IN THIS ISSUE
STAY CONNECTED
 Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter 
Volume 5 Issue 2 | May 24, 2017
AHAI NEWS & INFORMATION
The AHAI Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 3rd at the Hyatt Woodfield in Schaumburg. Registration instructions for the meeting have been sent to all AHAI Registered Associations board members, hockey directors, registrars, and those listed as contacts with AHAI. If you are on your Association's Board of Directors and feel you should have received a registration link please check with you organization's President or contact AHAI Communications Manager, Gretchen Cockey, at [email protected] for a link.

The format this year will include an opening Town Hall style forum followed by breakout sessions covering a variety of topics that you, the membership, wanted to hear more about. The meeting agenda and a description of each session can be found HERE.
 
The Annual Meeting will conclude with guest speaker Don Granato, University of Wisconsin Men's Hockey Assistant Coach and former USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) Head Coach. John Dunne will conduct the formal meeting portion following Don's presentation.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!



AHAI NEWS & INFORMATION
CHICAGO STEEL CAPTURE USHL'S CLARK CUP!
For the first time in team history the Chicago Steel are bringing home the Clark Cup after winning in OT (2-1) in Game 5 of the series against the Sioux City Musketeers. The puck dropped in Sioux City in front of a capacity crowd; the largest in the 45-year history of the Clark Cup. More than 6,000 people attended the game live in Sioux City and hundreds more attended a free watch party at Fox Valley Ice Arena, home of the Steel, to watch the game on the videoboard.

The Clark Cup is symbolic of supremacy in American junior hockey, presented annually to the playoff champions of the nation's only Tier I circuit, the USHL. It is named in honor of Don Clark, the long-time registrar of the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association. Clark was also the recipient of the NHL's Lester Patrick Award for his contributions to hockey in the United States.
AHAI NEWS & INFORMATION
TIER II SUBSTITUTE CHOICE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR 2017-18 SEASON
The Tier ll Substitute Choice Application Process, Squirt through 16U/18U will begin on July 20, 2017. All applications will be submitted online. The Tier ll Committee will ONLY have (3) three appeal hearings this year for those denied a substitute choice. The dates for the appeals are August 10, August 30 and September 7, 2017. Appeal hearings will be held at 6:30pm on the aforementioned dates at the North Shore Ice Arena. If denied please email Gregg Chudacoff, AHAI Tier II Chairman, at [email protected] with your preferred appeal hearing date (listed above). Deadline for applying for a substitute choice will be September 15, 2017.
A STEP aHEAD PROGRAM HEADING INTO 7TH YEAR!
AHAI, the Chicago Blackhawks, Athletico and NorthShore University HealthSystem are proud to announce the 7th year of the "A Step aHead" program, which provides free baseline neurocognitive testing and education on concussions to the youth hockey community. The program will run from July 1 through November 30, 2017. All AHAI players aged 11-18 years old are eligible for free baseline testing. Stay tuned for more information on registration in future newsletters.
 
Additionally, the "A Step aHead" program will again provide concussion education to AHAI coaches, parents and players. Further information about the testing programs and educational opportunities will be available in the AHAI newsletter, AHAI emails and through your clubs. We look forward to another year of working with the hockey community to improve safety in the sport we all love!
Great advice from AHAI's sponsor NorthShore Orthopaedic Institute

SPRING INTO TRAINING WITH FEWER INJURIES
Adam Bennett, MD, Family and Sports Medicine physician at NorthShore Orthopaedic Institute and team physician for the Chicago Bears and US Soccer National Teams, offers expert advice on ways to keep young athletes safe and answer common injury-prevention questions. READ MORE>>
21ST ANNUAL AHAI FOUNDATION GOLF OUTING
The 21st Annual AHAI Foundation Golf Outing will be held at the Ruffled Feathers Golf Course located at 1 Pete Dye Drive in Lemont, Illinois, Friday, August 18, 2017. The course is just 22 minutes south of 7 Bridges Ice Arena. The outing will be a shotgun tee off scramble at 1:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:45 p.m. Ruffled Feathers is a Pete Dye course and is one of the top 10 courses in Illinois. All golfers will receive a starting package worth $700, donated by SMT Golf. New this year - online registration beginning May 1.
The purpose of this event is twofold. First, it creates an opportunity for coaches, referees, administrators, parents and supporters of amateur hockey in Illinois to come together for a day of fun and relaxation to kick off the beginning of the new season. Secondly, and most importantly, the revenues generated from this event will be donated each season to specific charities as established annually by the AHAI Foundation. READ MORE>>
IHOA NEWS & INFORMATION
ASK THE OFFICIAL BY DAVE ZEDNIK
QUESTION: I'm looking for the rule on whether a mouthpiece or mouth guard must be tethered to the helmet.  ANSWER>>

QUESTION: There were two players in front of the net battling for position. The defensive player lost his stick during the battle for positioning. As the play headed out of the zone the defensive player went to his bench while the offensive player stomped on the defensive player's stick that was left behind multiple times in what appear to be an attempt to break the stick. ANSWER>>
2 OF IHOA'S OWN CHOSEN FOR THE NAHL ROBERTSON CUP SERIES
Two (2) IHOA alums were chosen to work the 2017 NAHL Robertson Cup. Congratulations to Shane Gustafson (pictured right) and Jeff Pacocha (pictured left).
2017 IHOA SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
HONORED AT ANNUAL MEETING
Congratulations to the following officials for receiving the 2017 IHOA Scholarship: Adam Winiecke, Anders Lindgren, Matthew Blaney, Ryne Krueger, Matthias Cyranek and Timothy Ryan.

Pictured L to R: IHOA Treasurer Geoff Schlender, Matthias Cyranek, Timothy Ryan and IHOA President John Oldenburg
SIX IHOA OFFICIALS TO PARTICIPATE IN INVITATION-ONLY DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
By Michael Barrett, Illinois Referee-in-Chief & Supervisor of Officials ~ We are very pleased to report that the following individuals were invited and will participate in the development camps listed below.

High Performance Camp

Gordon Mitchard
Jeff Pacocha
Futures Camp

Rick Faron
Scott LaPoe
Josh Katsimpalis
Women's Futures Camp

Heather Ruchim

Each of these officials has dedicated themselves to improving their officiating skills and overall performance and is to be applauded for their talent, time and dedication to our sport. We wish each of them well when they attend their respective camps and look forward to their return to Illinois next season. FULL ARTICLE>>
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NEWS
JOE EPLER ON HOME RUNS, SLAPSHOTS AT EVANSTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
By Ross Forman ~ One of the best players this past season for Evanston Township High School, a junior forward who led the team with 9 goals in 20 regular-season North-Central Division games, is also the starting first baseman for the Wildkits' baseball team.  Joe Epler also had 4 assists.  And in the team's 7 seeding-round games last September and October, Epler had 1 goal and 1 assist. He also was the team's goalie in a 4-1 loss to BG/H/W.

"I've been playing since I was 8 and have played for Evanston the whole time," Epler said. "I started at forward, then switched to defense as a peewee, then back to forward my sophomore year."  He skated for the Evanston JV as a freshman, and on the varsity the past two seasons.  Epler won the Evanston "Most Improved Player" Award each of the past two seasons as well. READ MORE>>
PLAYERS IN THE NEWS


2017 BOYS' NATIONAL PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
Congratulations to the twenty (20) young men from Illinois invited to attend USA Hockey's 2017 Boys' Select 15, Boys' Select 16 and Boys' Select 17 National Player Development Camps at the Northtown Center in Amherst, NY.
2017 GIRLS' NATIONAL PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
Congratulations to the nineteen (19) young women from Illinois that were invited to attend the Girls U-18 Select 66 Camp (Biddeford, ME), U-18 and U-15 National Player Development Camps in St. Cloud, MN.
LAUREN BARNES RECEIVES CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS JR. COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR DISABLED HOCKEY
The Chicago Blackhawks presented their Junior Coach of the Year Award for Disabled "Special" Hockey during the annual Special Needs Hockey banquet in April. This year's recipient was Lauren Barnes, a Senior at Benet Academy who will be attending the University of Minnesota in the Fall.  Lauren will graduate from Benet Academy on May 28, 2017, as an honor student and will continue on to study Business at the University of Minnesota in the Carlson School of Management. READ MORE>>
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NEWS & INFORMATION
2017 BLACKHAWKS YOUTH 3v3 HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
The Chicago Blackhawks are hosting the 3v3 Hockey Series for the fifth year in a row at Rocket Ice Arena (Bolingbrook) June 17-18, 2017. There are still openings at the Pee Wee age division. Don't miss out on the fun.... REGISTER TODAY>>
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
HOCKEY CAMP
The Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Camp still has openings for ages 5-8 for their camp at Canlan Ice Sports Arena in Romeoville June 26-30, 2017. REGISTER TODAY>>
UPCOMING EVENTS
4TH ANNUAL ROSS K. MacNEILL MEMORIAL TOUGH TOURNAMENT
The 4th Annual Ross K. MacNeill Memorial TOUGH Hockey Tournament is on Sunday, June 11, 2017, at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. The tournament is open to all players from Mites through Midgets/High School (birth years 2012-1999). Click HERE for more information and/or to register. The cost is $133 per player or $1,133 per team and all proceeds go to pediatric brain cancer research.