By Gregg Chudacoff, Tier II Committee Chairman ~ The Tier II substitute choice application process, Squirt 10U through Midget 16U/18U will begin on July 20,2018. All applications will be submitted online. The Tier II Committee will only have (3) three appeal hearings this year for those denied a substitute choice. The dates for the appeals are August 9, August 29, and September 6, 2018 at 6:30pm 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. The deadline for applying for a substitute choice will be September 15th, 2018.

The Illinois Hockey Officials Association (IHOA) held their Annual Meeting on Monday, May 14th at the Bloomingdale Golf Club in Bloomingdale, Illinois. I HOA recognized Steve Drews who announced his retirement from the IHOA board. Steve has served on the IHOA board for many years in many capacities, including the position of IHOA President. Steve has also been a lifetime AHAI volunteer, donating his time as an AHAI Coaching Education Program (CEP) Instructor and Chicago Blackhawks Special Hockey Coach. Steve was recently awarded the 2018 AHAI Disabled Hockey Coach of the Year Award and is also an AHAI Service Award recipient. Both IHOA and AHAI will miss Steve's tireless dedication to the sport of ice hockey.

Lady Blackhawks is a program for girls ages 11-14 who have experience playing organized hockey and want to continue to grow as a hockey player! The girls will be coached by an all-girls coaching staff with guest appearances from Olympians, USA U18 women's players, and NCAA D1 and D3 women athletes. The girls will have the opportunity to work on their skills in a 3-phase program and benefit from the knowledge of this experienced staff with weekly Q+A sessions on various topics. MORE INFORMATION>>

Looking for a fun way to sharpen your skills and develop your hockey IQ this summer? MB Ice arena is offering a 3v3 league for Squirt and PeeWee A and AA level players this summer. Full size cross-ice boards will be set-up every game for an exciting day of 3-on-3 cross-ice hockey games. Teams will play back to back games once a week on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings.

Small area 3v3 forces players to create more time and space for themselves while making quicker reads on the ice. This league will allow players to have more "touches of the puck" and present more offensive/defensive situations than a full ice game.  Sign up as a team with your friends or register as a free agent to be placed on a team and experience the action this summer! Click  HERE  to register.

By Greg Bates ~ The first time the blind discipline was implemented at USA Hockey's Disabled Hockey Festival in 2016, there were a little over 30 players.  A lot has changed in just two years.  Blind hockey ballooned to 86 players at this year's Disabled Hockey Festival, which was held in Chicago in early April.  J.J. O'Connor, who is the chair of USA Hockey's Disabled Section, said blind hockey - which is one of six disciplines recognized by USA Hockey - has players who are thirsty to participate.  "I wouldn't say that I'm surprised, because there are many blind hockey players out there that want to play," O'Connor said. "The sport seems to be growing rather quickly and to have that good representation only a few years after introducing the discipline in the U.S. is great."  In 2017, 42 players skated in the Disabled Hockey Festival. READ MORE>>

The AHAI Foundation Golf Outing is asking the hockey community to reach out to their favorite restaurants for a donation of dinner gift certificates to use in our raffles. We are also looking for donations of tickets to sporting events of any kind. Send gift certificates or tickets (this may also be a pledge for tickets) to Don Allord, Golf Outing Chairman, at 3 Roberts Court, Woodridge, IL 60517. Thank you in advance for your support.