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The
Junior Team is proud to announce the advancement
of the following players:
#5 Mike
Little - AIC
#7 Mike Puc - AIC
#12 Brian Collins - Saint Anselm College
#21 Kyle Gendron - Hudson Valley
#91 Chris Beaudoin - Potsdam State
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The
Pics organization would like to wish these players
good luck
in the next four years at their schools. |
Junior
Pics Bantam Major
Team Wins Sherbrooke
Tournament
The tournament
was in Sherbrooke Quebec, Canada on December 26th - December
30th. The games were as follows:
Dec. 27th - Amiraux De Becancour 3 vs. Pics 6
Dec. 28th - Pics 3 vs. Sports Experts Drummondville 3
Dec. 29th - Pics 3 vs. Forestiers De Maniwaki 3
Dec. 29th - Optimistes De Dolbeau-Mistassini 4 vs Pics 6
Dec. 30th - Semi Finals - Pics 5 vs. Canadel De Louiseville 3
Dec. 30th - Finals - Pics 5 vs. Quebec Cartier 1
The Springfield Junior Pics Bantam Major team won in the Finals game and the
MVP of the Tournament was given to Frankie Vatrano from our
team.
Hockey
Team Gains World Stage
As seen in the
Sunday Republican on
Sunday, December 23,
2007
Bill Wells at wellsb6@charter.net
It's been a fun
year for the Springfield Junior Pics PeeWee Major team. In
February, it's going to get even better. The Pics qualified
for the Quebec International Hockey Tournament, which is
the world's largest event for 12-year-olds. The 10-day event
draws teams from Canada, the United States, Russia, Finland,
Ukraine and Sweden, as well as other countries. "It's
a great group of kids," coach Brian Foley said. "They
work hard. We have great families. It's been a fun year.
The best is yet to come. "It's winter
carnival. It's a hockey tournament, a family vacation, and
a lifetime of memory for the kids." Since
the tournament is just for 12-year-olds, players have just
one opportunity to qualify. This year's Pics players fully
understood the situation, and made sure they put themselves
in the best possible position to qualify. The Pics play in
the Metropolitan Boston Hockey League. The qualifying round
winner of the league receives an automatic berth to Quebec.
The qualifying round includes a team's record in its first
meeting against a league opponent. The Pics couldn't
afford a slow start to its season. "We did some
things we hadn't done in the past," Foley said. "We
played in three summer tournaments, so when our season started
we were more prepared, instead of starting in September and
playing our first game seven days later. One loss could cost
you." The Pics played
in tournaments at Marlboro in May and July, and at Foxborough
in August. The tournament at Foxborough was particularly
tough, with a number of the top peewee major teams in the
country attending. Those opponents had all-star teams, as
opposed to the Pics' regular team. The Pics went 1-3. The
Metropolitan schedule started soon thereafter, and the Pics
were ready. "We grew a lot as a
team from that tournament," said Foley, whose team has
been together for four seasons. "We were certainly
as prepared as we could be. They also did dry land (workouts)
throughout the summer. We did that the month of August, and
before practices. They did things to improve themselves." And
when the regular season, and subsequent qualifying round,
started, the Pics never suffered that one loss, going 7-0-1.
The team clinched its trip to Quebec Nov. 10 with a 5-2 win
over Edgewood, R.I. The team, which won the
Metro League playoffs the last three seasons, stands 13-2-1
in the league and 19-5-1 overall. They also won the Minuteman
Flames Fall Classic in Marlboro in October. "The strength
of our team is our balance. We have balance throughout the
offense," Foley
said. "We have six very good defensemen and two very
good goalies. Our goals against average is 1.5. We're tough
to score against, which helps in those low-scoring games.
We play very good team defense." East Longmeadow's Ryan
Cloonan, Agawam's Corey and Kyle Jenks, Westfield's Nate
Summers and Nate Tremblay, Longmeadow's Cormac Kennedy and
Matt Stockley, Jason Lamott of Coventry, Conn., and Danny
Kycia of West Hartford, Conn., play forward for the Pics.
The defense includes Ludlow's Artie Potter, Hatfield's Zach
Langlois, Longmeadow's Matt Foley, South Hadley's Eric Fernandes
and Cullen Geary, and Kurt Weissenburger of Hebron, Conn.
Springfield's Johnnie Liquori and Palmer's Eddie Sablak are
the team's goalies. Ludlow's Nick Forzano and Aaron McNamara
are team alternates. Serving as assistant coaches are Peter
Langlois, Andrew Wright and Jim Pagliaro. Cloonan and Potter
are the team captains. NHL legends such as Wayne
Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Guy Lafleur have played in the
49-year-old tournament, which is held at The Colisee. The
championship game typically draws 14,000-15,000 spectators.
Mite
Majors Battle in Michigan!
March
8 ,
2008
On October 28,2007 thirteen
8 year olds representing Western Massachusetts and the Springfield
Junior Pics Mite Major hockey team won the Regional
Qualifier Silver Stick Tournament in Bridgeport
CT that gave the Pics an automatic bid to the 46th International
Silver Sticks Finals in Saint Clair Shores Michigan
on January 24th-27th 2008. The Silver Sticks tournament
placed the top 16 teams in the US and Canada to play against
one another. Preliminary rounds were 3 games with the top
4 teams advancing on. The first game matched the
Pics vs the Grosse Ille Islanders out of Michigan. The Pics
scored the first two goals and added an empty neater to seal
the victory in a tough fought 3-1 victory. The second game
of the tournament matched the Springfield Pics vs. the Detroit
Dragons. The Pics got off to a slow start as the Dragons
scored the first 3 goals. The Pics did add a late goal by
with the goalie pulled to bring the score to 3-1 but it just
was not enough as the Pics dropped this game 3-1 to the Dragons.
The third game matched the Pics up against the Geneva Cyclones
out of Illinois. The Cyclones entered the game with a 2-0
record beating both the same opponents that the Pics have
played (6-3 vs the Islanders and 6-1 vs the Dragons). The
Pics were ready to play from the first drop of the puck.
It was an exciting game back and forth with great hustle
and hard work and a never say die attitude the Pics held
onto a 3-2 victory! This loss gave the Cyclones there first
defeat of the tournament and there only defeat in there season!
Unfortunately with a 2-1 record we were not fortunate enough
to make the semi finals. The Cyclones made it on goal differential.
Out of 16 teams the Springfield Jr Pics were tied for 4th
place and that is a tremendous weekend for this group of
8 year old boys. We should all be proud of the efforts and
hard work, Congratulation
Pics. This was an experience the
kids,coaches and parents will never forget the caliber of
hockey was tremendous and every single player worked there
tails off and most importantly had a great time
Silver
Sticks Tournament
Championship Victory
Sends Mite Majors
to Michigan!
January
30 ,
2008
This past weekends Silver
Sticks Tournament was a huge success for the Springfield
Junior Pics Mite Majors as they took home the top prize...
a trip to St. Clair Shores, Michigan on 1/25/08 - 1/27/08
as one of the teams representing the Northeast!
Scores:
NJ Coloniels 0 vs. Junior Pics 2
Darien, Ct 2 vs. Junior Pics 3
Mid Fairfield, Ct 4 vs. Junior Pics 2
After the round robin, the
top two teams from each division went onto the semi-finals.
The Pics were seeded second and played the number one seed
in the other division. The Middlesex Islanders lost to the
Junior Pics 2-1 in a spectacular semi-final shoot out. In
the finals, the Junior Pics were down 2 to zero with just
under 7 minutes left and they came on with a flurry of 4
goals beating Top Gun 4-2. This is quite an honor for the
players, coaches, and parents!!!
Mite
Majors
Bring
Home
the
Top
Prize
at
the
North
American
Championships
at
NESC
on
Thanksgiving
Weekend!
November,
2007
The first game matched
the Junior Pics Mite Majors vs. the Dracut Bulldogs. The
Pics were victorious 5-1. The second game matched an old
MBHL rival the Worcester Crusaders. The boys skated very
hard and were very aggressive with a nice 6-0 victory. The
third game matched the Junior Pics Mite Majors up with the
Middlesex Islanders, the same team they beat in the semi
finals in Bridgeport, CT at the Silver Sticks Tournament.
The first contest was a great 1-0 victory for the Pics in
a shootout so we all knew this would be a great battle. When
the dust settled the boys played aggressive defense and some
timely goals and just fantastic goaltending and we secured
ourselves the number one seed and a buy into Sundays Championship
with a 3-0 victory. Championship Bridgewater Mass Bandits
vs. Junior Pics. It Was a rough and tough game with
end-to-end action from both teams. Again a great effort by
all the boys and when the buzzer sounded it was the Pics
celebrating another tournament championship with a 5-2 victory.
Springfield
Junior Pics Mid-Season Wind Down Party
Thursday,
November 1, 2007
The
organization has decided to have a mid-season wind-down party.
After a thorough look at the organizations schedules, a decision
was made to have the party on January
4, 2008. The party will
be held at the Moose Family Center in
Chicopee, MA. Social
hour is from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., dinner at 8:00 p.m. followed
by dancing to local DJ Lazer. The donation is $20 per person
and $35 per couple. Again, any money raised will be deposited
into the Family Hardship Account. All tickets and money need
to be returned to Sue Olson or myself by December 15, 2007.
Springfield
Junior
Pics
and
NE
Junior
Falcons
Girls
Programs
Merge
Sunday,
March 10, 2007
Two locally based hockey organizations have announced today that they will merge their Girls Hockey Programs for the upcoming playing season in 2007-2008. The Springfield Jr. Pics and the New England Jr. Falcons agreed to merge the programs to allow more girls wishing to play ice hockey in a competitive environment an opportunity to participate in a larger program that will provide the potential for National bound competition and also develop them for both Prep School and College Careers.
Click here to
read more...
Springfield
Junior Pics Calendar
Fundraiser Winners
Monday,
April 23, 2007
Click
on the "Calendar Fundraiser Winners" link below to see
if you won or know somebody who won. Thanks to all the
teams for their support and participation.
Calendar
Fundraiser Winners
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#2 Matt
Berg - UMass Amherst
#10 Dan Tanaki - UMass Dartmouth
#12 Ryan Lessard - Saint Anselm College
#14 Jeff Tellier - Salem State
#15 Tony Nelson - Western New England College
#19 Keith Dube - Becker
#20 Mike St. Lawrence - Assumption
#22 Everet Rauch - Wentworth
#28 Nate Towse - Becker
#34 Brandon Melikian - Becker
#88 Chris Benoit - Becker
#18 Adam Cartier (Junior B) - WPI |
The
Junior Team is
proud to announce the advancement of the following players: |
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The
Pics organization would like to wish these players
good luck
in the next four years at their schools. |
IN
YOUTH HOCKEY, THE PENALTY
BOX IS GETTING CROWDED
Tuesday,
October 17, 2006 by
Reed Albergotti, The Wall Street Journal
Bernice
and Joe Collins have been among the most loyal fans of their
grandson, Jerry Brock Jr., in his youth-hockey league in
Brighton, Mich. But this fall, they are boycotting his games.
His team spends so much time in the penalty box that his
grandparents say it's pointless to attend.
When
the National Hockey League revamped its rules and policies
last year, the idea was to speed up play and make games more
exciting for fans. But in the nation's youth leagues, enforcing
the rules has actually slowed things down and landed many
more kids in the penalty box. In trying to mimic the NHL,
USA Hockey, the organization that oversees amateur hockey
for 370,000 players from ages six to 17, has run into an
epidemic of players cooling their skates for holding, hooking
and other infractions.
In
some leagues, games are seeing four times the number of penalties
typically called last season. The result, in many places,
is frustrated players, irate parents and coaches getting
booted from games.
On
the first day of this year's Jr. Sharks Labor Day Kickoff
Tournament in San Jose, Calif., which draws elite teams from
as far away as Alaska and Texas, more than a dozen coaches
had to sit out a game because their teams netted too many
penalties. Games were punctuated by parents yelling obscenities
from the stands.
It
isn't that teams have gotten more thuggish. Instead, referees
are being asked to blow the whistle on tactics that have
long been an accepted -- indeed, encouraged -- part of the
game, from lightly grabbing players to slow them down to
snagging them with the end of a hockey stick to get better
positioning. The idea is to signal teams that even minor
transgressions won't be tolerated -- and have players spend
more time skating and shooting and less time grappling with
one another.
In
NHL hockey, the moves were hailed as a big success. But in
youth hockey, getting referees to apply the policies consistently
has been a big challenge. Before the NHL adopted its new
rules, refs had to attend a weeklong minicamp, where they
not only studied the changes in classrooms but practiced
them repeatedly during live play.
But
training the 27,000 USA Hockey referees is a much bigger
challenge, and some say the one-day course to review the
new policies wasn't enough. On top of that, it's taking the
kids longer to get used to the new environment and adjust
their game to avoid penalty calls. USA Hockey's new dictates
also apply to the tens of thousands of adults who play in
amateur ice-hockey leagues in the U.S. Youth-hockey leagues
in Canada and Europe have adopted similar changes this season.
Ultimately,
USA Hockey says, the stepped-up enforcement will improve
the game. "Speed, skill and strength, which were tenets
of the game, were being held up by interference, hooking,
holding," says Ron DeGregorio, president of USA Hockey,
which is based in Colorado Springs, Colo. The changes will
also help reduce injuries, he says.
The
NHL is pitching in to help resolve the confusion. Several
pros, including Ryan Suter from the Nashville Predators and
Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild, have visited with groups
of youth-hockey players to review the changes.
But
Ryan Frendewey, an 18-year-old player from Lake Linden, Mich.,
says he's worried that the chaos could affect his chances
of making it to the next level. Mr. Frendewey has dreamed
of playing for the University of North Dakota or for Colorado
College since he was four. To better his odds, he moved two
hours from home to join an elite amateur team, the Marquette
Electricians. He lives with a local family and recently took
a job at a fast-food place to pay his way.
But
he's nervous that scouts are going to pass him by this season
or will fail to get a good look at his game because of all
the penalties. In one game, the Electricians wracked up 14. "This
is a make-or-break season for me," he says. "It's
frustrating."
Indeed,
some scouts have left games this season scratching their
heads. Over the summer, Gene Reilly, head hockey recruiter
for Northeastern University in Boston, flew to St. Cloud,
Minn., in part to see a highly touted 6-foot, 175-pound center.
But for the five days that Mr. Reilly was in town, he barely
got a chance to see the candidate play normal, five-on-five
hockey. Half the time the center, known for his scoring abilities,
was forced to play defense because his team was short-handed
-- and when he did get a chance to play offense, it was usually
against a team that had one or two fewer players on the ice
because the others were sidelined by penalties. "Every
game was just penalty after penalty," says Mr. Reilly. "You
couldn't evaluate."
For
Alex Griffin, a 16-year-old player in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.,
the changes have forced him to master squeezing himself into
a penalty box built for two with four other guys. In a recent
game, there were so many penalties -- refs called a total
of 50 -- that the penalty box was like a revolving door.
Alex was crammed into the corner, his view of the game blocked
by the two players forced to stand in front of him. At one
point, a player in the box declared that there were almost
enough people for a party, and asked another where the chips
and salsa were.
Some
coaches are resorting to unusual measures to reduce their
penalty counts. After coaching the Maple Leafs to three consecutive
losses in a recent tournament, Todd Holmes decided that something
was missing from his practices: a referee. So he asked one
to come and observe the Sylvania, Ohio, team play a mock
game. Every time someone got a penalty, the players gathered
around the ref, who then explained the violation. "Better
have them learn in practice than learn the hard way," says
Mr. Holmes.
Jerry
Brock Jr., the 17-year-old in Brighton, Mich., whose grandparents
have stopped coming to his games, is so exasperated by the
changes that he wants to quit. But his father won't let him.
His mother, meanwhile, calls Jerry's grandparents before
every game to let them know when it starts. But they're refusing
to attend until the pace picks up again. "It just doesn't
seem much like hockey -- they have to be able to hit each
other," says Mrs. Collins, Jerry's 64-year-old grandmother.
Part
of the issue may be confusion among refs, which has led to
some unevenness in the way the rules are enforced. About
10 percent of USA Hockey refs have yet to take the one-day
seminar; they have until the end of November to complete
the requirement.
Last
month, USA Hockey sent out an email clarifying rules that
it said some referees were taking "too literally." Refs
were told during their preseason training on the changes,
for example, that "the use of a free hand/arm will not
be allowed to grab or impede a player's progress." But
in last month's follow-up email, USA Hockey said it's actually
OK for puck carriers to use their free arm to fend off opposing
players.
Refs
at first were also told that "the use of the stick will
be limited to only playing the puck." But the later
email said that a player can use his stick to keep an opponent
at bay if the player is fighting for position in front of
the net, so long as he keeps the stick close to his body.
For refs, though, that email didn't clear up all the questions.
Bill Fehrman, a director of the Illinois Hockey Officials
Association, which oversees refs in the state, says that
within 48 hours of that email, he had already received 20
calls from refs wanting further clarification. |
