Another year of prep hockey ends

The zamboni is out on the ice – the Mid-States Club Hockey Association’s championships are over.

The South Conference All Star game saw the Red team scoring an 8-6 victory over the Blue team in a game that was played at Webster Groves.

Members of the South Conference Red team were: Toppie Hogan and John Hogan of Chaminade; Nick Chiodini, Patrick Mannion and Matt Peteson of Kirkwood; Chris Krueger, Justin Garlik and Tyler Cerko of Lafayette; Mike Humme and Shawn Leslie of Lindbergh; Nicholas Tobey and Mitch Campbell of Marquette; Andrew Kovacich and Luke Hassler of Oakville; Brendan McClew and Chris Broy of Summit; Emerson Bearden and Billy Lamb of St. Mary’s; and Anton Fromelt and Breck Pepple of Webster Groves. The goalies were Zach Remming of Lindbergh, Zach Jost of Oakville and Kory Beck of Summit.

The Red teams coaches were Derek Stephens of Oakville, Ryan Payton of Summit and Nathan Hirsch of Chaminade.

Member of the South Conference Blue team were: Dominic Polizi and Ed Rogers of CBC; Nate Cunningham and Kevin Kohnen of De Smet Jesuit; Jordan Cole and Ryan Markovitz of Eureka; Spencer Peyton and Blake Ketzler of Fox; Jacob Kaufman, Cameron Durham and Joseph Sparks of Lutheran South; Dalton Morrison and David Piel of Mehlville; Tyler Reineri and Mike Rubble of Northwest; Drew Strum of Seckman; Nick Walters and Remy Hoffman of St. Louis University High; and Doug Morgan and Andrew Klaus of Vianney. The goalies were Billy Hindle of Eureka, Alex Carmen of Fox and Nick Bonastia of Vianney.

The Red team coaches were John Jost of CBC, Kevin Fitzpatrick of SLUH and Ziggy Ziegler of Northwest.

The Blue team was led by the Hogan twins – Toppie and John. Toppie Hogan scored a hat trick and John added two goals in the victory.

Hirsch, who coached them at Chaminade, said they played like they always do.

“They have a great game,” Hirsch said. “That’s how they’ve been all year. They led our team in scoring. They were right up there in Mid-States in scoring. In this game, they were surrounded by other great kids from other teams and they were even better.

“They just did what they’ve done for us all year and that’s be great for us offensively. I’m happy to see them do well in this game.”

This was the first time Hirsch has coached in the all-star game.

“It was a lot of fun. I’m 1-0,” Hirsch said with a laugh. “It was cool seeing all these kids playing together in this game. They all played not only in high school but in club hockey growing up. These kids all know each other.

“This was a cool opportunity for them. For most of them, this was the last time they will play hockey like this and for sure, it’s the last time they’ll represent their high schools as they are all seniors.”

Jost said the game was a good one and that he was glad to be a part of it.

“I thought we played pretty well,” he said. “We moved some defensemen up to play forwards. They did a nice job. It was a pretty balanced game. The teams I thought were pretty even.”

This was Jost’s 10th all-star game.

“It’s always a good time,” Jost said. “It is fun for all us. It’s a neat environment. I think the kids had a lot of fun. It’s technically their last high school game for a lot of them.”

For his part, Jost said it was good to have some of the opponents he usually goes against on his team.

“It’s fun to coach kids I’ve coached against for so long,” he said.

• • •

The North Conference All Star game saw the Blue team scoring a 7-4 victory over the Red team in a game that was played at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

Members of the North Conference Blue team were: Jared Bird and Tyler Steitz of Fort Zumwalt North; Joey Lucia and Keith Walker of Fort Zumwalt South; David Allen and Bryon Dalton of Fort Zumwalt West; Alex Roundcount and Michael Braun of Francis Howell Central; Alex Cornwell and Seve Beaver of John Burroughs; Charlie Jonas and Alex Schott of Ladue; Ryan Hodges and Dalton Bova Conti of Parkway South; Clayton Brenner, Mustafa Baig and David Bickert of Parkway West; Jack Rourke of Priory; and Sam Canfield and Brendan Tebrock of Westminster Christian Academy. The Blue team’s goalies were Brendan David of Fort Zumwalt North, Sebastian Mitchell of Fort Zumwalt West and Claudia Escue of Parkway South.

The Blue teams coaches were Terry Jones of Fort Zumwalt West, Rocky Aliberti of Francis Howell Central and Brian Moseley of Parkway West.

Members of the North Conference Red team were: Steve Kinnison and Joe Rupp of Duchesne; Alex Klaesner and Brandon Sill of Fort Zumwalt East; Adam Berge and Alex Griffin of Francis Howell; Drew Williamson and Matt Matyi of Francis Howell North; Alexander Martin and Brandon Klar of MICDS; Brandon Rosen and Michael Kalivoda of Parkway North; Zach Guenther and Andrew Potter-Gray of Pattonville; Timothy Tohill and Austin Beckerle of St. Charles West; Brett Franklin and Drake Mossengren of Wentzville Holt; and Zac White and Adam Ambrosius of Wentzville Timberland. The Red team’s goalies were Brendan Talbert of Fort Zumwalt East, Adam Kassly of Fort Zumwalt North and Mark Finkelstein of Parkway North.

The Red team’s coaches were Dan Rupp of Duchesne, Paul Bruemmer of Francis Howell North and Kyle Webb of MICDS.

Moseley said he was pleased with how the Blue team performed.

“We played great. They were dominant I thought,” Moseley said. “Everything went well. It’s a good, fun time for the seniors. I was glad we got the ‘W.’ It’s a great way to cap the season off for the seniors.

“They get to play with the other best players in the league. It’s a very fast game. I think it was a great experience for all the players and the parents, too.”

Moseley was in his first year as the head coach at Parkway West.

“I was proud to be selected to help coach,” Moseley said. “It was a great honor and it was a great experience.”

• • •

The all-star games preceded the Mid-States championship games.

The championship games were played at the Scottrade Center and the two games produced two exciting games, wrapping up the 2012-13 season.

In the Wickenheiser Cup title game, Wentzville Holt defeated Duchesne 4-3. The Most Valuable Player in the game was Holt’s Corbin Foppe.

In the Challenge Cup, St. Louis University High upset defending champion CBC  2-1 in overtime. SLUH senior forward Stephen Lordo was name the MVP.

Scholarship winners were announced between the championship games. Brendan Talbert, of Fort Zumwalt East, won the Orf No. 17 scholarship. The scholarship in memory of Doug Wickenheiser went to Brendan Strauser, of Francis Howell Central. The scholarship in honor of Herman Kriegshauser went to Ryan Markovitz, of Eureka.

For Hirsch, this capped another good season for the league.

“There was tons of parity this year,” Hirsch said. “No one team ran away with it. SLUH wins their first championship in 41 years. That’s a great story. I think the league just keeps getting better.”

Moseley agreed.

“It was a great season for Mid-States,” Moseley said. “The talent level was up this year. I think the compete level was there, too. There’s a lot of parity in the league. The difference in most games this year was a couple of goals.

“I think being able to have three divisions is good for the future. Hopefully, some schools and organizations that have dropped out in recent years can get back and get involved again. There’s an ebb and flow to the numbers. We’ll try to keep the numbers healthy in the future.”