2017 Presidents Cup Recipients, Girls, Mites, Elite & Gold A Championship Match-Ups and Much More!

Volume 1 Issue 5 | February 23, 2017

NIHL'S BEST FLOW 2017

Vote for the NIHL player sporting the best flow in this season's NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament Championships! We'll have new match-ups each day on our Twitter page during the NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament weeks.

Who's got NIHL's Best Flow? You make the call @NIHL_Hockey

2017 WOLVES CUP UPDATES

Congratulations to all our NIHL Teams who have advanced to the NIHL Championship Games at Joliet Inwood! Please visit the NIHL website for games times.

10U GOLD

Glenview vs. Sabres

GIRLS 12U GOLD

Sabres vs. Falcons

GIRLS 14U GOLD

Jets vs. St. Jude 1

GIRLS 19U GOLD

Vikings vs. St. Louis Cyclones

MITE CALDER

Bulldogs #1 vs. Blackbirds #1

MITE TURNER

Bulldogs #2 vs. Blues #2

18 & UNDER (MIDGET) ELITE

Bloomington #1 vs. Jaguars #1

10 & UNDER (SQUIRT) ELITE

Vipers #1 vs. Rockford #1

10 & UNDER (SQUIRT) GOLD A

Northbrook #1 vs. VIkings #1

12 & UNDER (PEE WEE) ELITE

Express #1 vs. Glenview #1

12 & UNDER (PEE WEE) GOLD A

Wolf Pack #1 vs. Blues #1

14 & UNDER (BANTAM) ELITE

Ice Dogs #1 vs. Hawks #1

14 & UNDER (BANTAM) GOLD A

Jaguars #1 vs. Huskies #1

LIVE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES!

NIHL will be live-streaming all the NIHL Wolves Cup Championship games from the Inwood Ice Arena in Joliet. This includes the championship games on Feb. 25-26 and the championship games the following weekend button to the right to WATCH LIVE!

As of Monday, February 20, 2017 ~ The first weekend of this season’s NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament provided several jaw-dropping results, proving once again the parity that exists in the league’s playing divisions.

Squirt Elite – Presidents Cup winner Sabres have been knocked out
PeeWee Elite – (4) Express and (7) Glenview playing for championship
Bantam Gold A – (7) Huskies will play in the championship
Squirt Silver – (16) Chargers knocked out (1) Winnetka
Squirt Silver – (14) Ice Dogs took out (3) Yellowjackets
Bantam Silver – (16) Bloomington knocked out (1) Ice Dogs
Squirt Bronze – (13) Vipers eliminate (4) Huskies

We still have more Gold B, Silver and Bronze 1st Round single-elimination games left to play as well as a few Elite and Gold A round-robin games; so who knows what else could happen before we get to next weekend’s games. Keep track of what’s going on in the NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament by visiting the nihl.info website and clicking on the bracket boards in the Wolves Cup tab.

CLICK & WATCH!

ZERO TOLERANCE REMINDER

By Art Koudelka, NIHL R&E Chairman

The NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament has begun. Good luck to all of the teams playing for a championship banner! There will be many hard fought battles on the ice and emotions will be running high, both on and off the ice. Parents and spectators are expected to follow the "Zero Tolerance" policy of USA Hockey, AHAI and NIHL. The NIHL Wolves Cup tournament hosts will be wearing grey jackets with the Wolves Cup logo and will be enforcing "Zero Tolerance" at all host sites. Anyone violating zero tolerance will be given one warning. Any zero tolerance infractions by that person or persons after that warning will result in ejection from the rink. Additionally, that person or persons will be reported to AHAI and NIHL Rules and Ethics for further disciplinary action.

CONGRATULATIONS 2016-17 NIHL PRESIDENTS CUP RECIPIENTS

By Ruben Medina, NIHL Statistician

The NIHL 2016-2017 Regular Season has ended, tiebreakers have been invoked where needed and the Final Standings are complete. Below are the 22 winners of the Presidents Cup for this season. FULL ARTICLE>>

NIHL'S ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

By Sue D'Anza, NIHL Registrar

As the end of the 2016-17 hockey season draws to a close, I am here to remind you that the deadline for NIHL’s Academic Excellence program is only a few weeks away. As of this writing, out of nearly 5000 skaters in NIHL only just over 100 are on the academic list. We can do better than that!

If your NIHL player is in grades 1 through 8, they must send a copy of their report card from any grading period showing straight A’s (not including P.E.). If your school or district gives something other than typical letter grades – shapes, numbers, colors, etc. – we will accept the best grade available as an “A”.

If your player is in high school, they must send a copy of their report card from any grading period showing they have made the “B” Honor Roll or have a “B” average (again, not including P.E.). Don’t forget to mark the box indicating a high school player.

Each recipient will receive two free tickets to a Chicago Wolves game and their name posted on the NIHL website. High school students will also receive an Academic Excellence plaque.

The forms and all other necessary information are on the NIHL website. You have until April 1, 2017 to get these in. Let’s show Illinois that NIHL players are just as amazing in the classroom as they are on the ice!

Click HERE to view the current list of Academic Excellence Award Recipients!

FINAL LIST OF NIHL UNBEATENS FOR REGULAR SEASON

By Ruben Medina, NIHL Statistician

The Regular Season ended this past weekend and checking the standings we can see that the final number of NIHL Unbeaten teams is EIGHT! That’s 8 out of 340 teams in the league, or just 2%. Only two teams in the entire league were unbeaten and un-tied.

Glenview Girls 10U went 15-0-0
Komets 1, 18U (Midget) Tier 2 went 18-0-0

Congratulations to all these unbeaten teams for a great run during their Regular Season. Now it’s tournament time! The NIHL Wolves Cup Tournament starts NOW!

CHICAGO WOLVES NEWS

What a terrific time of the year as the spotlight turns to hockey! After months of practices and games, youth hockey players are hitting their peak just in time for the biggest games of the year. Just as teams all across the Chicago area are trying to finish strong, the Wolves are still climbing toward the top of the American Hockey League’s Central Division.

The Wolves open a six-game homestand with our School-Day Game on Wednesday, which provides a great opportunity to let 10,000 school children know how much fun it is to watch (and play) hockey.

The six consecutive home games also provide our team extra chances to recognize some of the leaders in our hockey community.

For example, here is one of the latest Youth Hockey Team of the Month Award recipients, presented by XFinity: Skokie Flyers PeeWee 3 (December).

We are continuing to honor worthy hockey moms for the Hockey Mom of the Month Award, which comes courtesy of Little Debbie: congratulations to Christine Henriksen of Bruins Mite 2 (January). Christine will be honored at a game in April and will be in the running to be crowned as the Hockey Mom of the Year.

Jordan Nunez, who plays for the St. Jude Knights, earned the Youth Player of the Month (presented by Moe’s Southwest Grill) for December.

There’s still time to nominate your favorite player, team or hockey mom for these honors, which include some great outings at Wolves games and other prizes. Please visit ChicagoWolves.com and fill out a brief nomination form.

If you’re trying to find the best time to attend a Wolves game, there are several great giveaway nights coming soon. Saturday, March 4, is American Girl Night – and the first 5,000 girls to enter Allstate Arena receive an American Girl Wolves t-shirt. Sunday, March 5, is Super Hero Day. The first 1,500 children 13-and-under receive a super hero cape presented by Rosemont -- while everyone has the chance to meet Captain America and Spider-man!

Lastly, the first 7,500 fans through the doors on Saturday, March 18, receive a lighted baton courtesy of DecisionOne Dental Partners.

To get the best ticket deals, call 1-800-THE-WOLVES or visit ChicagoWolves.com.

GAME OF THE WEEK HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS!

NIHL has posted 7 more Game of the Week Highlight Videos! Click on game title to view the game highlights. A HUGE thank you to SportsTownChicago.com and the Illinois Media School for producing these great videos. Click HERE to view the entire video library from the 2016-17 season.

Hawks #1 vs. Sabres #1 (Sept. 22, 2016)

Cyclones #1 vs. Hawks #2 (Sept. 29, 2016

Northbrook #2 vs. Express #1 (Oct. 4, 2016)

Wilmette #1 vs. Ice Dogs #1 (Nov. 17, 2016)

Sabres #3 vs. Wolfpack #1 (Nov. 22, 2016)

Northbrook #1 vs. Ice Dogs #1 (Dec. 15, 2016)

Jaguars #1 vs. Huskies #1 (Dec. 22, 2016)

NIHL BANNER PRESENTATION NIGHT

MVP will be on the ice and presented with the team's championship banner at intermission, player and team name announced, picture on the ice with Wolves GM, Wendell Young and more! COMPLETE DETAILS>>

WOLVES CUP & PRESIDENTS CUP APPAREL AND MINI BANNERS

Tier 1 Sports has you covered! Visit their website for Wolves Cup apparel, cell phone covers and Wolves Cup Mini Banners! They also have Presidents Cup Apparel and Mini Banners!

www.tier1sports.com