Jets, Cats open with wins at Chipotle USA Hockey Nationals

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

A pair of Wisconsin-based teams made up primarily of junior and senior varsity players both had a successful opening to the 2021 Chipotle USA Hockey Youth Tier II 18U National Championship tournament in Green Bay Thursday (April 29) afternoon.

Of the 32 teams that opened play Thursday, half are in the 3A Division including both the Janesville Jets and Green Bay Bobcats 18U teams.

The opened at the same time at the Cornerstone Ice Arena in Green Bay, the Jets earning a 4-0 shutout win against the Pittsburgh Predators in the Resch Olympic Pavilion while the Bobcats earned a Hilliard/Weyers Arena. Teams are playing in all three ice surfaces there as well as the De Pere Ice Arena.

Janesville Jets 4 Pittsburgh Predators 0

Isaac Frenette, an ‘02 senior at Chippewa Falls opened the scoring for the Jets and added a set ups on a pair of middle period markers scored by Mason Manglitz (’02 senior, Onalaska) and Calvin Grass (’03 senior Fond du Lac Springs) at the Resch Olympic Pavilion.

The final nail came from Cade Janecke an ’02 senior from Monroe who also played a couple games at the end of the season with the Oregon Tradesmen of the NA3HL.

Goaltenders John Schroeder (’03 University School) and Ian Hedican (’02 Madison West) split the work in goal, sharing a 21-save shutout as the Jets outshot the Preds by a 38-21 margin. The Jets keepers both made some impressive stops, in particular Hedican at the start of the third period as the Predators followed the game’s only intermission with some inspired play in the opening minutes looking for a goal that would vault them back into the contest.

Hedican made the early saves and an early goal, although disallowed shifted momentum back in the Jets’ favor as they went on to outshoot the Preds 17-10 through the final 17 minutes.

The Jets are one of four teams in the Olympic Division and will play its second round-robin game against the Minnesota Moose at 12:15 p.m. Friday. The Moose also won its first contest, 7-2 against the Igloo Jaguars from New Jersey. This game will be played in the Hilliard/Weyers Arena.

Green Bay Bobcats 2 Team Ohio 1

The host Cats rallied back from a 1-0 first period deficit at the Hilliard Weyers Arena thanks in part to a standout effort between the pipes from Lincoln Simons (’04 Ashwaubenon) who handled 31 of 32 shots against, including everything he saw after Team Ohio hit the mesh 14 seconds into the contest.

Teig Dreisen (’03 Ashwaubenon) evened the score with his goal 6:22 into the middle period from Thoms Vandelist from De Pere.

Teams were even at the second period break and the Bobcats captured its first and only lead 5:04 into the final 17-minute session as Dayne Deanovich (’03 Fond du Lac Springs) sank the game winner from Grady Coppo from De Pere and Cooper Routheau from Green Bay.

The Bobcats hope to carry the momentum from its comeback win into its second round-robin contest in the USA Division at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Hilliard/Weyers rink against the Cheektowaga Rec Hockey team from New York.

Round-robin matches will wrap up Saturday with half the field eliminated there. The top two teams in each of the four divisions will return to play Quarterfinals and semis Sunday and the National Championship will be decided at 11:15 a.m. Monday.

Anyone who can’t make it to Green Bay can follow the action on HockeyTV. Also, for more information go to http://www.nationals.usahockey.com and follow the links for the Tier II 18U Nationals.

Jets open Nationals with 4-0 shutout against Pittsburgh Predators

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Janesville Jets 18U squad, including Trevor Slaght, RWD junior could not have planned a better opening to the Chipotle USA Hockey Tier II U18 National Championship tournament in Green Bay Thursday afternoon.

Playing in the Cornerstone Ice Arena, Resch Olympic Pavilion, the Jets played a near flawless opener and grabbed a 4-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Predators in the opening contest in the four-team Olympic Pool, one of four groups in the 16-team 3A Division.

The final nail came from Cade Janecke an ’02 senior from Monroe who also played a couple games at the end of the season with the Oregon Tradesmen of the NA3HL.

Hedican made the early saves and an early goal, although disallowed shifted momentum back in the Jets’ favor as they went on to outshoot the Preds 17-10 through the final 17 minutes.

While he didn’t show up on the game sheet, Slaght turned in a steady game for the Jets, playing a regular shift, backchecking well and finishing several checks.

The Jets will be back in action at 12:15 p.m. Friday, the Moose coming off a 7-2 win in its opener against Igloo Jaguars from New Jersey.

This game, and all games from the National Championship tournament will be on HockeyTV.

Note to Self — Outdoor videos on a windy day are a BAD idea. Tomorrow’s will be better.

Jets hit the ice against the Pittsburgh Predators in their opening match at the 2021 Chipotle USA Hockey National Tier 2 U-18 National Championship tournament in Green Bay.

Slaght, Jets kick off Nationals in Green Bay Thursday

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Trevor Slaght hasn’t skipped a beat since the end of the varsity hockey season.

As a junior on the RWD varsity hockey team, Slaght played in 19 games and collected nine goals and 20 points with six minutes in penalties. He was third overall in team scoring and played a big role on special teams with the RWD Cheavers.

Before the season began, Slaght played with the Janesville Jr. Jets U-18 squad and among the team’s early fall accomplishments were a berth in the Chipotle USA Hockey Tier II 3A Nationals which are one of three divisions being played in Green Bay starting Thursday.

There will be 16 teams from across the country participating in the 3A Group including the Jets and the host Green Bay Bobcats representing the host state.

Slaght and the Jets will begin play at 2:30 p.m. Thursday (April 29) against the Pittsburgh Predators.

On Friday, the Jets will face off against the Minnesota Moose from Minnesota in a 12:15 p.m. contest at Hilliard/Weyers Arena and the Jets will wrap up round robin play at 12:15 p.m. against the Igloo Jaguars from New Jersey.

All games take place at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center in DePere, Wis.

The Jets, Jaguars, Moose and Predators will make up the ‘Olympic’ Pool at the tournament while the host Bobcats, Littleton (Colo.) Hawks, Cheektowaga (N.Y.) Rec Hockey and Team Ohio will play in the USA Pool. The Boston (Mass.) Jr. Terriers, Montgomery (Md.) Blue Devils, Michigan Hockey and Tri-Valley (Calif.) Blue Devils will play in the NHL Division and the Liberty pool will include Genesis Hockey Club (Penn.), Orland Park (Ill.) Vikings, McKinney (Texas) North Stars and Wonderland (Conn.) Wizards.

Top two teams in each division will advance to quarterfinals beginning Sunday morning.

Fans who want to cheer on Slaght and the Janesville Jets can do so on HockeyTV.com

The tournament has attracted 32 teams all together, the 1A and 2A Divisions with eight teams competing, none of them from Wisconsin.

Scott’s 10 points helps ’05 Blue Devils to Ultimate Showcase title

By Jim den Hollander
Publisher/Editor
Saukhockey.info
John Scott clearly never tires of playing hockey. After wrapping up a solid sophomore season with the RWD varsity hockey team with points in 17 games, Scott has returned to the Blue Devils organization.
This season, the ’05 squad was by invitation only and rather than practicing out of Tomah, the team is heading across the Mississippi River to La Crescent under the tutelage of former NHL pro player Eriah Hayes.
The AAA team took part in the ‘Ultimate Showcase Minnesota’ tournament at the Tria Rink in St. Paul, the practice rink of the Minnesota Wild April 16-18.
He found a familiar face in the lineup when Brady Baldwin, also from RWD was asked to join the team for the weekend with one player absent, observing COVID-19 protocols.
Scott enjoyed a huge weekend and helped power the team to an undefeated weekend with 10 points in five games in the four-team event.
The Blue Devils played twice on both Friday and Saturday and returned for the Championship game on Sunday.
On Friday, the Devils opened play with a 6-1 win against the Midwest Warriors from the Andover, Minn. area
.Scott opened the scoring in the contest with a solo effort and added an assist later in the contest.
Against the Minnesota Enforcers later Friday, Scott added another goal in a 4-3 edge against the Minnesota Enforcers which plays out of several Twin Cities area ice surfaces.
The team wrapped up round robin play early Saturday with a 9-0 whipping of the My Edge National All Stars. Scott led the charge with three more goals and a set up while Baldwin also collected a goal.
Ranked on top after round robin play, the Devils took on the Enforcers who surprisingly gave them the toughest match early, in the semis. This time around, it was a 7-2 win for the Devils who secured a berth in the championship game with the win, thanks in part to Scott who fired the game winner, putting the Devils up 3-0 in the first period.
It was the All Stars again in the championship game, but it was they put up a stronger fight this time around, an early first period goal standing up as the lone score until the third period went the Blue Devils widened thegap. The game winner came about four minutes in and Scott added insurance with his goal a little over six minutes from the final horn.

Not a great camera angle, but this is John Scott jamming home the insurance goal in a 4-1 in the Minnesota Ultimate Showcase AAA Tournament in St. Paul April 18.

Wilcox, Othmer and Dietl play in Kohlman Cups

By Jim den Hollander
Publisher/Editor
Saukhockey.info
This past season saw the RWD Peewee ‘A’ squad bring home a Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) Peewee 3A Peewee Consolation Championship plaque, but several players from that team have continued to play into the late spring/early summer months.
Among them are three team members: Ethan Wilcox, Paige Othmer and Hailey Dietl were invited to participate with their respective Region Four teams.
The tournament is an early look at some of the top peewees in the state, playing on one of the six Regional teams that went head-to-head in one of four tournaments.
Othmer was a member of the 2008 Region 4 Girls team while Ethan Wilcox played on the ‘09 Boys team and Dietl performed for the ‘08 Girls squad.
Wilcox hit the ice first playing in the hockey-crazy town of Hudson, Wisconsin March 27-28. In the first game, the Region 4 squad played Region 3 (Milwaukee Area) and dropped a 2-1 decision, then battled Region 6 (Tomah north to Hudson) to a 3-3 draw, both games played on the Saturday.
Those results ranked the Region 4 team third in its pool, and it returned to play Sunday against Region 1 (Northern Wisconsin) pummeling them 15-2 to wrap up fifth spot overall.
Two weeks later, Othmer and Dietl made the trip to Chippewa Falls to play in their respective tournaments.
Dietl’s ‘09 team went winless through round robin, dropping a 6-0 decision to a team made up of players from Regions 2 (Central Wisconsin) and 3 (Green Bay), then dropped one goal decisions to Region 1/6 (3-2) and Region 5 (2-1).
Othmer’s squad meanwhile went undefeated in pool play, grabbing a 5-3 win against Region 3 and collecting a 4-2 win against Region 6. With the top spot in the ‘National’ Pool, the Region 4 team was scheduled to play the second tanked team from the ‘American’ Division, Region 5 in a semi-final match with the winner advancing to the tournament championship.
Unfortunately, semi-final and final scores were unavailable at the time this was written.

Lake Delton Ice Arena wraps up with first Ice Wars tourney

By Jim den Hollander

Publisher/Editor

Saukhockey.info

The final official event of the hockey season locally took place with the running of Lake Delton Ice Arena ‘Ice Wars’ held April 9-11.
The event brought together 120 skaters at the Squirt and Peewee level – a unique tournament that saw individual registrations as opposed to teams signing up. While a solid number of locals took part in the event, there was also players from as far away as the St. Louis area involved as well as across Wisconsin and other neighboring states.
The 60 players at each level were split into two groups alphabetically and run through the paces by Dells Ducks Assistant Coach and local skating guru, Anthony Rohde while under the watchful eye of some of the area’s top youth, college and high school coaches. Four coaches at each level ‘drafted’ players during these sessions.
Immediately after the second session at each level, players returned to the ice area where Lake Delton Ice Owner Aaron Kirby announced team members draft style and they proceeded to the ice where they were handed a jersey representing either Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.
Each team was guaranteed three round robin matches with the top two returning for a fourth to settle the championship.
In the Squirt Division, Team Navy and Team Marines squared off in the Championship game with Team Marines prevailing and the Peewee game saw Team Air Force overcoming Team Marines in the final.

Sauk players busy as off season teams start up

By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
It is surprising how long the hockey season is, even at the local level.
This has been a crazy couple years for everything and as hockey fans, we have gone from not being able to watch our heroes on television to seasons ending at crazy times. We should be halfway through the opening round of the opening round of the post season – at least in a normal year we would be. Instead, we are about a month from the start of a post season that will carry us into July.
If the 2021-22 regular season begins on a normal schedule, the teams playing in the Stanley Cup will have 5-6 weeks off before returning for training camps for what will be another long season with a break in February 2022 for the Winter Olympics which NHL players will be participating in.
Locally, the final event was Ice Wars, a unique event at Lake Delton Ice Arena that brought together players from across the Midwest as well as a solid contingent of locals.
Aaron Kirby, owner of Lake Delton Ice was the organizer of the event that saw individuals at the squirt and peewee level signing up. However, several others have continued playing, with the Blue Devils AAA squad, out of Tomah, the Wisconsin Junior Stars out of the Madison area and the Janesville Jr. Jets.
Local players also played in the peewee Kohlman Cup tournaments recently, representing WAHA Region 4.
Articles on all of these events will appear in this space over the next few week as well as updates on the Dells Ducks junior hockey team, and some looks back at the 2020-21 varsity seasons for RWD, Baraboo/Portage, Sauk Prairie Eagles and the Badger Lightning, as well as a look back on the college seasons for local players.
Also, a summer of research and compilation will see much more statistical information and points of interest for the varsity and junior teams in the season ahead.
I recently made a connection that should see my varsity stuff get a lot more views and I am excited about that.
This past season I took saukhockey.info to a new level and it became recognized across the county. I am looking forward to the off season allowing me to get set for this fall a more organized and wider blanket coverage on all hockey in Sauk.
I am also dusting off another website/facebook page I had sort of shelved to dedicate more time to Sauk Hockey so it should be a fun summer.

Ice War at Lake Delton Ice Arena this weekend

By Jim den Hollander

Publisher/Editor

Saukhockey.info.

The Lake Delton Ice Arena will be ground zero for a unique eight-way battle beginning Friday night.

The first ‘Ice Wars’ will provide local squirt and peewee players a chance to test their wares with and against players from across the Dairy State.

The brainchild of Lake Delton Ice Arena General Manager, Aaron Kirby, the Ice Wars is a unique tournament which did not involve team, but individual registrations. The tournament is a success before the first puck is dropped with the maximum 60 players and goaltenders reached in both age brackets.

Friday night will see the players put through the paces beginning at 5 p.m. with Evaluation phases. Players will be watched by coaches during their evaluations and then ‘Drafted’ onto one of four teams immediately after – those four teams will go under the names ‘Army,’ ‘Navy,’ ‘Air Force,’ and ‘Marines.’.

There will be four sessions Friday as players take part based on last name – Squirt’s A to M hitting the ice first at 5 p.m. followed at 5:40 p.m. by Squirts N to Z.

The draft will take place at 6:30 with the two peewee sessions starting at 7:15 p.m. and followed up by the draft at 8:30 p.m.

Teams have a chance to play four times on the weekend. The first three being round-robin games with the top two teams in each age group returning for Championship games Sunday at 2 and 3:30 p.m.