February 2008


The Atlantic Youth League Playoffs take place this weekend for our PW major squad.  The ‘95 team has been on a tear and is poised to upset.  Their first round game in the 8 team elimination is on Saturday at the Flyers NorthEast Philadelphia Skate Zone.  Saturday looks to open vs. the 20 game winning Team Maryland, the 3rd seed.  The Titans lost 2 games on the road back in October to the talented team Maryland, so knocking them off would be a great tournament start.  This will be also be a good test for the District Playoffs in a few weeks.  Good Luck Boys!

Please note change to the date of the Girls U14 and U19 tryouts originally scheduled for 4/11.  They have been moved to April 28th.  U14 is at 6:30-7:30, U19 7:45-8:45.   This is the first year of Titan girls-only teams.  If you know girls that play, let them know about the tryouts.  The women’s game continues to improve its participation in Youth Hockey, growing its population ten-fold from 1991 levels.

USA Hockey has made Girls/Women participation a high priority. They surveyed their female players in 2005, and found that most girls that play the game love it, and it is their favorite sport. Their population is split fairly evenly between girls only teams and mixed gender squads.

Until PeeWees (where checking is introduced), the girls game is played with the same rules. At PeeWee and up, contact (riding a player) is permitted, but hard hits, like hip checks are a penalty in the girls only game.

Parents and girls are then faced with a tough decision, beside what position to play, or what club to try out for. They also need to decide either to play with the boys, where there are more teams and on average, more competitive hockey, or play on a girls-only team.

Some like playing with boys.  About 1/2 the girls in the survey that liked playing with them boys did so because of the faster pace, physicality, and proving they could compete. The other half thought it was their only viable option.  Given a robust girls program, most would rather play just girls.  Girls on mixed teams have the awkward issues of locker room dressing, finding other teammates or linemates to bond with, and the fact that they mature faster than boys their age.  One girl’s quote from the survey summed up the benefits of playing on a girl squad:

“You don’t have to worry about how nasty the boys are and girls relate to each other better and we have sooo much fun. But when we are on the ice we are not girls we’re ‘Hockey Players’.”

The girls still report very high satisfaction on mixed teams, but drop out less when they play on a girls team. Alternative sports in high school take a majority of all female players that make it to bantams, yet 93% of girls indicated they would like to play on a girls HS team if it were available to them.  If a D1 school offers guys hockey, you can bet they will have a women’s squad, and the odds are that if you have a talented Jane and John, Jane will have a greater chance of wearing her school’s colors than John.

The competitive level of female players continues to rise, and worldwide participation is at an all-time high. The women’s game was rare from WWII to the late 60’s, but Canada had many women’s leagues in the 1920s & 30s and women have played as long as the guys. Read about the history of the women’s game:

http://proicehockey.about.com/od/womenshockey/a/women_history.htm

Anyway, if you know some female hockey players that want to enjoy the benefits of being Titans, tell them about the tryouts.

On March 22 get your friends ready for some cross-ice fun. For less than the price of a clinic, you can play at least 3 games of hockey.  With divisions for age groups from Mites-to-Midgets, the mini-tourney all happens in one day.  Teams of 6 players plus a goalie will play 3 on 3, no checking, fast paced games in three, ten minute periods.   Price is $30 per player or $210 per team. 

Cross ice may be the best way to develop your puck handling, passing and shooting skills, getting you far more touches than in a full ice game.  Its also a great way to keep sharp for tryouts.  Contact Coach Randy Walker in the proshop or email:  Randy@wallsportsarena.com 

We are still taking registrations for our Spring High School and Middle School Leagues: Games will be played on weekday nights–Day has not been determined as yet, but if you have a preference you can let me know and I’ll forward it onto George.
Spring Middle School league: 6, 7 and 8th grades only
Begins week of March 24
12-15 players per team
10 games per team
2 practices per team
All teams will be included in playoffs
Cost: $235.00 per player
Registrations can be by individual or team–sign up as a team and receive a team discount.
Spring High School League:  9, 10 and 11th grades only
Begins week of March 24
12-15 players per team
10 games per team
2 practices per team
All teams included in playoffs
Cost: $250.00 per player
Registrations can be by individual or team–sign up as a team and receive a team discount.
Registration brochures can be picked up at the rink for more information.
If you have any questions, please contact me
Thanks!!
Joanne Torrisi
Wall Sports Arena
Group Events/Jr. Titan Administrator
732-919-7070

champskneel.jpg

Coach Gibby’s boys hit Bridgewater this weekend and came away winners, for their second tournament gold in a row.  Full Story:

http://titanpeeweea.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/pee-wee-champs-again/ 

“Mites Squish the Competition”

On the weekend of February 9th and 10th the mites traveled to Rockville,
Maryland for a three-game series against the Montgomery Blue Devils.
The teams split the two games played at Wall Sports Arena in late
October, and each was looking to see an improvement on that result.  The
weekend started poorly for the Titans, as Coach Huggan and Ian couldn’t
make the trip due to illness, and Coach Kerber and Danny had to leave
before the games on Saturday when it became apparent that Danny had
chickenpox.  Coaches Walker and Heiser did well in managing with only
ten skaters on the bench for the weekend as the Mites came away with
three impressive wins: 9-3, 4-1, and 6-2.  The Titans’ dominance was
such that the Montgomery coaches questioned whether this was the same
team they played in October.

On February 16th the mites improved to 9-1 in 2008 and 19-11 overall
with a 7-1 drubbing of the Princeton Tigers at Baker Arena.  The Titans
gave up a number of chances in the first period as they didn’t seem
ready to play, but still managed a 1-0 lead.  The Titans blew open the
game in the second period and cruised in the third to an eventual 7-1
win.

On Sunday the mites ventured to Iceland to play the Mercer Chiefs, but
due to a scheduling mishap many of the Chief players did not arrive in
time for the game.  4 Titans played on the side of the Chiefs and opened
up a 6-2 lead on the strength of a hat trick by Ryan Damelio and two
goals by Trevor Cear against their mates.  The all-Titan team came
storming back on the strength of great passing and scoring by Alex
Phipps and James Waiter.  The exciting and fun game ended Titans 6,
Titans/Chiefs 6.

Signup forms to come soon! Get ready for 2008-2009!

APRIL 8, 2008

U16 7:00-8:00 PM

JRS 815-9:15 PM

JRS 9:30-10:30 PM

APRIL 9, 2008

U18 7:00-8:00 PM

APRIL 10, 2008

U16 7:00-8:00 PM

U18 7:15-8:15 PM

JRS 8:15-9:15 PM

JRS 9:30-10:30 PM

APRIL 11, 2008

U18 7:15-8:15 PM

U14 6:15-7:15 PM

APRIL 12, 2008

U16 SHORT SEASON 10:30-11:30 AM

U16 FULL SEASON 11:45AM-12:45 PM

JRS 1:00-2:00 PM

JRS 2:15-3:15 PM

APRIL 15, 2008

SQUIRT MINOR “99” 5:15-6:15 PM

SQUIRT MAJOR “98” 5:30-6:30 PM

PEEWEE MINOR “97” 6:30-7:30 PM

PEEWEE MAJOR “96” 6:45-7:45 PM

BANTAM MINOR “95” 7:45-8:45 PM

BANTAM MAJOR “94” 8:00-9:00 PM

APRIL 16, 2008

SQUIRT MINOR “99” 5:15-6:15 PM

SQUIRT MAJOR “98” 5:30-6:30 PM

PEEWEE MINOR “97” 6:30-7:30 PM

PEEWEE MAJOR “96” 6:45-7:45 PM

BANTAM MINOR “95” 7;45-8:45 PM

BANTAM MAJOR “94” 8:00-9:00 PM

APRIL 17, 2008

SQUIRT MINOR “99” 5:15-6:15 PM

SQUIRT MAJOR “98” 5:30-6:30 PM

PEEWEE MINOR “97” 6:30-7:30 PM

PEEWEE MAJOR “96” 6:45-7:45 PM

BANTAM MINOR “95” 7:45-8:45 PM

BANTAM MAJOR “94” 8:00-9:00 PM

APRIL 19, 2008

SQUIRT MINOR “99” 10:00-11:00 AM

SQUIRT MAJOR “98” 11:15 AM-12:15 PM

PEEWEE MINOR “97” 12:30-1:30 PM

PEEWEE MAJOR “96” 1:45-2:45 PM

BANTAM MINOR “95” 3:30-4:30 PM

BANTAM MAJOR “94” 3:30-4:30 PM

APRIL 21, 2008

MITES 2000-YOUNGER 5:00-6:00 PM

SQUIRT 99/98 6:15-7:15 PM

PEEWEE 97/96 7:30-8:30 PM

BANTAM 95/94 8:45-9:45 PM

APRIL 28, 2008

U14 GIRLS 6:30-7:00 PM

U19 GIRLS 7:45-8:45 PM 

MITES 2000-YOUNGER 5:00-6:00 PM

SQUIRT 99/98 6:15-7:15 PM

PEEWEE 97/96 7:30-8:30 PM

BANTAM 95/94 8:45-9:45 PM

The Junior Flyers are one of the top teams in the district.  The Titans, who recently toppled the first place Rockets made it a second district win in the last 2 weeks at Ice Line Saturday.  The 5-2 win was marked again by a lack of Titan penalties, and strong defense.  Lucas Habich led the offense with had 2 goals and 2 assists.  Kevin Hoegler’s third period goal broke the 2-2 tie.  The team is coming together as playoffs approach.  Great road win boys!

The Titans Bantam A Black faced another tough opponent from the NJYHL when the NJ Devils came to visit Wall Saturday. The Devils are currently in third place in the Bantam A National Conference with a 12-4-2 record and most likely headed toward the playoffs.
When these two well matched teams met back in September they fought to hard earned 3-3 tie and this game would be no different. After a well played scoreless first period it was easy to see the two teams were not giving anything away in front of the net and goals would not come easy. The Titan bench seemed to get a jolt of energy in the second period when Joe Miller delivered a thunderous bone jarring hit along the boards. The hit noticeably got the boys pumped! Shortly afterward, it was a fluke goal that put the Titans on the board first. The Devil goalie vacated his net thinking a penalty was being called on the Titans, when in fact it was a Devil penalty. With Devil goalie on the bench, speedy winger Conrad Quinn, in his first game back from a broken wrist injury, fired the puck into the open net for the 1-0 lead. Welcome back Quinny!
The Titan defense and Goalie Thomas Wiedmann made the 1-0 lead stand up the rest of the second by putting up a brick wall around the net. With the Devils goalie and “Weeds” clearly on their game, the next goal would be huge. Timmy Behan gave the Titans that huge goal, and a little breathing room, when he found the back of the net off a nice feed from Morton for the 2-0 lead.
Penalties would become a big factor in the third when the Titans found themselves killing numerous penalties including three, 5 on 3’s. Wiedmann and his defensive posse were up to the task and gave away nothing. With less than four minutes remaining, however, the relentless Devils got a generous goal when “Weeds”, recovering from a save, fell awkwardly backwards, allowing an open net goal to the Devils and a 2-1 game.
After closing the gap to one goal, and new life, the Devils applied the pressure on “Weeds”. With the Devil goalie pulled for the extra attacker, the Devils were able to find scoring chances and throw shots on net. ”Weeds” and company held off the barrage and skated off with a well earned 2-1 victory.
—————————————- 
Sunday’s game vs. the Sharks in AC was one of those games that left you scratching your head. After playing a great game on Saturday, the Titans seemed to have left their game at Wall. I believe that after playing a long season with hardly any stinkers, the odds of one happening become greater. This was not due to lack of effort by the team which battled until the finale buzzer, but sometimes the hockey gods don’t smile on you on a particular day. The Sharks, a big, speedy, and well positioned team got off to a quick start when they scored just two minutes into the game on the always reliable goalie Reilly. This was a really bad omen and the boys just couldn’t seem to shake it off. They didn’t connect on passes, and missed the net with their scoring opportunities. The Sharks held down our shots on net to a season low of 17. The bright side of this loss, however was the fact that no matter how badly we played we were never out of the game, (3-1) and battled till the end.
Not to be overlooked in the loss was the fine play of defense by Dax Conrad as well as “MonkeyBoy” Reilly. Reilly stopped 24 of the 27 shots faced and kept the team in the hunt until the end. Charlie Morton was our lone scorer of the day to keep us from being shutout which hasn’t occurred this year. With next weeks tournament coming up maybe the loss will help the boys refocus and get back to their winning ways. Go Titans!
“Check your egos at the door please”, was what the Titans Bantam A  Black warned The Woodbridge Wolfpack. The Wolfpack, leaders of the NJYHL Bantam A, American Conference division at 16-1-4 saw their dominance come to an end at the hands of the Titans Saturday. “What just happened here?” wondered the shocked Wolfpack as they skated off the ice shaking their heads with their only second defeat of the season. What happened was, solid defense, goaltending, penalty killing, and a three goal scoring blitz in the second period that sent the leaders home reeling and humbled.
The two teams started the first period much like a boxing match. Each team feeling each other out, throwing a few jabs, but not much damage done ending the first tied 0-0. Although tied after the first the Titans felt they had the advantage and gained the confidence they needed to take this team down.
The Titans came out flying in the second period and left no doubt who the better team was this day! Billy Regan, who has been on fire in recent games, added two more goals to his resume when netting the first and third goal of the period. Sandwiched around Regans’ goals was hard working winger Steven Sabatinis’ goal. Sabs was rewarded for his tenacity in the corners when he found a rebound off a Johnathan Weinstein shot in front of the net and lifted it in.
The 3-0 lead coupled with a Titan defense that only surrendered 3 shots on net and killed off a 6 on 3  in the second, had the Wolfpack on the ropes. Early in the third sharp  shooter Charlie Morton delivered the knockout punch with a laser wristshot over the Wolfpack goalie for the 4-0 lead. This goal seemed to get the attention of the Wolfpack and put some jump back into in them.
After putting eleven shots on net over two periods the Wolfpack responded with twelve in the third. “MonkeyBoy”, Cody Reilly, was up to the task and turned everything away until 7:37 of the third when a powerplay shot found a hole between his pads for the 4-1 score. With time running down and scrambling for goals a nice pass produced a breakaway chance for the visitors at 5:08. Dax Conrad hustling back on “D”, had no option but to pull the player down from behind that produced a penalty shot chance. Goalie Reilly, visibly pumped for this challenge, set his sights on the Wolfpack player at center ice and zoned in. After the refs whistle the Wolfpack player made his way towards the goalie with couple of quick dekes and went to Codys’ glove side. Not fooled by the moves Cody slid over with the shooter and stuffed his attempt at the post for the awesome save and put the punctuation mark on a dominating 4-1 victory over the NJYHL league leader.
Great game boys!
Cathy Wiedmann

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