Officially, Kronforst looks forward to his calling

Colin Kronforst played baseball all four years at St. Viator before graduating in 2005, including two in center field for the varsity Lions. He also played three years of American Legion ball for Mount Prospect.

But his sporting destiny is on the ice.

Kronforst, 22, is one of the Chicago's brightest stars on the hockey officiating circuit. He worked junior-level leagues and various minor leagues this season, not to mention a few locally.

Kronforst later this summer will be a referee at the NHL Prospects Camp in Rochester, N.Y. He's one of a select group of U.S.-born officials chosen for the annual event.

"From what I understand, there will be between (up to) seven (NHL) referees who will retire over the next five years, and with the AHL going to the four-official system for 40 percent of their games, there are definitely going to be positions opening in both the NHL and AHL," Kronforst said. "I'm really looking forward to the NHL Prospects Camp; it will be a great experience and will give me a better idea of where of where I stand."

Kronforst is in his last semester at Northeastern, majoring in Business Management. He played goalie through his sophomore year at St. Viator, and then stopped playing to officiate full-time in the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program.

"I first began officiating at the age of 12 because my mom wanted me to start working and have appreciation for the value of the dollar," said Kronforst, of Prospect Heights. "Officiating at the levels I work now, it's all about the fact that I enjoy being a part of the game and thoroughly enjoy the 'view' of the game. Referees have, by far, the best view in the arena of every hockey game."

Kronforst won two consecutive state championships while playing goalie locally for the Chargers organization at the Bantam Gold level.

"Being a goalie in my playing days has tremendously helped me and shaped me into the referee I am today," he said. "Goalies see the whole ice; they watch plays develop and have the 'big picture' view of the entire game."

Kronforst will officiate the United States Hockey League (USHL) Clark Cup Finals and the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) Finals this season.

"Baseball helped me become a better official because it gave me something to do in the off-season," Kronforst said. "If you just play hockey year-round, there really is no start of the season and no end of the season. So being able to play baseball in the off-season definitely helped me because I was able to get my mind off of hockey, which is all I needed."

St. Rita not going national: Despite claiming bragging rights as the 2010 Illinois state champion, St. Rita is not going for national glory.

The Mustangs, who defeated Loyola Gold 3-1 to win the Blackhawk Cup and the school's first state championship since 1982, will not participate in the inaugural Hockey National High School Boys Championship, scheduled for April 14-18 at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.

Back-to-back Blackhawk Cup runner-up Loyola Gold is one of two Illinois teams confirmed to participate in the national tournament. The second participant has not been announced.

New Trier Green coach Bob Melton, vacationing this week in Las Vegas, confirmed the Trevians have unofficially been asked if they would be interested should a spot open. He hinted that the Trevians would not participate.

"We have numerous kids who play spring sports, (including) volleyball, lacrosse, baseball. And (forward) Alex Roman is scheduled to have shoulder surgery April 5. It's just not fair to them," if they'd miss the event, said St. Rita coach Craig Ferguson. "And, to be quite honest, I think this is a silly concept (calling it) a national tournament because there are no (participating teams from) Minnesota, Michigan or Massachusetts."

Ferguson confirmed that the Mustang seniors discussed the tournament and unanimously agreed to skip it.

The Mustangs' state championship followed their third consecutive Kennedy Cup title, awarded to the Catholic League champion - and is the oldest high school ice hockey prize in Illinois, dating to 1964.

St. Rita senior defenseman Henry Capouch was named the Kennedy Cup MVP.

Will Rita repeat?

Seems likely.

The Mustangs return their top 10 forwards.

America 's Showcase: St. Viator senior John Scully isn't a full-time baseball player, yet.

He still has some hockey to play.

Scully, who is in his second season on the Lions' varsity baseball team, and Naperville North forward Sam Svoboda are the only two returning players to Team Illinois for America's Showcase, formerly known as the Chicago Showcase.

This year's 26th annual 20-team tournament will be held April 14-18 in Pittsburgh.

"It is a great honor to play for the Illinois Showcase team," said Scully, a forward. "Playing with the best high school hockey players in the state is a fun opportunity. It greatly increases everyone's level of play and that helps make the whole team better."

Team Illinois is coached by former Chicago Blackhawk Brian Noonan, who now coaches Naperville North. Illinois won its three round-robin games, but then lost 3-2 to Team Michigan in the quarterfinals. Michigan went on the championship game, and lost to Team Minnesota in overtime.

Team Illinois will compete in the upper-tier A-pool.

"Playing in the best pool at the USA Hockey America's High School Showcase speaks well about the caliber of players in Illinois, and AHAI," Scully said. "This year's team should be a strong contender to go deep in the tournament. We are a fast team with a good amount of talent. The forwards are strong with the puck, and the defense is solid, along with great goaltending. Our team is also fortunate to have a great, experienced coaching staff in Brian Noonan and (Naperville Central's) Jeff Nelson."

Team Illinois opens America's Showcase action against Team Northern New England on April 14, and then faces Team Ohio and Team New York.

"Being selected to the Showcase team this year is a great accomplishment. It was one of my goals I set back in August, and I was determined to make it," said Barrington forward Austin Bostock. "The team looks great and is coming together nicely in these few practices we have before we're off to Pittsburgh. For me, Showcase is giving me the opportunity to play at a higher level of hockey. It's also preparing me for the competition I'll be facing in the next few seasons."

Chasing Cougars: Lyons Township is becoming a dynasty in the Illinois Suburban Hockey League (ISHL).

The Lions defeated the co-op Glenbard team 3-1 on March 16 in the deciding game of the best-of-three series to win their second consecutive Cougar Cup, their third in the past four years.

LT had home-ice advantage throughout the Cougar Cup by accumulating the most points while winning the IHSL South Division. But the Lions lost Game 1 of the Cougar Cup 5-4. They won the second game 4-2.

LT is the first team to win consecutive Cougar Cup titles since the three-peat by Hinsdale Central in the early-1990s.

Junior Anthony Appleyard anchored LT's offense with hat tricks in the final two games.

Agony of Defeat: For all the good that is Loyola Gold during the regular-season, the Ramblers clearly are snake-bitten in the big one. They have been to the championship game of the Blackhawk Cup seven of the past 14 times it has been played.

And the Ramblers' record during that stretch is, ugh, 0-7.

"I guess we're jinxed, like the Cubs," said Loyola forward Corey Shepherd. "We gave it our all, but just couldn't finish.

"This was my second (title game loss) and it's pretty frustrating. There's nothing we can do at this point except look at the positives, such as (arch-rival) New Trier (Green) which didn't even make it to the championship (game). At least we got the experience of playing at the United Center this year."