2010 Squirt B State Championship Tournament
Random Photos from the Tournament
9:42pm CentralI don't know who's more exhausted - the kids or the parents! It's 20 to 10 "our" time right now and
this hockey mom is wiped out, but felt the need to get this done before she hits the sack. I would like to
introduce you to the 2010 Michigan State Squirt B Hockey Champions - the IAHA Ice Hawks!!!!
These kids had some seriously GREAT hockey going on this afternoon with the St. Ignace Saints -
in fact, this game could have gone either way. With both teams digging, working, passing, receiving,
shooting on goal, and some kick-butt goalie action, (not to mention quite a bit of sin bin time) it was
truly down to the wire. The final score: 4-3 IAHA in a 6 minute sudden death overtime (goal was
scored at 4:39).
I seriously can't express how excited we all are - and so incredibly proud of these kids and coaches!
I can't give a play by play - it was so fast-paced, an auctioneer would have been necessary to call the game!
I will give you the breakdown of the goals and penalties, as well as the most touching part to this sappy,
webmaster, squirt mom.
In the first period, it really looked like the Saints were going for it - we had beaten them during pool play,
they sure didn't want another loss to us (and who can blame them, they had an awesome season with some
42 wins and 2 losses I believe one of the players told me)! They came on strong, and even with a penalty at 2:38
by Hunter Frasier, scored even strength at 5:42 by Kody Pickley with the assist going to Logan Dekeyser. Someone's
Crazy Legs son decided this was a good time to start our team off with sin bin time, so Brandon Spindlow was in the box
at 5:43 and the remainder of the period was scoreless. End of period 1: 1-0 Saints.
The, um, "play" during the second period remained fairly consistent...we were consistently in the penalty box! Jared
Helms of the Saints went in at 1:03 for hooking, Mikey Alfonso went in at 1:32 for hooking. We had a real doozy
when somehow Brandon Spindlow managed to hook a player at 3:55 while evidently Pete Ropiak tripped (I believe) the
same player (hmmmm). Pete went back in at 7:49 with a hook.
The Saints scored on the Power Play at 8:11 with a single-handed goal by Hunter Frasier. Things got a little dicey at 9:57
with opposing penalties on the Saint's Logan Dekeyser for roughing and the Hawk's Richard Lachappel for slashing. The
Ice Hawks took all these penalties in stride and Pete Ropiak scored unassisted at 10:19. At 10:59, Cody Lambert took
his turn in the box for tripping. Whew, finally the end of the second period: 2-1 Saints.
Can we say "tension, excitement and no vocal cords left?" The Hawks head right into the third period - and the box.
Pete Ropiak took a hooking call at 1:19 and Jared Helms of the Saints headed next door with double penalties at 2:24:
interference and tripping.
This gave the Hawks a Power Play opportunity that we took advantages of. Lee Hedtke scored the tying goal with the assist by Mikey
Alfonso at 3:53. Frustration was really starting to mount on both sides and Logan Dekeyser headed back to the box at 4:34
with a tripping call. The Hawks put some super effort in and pulled ahead on a goal scored by Brandon Spindlow, assisted
by Pete Ropiak.
Josh Arthur made his first trip to the box of the game with a tripping call at 6:12 and Lee Hedkte was close behind with the
same call at 8:46. Kody Pickley scored the tie at 9:16, unassisted on the Power Play. All of these kids worked their tails off,
made some great shots, passes, and WOW, were they skating! They ended the period in a 3-3 tie. But, hey, its a State
Championship - someone had to win....here we go, six-minute, sudden death overtime. A three minute break, and back to
work both benches went.
Both teams started the overtime period short-handed after Dekeyser received a tripping call at the end of the third period and
Lee Hedtke called for tripping, putting the Saints on the Power Play. Lee sprinted back out, ready to score.
But, the Hawks did it - Neil Tomasoski scored the game winning goal at 4:39, with the assist by Lee Hedtke.
The gear flew, the parents, grandparents, friends and relatives screamed, hollered, and cried with happiness!
And, the part that touched this mom's heart: Coach Ropiak awarded the MVP award to the entire team.
"You are never satisfied with merely sitting by and watching the world turn without you.
You are one of those energetic, visionary individuals driven to take part, to influence
what happens, and to make a permanent mark - whether or not you are remembered for it yourself."
-Stella Wilder, Horoscope in Grand Rapids Press, March 11, 2010
To the Saints, should you read this, THANK YOU for a well-played game, for great sportsmanship, and for Yooper
parents who are as loud, or louder than we are! To the officials, thank you for a game that was well-managed (even
if some of the calls were a little tighter than we're used to)...we know your job is tough.
To the Hawks & their parents - WE ALL ROCK!!!!!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 12:00pm EST
HOLY COW!!!!! No matter what the U.P. wins the State Squirt B Hockey tournament!!!!
This morning, at the 8:30am (CST) game, the St. Ignace Saints came back from 0-2 deficit to
take the Novi Predators 7-2, securing their position in the finals on Sunday, March 14,
2010.
Then - of course the best thing - the Ice Hawks pushed hard against the host West Kent Hawks
to take the spot in the finals. Yes, folks, the Iron River Ice Hawks will be playing the St. Ignace
Saints at 3:30pm (CST) for the Michigan State Squirt B Championship.
The Ice Hawks came on strong in the first period with 2 goals by Pete Ropiak (5:45 & 9:30) assisted
by Dylan Berlinski the first time and Lee Hedtke. The 2nd goal by Ropiak was on a powerplay. Mikey
Alfonso scored the 2nd goal of the game on a power play, assisted by Brandon Spindlow.
The second period brought on some heat as the West Kent Hawks picked it up a little. Jared Jackson
scored at 4:03, following an Ice Hawk goal by Mikey Alfonso, assisted by Lee Hedtke at 2:59. West
Kent continued to put the pressure on by scoring at 10:26 on the Powerplay by Jared Jackson unassisted.
Danny Nelson came right behind at 11:42, scoring again for West Kent with assists by Jared Jackson and
Kyser Weih.
Several players thought the sin bin would be a cool place to hang out during this period: at 4:28 Ryan
Calvert of the W.K. Hawks for tripping; Pete Ropiak for slashing at 6:59; W.K. had a bench minor
for too many men (boys) at 10:16 ; Neil Tomasoski did some time at 10:20 for body checking; Sam
Coretti (West Kent) got a call for elbowing at 10:43; and West Kent's Jared Jackson was called for roughing
at 4:42. The period ended at 4-3 Ice Hawks.
On came the third period and our Ice Hawks decided they should step it up again. One trip to the penalty
box by Pete Ropiak at 4:42 finished up our jail time. He made it up with an unassisted goal, giving Ropiak
a hat trick at 9:29 (even strength). Miguel Padilla scored the final goal of the game, assisted by Lee Hedtke,
at 10:27 on the even strength.
The crowd went wild and da Yoopers have first and second this year folks! Listen for your phones to ring
and watch the website for the happenings this afternoon!
Sunday's Games:
_Novi Predators ____
8:30 Central __St Ignace Saints__
__St. Ignace Saints_____
3:30pm Central __IRON RIVER ICE HAWKS____
____Iron River Ice Hawks
9:45 Central __Iron River Ice Hawks____
____West Kent Hawks
St. Ignace Saints vs. GRAHA Griffins, Game 3, Sasturday, March 13, 6:45pm (CST)
The Saints ended the game with the Griffins in a 2-2 tie. If you look at the standings, you'll see they were tied for 2nd/3rd
place prior to this head-to-head game. It took quite a while for the tournament committee to work through the tie breaker,
but the Saints took the 2nd place position by having the most periods won during their head-to-head game with the Griffins.
Iron River Ice Hawks - Game 3, Saturday, March 13, 5:30pm (CST)
Allen Park's Huskies came out ready to rumble - they took a 1-0 lead early in the first period, managed to sneak one more
by goalie Brandon Henschel, and win their only game of the tournament. The Hawks remained scoreless (though with many
shots on) for the game. We still place first in our division and will play in the semi-finals at 9:45am (CST) - don't forget to
"spring ahead."
Iron River Ice Hawks - Game 2, Saturday, March 13, 10:45am (CST)
Wow! Another well-played game. The Grand Rapids Griffins came out strong in the first period with a goal at 5:37 by
Austin Brown, assisted by Hayden Heys. The Ice Hawks tied it up at 8:03 with a goal by the "little guys"...Dylan Berlinski
assisted by Caleb Johnson. THe Griffins closed the first period with a goal at 11:30 by Nicholas Vantil.
Heading into the second period, the Hawks scored at 2:10 with an unassisted goal by Pete Ropiak. Tensions were
starting to run a little higher and Vantil of the Griffins received a penalty for slashing at 6:15. The Hawks put an an even
strength goal at 9:37 by Brandon Spindlow (oh, yeah ;), assisted by Lee Hedtke. The Griffins got one more penalty for
hooking (Jacob Demeter) at 11:45. Pete Ropiak got a tripping call at 11:34, and the period wrapped up with the score
at 3 for the Ice Hawks and 2 for the Griffins.
The third period the Hawks hit the sin bin early with a hooking call for Cody Lambert at 1:43. The Griffins took advantage
of the Power Play and Austin Brown scored at 3:46. Topiak decided a tie didn't work for him and scored unassisted at 6;08
A little fracas occurred at 7:07 - two Grand Rapids players (Nicolas Vantil & Jacob Demeter) were in the box for hooking and
roughing, and our Dakota Hawkes was given a match penalty & 5 minute penalty for high sticking. The Ice Hawks decided a
one goal lead wasn't enough so Caleb Johnson popped one in at 7:47 on the Power Play with assists by Lee Hedtke and Neil Tomasoski.
Still didn't work for them, Lee Hedtke nailed one at 8:45 with assists by Pete Ropiak and Caleb Johnson. All players from
both teams skated hard, but even with one more penalty by Hayden Heys at 11:32, the score remained at 6 - 3 for the final.
At this point, the Hawks will finish first or second in their division. We will play at 9:45 (CST) tomorrow morning.
Stay Tuned!!!!!
Saturday, March 13, 10:30am St Ignace Saints vs Allen Park
Have to give St. Ignace some face time! They came back from a 0-4 deficit in the first period against Allen Park.
With a third period meant to stop parent's hearts, the Saints ended with the win 7-6! Congratulations, Saints!
Iron River Ice Hawk - Game 1, Friday, March 12, 6:05pm (CST)
The Squirts came out on top tonight in a well-played, very tight game. Both the Ice Hawks and the
Saints showed great defense and speed throughout all three periods.
The Saints scored early in the first period (1:48 by Kody Rickley; Assist by Sawyer Kulman), but the
Hawks, held scoreless for the first period, kept the Saints to just the one goal for the period.
One Hawk penalty for tripping was administered in the first period. The period ended with the Saints
on top 1-0
The Saints had a hooking call early in the 2nd, followed closely by a hooking call on the Hawks.
At 8:50 of the 2nd period, Pete Ropiak scored an unassisted goal. Up to this point, both teams were
skating hard and really working the puck and speed back and forth. Hunter Frazier, of the Saints,
snuck in the Saint's 2nd goal at 9:15. The 2nd period ended with the Hawks down 1-2.
The third period, the pace picked up even more (I didn't think it was possible - even the high
school boys were watching the first period and part of second...went to get dressed, and came
back out to watch the rest of the game)! The Saints received two penalties 33 seconds in and
1 minute 9 seconds in, giving Neil Tomasoski a Power Play goal at 1:37, assisted
by Natalie Tomasoski and Mikey Alfonso. Mikey then scored at 3:05 unassisted by cleaning up
the rebounds around the net. The Hawks receiving a tripping call just after that, which allowed Hunter
Frazier his second goal of the night at 4:47 on the Power Play. Game tied 3-3.
Pete Ropiak scored the final goal of the game at 8:57 and while the Saints had one more penalty,
the Hawks worked hard to hold the Saints to 3.
Shots on goal were not recorded for either team, but by guestimation, I'd have to say shots on were
pretty even for both teams
| American Conference | Win | Loss | Tie | National Conference | Win | Loss | Tie |
| West Kent Hawks | 2 | 1 | 0 | Allen Park | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Fraser Falcons | 1 | 2 | 0 | GRAHA Griffins | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Novi Predators | 3 | 0 | 0 | St. Ignace Saints | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Saginaw | 0 | 3 | 0 | Iron River Ice Hawks | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| National Conference Games (Time) | Home | Away | Score |
| Friday | |||
| 4:50pm | Allen Park | GRAHA Griffins | 1-7 |
| 6:05pm | St. Ignace Saints | Iron River Ice Hawks | 3-4 |
| Saturday | |||
| 9:20am | St. Igance Saints | Allen Park | 7-6 |
| 11:35am | GRAHA Griffins | Iron River Ice Hawks | 3-6 |
| 5:20pm | Iron River Ice Hawks | Allen Park | 2-0 |
| 6:35pm | GRAHA Griffins | St. Ignace Saints | 2-2 |
| American Conference Games (Time) | Home | Away | Score |
| Tie | |||
| 2:30pm | Fraser Falcons | West Kent Hawks | 0 - 4 |
| 4:35pm | Novi Predators | Saginaw | 4 - 2 |
| Saturday | |||
| 7:00am | Fraser Falcons | Novi Predators | 1-5 |
| 8:05am | West Kent Hawks | Saginaw | 8-4 |
| 4:00pm | West Kent Hawks | Novi Predators | 0-2 |
| 5:05pm | Saginaw | Fraser Falcons |
2010 MAHA District 8 Champions!
