Volume 10 Issue 7 | July 2022 |
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT |
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I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We are gearing up for the 22-23 season. Before you know it the preseason clinics and try outs will be here.
This is a good time to take inventory of all the equipment, make sure it’s all there, fits and is still in good repair. Shoddy or broken equipment can be worse than no equipment at all. Be prepared physically and mentally for the new season.
Always try your best, but remember, you may not always make the team you wanted. You have to trust the coaches and work hard no matter team you make. Make the experience enjoyable. The most important thing is to have fun!
See you at the rink.
Kevin Bolger
President
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ILLINOIS PLAYERS SELECTED IN NHL DRAFT |
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Congratulations to the 3 Illinoisans Selected during the 2022 NHL Entry Draft!
The 2022 NHL Draft was held in Montreal, after being virtual in 2021 due to the pandemic. The first round took place July 7, and rounds two through seven happened on July 8th. In 2022, a total of 49 Americans were selected, including seven picks in the first round. Check out the USA Hockey Draft Tracker for details.
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TIER II CHOICE & TRYOUT INFORMATION |
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Tier II Substitute Choice Application Process for Youth 2022-23 Season
The Tier II substitute choice application process for youth teams, 10U through 16U/18U will begin on July 15, 2022. All applications will be submitted online here.
The Tier II Committee will have (2) two in-person appeal hearings for those denied a substitute choice. The dates for the appeals are August 10 and August 31 at 6:30 p.m. at Glenview Ice Arena.
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Tier II Tryout Information
Tier II tryout rules are stated under section 16.7 of the AHAI Rules and Regulations.
16.7 TIER II AFFILIATE ORGANIZATION TRY-OUTS
Tryouts and team selection process for levels 8U through 14U may not begin more than eight (8) days prior to the date of the nationally recognized Labor Day holiday of the playing season. Tryouts and team selection process for levels 16U and 18U may not begin prior to August 15 of the playing season.
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GIRLS TIER II INFORMATION |
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Hello to the Girls Hockey Community…. hoping everyone is staying safe & healthy this summer.
Our hearts & prayers go out to all those affected by the horrible & tragic shooting in Highland Park on July 4th!
While it is a difficult time, we need to come together as a Community & give our young athletes fun, hope & pleasant/positive distractions.
That being said, our June early tryouts for the Tier II Girls National Bound age levels were a huge success. There has been a tremendous amount of positive feedback & I want to thank all the Girls Organizations for their hard work in making it happen…. THANK YOU!
Regular tryouts for all age levels begin August 15th & early indications are showing this is going to be a successful & competitive season! The Tier II Girls Choice Substitution request application process opens July 20th & must be completed online – information is on the AHAI home page along with the link. Request applications will not be reviewed if not completed in full.
The Girls Calendar of Events on the AHAI website will be updated by August 15th so please be sure to check it often for the season’s events & important dates.
As always, please stay safe, stay healthy,
Anita Lichterman
AHAI Girls Chair
Tier II Substitute Choice Application Process for Girls 2022-23 Season
The Girls Tier II substitute choice application process, 10U thru 19U, opens July 20th. All applications must be submitted online here. The Girls Committee will only have (2) two appeal hearings this year for those denied a substitute choice. The dates will be determined based on the number of choices requiring a hearing. Any questions and or if denied, please email Anita Lichterman, AHAI Girls Committee Chair, girls@ahai2.org.
The deadline for applying for a substitute choice is September 5, 2022.
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New High School Season
By Jack Weinberg, AHAI H.S. Committee Chair
As the new season begins for high school there are some updates that you should be aware of. The big news is that the oldest division in high school hockey, the Hayes division, has folded. The changing demographics and the burden of trying to administrate the remaining teams that were left after many changed leagues or folded made the league unsustainable. Thank you to Rob Ince who worked tirelessly to keep the league alive.
The North Central Division announces that Jack Raslawski has been elected the new president of the league. Jack is the past Referee and Chief of Illinois, disabled hockey coach and member of several AHAI committees. Bob Wagner has done a magnificent job for the last decade and will continue to assist Ras in running the largest high school league in Illinois.
All of the combined applications should have been submitted by now. They will be reviewed over the next few weeks and the HS committee will contact programs with any outstanding issues.
More news to follow in the coming weeks!
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Goalie Program
We are facing a critical shortage of goalies in high school hockey. The goalie coordinator, Bob Wagner, is requesting that programs that need goalies for the upcoming season and more importantly programs that have extra goalies, boys or girls, contact him A.S.A.P.
These goalies are distributed by ability and location for 1 season to teams that are in need. They return to their home schools for the next season to be evaluated. If a goalie goes to a school that is not part of a high school program, they may request an assignment to a program in need. Allowing a “surplus” goalie to play and develop is great way to develop a strategic resource. Bob may be reached at rwags517@gmail.com or (847) 732-8768.
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OPRF is set to Unite & Conquer under new head coach Mike Murphy
Huskies move from the Scholastic Hockey League to Illinois West High School Hockey League
By Ross Forman
Mike Murphy brings more than 20-years of coaching experience to the Oak Park and River Forest (OPRF) High School bench as the team’s new head coach, though it’s his first-ever varsity head coaching job
The 45-year-old Lombard resident was the JV Director and JV Head Coach for BG/H/W, a co-op team of students from Buffalo Grove, Hersey and Wheeling that played in last season’s 16-team invitation-only JV State Tournament.
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“I’m 100 percent excited. I don’t even know why I would be nervous,” Murphy said. |
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“I don’t really put pressure on myself to have a record that determines whether I was successful or not, whether a team was successful or not. My success is almost fully determined by the excitement and the enthusiasm that comes from the season that we provide, which is the whole picture, including the team BBQs, fun in the locker room, etc.
“At the end of the year, sure, I love to win, but that’s not the end all, be all. The BG (JV team last season) lost in double-overtime (of the state tournament), in an incredible game. There wasn’t one kid on the team who thought, after we were eliminated, that the season was a failure. I know that’s what is going to happen this year at OPRF. We’ll win some games; we’ll lose some games. We’ll probably lose our last game of the season; almost every team does. But the guys will grow. They will learn what it means to be a teammate, what it means to pour everything into something and see that develop, get the most out of it. We will have incredible memories this year.” READ MORE>>>
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Information on Coaching Certifications
By Jim Clare, Illinois Coach-in-Chief
The USA Hockey Coaching Certification process has begun. Continue to check the USA Hockey website for virtual clinics. As with the past year, coaches will be able to attend any virtual clinic posted at
The clinic season runs through Dec.31. AHAI will also run a small number of in-person clinics, dates to be determined, for Level 1,2, and 3 only. USA Hockey staff will run the virtual clinics for all Level 4's. This year as we post Level 1,2, and 3 clinics we will be able to keep those private for a short period of time so only Central District coaches can sign-up before we open it to the entire country. Hopefully this makes it easier for coaches to find clinics. The first such clinic is a Level 3 on July 25th and 26th, the link to register for this Level 3 is https://myevents.usahockey.com/cn-virtual--cep-level-3-central-district-level-3. look for more notifications of additional clinics specifically for Central District in the future.
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13 Girls 16/17 Players Selected For Under-18 Select Camp
By USA Hockey
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USA Hockey Announces 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup - U.S. Under-18 Men's Select Team; Roster Includes Four Illinois Players
By USA Hockey
The USA Hockey BioSteel Boys Select 17 Player Development Camp took place June 22-27 in Amherst, New York. Select players advanced to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup camp June 27-29, where the U.S. Under-18 Select Team roster was selected. The camp was comprised of players from the 2005 birth year and includes the following Illinois players: Zack Sharp (Naperville), Andrew Strathmann (Beach Park), Mikey Burchill (Mundelein), and Andrew Kuzma (Naperville). READ MORE>>
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2022 U.S. Under-17 Men’s Select Team Announced
By USA Hockey
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Lane Hutson Named 2022 EJ McGuire Award of Excellence Winner
By USA Hockey's NTDP
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Hutson is first American to win the award since its inception in 2015
USA Hockey National Team Development Program defenseman Lane Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.) has received the 2022 E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence, the NHL announced Monday (June 20) evening.
The award, given annually, is presented to the NHL Draft-eligible player who "best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism" and is named for former NHL Director of Central Scouting, EJ McGuire, who passed away from cancer in 2011. READ MORE>>>
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Central District High Performance 14 Bantam Camp |
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The Central District High Performance 14 Bantam Camp took place June 12 - 17, 2022. 31 Illinois boys were invited to attend the camp held in Ames, IA at Iowa State University. The week included off-ice training, on-ice practices, guest speakers, team building activities and a game each day. There were 6 teams competing for the Connor-Dietz-Murdoch Cup. In the end it was Team Gold who won the cup with the following Illinois players: Peter Chlebowski (Goalie), Joseph Krausfeldt (Defense), Louis Vittorio (Defense), and Brendan Finley (Forward), Ashton Flores (Forward) and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (Forward). |
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2022-2023 IHOA Registration Update
By: Anthony Fiorito, IHOA Registrar
All IHOA Seminars are currently open for registration and will run now until the beginning of October. We may add some additional seminars if needed, but as of right now we do not have any additional planned. All of our seminars can be found on both USAhockey.com & IHOA.com.
Please follow the below steps to get registered for a seminar.
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Register as a Referee with USA hockey - this is different than the player registration, will need to register both as an referee and as a player(if applicable). - https://membership.usahockey.com/
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Register with IHOA and select a seminar - https://secure.offserv.com/ihoa/members/reg_register.asp (You will need to wait at least 24 hours after registering on USA hockey in order for your information to be transferred over to our system)
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Go back into USA hockey and select the same seminar that you have with IHOA (kind of redundant but we have to have it match on both sites in order to get credit) - https://www.usahockey.com/officialseminars
- Complete the USA hockey Open Book Test & Online Modules (all through the USA hockey website)
- If over 18, Complete SafeSport Training through USA hockey
- If over 18, participant must be screened & background checked through USA hockey
- Attend the IHOA seminar (virtual or in-person depending on what we are offering for next season)
- Once all requirements are complete, USA hockey will send you your Crest for the year and then you can go in and request games
For any questions or concerns please reach out to our IHOA Registrar, Anthony Fiorito, at Registrar@ihoa.com.
We hope to see you at our upcoming seminars.
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Ask the Official
By Dave Zednik
QUESTION: There are many different things that can be said that various people may find offensive. What judgment should an Official use in assessing a penalty?
ANSWER: Preferably, good judgment that holds players/coaches accountable for these types of actions. Rule References 601(a.2, b.1, c.2 and e.3).
There is no easy answer as individual people deem different things to be offensive. Most people will know an obscene gesture when they see it or hateful or discriminatory language when heard. These situations must be penalized according to the rule.
There are certainly other areas where offensive language may also be used and should be appropriately penalized. Officials are reminded that other penalties exist for these types of
actions, including unsportsmanlike conduct (taunting or inciting an opponent), or bench minor/misconduct for obscene, profane or abusive language. In each instance, the official should use their best judgment in assessing the proper penalty.
And, if in doubt, assess the proper penalty and report the actions to the Proper Authorities to review under supplementary discipline.
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CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS EVENTS |
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Host your event at Fifth Third Arena with exclusive access and unique covered ice opportunities. The Fifth Third Arena offers the opportunity to host events from birthday parties to corporate events. The practice home of the Chicago Blackhawks offers covered ice events for up to 1000 people. A normal ice rink can be transformed into an upscale venue or a large space for trade shows and expos. Make use of the Blackhawks private space at Fifth Third Arena by hosting events for up to 200 people. The Blackhawks private gym, Hockey Operations Suite, and Rooftop Deck all make unforgettable backdrops to any event. Follow the link below to see spaces and event options or to inquire about hosting your event at Fifth Third Arena.
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ILLINOIS HOCKEY HALL OF FAME BIO SERIES |
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JJ O'Connor, Builder's Category
There are always going to be opportunities and failures in life, the key is to see the possible and overcome the obstacles.
At the young age of 16 years old, JJ O’Connor is a young man of
inspirational, courage and determination who has demonstrated how to overcome life’s obstacles. When he was a senior in high school at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois in October of 1995 JJ was injured playing in his first hockey game of the season. After the injury, JJ was diagnosed as an incomplete quadriplegic, meaning he is paralyzed from the neck down.
After nine months of rehabilitation, he repeated his senior year in high school, taking three steps to receive his diploma. He received the Chicago Blackhawks Alumni Scholarship award in 1997 along with a full scholarship to Lake Forest College. After two years at college, JJ moved into the dorms and graduated Cum Laude with a major in business and a minor in communications. Not only did JJ receive the Tamara Lee Wefler Senior
Award for inspiration, he gave the commencement address before three thousand people, which was aired on Good Morning America. READ MORE<<<
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AHAI FOUNDATION GOLF OUTING |
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SHARE YOUR SUMMER PHOTOS! |
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Send Photos of Your Summer Fun to Share on Social Media |
Send us pictures of how you are enjoying summer break and we'll share them to the AHAI Instagram page. We can't wait to see how everyone stays active and spends their free-time in the off-season!
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SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER TODAY! |
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