VILLAS — Lower Township’s South Jersey Hurricanes street hockey team are the IDTA- USA Cup- Beaver Division Champions taking the series with a 2-1 win against Team Chicago, Oct. 8.
The Hurricanes, 10-12 year olds, were led by Head Coach Stig Blomkvest. They defeated a powerful Team Chicago with goals by Mike Laricks and Shawn Wilson, scoring in the third quarter with 1:01 left in the game, assisted by Brandon Blomkvest and Ryan Lewis.
The USA Cup was held at Disney World in Orlando, Fl. at the Wide World of Sports Complex.
Stig Blomkvest said the games were played indoors in air-conditioned NHL regulation-sized rinks over a four-day period.
Before the trip to Florida for the USA Cup, the Hurricanes went to Leominster, Mass. to compete in the national championships where they scored enough points to qualify for the World Cup, playing against Leominster, Egg Harbor Township and Athol, Mass.
The Hurricanes defeated Egg Harbor, known as serious rivals and one of the top three teams in the country, 3-2.
The Hurricanes were then placed in the “A” bracket at the World Cup,” said Blomkvest, defeating Niagara Falls, Ontario, Chicago, and Egg Harbor Township to become the number one seed.
In the semi-finals, the Hurricanes beat Niagara Falls 7-1 going on to defeat Chicago, the nation’s top IDTA team.
Blomkvest attributed the team’s championship win to practicing two hours per day, three days a week through the summer, “correcting all the things we needed to correct.”
“Even during the first month of school they were still practicing,” he said.
Blomkvest said the team “took its lumps and learned,” from going to national tournaments.
Bernie Parent, two-time Stanley Cup winning goal tender for the Philadelphia Flyers was brought in to talk to the team about having the drive and attitude to win a world title.
“Our goal tender (Walker) was amazing and I really think Bernie helped with his confidence,” said Stig Blomkvest, who has been coaching for 12 years.
The team raised money throughout the summer to offset the cost of airline tickets and lodging in Disney World with the help of sponsors and events. A total of 50 players and family members traveled to Orlando had made time to enjoy Disney’s three theme parks.
The Hurricanes are: Cody Walker-goalie, Ryan Albertson-wing, Chandler Nicas-defense/wing, Tom Gavin Jr.-wing, Karl Hughes-center, Ryan Lewis/defense, Nick Will-defense/wing, Ryan Connell-wing, Tyler Erazmus-wing/defense, Mike Laricks-wing/center, Josh Pilatsky-defense/center, Shawn Watson-center/wing, and Brandon Blomkvest-center/wing.
Assistant coaches are Tom Pilatsky, Tom Gavin and Karl Hughes.
While in its early days, street hockey was played in tennis courts, driveways, school yards, parking lots, gyms and in the streets, it was elevated from the neighborhood game to an organized sport in the early 1970’s in Leominster, when a group of hockey enthusiasts headed by Ray LeClerc, who founded Mylec, Inc., a street hockey equipment company. His vision to introduce three essentials made the game into an organized sport.
Those essentials included; a regulation rink (160 feet x 80 feet) in which to play, a no-bounce plastic ball, which replaced a puck and a set of official playing, rules which governed the game.
Organized street hockey today uses the name DekHockey in many areas and features light weight equipment designed for a fast paced, action packed game under an official set of rules, organized leagues and rink facilities
Street Hockey/Dekhockey is a running game played similar to ice hockey with the exception that body checking is not allowed. Running, stick handling, passing and shooting are the basic qualities, which provide an exciting and fast game, according to the IDTA Web site.
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