Western New York Amateur Hockey League

Empire State Games Both Men and Women win Gold

07/28/2010, 9:46pm (EDT)

By Admin

Boys Scholastic Hockey Team wins Gold and matches their Girls/women counterparts at ESG

The Western Region men’s scholastic ice hockey team reclaimed what they rightfully believe is theirs — a shiny gold medal.

Forwards Matthew Pietrzykowski, Tim Kielich and Nicholas DiRienzo, as well as defenseman Kyle Mackey, all represented St. Francis at the Games, while Alex Iafallo, a smooth-skating forward from Eden, and Chad Kujawa, a defenseman from Lake View, also provided a great spark for the Western squad, which finished the tournament at 4-1.

Western clinched the gold with a decisive 7-1 win over Hudson Valley on July 25 at the Amherst Ice Rink. Fittingly, it was Iafallo who closed the game’s scoring late in the third period with a nifty shot over the goaltender’s catching glove on a 2-on-1 rush. Kujawa, who plays in the Little Caesar’s Amateur Hockey League, added two assists, while DiRienzo of West Seneca also reached the score sheet with one helper.

“It’s really something great, because we all wanted it so bad,” said Kujawa. “We knew we hadn’t been ready to play yesterday (in the team’s lone loss, 6-3 to Adirondack) and said ‘we’ve got to win the next two.’ We came ready to play today. We knew we had to just play as a team.”

Kujawa said that overall team camaraderie was a big strength for Western. “There’s a lot of kids from the area on the team, which is a good thing,” he noted. “It’s good to know the other guys’ style of play.”

First-year Games head coach Terry Miller said Saturday morning’s loss to Adirondack helped his team re-focus on the task at hand — re-capturing the gold after Western wasn’t able to medal in 2008 following eight straight top finishes in the tournament.

“We found it hard to get going that game, and it was really the bump in the road for us,” Miller said. “Everybody accepted it and we did what we needed to do today.”

Against NYC, Pietrzykowski, an East Bethany resident, and Kielich of East Aurora each scored, while Mackey, a Derby resident, added an assist. Iafallo, who took on the role of playmaker all game long and earned an assist, said he feeds off creating offense for teammates.

“That’s really what I like to do,” said, Iafallo, who also plays for the Buffalo Regals 18-and-under team. “It’s good to get others involved...It also helps knowing a lot of guys from the Southtowns, and the area in general, on the team. We’re a tight group. It’s a great experience being here.” Iafallo's sister won Gold with the Womens team a very special feat for the two siblings.

Against Long Island, Mackey assisted on the go-ahead goal in the third period, which came courtesy of Josh Kielich, who is the cousin of Tim. Iafallo iced the game with a late empty net goal and added an assist. In Saturday morning’s loss to Adirondack, Iafallo earned an assist, while that evening, Western bounced back to defeat Central, 3-1, behind Kielich scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal early in the third and Mackey adding an assist.

Miller said Friday he strategically planned to keep players from the same area together on lines to maintain familiarity and create chemistry.

“A lot of the kids know each other, with several being from St. Francis and surrounding schools,” Miller said. “Iaffalo really fills a playmaking role for us and has a great sense of what’s going on around him and what to do with the puck...As a team, we said all along that we’re not here to just medal, but to get the gold.”

Kielich said he enjoyed Western’s team togetherness while dorming for the Games, and having several familiar St. Francis players around. Pietrzykowski agreed that having several Red Raiders in the locker room made the transition into the players’ first-ever Games that much easier.

“It was great, having most of the guys know one another,” said Kielich. “But we all knew that this was really about one thing, the most important thing, which was getting gold.”

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Bradley makes USAH select 18 team

07/14/2010, 11:40pm (EDT)

By Admin

Williamsville's Chris Bradley headed to Czech Republic with team USA

Congratulations to Christopher Bradley from Williamsville for earning a spot on the USAH 18 U select Team that will be heading to the Czech Rep;ublic for the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

July 14, 2010
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Twenty-one players who participated at USA Hockey's Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp have been selected for the 2010 U.S. Under-18 Select Team that will compete at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament from Aug. 9-14, in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.

The Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp was held July 7-13, at the Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y.

Highlighting the roster are six players who were members of the 2009 U.S. Under-17 Select Team that competed at the 2009 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament, including Jay Williams (McLean, Va.), who led all goaltenders at the 2010 Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp with a .964 save percentage and 1.20 goals-against average, and Cason Hohmann (Plymouth, Mich.), who finished tied for third at the camp with nine points (3-6).

Other returnees from the 2009 U.S. Under-17 Select Team include forwards Alex Racino (Merrill, Wis.) and Lukas Sutter (Whitefish, Mo.) and defensemen Brian Cooper (Anchorage, Alaska) and Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio).

The U.S. roster also includes forwards John Gaudreau (Carney's Point, N.J.), who led all players at the Player Development Camp with 12 points (5-7), and Tanner Sorenson (Anchorage, Alaska), who led the camp with nine goals (9-1--10). Craig Duininck (Plymouth, Mich.) will add depth to the blueline, as he finished second among the camp's defensemen with five points (1-4). Steven Michalek (Glastonbury, Conn./.936, 2.02) will share the goaltending duties with Williams.

Five players on the U.S. squad played in the United States Hockey League last season, including forwards Seth Ambroz (New Prague, Minn./Omaha Lancers), Theo Di Pauli (Woodridge, Ill./Chicago Steel) and Hohmann (Cedar Rapids Roughriders), as well as returning defensemen Cooper (Fargo Force) and Murphy (U.S. National Under-17 Team). The USHL is the only Tier I junior hockey league in the United States.

NOTES: The 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament will feature eight countries separated into two groups. Group A (Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, United States) will play its preliminary games in Breclav, Czech Republic, while Group B (Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland) will play its preliminary games in Piestany, Slovakia ... Team USA has finished in the top three of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament nine times since the tournament's inception in 1991, including a first place finish in 2003. The U.S. finished second in the tournament six times (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2006) and finished third twice (1991, 1995) ... The U.S. roster includes 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. The 21 players represent 13 states, with three players coming from Ohio ... The 2010 U.S. Under-18 Select Team will be coached by Tim Army, head men's ice hockey coach at Providence College ... Army has twice served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team (1994, 1996), and was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey... Jay Varady, associate head coach with the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips, and Chadd Cassidy, assistant coach at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, will serve as the assistant coaches ... Army, Varady and Cassidy are all Level 4 USA Hockey certified coaches ... The annual USA Hockey Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp provides top young players with concentrated on- and off-ice training and instruction, as well as the opportunity to compete at a national level against other players from their age group.

2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament • Team USA Schedule
August 9-14 • Breclav, Czech Republic& Piestany, Slovakia

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