Youth hockey association racks up several state titles

In its mission statement, the Cyclones Amateur Hockey Association supports three guiding principles:

Play Hard -- we will give it our all with focus and competitive effort.

Play Smart -- we will apply learned disciplines, skills and values responsibly.

Play Together -- we will listen to each other and work together to grow and succeed.

After the recently concluded 2007-08 season, you can add winning state titles to the list.

Seven of the Cyclones' 19 youth hockey teams from the mite level up to the high school aged midgets advanced to the state quarterfinals in their respective divisions this year.

Leading the way were the AA and A Mite teams (ages 6-8) that came home with a pair of state championship titles in the annual Weekend of Champions held March 2 at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.

After successful first-place finishes in the Northern Illinois Hockey League, both teams entered the Blackhawk Cup, the state's round-robin tournament, with high expectations.

"It was a big day for our association," said Mite A team coach Brent Wells. "To have two of our Mite teams win state championships was pretty awesome."

Winning one state title is difficult enough.

"It's rare to win this," said Mite AA team coach Virgil Rutili. "This is my eighth year of coaching and we had never done it before."

The Mite A team entered the tourney as the No. 1 seed, having advanced to the championship game in all four of its previous tournaments.

"We came in with a bull's-eye on our backs," said Wells. "It was a tough grind, but we dominated from the beginning of the season to the end."

A first-period goal from Alec Mahoney proved to be all of the offense the Mite A team would need, as goaltender Miles Corrigan stopped everything in his way during the Cyclones' 1-0 championship triumph over the Chicago Jets.

"It was a total team effort," said Wells, whose squad began its season in September, practicing two times a week. "Our team was a team from the beginning of the season."

The 12-member Mite A team, which compiled an impressive 47-1 record, included Dominic Bader, Corrigan, Jackson Foster, Luke Hartge, Breydon Hemminger, Austin Kleba, Mahoney, Samuel Martin, Brett Tierney, Jeffrey Vangemert, Connor Wells and Matthew Wilson.

Dave Wilson and Joe Hartge served as assistant coaches.

"The majority of our kids are from St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia and South Elgin," said Wells. "Next year, eight of the kids will move up to the Squirt level while four kids stick with the Mites."

The Mite AA team had to win five games -- all against ranked teams -- to secure the state championship, which it did with a 6-2 victory over the Ice Dogs from Vernon Hills.

"They outplayed us in the first period," said Rutili, whose nephew, Shane Breslin, played on the team. "But we regrouped."

In addition to Breslin, the 12-member team included Sean Dhooghe, Thomas Eberhardt, Quinn Green, Ryan Keefe, A.J. Krakauer, Jack Metz, Landon Real, Adam Scheel, Danny Sterne, Dean Welch and Marco Wiedenbeck. Jeff Green and Mike Real served as assistant coaches.

"Eight of the 12 players are from St. Charles and Geneva," said Rutili. "Two guys live in Aurora, while the other two are from Elgin and West Chicago."

According to Rutili, winning the state title was an added bonus.

"Winning is great," he said, "but our main objective is just trying to develop the kids. There's a big gap in skill level with 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds. Our job is to close that gap. I think that nine of our guys have been playing together for five years."

The Mite AA team competes in the Northern Illinois Hockey League against Crystal Lake, Romeoville, Vernon Hills, Bensenville, Naperville and Gurnee.

"The greatest thrill for me is seeing the talent level and numbers at the young age levels," said Rutili, who used to coach 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds. "There's a ton of good little hockey players ages 10 and under. It's very promising for the organization."

After the upcoming spring campaign, tryouts for the 2008-09 season will be held around Labor Day.

The not-for-profit volunteer organization, which was founded in 1998, practices and plays its home games at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva.