RichardGraham
04-28-2003, 05:38 AM
Two Full Days of Excitement
It was a Good Friday indeed for those inline hockey fans that converged on the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse from April 18-19 for the Mission Cup.
More than 50 teams participated in the two-day tourney, which featured most of the areas? most competitive and highly skilled teams that Metro Detroit has to offer. The tournament was comprised of eight divisions, including three adult levels.
The Atom division came down to the youngsters from Team Tour Detroit, comprised mostly of 6 year olds, and the visiting ?95 Tour Venom.
Earlier in the tourney the teams would tie 2-2 thanks in large part to the goaltending of Ian Fish for Team Tour. The final would be more of the same, which meant save after save from Fish, and Team Tour would go into the second period up 3-1. The Venom came out flying in the second stanza as they notched four goals in the first five minutes of play. Both Brett Winters and Vinnie Garavaglia would record natural hat tricks and their team would go on to an 8-3 victory.
The Mite division would be another showdown of Belle Tire and the Tour Venom. The Venom got the best of Belle Tire in the round robin with a 7-5 win but Belle Tire had other plans for the Championship. They would get the games? first six goals on tallies by six different players including Mikey Edwards, Matthew Smartt, Stevie DeGrande, Austin Czarnik, Alex Aleardi, and Ryan Obuchowski. Belle Tire seemed to be cruising along, however when the Tour Venom decided to pull their goalie with just over eight minutes remaining the game turned as the Venom poured it on and scored four goals in under four minutes, two apiece by Zachary Paul and Tyler Spezia, to close the gap to 6-4. Tour Venom continued to control the play but could not find the back of the net. Belle Tires? Dillon Pierce picked up a rebound and finally sent one into the empty net. He would add another one shortly after to seal the win 8-4.
The Squirt division saw two teams headed on a collision course as both Halans Hockeyshop and Team Nexed Detroit 90?s went 4-0 enroute to the final. The Nexed 90?s proved too much for Halans as they skated away with an 8-2 victory. Griffin Hodges led Nexed with 3 goals and 2 assists and Robbie Czarnik with 3 goals. Goaltender Matt Margitan turned aside 20 shots in the contest. Halans only goals would come off the stick of Barry Sanderson.
The Peewee division saw both top seeds, the Hyper Falcons and the Tour Eagles go down in the semi-finals. The Falcons were ousted by the Labeda Militia and the Eagles were downed by the London Mission Fury. The visiting London Mission Fury would control the final game over the Militia as they went on to post an 8-2 win. The Fury was led by Brandon Buck (3 goals, 2 assists), Jamie MacQueen (2 goals, 1 assist), and Adam Zamec (1 goal, 3 assists). Shane Barry from the Tour Eagles was the high scorer in the division while the Hyper Falcons' Frank Sinatra continued to do things ?his way? by taking top goalie honors.
The Bantam division featured 10 teams, all of which hoped to get themselves in the playoffs where anything could happen. In the end it would come down to the Detroit Mission Bulldogs and Team Easton, who rallied from 4 goals down twice in their semi-final against the Venom. This was a back and forth affair as the teams went into the halftime with a score of 2-1 for Mission. In the second half the Bulldogs would show their depth by netting goals from Kevin Devergilio, Greg Martin, and Billie Sweatt. Tim Reeder and Chad Barry had the other goals for the Bulldogs. Nino Musitelli and Derrick Merlinni scored Easton?s only goals in the 5-2 loss. Bulldog goalie Ryan Glover turned aside 21 shots in the affair.
The Adult Gold division came down to Team Hyper Detroit and the Detroit Mission Stars who came out of the five team round robin, which also included Team Tour from St.Louis, the IceRays, and the Grizzlies. The final contest was a hard-fought battle but in the end the older Hyper team led by Andy Rymshaw?s two goals would come away with a 4-2 win. In what always is a great battle between the pipes, Hyper's Jamie Bufalino, battling a foot injury, stopped 22 of 24 Mission shots while the Stars? Steven Kampf turned aside 24 of 28 shots.
Hyper Typhoon and Halans Hockeyshop would go at it again in the Adult Silver division championship. Earlier in the tournament Halans fell to Hyper 8-2 and the final went the same way as the Typhoon went on to a 9-5 win. Tim Nelson and BJ Lentz led the charge for Hyper as Nelson scored three goals and Lentz chipped in with two. Ryan Miller and Nick Carmichael would get Halans within one at 5-4 midway through the second but that was as close as it would get thanks to the Typhoon lighting the lamp four straight times.
The Bronze division featured a large cast of players from the Fieldhouse on both teams when the Spiders were pitted against the Canucks. The teams traded goals throughout the first period but eventually the Canucks would open it up even more to allow Andy Lane (3 goals) and Rob Spinnazola (2 goals) to take things over. Derrick Sawinski notched three goals for the Spider in the losing cause. The final was 8-5.
The Mission Cup proved to be a great tune-up for teams looking forward to the NARCh Regional May 23rd- 26th at the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse. Mission rewarded 1st and 2nd place finishers with backpacks or M-1 hockey stick bags, to go along with their trophies while top scores and top goalies took home Mission hockey bags.
***
Sincerely,
Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central
It was a Good Friday indeed for those inline hockey fans that converged on the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse from April 18-19 for the Mission Cup.
More than 50 teams participated in the two-day tourney, which featured most of the areas? most competitive and highly skilled teams that Metro Detroit has to offer. The tournament was comprised of eight divisions, including three adult levels.
The Atom division came down to the youngsters from Team Tour Detroit, comprised mostly of 6 year olds, and the visiting ?95 Tour Venom.
Earlier in the tourney the teams would tie 2-2 thanks in large part to the goaltending of Ian Fish for Team Tour. The final would be more of the same, which meant save after save from Fish, and Team Tour would go into the second period up 3-1. The Venom came out flying in the second stanza as they notched four goals in the first five minutes of play. Both Brett Winters and Vinnie Garavaglia would record natural hat tricks and their team would go on to an 8-3 victory.
The Mite division would be another showdown of Belle Tire and the Tour Venom. The Venom got the best of Belle Tire in the round robin with a 7-5 win but Belle Tire had other plans for the Championship. They would get the games? first six goals on tallies by six different players including Mikey Edwards, Matthew Smartt, Stevie DeGrande, Austin Czarnik, Alex Aleardi, and Ryan Obuchowski. Belle Tire seemed to be cruising along, however when the Tour Venom decided to pull their goalie with just over eight minutes remaining the game turned as the Venom poured it on and scored four goals in under four minutes, two apiece by Zachary Paul and Tyler Spezia, to close the gap to 6-4. Tour Venom continued to control the play but could not find the back of the net. Belle Tires? Dillon Pierce picked up a rebound and finally sent one into the empty net. He would add another one shortly after to seal the win 8-4.
The Squirt division saw two teams headed on a collision course as both Halans Hockeyshop and Team Nexed Detroit 90?s went 4-0 enroute to the final. The Nexed 90?s proved too much for Halans as they skated away with an 8-2 victory. Griffin Hodges led Nexed with 3 goals and 2 assists and Robbie Czarnik with 3 goals. Goaltender Matt Margitan turned aside 20 shots in the contest. Halans only goals would come off the stick of Barry Sanderson.
The Peewee division saw both top seeds, the Hyper Falcons and the Tour Eagles go down in the semi-finals. The Falcons were ousted by the Labeda Militia and the Eagles were downed by the London Mission Fury. The visiting London Mission Fury would control the final game over the Militia as they went on to post an 8-2 win. The Fury was led by Brandon Buck (3 goals, 2 assists), Jamie MacQueen (2 goals, 1 assist), and Adam Zamec (1 goal, 3 assists). Shane Barry from the Tour Eagles was the high scorer in the division while the Hyper Falcons' Frank Sinatra continued to do things ?his way? by taking top goalie honors.
The Bantam division featured 10 teams, all of which hoped to get themselves in the playoffs where anything could happen. In the end it would come down to the Detroit Mission Bulldogs and Team Easton, who rallied from 4 goals down twice in their semi-final against the Venom. This was a back and forth affair as the teams went into the halftime with a score of 2-1 for Mission. In the second half the Bulldogs would show their depth by netting goals from Kevin Devergilio, Greg Martin, and Billie Sweatt. Tim Reeder and Chad Barry had the other goals for the Bulldogs. Nino Musitelli and Derrick Merlinni scored Easton?s only goals in the 5-2 loss. Bulldog goalie Ryan Glover turned aside 21 shots in the affair.
The Adult Gold division came down to Team Hyper Detroit and the Detroit Mission Stars who came out of the five team round robin, which also included Team Tour from St.Louis, the IceRays, and the Grizzlies. The final contest was a hard-fought battle but in the end the older Hyper team led by Andy Rymshaw?s two goals would come away with a 4-2 win. In what always is a great battle between the pipes, Hyper's Jamie Bufalino, battling a foot injury, stopped 22 of 24 Mission shots while the Stars? Steven Kampf turned aside 24 of 28 shots.
Hyper Typhoon and Halans Hockeyshop would go at it again in the Adult Silver division championship. Earlier in the tournament Halans fell to Hyper 8-2 and the final went the same way as the Typhoon went on to a 9-5 win. Tim Nelson and BJ Lentz led the charge for Hyper as Nelson scored three goals and Lentz chipped in with two. Ryan Miller and Nick Carmichael would get Halans within one at 5-4 midway through the second but that was as close as it would get thanks to the Typhoon lighting the lamp four straight times.
The Bronze division featured a large cast of players from the Fieldhouse on both teams when the Spiders were pitted against the Canucks. The teams traded goals throughout the first period but eventually the Canucks would open it up even more to allow Andy Lane (3 goals) and Rob Spinnazola (2 goals) to take things over. Derrick Sawinski notched three goals for the Spider in the losing cause. The final was 8-5.
The Mission Cup proved to be a great tune-up for teams looking forward to the NARCh Regional May 23rd- 26th at the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse. Mission rewarded 1st and 2nd place finishers with backpacks or M-1 hockey stick bags, to go along with their trophies while top scores and top goalies took home Mission hockey bags.
***
Sincerely,
Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central