What a weekend the club had in Atlantic City.    And was it ever a long and memorable weekend.  In a tournament that looked like it was not going  to happen, if the weather forecasts of sever thunderstorms all weekend proved correct.  The start time was delayed by 4 hours as we waited for the rain to stop.  It eventually did stop and it held off all weekend which gave us a chance to play.  Some of us were involved with so many teams we were at the rinks from beginning to end on Saturday and Sunday.  But it was well worth the effort.

We were well represented in A.C. this weekend as the Howell Blackhawks sent five teams to the tournament.  Unfortunately the Howell Blackhawks 10-U and 14-U "A" team were left on the waiting list, but we still had a Blackhawk team in the 8-U division, the 14-U division and the 17-U division.  And we had two teams in the 12-U division.  An "A" and a "B" team.  And at the end of the day, we saw the mighty Blackhawks send all 5 teams to their divisions championship games. WOW.  It wasn't easy for them. 

8-U team
In their final round robin game the 8-U had to team had to hold their opponents to 3 goals to qualify for the championship game.  They did, and were able to play in a real nailbiter.  Funny thing is, when the round robin ended, they did not know they qualified and all the players began leaving.  But a frantic Ed Miccuilli.  was able to chase everyone down before they drove away and managed to get the team to the rink in time to play the championship game.  The "little Hawks" did a fantastic job and made all the older boys proud of them.  Click here to see the teams tournament review.

12-U "A" team
The 12-U "A" team held a 2-1 record after round robin play and finished first in their group.  Their one loss was a real heartbreaker as they held a 1-0 lead until the final minute of play.  With less than a minute we committed our 5th penalty and on the other team scored on the penalty shot to end the game in a tie.  In the sudden death shootout, the other team outscored us 1-0. In the final game we needed to outscore the other team by  2 goals to win the group.  And we did that.  We won our first game and advanced to the championship game, which we lost to the John J. Islanders. And it was real close.  We finished in second place against one of the Elite teams in our division.  The boys did a great job. And we were real proud of the boys. Congratulations Islanders on winning the 12-U Elite/Competitive Championship.  Click here to see the teams tournament review.

12-U "B" team
We had so many players in the 12-U bracket we decided to start a second team.  We called it the "B" team and entered them in the Recreation bracket.  The "A" team was in the Competitive/Elite bracket so we entered this team in the Recreation Division to give the club a chance at multiple championships, and to keep the our club from having to play against itself.  Well the "B" team did not play like a "B" team as we went undefeated in round robin play.  We won our group and played the Group "B" second place team.  After beating the Blast, we advanced to the Recreation division championship game which we lost to the Roadrunners.  We finished in second place with what we called our "B" team.  And we were real proud of the boys.  Congratulation roadrunner's on winning the 12-U Recreation Championship.  Click here to see the teams tournament review. Click here to see the teams tournament review.

14-U team
Two 14-U Blackhawk teams registered for the tournament.  The "A" team was entered in the elite/competitive division and the "B" team was entered in the recreation division.  Unfortunately the "A" was put on the waiting list and never managed to get in the tournament.  The "B" team had the toughest battle ahead of them.  We lost our first game to the Mudwomps 3-0 and won the second game to end Saturday with a 1-1 record.  On Sunday we would be playing the 2-0 Marlton Chiefs who beat the Mudwomps.  Not only did we have to beat the Chiefs, but we had to beat them by 3 goals to qualify for the championship game.  We saw a four goal second period lead reduced to a two goal lead late in the game, but we scored that final goal to get us into the championship game.  We played a thrilling championship game that saw us start the third period tied at 2.  We eventually scored with less than 2 minutes left and iced the game, the championship and an invitation to the Nationals in Florida with an open netter.  Congratulations Blackhawks "B" team on winning the 14-U Recreation Championship. Click here to see the teams tournament review.

17-U team
This team got a last minute call to play as they were on the waiting list.  They lost the first game against the Manalapan Braves and had to fight their way back into the playoffs.  Which they did by winning the remainder of their games.  And they wound up facing the Braves in the championship game. This was a heck of a battle that saw the Blackhawks down 3-0.  For motivation one of the Braves pointed to RJ and said "He wanted what that kid was wearing".  He was referring to RJ's NHL Breakout Championship medal.  He didn't know he was pointed at a "Blackhawk Championship medal".  They were holding the lead 3-0 at the time, but that was the beginning of the end.  The next 5 goals were scored by the Blackhawks who scored twice on four penalty shots and 3 more times to lock up the game.  Congratulations Blackhawks on winning the 17-U Championship.



The next step for the 14-U's and 17-U's is the 2000 NHL Breakout the Championships.  For the second straight year they will be held in Downtown Disney in Orlando Florida, on January 12-14.  We hope that we get enough interest among the players and their families to send both teams to Disney World.  It will be tough as many kids have commitments that might prevent them from making the journey.  Hopefully we can get all the kids that played in A.C. to be involved with what might just be a "Once In A Life Time Opportunity".  But before that, we need to get the 12-U team to join us, so it is off to Rye and Washington first. And with the ability of those kids, we have no doubt that they will be joining us.  

Anyone with fund raising ideas, please e-mail me.  Any sponsors interested in helping out, e-mail me. 

Click here to see some great deals on airfares from Newark to Orlando on the dates we will be in Disney World. The day I wrote this there were a lot of round trip flights for $169.50 per person.

Click here to see the message we left on the Howell Sports Board. Feel free to add a message to the postings. (Hint Hint Hint)