for every win we get.”
RubberHockey.com 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24