February 22, 2010
IHAAZ opens inaugural season with first qualifying tourney
Arizona Stars and Casey's Crushers in the 12U division.
The Inline Hockey Association of Arizona (IHAAZ) opened its inaugural season last month with the first qualifying tournament of the year at Rollerplex. The IHAAZ, formed out of the dissolution of the AIHA last year, will host tournaments throughout the season leading up to the 2010 state finals tournament in May.
To open the regular season, 27 teams came to the Rollerplex tournament, representing six rinks from across the valley and throughout the state. While the participation numbers are not as high as they were years ago, there were teams from every rink and the competition was close in all divisions.
"It was very good to see the participation from so many rinks," said IHAAZ tournament director Dean Koressel. "Since we started with a new name and new mission, there have been some doubts but there's also been a new excitement about things."
This was the final youth hockey tournament hosted by Rollerplex under its original owner Karen Fullmer. The rink has been taken over by the National Youth Sports organization and will re-open May 1 with a new name and new ownership.
"I've always enjoyed these weekends hosting the youth tournaments," said Fullmer. "Luckily, the new ownership wants to keep youth hockey going so we'll see the IHAAZ back in this building some day soon."
The rinks in Prescott, Yuma, and Lake Havasu continued to show their rising dominance of the younger divisions. The two youngest age groups in the tournament, 8U and 10U, were comprised entirely of teams from those three cities.
The Prescott Storm 8U and 10U teams both won their respective divisions, beating the Yuma Blaze in championship games.
"We definitely take pride in have good teams in the young age groups," said Storm coach Brent Nielson. "I think what sets us apart is the dedication of the families we have: we try to practice at least twice a week and I think that really helps the kids."
As for the home rink program, the Rollerplex Panthers entered teams in the 14U and 16U divisions. The 16U team took first place and did so while wearing the original Panthers jerseys, a final homage to the beginning of the travel program.
"We thought it would be cool to go a little old school for the last tournament," said Fullmer. "The kids wanted to represent Rollerplex wearing the original jerseys, taking it back to our very first travel teams here."
Casey's Crushers, the Phoenix-area program with the most teams participating in the tournament, took home perhaps the most surprising gold medal of the weekend in the 12U division.
After losing 5-0 to the Arizona Stars in round robin, the Crushers faced off against them again in the 12U championship game. Crushers' Alex MacDonald had a hat trick and Kevin Mooney made some key saves to help pull of a 3-2 upset.
"It was really something to see Casey's win that game after how they fared the first time around," said Koressel. "They proved the mantra that games aren't played on paper."
The ever-growing high school division was also a highlight of the tournament. Arizona Rubber's pre-season favorite Brophy Broncos edged out the Horizon Huskies to take the season's opening tournament.
"You would assume that with kids driving at that age that less people would be watching the games," Koressel noted. "But people were sticking around to watch these games and it was a great atmosphere."
The inaugural IHAAZ season continues this month in Yuma, one of the state's most popular tournaments each year for its famous tri-tip dinners and unique atmosphere. That atmosphere will be one of a kind this year with the inclusion of several out of state teams.
While teams from California and Texas have traveled to participate in local tournaments before, Yuma has never hosted out of state teams.
"We received interest from several teams and it's going to be two teams from San Diego coming out," said Koressel. "It's advantageous to them because it's close and they're really wanting to be a part of this."
While this tournament was the final one for the original ownership at Rollerplex, the IHAAZ is interested in a possible return to the facility for state finals after its May re-opening.
"The IHAAZ is certainly interested in looking into that since we know that's what players and families would like," said Koressel. "It'd also be a good way to help start up youth hockey under the new ownership."
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