Virginia Hockey Network

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Hockey News From The CBHL/ PVAHA Area

Mad Dogs Win USA Hockey Nationals

Mad Dogs 95s

August 4th, They surely do play hockey in Virginia! The areas top in-line team has done its part in putting Virginia firmly on the hockey map. The Mad Dogs had a banner season with the U8 and the '95 Mad Dogs teams both crushing all opposition at the USA Hockey Inline Nationals to win national championships. At the very competitive Jr. Olympics, the '93 team placed 4th in the Elite Division competing against the best inline teams in the world. The '89 Mad Dog team placed 2nd at the USA Hockey Inline Nationals and the U18 team placed 4th at TORHS, one of the most prestigious inline events in the nation. Mad Dogs B teams also performed admirably with the U12 Blue team placing 2nd in the Rec Division at the USA Hockey Inline Nationals. Mad Dog teams also won 17 different Regional qualifiers. This win record is better than any other inline or ice hockey club in the region. Moreover, 23 Mad Dogs were selected by either the AAU or USA Hockey Inline to serve on national inline teams. No other club in our region enjoyed this kind of representation on national inline hockey teams.

Hockey Camping Down South

July 30th, What, you might be tempted to ask, are 5 French Canadian youth hockey players doing coming to Virginia for a hockey camp? Surely they have hockey in Quebec? Last week 5 boys from Quebec City made the 14 hour road trip with their families to attend the Statesmen AAA Superstars camp at the rink in Reston, Virginia. The boys were here renewing the friendships that they and their families had made last winter when the Statesmen Pee Wee Major team (93s) travelled to Quebec City for the Tournoi International de Hockey Pee-Wee de Québec. Quebec families volunteer en masse to host/billet boys who come from all over the world to participate in this prestigous tournament. Fast friendships formed and it was not long before the idea of a trip to Virginia was planned and what better than to center it around a hockey camp! The Canadian players were Alec Maillet-Haydock, a 10 year old goalie who plays for Eperviers "Atoms" (squirts by US terminology) and his brother Neal Maillet-Haydock 12 who plays for Harfangs Pee Wees. Also joining the Pee Wee group from the Eperviers Hockey Club were Jonathan Giroux 11 and Mickael Dumaresq 11. Alexandre Brum Quirion 14 joined the Bantam group from the Boucle de Quebec Hockey Club. The families were hosted and entertained by families from the 1993 Statesmen team; Rosie Oakley and Jim Williams and their son Jay Williams, Cathy and Jeff Clark and their son Chris and Lisa and Jim Kashur and their son Ty, Many other Statesmen players and their families and Statesmen coaches participated in a week of fun "off-ice" activity. One highlight of the trip was a visit to RFK Stadium to watch the former Montreal Expos, now the Nationals, beat San Francisco. The boys also enjoyed the hockey program ran by guest coach Mike de Angelis of the Phoenix Coyotes and resident Statesmen coaches, Paul Mulvey, Josh Kern and Paul Veilette.

Wally Cup - The Summer Pond

July 5th, On the afternoon of July 2nd, the area's Squirts met up for an afternoon of pond hockey. The Wally Cup sponsored by the Goalie Academy and Reston Raiders Hockey Club adds up to a model of fun summer hockey. The tournament is intended to mirror what kids might do themselves if thet met up at a local pond for some hockey.The full sheet of ice is divided into thrree ponds and the kids play across the ice with teams of six skaters and a goalie. The players on the "bench" stand on the sideline and can be passed to and play the puck to their team mates on the pond! Wally Cups have been organized fro kids as old as 2nd year Bantams. Just because you are no longer a Mite it does not mean you should lose the benefits and FUN of cross ice games! Small games have been around for a long time and Wally Cup is nothing different. Kids have been creating small games in the basement, driveway and in the back corner of a local rink all on their own forever. When kids drag out hockey nets they do not put them 200 feet apart. A pond the size of a rink will often have two or three games going on simultaneously. There are several hockey development benefits for providing an environment that encourages high tempo, high intensity, in small places. By reducing the size of the playing surface players are exposed to more game situations that cannot be replicated in traditional drills. According to Darren Hersh of the Goalie Academy, "One 10 minute Wally Cup game will provide more opportunity and learning development than one week of 1hr long practices. More touches, more shots, more moves, and most important more decisions to be made with and without the puck." On July 2nd the six teams, The Good Burgers, The Napoleon Dynamites, The Mars Attacks, Purple People Eaters, Stars and Stripes and Men in Black competed ferosciously for over 2 hours. Eventually "Stars and Stripes" were victorious. Very fitting for 4th July weekend! Congratulations to Michael Lackey (G) (Montgomery Blue Devils), Ian Smith (Ashburn Xtreme) Bryce Rogers (Virginia Statesmen ) Michael McDonald (Ashbrun Xtreme ), Eric Rindfleisch (Virginia Wild ), Justin Maile (Virginia Wild) and Ben Kozich ( Reston Raiders).

Statesmen 92s make Semi-Final of Philly Shoot Out

May 31st, The Statesmen 92s (Bantam Major) made it through to the semi-finals in a tough 8 team division at the Memorial weekend Philly Shoot out in West Chest PA. En-route to the semis they defeated Holydell AAA 7-0 , Quakers 3-1 and lost to Eastern Showcase 3-1. In the semi finals they met a tough Junior Flyers team and went down 5-1. Their fellow Washington area comeptitors, Team Maryland, faired slightly better getting through to the final but also fell at the hands of the Junior Flyers. Many were hoping to get a glimpse of the 2007 PVAHA Championship battle but no Statesman vs Maryland battle emerged from the games this weekend.

Dulles Corridor 98s Dominate Iceworks Tournament

THE ICE WORKS MITE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM - The NORTEC RAIDERS - SPONSORED BY NORTEC COMMUNICATIONS

May 31st, If your home rink is just off the Dulles Toll Road and your team is a 98 birth year team then odds are you have a lot of success coming your way in 06-07 and there might be high hopes developing for the Virginia area's future with this bunch. Two teams headed to Aston, Pennsylvannia this past Memorial weekend, the Ashburn Power Play Selects and the Nortec Raiders. The Power Play team will closely resemble the 98 Ashburn Xtreme team we will see in the Fall and similarly we can expect to see those "Nortec Raiders" in Reston Raider uniforms. The Ashburn kids had a difficult start as they went up against the Raiders in the opening round losing 10-4, but they beat their way back to the Chamionship round defeating the Little Flyers in the semis en route to face the Raiders again. The Raiders had won all their games en route to the final including defeating the Little Flyers and faced an Ashburn team that had really reved up their game from the opening round. Raiders took the Championship after a closely fought 7-6 battle!!! Rumors are that these kids had a blast and for many of them it was their first experience of travel hockey fun!!! The Raiders received sponsorship from the Northern Virginia headquartered local commiunications/IT company, Nortec Communications. Its great to see a local business willing to put some support into youth hockey.

How about Those "Tiny" Statesmen !!!

May 31st, Amid pressures from the CBHL's Tier 1 Focus group not to field a Squirt Tier 1 team, the youngest Statesmen team responded with a solid and promising opening performance at the Philly Shootout over Memorial Weekend in West Chester, PA. The Virginia kids had a tough draw and would face Holydell AAA and the Philadelphia Little Flyers in the opening round. With pre-game rumours that the team would be delivered a spanking at the hand of these more together and experienced teams the Virginia kids went down 3-2 to Holydell in a game that easily could have gone in Virginia's direction. The next day the Virginia kids out shot the Little Flyers only to find themselves losing 3-1. Already eliminated the Statesmen kids showed a lot of heart the next day to come out and solidly defeat NE Selects 4-1. The team, known to be on the very young side and lacking size, showed a lot of speed and agility and ferocity and showed they could use it to outwit larger opponents. Overall the team placed 5th in the talent loaded 10 team turn out. The future would appear very promising for this tiny team.

Little Caps on Hockey Hiatus - out of 2006/07 Season

May 19th, After much speculation the Little Caps have announced they will not field any youth teams in 06-07 at the Squirt, Pee Wee or Bantam level. See the Little Caps web site for their announcement. This leaves the Virginia Statesmen unchallenged as Virginia's Tier 1 organization. The Statesmen, who recently completed very well attended try outs, are fielding 5 teams at the Squirt , Pee Wee and Bantam levels in 06-07. The Statesmen begin their 06-07 efforts next weekend at the Tier 1 "Philly Shoot Out" tournament in West Chester PA. Team Maryland will also participate.

New "Team Maryland" Gets In!

May 18th, As expected the newly fledged Team Maryland was accepted into the Atlantic Youth Hockey League at its annual meeting ( May 16th, 2006). The Virginia Statesmen are still expected not to have gained admission despite ousting the Little Caps at both the Pee Wee and Bantam levels for the 2006 PVAHA Tier 1 Championships. Local Tier 1 teams all would prefer to participate in that league as the teams are all concentrated mostly in the Pennsylvannia/New Jersey area and represent an easy drive relative to the other available leagues. The Little Caps are expected to be the "Northern Virginia" entry to that league but as of yet they have not held try outs for the 06-07 teams saying they are dealing with "organizational issues".

Ashburn U16AA are 05/06 South East District Champions and on to "Nationals"

The Ashburn Xtreme U16 AA's won the Southeastern District Tier II U16 Championships and advanced to the USA Hockey National Championships. The Xtreme plowed their way to a 2 and 1 round robin record, defeating the Charleston Wolverines and the Atlanta Jr. Thrashers by identical scores of 5-1. The only defeat came at the hands of the Palm Beach (FL) Ice Hawks by a 4-1 score. This sent the Xtreme to the semi finals against their arch rival and defending CBHL regular season and playoff champion Tri City Eagles. Down 2-0 and 3-2, the Xtreme scored late in regulation to force overtime. In the extra session Erik Delong fired a blueline shot to win the game and send the Ashburn team to the finals vs the Tampa Bay Titans. The Titans proved extremely tough in the final and held leads of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3. The Xtreme never wavered and eventually sent the game to overtime with another late third period goal. The Titans outshot the Xtreme 6-1 in the extra session, but what a shot it was. Kyle Bullen raced down the right wing on a 2-1. His centering pass was blocked back by a sprawling defender. Kyle picked up the loose puck and spotted a late charging Bobby Fikac. Fikac took a centering pass and "knifed" it at the net, hitting the left post. The puck was behind the Titan goaltender, only two inches off the goal line. In an effort to regain his feet from the butterfly position, the Titan goaltender inadvertently kicked the puck into the net with his heal. Game over! The goal was Fikac's first of the season. Head Coach is Grey Bullen and assistants Jeff Cullen and Clark Dexter .

Upstart Statesmen Defeat Little Caps for Tier 1 PVAHA Championship

The Virginia Statesmen Pee Wee and Bantam major teams delivered defeat to the Little Caps to earn themselves the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Assoc.Tier 1 Championship title for 05/06. The Montgomery Blue Devils U16 team also defeated the Little Caps to take the title in the U16 category. The Statesmen are in their inaugural year of operation as a Tier 1 program after succeeding the legacy Reston Raiders Tier 1 Youth program. In 05-06 the Statesmen upgraded the Tier 1 program adding top notch professional coaching and successfully attracted a wider base of participants from across the Northern Virginia region.

Ashburn Xtreme - Most Succesful Tier 2 Club

ARLHOC, the great Blog site discussed below) ( see Arpil 24th data) has spent some time examining the performance of the CBHL Tier 2 Clubs. No surprises that the Ashburn Xtreme far out performs all the other CBHL clubs. Ashburn Xtreme are the only Tier 2 Club that has its travel teams practice 3 times per week. Each team does two team practcies ad one skills session. Skills sessions include regular powerskating instruction with power skating guru Wendy Marco.Prince William came in second but it was not a close race. The data is based on regular season not play off results. I reproduced the ARLHOC data here. If he minds he should contact me and I wll just maintain the link. This is very useful info. Great Job "Creeper"! The long and short of it is that to be successful you need to practcie more and focus on skills, not just team practice. You might just then produce better hockey players and teams!

New Blog in Town

Virginia Hockey Network has found a Blog operated by a resident of Arlington to be quite helpful. The Blog is regulary updated with stick and puck times, try out dates, camps and tournament info. Sometimes there are some opinions injected. We do not know the operator but think the site is maintained with energy and recomend Virginia hockey players and parents add it to their favorite list. WASHINGTON HOCKEY [ARLHOC] It is maintained by "Creeper".

LIVE WEB CAM FOR BALLSTON FACILITY

Facility - Live Web cam

So if you want to keep updated on progess. You can check in right here!

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CLICK HERE FOR LIVE WEB CAM AT CONSTRUCTION SITE

Completion expected to be September 2006.

Washington Caps Practice Facility - Ground Breaking June 11th, 2005 in Arlington

THERE WILL BE HOCKEY!!!!!!!!!

"Lets Go Caps" that was the chant from hundreds of fans. But it was not the MCI Centre or some other famous hockey arena, it was Ballston Common Mall in the heart of Arlington where fans had gathered at the "ice breaking" for the new Washington Caps practice facility. Though it was 90 degrees outside and thoughts should have been more focussed on the beach, it was exciting to be talking about pro hockey again.

Many youth hockey players were present, enthused to get the autograph of Washington Caps great, Rod Langway who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after an outstanding career with the Caps over a decade between 1982 and 1993. There were kids from from the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs, the Reston Raiders, the Virginia Statesmen Juniors and many kids form the Yorktown High School and Washington and Lee High School hockey teams. Other former Caps starts present were Kelly Miller, Joe Reekie and Al Iafrate.

Cameron Smith Age 8 (NOVA Ice Dog Squirt Travel) and Rod Langway Washington Cap 1982-1993

The new facility will be fabulous for the Caps and, it is hoped, fabulous for local youth hockey. The most obvious beneficiary will be the Arlington based high school hockey teams. Currently Yorktown High School and Washington and Lee High School field club hockey teams in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League. It is hopeful that in the future Wakefield High School in South Arlington will also field a team. Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fissette commented how his own sport of Water Polo was only recognized at club level when he was at high school and he made a statement that clearly indicated he would like to see hockey as a Varsity sport! Lets hope the school board see things the same way! What a fantastic development when we start seeing ice hockey as a Varsity sport in Northern Virginia!

The Arlington Schools may be able to cut a deal for ice time under the terms of Arlington's contract with the Caps. They are favored in terms of scheduling and may be able to take advantage of the 500 hours of "community" ice time allocated to Arlington as part of the deal. It is uncertain as to how those 500 hours will be used. Other clubs may not fare so well. There is a concern that ice time at the new facility will be pricey. Whilst other clubs may be interested in pursuing ice time at the facility it may not be affordable. If the Little Caps and the Junior Nationals take up home at Ballston, as is rumored to be their interest, that will still have a positive ripple across the area freeing up peak ice time at other rinks for other hockey teams and hockey activities.

All in all this is great for Northern Virginia and for Arlington in particular. Ted Leonsis pointed to the huge fan bases in Northern Virginia for the Caps and the huge growth of the region in particular as the leading reason for moving to Arlington! Ted Leonsis stated that he believes the rink will be great for youth hockey which is the "life blood of hockey" in general. At the end of the day hockey can be a pricey sport to play, not so much because of the equipment, but the soaring price of ice has gentrified hockey. Here is hoping the Caps will help make youth hockey available to more kids by offering grants. for learn to play programs and grants for more advanced players to pursue their hockey interests by signing up for more competitive programs.

Details of New Arlington Rink

The rink will be the result of a joint venture between the Washington Capitals and Arlington County to develop a community ice rink. The facility, which will serve as the Capitals training facility and house the team's administrative offices, will be open for community use year-round.

The 137,000-square-foot facility, scheduled to open in August 2006, will include two indoor NHL-size ice rinks with seating for approximately 1,200, office space, media facilities and additional space for special events. The project also features a 20,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art training center for the Capitals with a large weight and fitness room, extensive athletic-training and medical facilities, spacious locker-room and lounge areas and a high-tech video room. The complex will also house the organization's entire front-office staff.

"We are extremely excited to begin the process of building this wonderful facility as we enter a new chapter for our organization," said Capitals president Dick Patrick. "Not only will it provide a great home for our hockey team and bring us closer to our fan base, but it also will be an amazing, multiple-use complex for the community while benefiting local businesses and commerce. Arlington deserves a lot of praise for the hard work and dedication it took to make this project a reality, and we look forward to working with them for years to come."

The structure will be built atop the existing seven-story public parking garage adjacent to the Ballston Common Mall at the corner of North Glebe Road and North Randolph Street. The facility, expected to cost $42.8 million, will be funded by the county through the sale of bonds and leased to the Capitals, who will operate the complex and manage all community programs. The parking garage will continue to be managed by the county.

"We are thrilled to have a state-of-the-art facility," said Capitals vice president and general manager George McPhee. "It will be very beneficial to have our corporate offices and training site under one roof. We will continue to keep on-ice practice and training camp sessions open to the public and free of charge, hopefully encouraging fans to visit the facility and area."

The general contractor is D.C.-based Sigal Construction, and the architect is Architecture Inc. of Reston, Va. The mall and parking garage will remain open during all phases of construction, which is scheduled to begin in January 2005.

The facility will be the first indoor ice rink inside the Capitol Beltway in Virginia and will help alleviate the ever-increasing demand for ice-time by hockey and skating groups in the region. The two ice-sheets will offer an estimated 8,100 hours of ice-time per year while providing space for meetings, parties and other events. Estimates also forecast the project will provide many economic benefits to the County by attracting additional patrons to area restaurants and retail stores and generating additional taxes on the facility and revenue from its operation.

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