Little Bear East To Host Squirt B District Hockey Tourney Feb. 8-10
By Ryan Schlehuber

St. Ignace Hockey Association's mite/initiation program was started again this year, with five players involved, including (from left) Kennedy and Callie Kammers, Dakota Holbrook, Gavin Gustafson, and Joseph Horn-Kelly. The program, which introduces children to the basics of hockey, started this winter but was put on hold for lack of coaches. It is now being headed by Rick Eberts (back, middle), who is being assisted by Mike Danielson (left) and Dave Kellan. (Photograph by Doug Goudreau)

Twelve teams will participate in the District 7 Squirt B playoffs at St. Ignace's Little Bear East Arena and Community Center Friday, February 8, through Sunday, February 10.

The host St. Ignace squirt team (players are between ages 9 and 10 years old), coached by Rick Eberts of Les Cheneaux, will compete with teams from Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, Petoskey, Alpena, Tawas City, Traverse City, and Cadillac.

Districts in hockey are held in February and winners of each district in the state qualify to play in the state finals at the end of the season in March. Teams will continue to play regular season games after districts through March.

Doug Goudreau, treasurer of the St. Ignace Hockey Association, said St. Ignace should be competitive with the top teams coming the District 7 tournament.

The winning team goes on to the state finals in Southgate. Adate has yet to be announced.

Assistant Coach Mike Danielson of St. Ignace has taken over coaching duties in place of Mr. Eberts, who is away on business for a month.

Midgets AA (ages 15-18) St. Ignace's Midget AA team, the Firehawks, coached by Joe Esson, will be preparing for postseason play in St. Clair Shores Friday, February 29, through Sunday, March 2.

The team traveled to Pittsburgh this past weekend to compete in a five-team tournament, missing the championship rounds by one goal. Overall goals served as a tiebreaker to determine advancement into the championship rounds.

The Firehawks, who finished 2- 1-1 in the tournament, had to beat their last opponent, the West Mall Lightning of Toronto, by two goals to advance. West Mall held a onegoal advantage coming into the game. The Firehawks won the game 2-1, but could not score that extra goal to earn the tie-breaker.

"The team played outstanding, especially our goalies," said team manager Paula Goudreau.

Jared Lucas was the team's starting goalie.

Matt Zalewski scored the first goal for the Firehawks in their last game, and was assisted by Tyler Christiansen and Taylor Dykstra. Mike Goetz got the second and final goal. He was assisted by Nick Schwartzfisher and Trevor Pinney.

Zalewski was the team's points leader for the tournament with seven points, collecting three goals and four assists.

The Firehawks were familiar with at least one team at the tournament, the Root River Rangers of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two teams met last year during the Rangers' Steel City Tournament, with the Firehawks the victors.

Coach Esson's team plays in the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League, one of the largest leagues in the country. It is operated by the Illitch family, who own the Detroit Red Wings hockey franchise and the Detroit Tigers baseball franchise.

The Firehawks are in Division II in the league, which include teams from Jackson, Battle Creek, Holland, Cadillac, Traverse City, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, which will play home games in Jackson.

This year's team, in its second year, is improving on its 23-35-2 record from last year, playing close to 0.500 hockey so far, said Coach Esson.

"We definitely have had our ups and downs and we've had a hard time gelling as a team, but I think we're performing better than last year," he said. "We're a better team, we're just not showing it yet."

The top four teams will advance to the state semifinals Saturday, February 23, and Sunday, February 24, at St. Clair Shores.

The Firehawks face Escanaba in the first game. St. Ignace is 2-1- 1 against Escanaba.

The second match-up is against St. Clair Shores. The Firehawks faced them this year, losing a close game, 4-3. The third and perhaps the toughest game is against Flint, said Coach Esson. St. Ignace went 1-3 against them this season.

"We win two games, and we're in," he said. "I think if we play as well as I expect they can, we'll make it. Our chances are really good."

Coach Esson is assisted by Matt Parker and Willie Soden. Student coaches and former players Kyle Stabile of Sault Ste. Marie and Mike McKillip of Petoskey are also assisting.

Bantam (Ages 13-14)

The St. Ignace Bantam team, coached by Eric Danielson, placed runner-up at its district tournament in Petoskey Friday, February 1, and Saturday, February 2. It lost a close 5-3 game to Tawas City in the championship game.

"I thought we played the best hockey all year," said Coach Danielson.

Tawas City will advance to state finals. The 12-team tournament included teams from Cadillac, Cheboygan, Tawas City, and Mackinaw City.

Pee Wee (Ages 11-12)

The Pee Wee team traveled to Gaylord Friday, February 1, and Saturday, February 2, making it as far as the semi-finals before falling to Gaylord 4-0, finishing 2- 1-1 in the 12-team tournament.

Coach Scott Winkelman was able to round up 12 players to make a pee wee team this year. At the start of the season, the hockey association was unsure it would have a pee wee team.

Last year, 17 players were playing at the pee wee level in St. Ignace, however, most, if not all, had advanced to another level or played elsewhere this year.

"I didn't think we were going to have one, but we were able to find 12 players so this is a very successful season," said Coach Winkelman.

Mites / Initiation (Ages 8 and younger)

Five children participated in the hockey association's mites and initiation program, coached by Mr. Eberts, Mr. Danielson, and Dave Kellan.

Players included Kennedy and Callie Kammers, Dakota Holbrook, Gavin Gustafson, all of the St. Ignace area, and Joseph Horn- Kelly of Trout Lake.

The group will finish its season at the end of February.

Additional Notes

The hockey association will be raffling four Red Wings hockey tickets for the final home game of the season April 7 against the rival Chicago Blackhawks.

Tickets are $10 each and proceeds toward supporting the local hockey programs and help curb expenses such as registration fees with USA Hockey.

The drawing will announced at the final home games for the squirts, bantam, and pee wee teams at Little Bear East February 17, during the Chipper Huskey Memorial Skate, which is open to the public after the games have concluded.

The day coincides with Hockey Weekend Across America, a red letter day for hockey fans to honor the sport.

To purchase raffle tickets, contact Doug Goudreau at 643-9845 or Scott Winkelman at 643-6970.

The hockey association will also hold its annual golf outing fundraiser at the St. Ignace Golf Course on Father's Day, June 14. The tournament will be a fourman scramble.

Local hockey players will volunteer to operate concessions at the Upper Peninsula Pond Hockey Championships on the ice of Moran Bay near the dock at Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry in St. Ignace Saturday, February 23, and Sunday, February 24.