Arvada Hockey Association

Friday saw the start of tournament play for all three ICEACTS teams. The 95 Team opened against Sweden which was an excitig way to kick off tournement play. The 95's won the game 4-2 The 97 Team opened against the Northern Storm winning 7-4 and they also played earlier Saturday morning against the Jr. Gophers and posted a 4-0 win. The 2000 team opened up against Thunder Bay and lost 12-1. The teams still have a few games to play Saturday and we will keep you updated on their progress.

Stay tuned for all the Minnesota Meltdown news this weekend. Updates will be provided throughout the tournament.

The ICECATS would like to thank Hi Country Wire and Telephone for their generous donation and support of the ICEACTS spring hockey teams. Hi Country has been valued sponsor to youth hockey in the state of Colorado for many years. Please visit their webite by simply clicking on their logo and to learn more about how they can help your business.

This year three teams will be traveling to compete in the Minnesota Meltdown held from April 16th -19th. The 95, 97 & 2000 teams are comprised of players representing 6 different associations and start their practices April 4th.

The 2000 team playing in their first real tournament is excited to test their skills against the kids from Minnesota.  

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! ICECATS beat Lake Superior Stars 3-1 in championship game. The 97 ICECATS have waited a year to get back to Minnesota and win the AAA Meltdown after finishing 3rd in 2007 and 5th in 2006. This team is comprised of players from the following associations: Arvada, Aspen, Boulder, CHC Hyland and Littleton. After four difficult pool play games the 97's emerged from their pool as the winner and the right to face the Lake Superior Stars in the championship game. The championship game was all it was cracked up to be and tied 1-1 after two periods of play. The ICECATS got to quick goals to start the third period and held on to a hard fought 3-1 victory. The awards ceremony was quick as many of the players had only 30 minutes to get to the airport to catch their flight home. Hopefully you have had time to sit back and enjoy the victory. Logan Fauber was named the game MVP. Conratulations to all the players and coaches on their victory. Thanks to all the parents for their support and helping make this a wonderful experience for the team.

Spring hockey can represent many different things and so each year individual and team expectations and goals are tailored so that success is measured in appropriate ways. By all accounts, this year’s 1998 Ice Cat team succeeded in all aspects including making new friends, continuing their hockey development, and a team performance that exceeded all expectations with a record of 4-1 and taking 2nd Place in the competitive Minnesota Meltdown AAA tournament. The 98 Ice Cats, hosted by the Arvada Hockey Association, included players from the Arvada Storm, Boulder Bisons, DU Jr. Pioneers, Front Range Panthers, and Littleton Hawks. It included players that played their 2007-08 regular seasons on Squirt A, B, and C level teams. It included players that played on regular season teams that went nearly unbeaten and others on teams that went nearly winless. Both players that played center on the Ice Cats played defense all season on their respective association teams. None of the players had either of the Ice Cats’ coaches as their Head Coach during the season. Four Ice Cat players had no regular season teammates on the team and the most players from any one regular season team were three. It was truly a compilation of new players and coaches charged with coming together in just a few practices to learn to play as a team. New teammates, new coaches, new practice drills, new positions, and new friends on/off the ice … those factors alone make for a successful spring hockey experience. However, besides these regular and fun goals that we set for every spring experience, the 98 Ice Cats also desired to compete in the Meltdown AAA tournament. But not too many people expected these coaches and players with only 10 skaters and 1 goalie to really compete with the best of the Minnesota AAA tournament teams. Remember the story of the little engine that could? The 98 Ice Cats proved to everyone, including themselves, that with an unselfish attitude and good work ethic that they could not only compete but even play for a championship. The weekend started with a Friday morning skate along with the 99 and 97 teams to get the legs moving and minds thinking about hockey. That night in Game #1 the 98 team faced their first test against Team Reebok. The coaches, parents, and players were not sure what to expect not having any scrimmages or games together as a team before the trip. In fact Coach Mansfield looked around the locker room pre-game and said “Alright boys, now that we finally have the whole team here together …”. Team Reebok was comprised of Minnesota and Wisconsin players decked out from head to toe in sponsored Reebok gear. They looked sharp but the Ice Cats played sharper. The first two shifts started fast and strong with both forward lines pressing hard and keeping the puck in Team Reebok’s zone. On the third shift, only 2:02 into the first period, Jared Duncan scored the first tournament goal for the 98 Ice Cats. Five minutes later Team Reebok answered with a short-handed goal to tie the game at one apiece. Two minutes later James Crossman scored a power play goal to put the Ice Cats ahead to stay and from that point on it was all Ice Cats. Led by Jared Duncan’s unselfish play the forwards demonstrated impressive fore-checking and puck control to dominate possession and create scoring opportunities. Another goal by Crossman and one by Jack Steffer put the score at 4-1 after one period. Joel Ives shut out Team Reebok in the second and third periods while the offense continued to pile it on scoring two more goals in the second period by Steffer and Kevin Cooper, and four more goals in the third for a final tally of 10-1. Jack Steffer scored four goals and James Crossman scored three goals for his hat trick while Duncan, Cooper, and Zaven Acker each added one goal. The defensive pairings of Adam Mansfield with Brendon Beaver and Dylan Wheeler with Anthony Capra protected the house and along with solid goaltending by Joel Ives shut down Team Reebok. Game #2 on Saturday morning pitted the Ice Cats against the Minnesota Ice Hawks. The Ice Hawks struck first at 3:55 into the first period but less then two minutes later Jared Duncan evened it up for the Ice Cats. Timely quick strikes by the Ice Cats would be recurring theme over the weekend and Jack Steffer scored on the very next shift to put the Ice Cats ahead. The score was 2-1 after one period. Both teams scored a flurry of goals in the second period combining for 8 goals with 5 of those occurring in a three minute span. James Crossman and Kevin Cooper scored to put the Ice Cats up 4-1 but the Ice Hawks made it interesting by closing the gap to 4-2. Fifteen seconds later Jack Steffer netted another timely goal that gave the Ice Cats some more breathing room. But the Ice Hawks responded 25 seconds later to again bring the lead down to two goals. Ives stoned the Ice Hawks best forward on a breakaway and Steffer buried another goal to bring the lead back to three goals. The Ice Hawks hung tough and scored with 1:16 left in the second period. Steffer then hit again in the last minute of the second period to give the Ice Cats a three goal cushion at 7-4 going into the final period. In the third period the Ice Cats back-checking and defensive play shut down the Ice Hawks and Jared Duncan added another goal to close the 8-4 victory. Jack Steffer recorded his second consecutive four goal performance, while Duncan added two goals, and Crossman and Cooper scored one apiece. Game #3 started out somewhat chaotically with the opposing coach and then tournament officials entering our locker room during pre-game requesting the Ice Cats start the game nearly 30 minutes early. The Ice Cats scrambled to take the ice early and then in a fitting twist the officials sent the Minnesota Thunder team to their locker room to change into their appropriate home white jerseys. Ultimately the game started on time as scheduled. The Ice Cats quickly fell behind 2-0 on a Thunder goal less than 2 minutes into the first period and a power play goal only a minute later. Adam Mansfield settled the Ice Cats down by physically disrupting the Thunder’s double-wing cherry-picking scheme and Jack Steffer got the Ice Cats going with a goal to cut the lead in half. The Thunder answered to take another two goal lead but a power play goal by Zaven Acker and an exciting equalizer by James Crossman with only 5 seconds left in the period knotted the score at 3-3 after one period. The second period was dominated by the Ice Cats with great puck movement, fore-checking, back-checking, and stand-up play in the defensive zone. It was an impressive team effort that took the air completely out of the Minnesota Thunder team. Adam Mansfield’s strong defensive play appeared to be contagious as he and fellow defensemen Beaver, Capra, and Wheeler continued to thwart the Thunder offensive rushes and take away scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, the Ice Cat offense exploded for four goals in the second period by Stefan Handlos-Fruwirth, Jack Steffer, and two by Jared Duncan. Handlos-Fruwirth added two more goals in the third period to complete his hat trick for the night. Joel Ives was once again strong in net and allowed only one goal over the final two periods. The final score was 9-4 as the Ice Cats finished their pool play with an impressive 3-0 record and advanced to the championship round. On Sunday the Ice Cats were matched against The Grinders in the semi-final game. Jack Steffer scored first to put the Ice Cats up but The Grinders displayed great team speed and rebounded to take a 2-1 lead after one period and then quickly jumped ahead 3-1 early in the second period. The Ice Cats continued to exhibit great work ethic and fought back with two goals in the final 1:02 of the second period by Jared Duncan and Stefan Handlos-Fruwirth to tie the game at 3 and take “Big Mo” into the locker room for the ice make intermission. The third period was an intense battle of two good teams skating fast and working hard. Jack Steffer scored his second goal of the game with 4:33 left that proved to be the game winner and the entire team pressured the puck for the final 4 minutes to hold on to a 4-3 win and advance to the championship game. The team’s fourth consecutive third period shutout was a tribute to the play of goalie Joel Ives and the defense of Mansfield, Beaver, Capra, and Wheeler. Meanwhile, over the four games all 6 forwards contributed goals resulting in an impressive 31-12 goal differential. In the championship game the Ice Cats ran into a deep and talented Wisconsin Jr. Badger team. The Ice Cats matched the effort of the Jr. Badgers but simply couldn’t match their size, strength, and talent. The Ice Cats fell behind 7-0 but played with pride and continued to battle. In the third period the Ice Cats allowed only two goals and Jack Steffer tallied one for the Ice Cats, which was his team-leading twelfth goal of the tournament. Great leadership and unselfish play by Jared Duncan, James Crossman, Jack Steffer, Stefon Handlos-Fruwirth, Adam Mansfield, and Dylan Wheeler were recognizable throughout the weekend. Clutch plays from Kevin Cooper, Zaven Acker, Brendon Beaver, and Anthony Capra were key to the team’s success. Joel Ives played tremendous in goal the entire weekend as especially noted during crucial third periods. The players exhibited great effort and team play that resulted in an impressive 4-1 record and 2nd Place finish. Coach Mansfield and Coach Wheeler were extremely proud of the player’s performance as well as their on/off-ice behavior throughout the tournament. The coaches were especially proud to see the team win with grace and lose with grace most notably when immediately after a tough loss in the championship game the Ice Cats stood tall on the blue line stick-clapping and applauding the tournament champion Jr. Badgers during the trophy ceremony. Capturing the Second Place trophy from a 16 team field in the Minnesota Meltdown AAA tournament was a great accomplishment for 10 skaters and a goalie that joined together to have fun and extend their season a couple weeks. That is success by any measuring stick! Coach Mansfield and Coach Wheeler would like to extend a special thanks to all the players and parents who came together to participate on the 98 Ice Cat team. Thanks for being great players, great teammates, and great families to share our spring hockey experience. Pictured: 98 Ice Cats with their 2nd Place Trophy from the 2008 Minnesota Meltdown AAA Tournament. From left to right: Zaven Acker, Brendon Beaver, Joel Ives, Jack Steffer, Dylan Wheeler, Jared Duncan, James Crossman, Adam Mansfield, Anthony Capra (back), Sefan Handlos-Fruwirth (front), Kevin Cooper; Standing: Coach Jeff Wheeler and Coach James Mansfield.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their support this spring. Your generosity has helped purchase the jerseys which will be used for many years and reduce the overall cost for the players. We would also like to thank the coach's for volunteering their time to help make this a great program. Adstick Custom Labels - John Kiernan, Apache Steel - John Geiger, Extreme Car Wash - Jay Gleeson, LDIS - Ben Schwenk, Carl Hoover, Suburu - Clark Family, Vector Scientific - Jeff Wheeler ProNerve, The King Family Thanks again for everything.