Volume 11 Issue 4 | April 2023 |
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT | |
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Congratulations to all the young men who attended the AHAI Development Camp in Mt. Prospect last weekend. It was a grueling 2 1/2 days of hockey. This represented the best players in the state in their age groups. Although only a select few will advance to the Central District Camp, everyone should be proud that they had this opportunity.
The young women were attending the Central District Camp in Green Bay this weekend. Illinois was well represented. Congratulations to all of our girls who attended and hopefully they get the opportunity to go on to the National Camp.
Spring is underway and the 22-23 season is winding down. Thank you all for participating in this great sport.
The future of Illinois Hockey has never looked better.
Kevin Bolger
President
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2023 AHAI ANNUAL MEETING NOTIFICATION LETTER | |
Attention Affiliate Club and League Presidents: 2023 AHAI Annual Meeting Notification Letter
The 2023 Annual Meeting of the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, Inc. (AHAI) will take place on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. The event will be held at the The Westin Chicago Northwest, 400 Park Blvd., Itasca, IL 60143. Further information regarding the Annual Meeting schedule will be distributed to Affiliate Presidents.
Any individual who wishes to submit a new By-Law proposal or make a change to an existing By-Law must submit their proposal(s), in writing, to the President of AHAI, Kevin Bolger at president@ahai2.org, no later than Thursday, May 5, 2022 5PM. Thank you for all your help and cooperation in the furtherance of youth hockey in Illinois. - AHAI Board of Directors
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The schedules for Tier I Youth, Girls & Midgets have been announced. Please click here to view schedule. Good luck, players!!! | |
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Congratulations to all of the players that were invited to this year's Player Development Camp. After Saturday's games the 2006, 2007 & 2008 birth years were cut down to 36 players to compete in Sunday's game. After that game the final 20 players were selected to advance to the Central District High Performance Festival on May 5-7th in St. Louis, MO.
The 2008 birth year players competed all weekend for a chance to advance to the Central District Bantam Development Camp on June 11 - 16th at Iowa State in Ames, IA. Good luck to all the player's selected to advance!
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America's Showcase Final Rosters
The Illinois High School Showcase Teams will compete in the 2023 America’s Showcase April 20 - 24, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Good luck to all!
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USA HOCKEY NATIONAL CHAMPIONS | |
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Congratulations to PREP for winning the High School Division II National Championship!
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We'd also like to congratulate Chicago Mission 14U team on their 2nd place finish in the Tier I Division, New Trier Green on taking 2nd place in the High School Prep Division and the West Dundee Leafs on taking 2nd in the Tier II 18U 3A Division. | |
Hornets Sled Team Wins National Title! | |
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The Hornets Youth Sled Hockey Team captured the National Championship title in Division 4 on Sunday, April 17, 2023 at the USA Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival by defeating the Colorado Avalanche in a shootout 2-1.
The Hornets led for most of the game until Colorado tied it up with less than 5 minutes to play. The game then went to overtime where no one scored. This was followed by a 3 player shootout where the Hornets finally outscored their opponent and took the national crown.
Congratulations to all of the Hornet sled players and staff on being National Champions.
We in the Illinois hockey community are proud of your efforts!
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Twice the Fun: Laube Twins On the Ice
By: Laurie Markowski, Chicago Bruins Girls Hockey Director
Hockey is a family affair and most families with multiple kids get to spread things out among various age levels. So, when it is Senior night or a Championship game, you can make an easier decision to watch the kid who is ending their youth career and hope that your other kids will have those opportunities in the coming seasons. When you have twins, everything is more challenging, let alone when those twins are on two different teams at two different clubs. That was the case for the Laube family. For most of their kids' youth careers, Olivia Laube has been playing for the Chicago Bruins girl's team and Jake Laube playing for the West Dundee Leafs. Their dad, Don Laube, has spent the past five seasons as a coach for the Chicago Bruins. This season, in the kid’s Senior year, his wife and the kids' mother, Tamara Laube, decided to make hockey all in the family and become the team manager for the West Dundee Leafs 18U CSDHL team. READ MORE<<<
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HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS | |
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Tyler Kolb Brings Explosive Offensive Skills To Illinois Showcase Team
By: Ross Forman
Tyler Kolb finished his high school hockey career, his third on the co-op Libertyville IceCats varsity team, with memories of the best team in club history and a personal statistics page that was nothing short of eye-popping.
Kolb, 18, a senior who lives in Vernon Hills and attends Vernon Hills High School, had 26 goals, 27 assists in 28 IHSHL North-Central Division Varsity Champions League games. His 53 points was only one behind league-leader Nicholas Lambert of state champion PREP.
Kolb had six multi-goal games and his 3 hat tricks was tops in the league. He also had 8 powerplay and 2 short-handed tallies.
“I had a very good season, which showed through individual stats, such as points and awards. More importantly, the IceCats set almost every team record for our program which (had) mostly been set during my junior year,” said Kolb, in uniform No. 16, an all-star and team captain. He also was named All-State and the All-State Game MVP. READ MORE<<<
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Murray shines on, off the ice with award-winning senior season as Lincoln-Way captain
2023 Blackhawk Alumni Scholarship Recipient Player Profile
By: Ross Forman
Tommy Murray III, a senior at Lincoln-Way Central High School who lives in New Lenox, had quite a memorable – and award-winning – high school hockey career.
As a freshman on the co-op Lincoln-Way Hockey Team, he was selected as an Illinois West Hockey League Academic All-Star, a Hayes League Academic All-Star and was the team MVP. He was also selected to the Illinois West JV All-Star Game where he grabbed the game MVP honor.
He skated at the varsity level for his final three varsity seasons, and the accolades continued.
As a sophomore, he was selected as an Illinois West Hockey League Academic All-Star and was awarded the Breakout Player of the Year Award-winner. READ MORE<<<
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Safesport Information for the 2023-24 Season
By: Laura Johnson, AHAI Registrar
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As we are entering the 2023-24 season, we have members that are trying to go online to RENEW their Safe Sport Training because their association may be telling them a deadline of when to get it done for the new season. Last year USAH told the membership that training would be due on an annual basis and no longer valid for the season. What this means is if a member took the training on 6/1/2022 they are still valid today. They will not have a course to take until 30 days prior to the expiration date. If the member goes to log in today in April, no course will show because they are too early. They must wait until 5/1/2023 for the course to appear. | |
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Members are receiving email notifications from USA Hockey to their primary email address once they are at the 30 day point to remind them it is now time to log in and complete the training. They will also get a reminder at 15 days and the day of if they don’t complete training prior to expiration date. If they go past their date they will get an email indicating they are no longer eligible for participation in USA Hockey until they take the training.
If you have questions regarding your Safe Sport Training Status please contact your organization’s Registrar.
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U.S. Captures Gold Medal at Women’s World Championship
Hilary Knight scores three goals and becomes first player to reach 100 points in Women’s Worlds history.
By: USA Hockey
BRAMPTON, Ontario – The U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Canada 6-3 to capture the gold medal in the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship Sunday night at the CAA Centre, claiming its 10th world championship gold medal and USA Hockey’s first since 2019.
Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) became the first player in Women’s Worlds history to reach 100 career points after finishing the game with a hat trick and 101 points. Her 5-on-3 power-play goal with 3:10 to go in the third period served as the game-winner to make it 4-3, and the Team USA captain added her second just 27 seconds later during a 5-on-4 opportunity when she tipped home a shot from Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.). READ MORE<<<
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Team USA Announces Roster for U18 Men's World Championship
By: USA Hockey
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today a 23-player roster for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team that will compete at the 2023 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship from April 20-30 in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland. READ MORE<<<
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Congratulations to the Illinois players and coaches named to the Team USA Under-18 Men's National Team!
Paul Fisher, River Forest
Cole Hutson, Barrington
Gabe Perreault, Hinsdale
Assistant Coach, Anthony Walsh, Burr Ridge
Director of Sports Science, Brian Galivan, Chicago
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Congratulations to the Central States teams who advanced to the 2023 USA Hockey National tournament. What a Great showing for Illinois your Organization’s and Our Central States Hockey League.
U18 WEST DUNDEE LEAFS 2ND PLACE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
U18 CHICAGO HAWKS 4TH PLACE QUARTER FINALIST
U18 LITTLETON HAWKS
U18 CHESTERFIELD FALCONS
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U16 LITTLETON HAWKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
U16 CHICAGO BULLDOGS 4TH PLACE QUARTER FINALIST
U16 AFFTON AMERICANS 4TH PLACE QUARTER FINALIST
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U14 LITTLETON HAWKS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
U14 ST. LOUIS EAGLES 4TH PLACE QUARTER FINALIST
U14 SABRES
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COACHING & OFFICIATING INFORMATION | |
Ask the Official
By Dave Zednik
QUESTION: A Coach verbally abuses an Official on the way to the
dressing room at the end of a period. What is the sequence of
penalties assessed to the Coach?
ANSWER: Yes, A bench minor penalty followed by a game misconduct penalty if the abuse continues. Rule References 601(b.1 and d.1).
Just as if it was during play, the proper sequence of penalties as outlined in the rules must be followed by the Referee. Rule 633 Refusing to Start Play would kick in if the situation were to persist at the start of the next period.
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Each month we will present a brief article on various health & safety issues relevant to youth hockey players. Today, we hear from physicians at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush on hip and groin injuries that can occur in hockey. | |
Hip and Groin Injuries in Hockey Players
By: Jorge Chahla, MD, PhD and Zeeshan Ahma Khan
Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush
Hip and groin injuries are some of the most common injuries in hockey due to the mechanics of the skating stride and goalie positioning. Sprains, strains, contusions, tendonitis, and bursitis are some of the most common soft-tissue injuries that can happen from the collisions encountered by hockey players, particularly when colliding against the boards or falling hard on the ice.
Overuse, acute contact injuries, or a natural developing process are the three main causes of hip injuries in ice hockey goalies. READ MORE<<<
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Chicago Blackhawks Summer Camps are back for 2023!
Camps will be held at the Chicago Blackhawks practice facility, Fifth Third Arena, as well as arenas in Hammond, IN, and Mt. Prospect, IL. All of our camps will feature experienced and highly skilled coaches, including Blackhawks alumni, to help your son or daughter learn from the very best in the business.
The sessions will be geared toward skills such as power skating, edgework, agility, puck handling and shooting. Participants will also work on team skills in 1v1, 2v2 and scrimmages. On the last day of camp each week (Friday), we play a variety of games -- a fun day for parents and siblings to come watch. Visit Blackhawks.com/camps for additional details and registration!
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