OURSPORTS
SECTION B
Heritage Newspapers
The big
thrill
Local high school hockey
players skate at Big House
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
On Sunday, frigid tem-
peratures had most people
in the area huddling on their
sofas inside their nice warm
homes, but area high school
hockey players had a different
house on their minds.
Six local prep hockey teams
spent Sunday at the Big House
in Ann Arbor, playing hockey
on a rink built on the football
field at Michigan Stadium.
The ice rink was built for
Michigan’s Big Chill at the
Big House hockey game next
week against Michigan State,
but the Michigan Athletic
Department wanted to get
as much use out of the rink
as possible, so it scheduled
several youth and high school
games.
Gabriel Richard, Skyline,
Pioneer, Saline, Dexter and
Huron all got the chance to
play on the ice in the national
renowned football cathedral.
“This was really a lot of
fun,” Pioneer hockey coach
Steve Armstrong said. “We
are very appreciative of the
chance to get to play here.
This is the kind of thing that
a lot of these player
will get to talk
about years
from now.
They will
be able to
tell their
grand chil-
dren that they
got a chance to
play hockey in the Big
House.
“You figure there is a pretty
small amount of college foot-
ball players out there that can
say they played football here
at Michigan Stadium, but it’s
an even smaller group that
can say they played hockey
here. So that’s really nice for
these guys.”
Although the game was
in the stadium, the stadium
seats were blocked off. Rather,
fans were allowed to sit on
aluminum bleachers that
were set around the rink.
Fans also stood around the
glass, getting a close up view
of the games.
Gabriel Richard’s Ryan
Ferris said getting a chance to
play at the Big House against
Playing in the Big House: From the players
“It was such a
good game. It was
a lot of fun. I mean,
this is the Big
House. Yost
(Arena) is cool and
all, but it’s not
known around the
nation the way the
Big House is.”
Richard’s Ryan Ryan Ferris
Ferris
Skyline was a fantastic expe-
rience.
“This is something that
most people never get a
chance to do,” he said. “It’s
just a great way to play
hockey.”
Richard, which defeated
Skyline 4-1 in a game that was
officially a scrimmage, is used
to playing on the UM campus
as their home rink is at Yost
Arena. However, according
the Ferris, the Big House is a
little bit more prestigious.
“Yost is cool and all, but it’s
not known arund the nation
the way the Big House is,”
Ferris said. “And playing
the game outside was really
amazing.”
While the game was quite
an experience for all who par-
ticipated, it was also different
from any game most had
ever played.
Huron’s Kyle
Aaronson said the game
was more like a
pond hockey
game, stat-
ing that
the ice
was
kind
of
bumpy.
Other factors
that added to the difficul-
ty of the game were the wind,
and for the teams that played
in the later games, the lights.
“The only thing I really
noticed was the wind,”
Dexter’s Andrew Erber said.
“If you were headed north,
the wind was right in your
face you definitely slowed you
right down.”
Aaronson said the lights
also made playing a little
more challenging, as his team
skated to a 2-2 with Dexter.
“I guess the lights were
a little bit different too,” he
said. “The ability to see the
puck (gets harder), because
PLEASE SEE THRILL/2-B
“It was different and
it was a lot of fun; a
big stage, different
ice. It’s pretty cool
coming out here
watching football
games, and then to
get a chance to play
here. It’s pretty
unbelievable.”
Saline’s Rocco
Corrunker
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December 9, 2010
GENERAL
ADMISSION
MIKE
LARSON
Outdoor
hockey
is where
it’s at
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
S
omewhere between goal-
ies putting on masks and
a professional team set-
ting up shop in Phoenix,
hockey changed.
The game didn’t used to
be about fancy sweaters and
Zamboni machines.
It didn’t used to be about
overzealous parents and thou-
sands of dollars spent on equip-
ment.
It used to be a pretty simple
game.
All you needed was some ice,
a pair of skates, a stick, a puck
and some friends.
With just those things, you
could get a game going.
Well, sometimes you needed
some shovels too.
After all, you needed some-
thing to clear the snow off of
whatever pond or lake you were
playing on.
Because that’s how hockey
used to be played.
It used to be a group of guys
(and sometimes girls) skating
around on a frozen sheet of ice
somewhere.
Helmets were normally trad-
ed in for those wool hats with
Photos by Jonathan
Knight/A2 JOURNAL the little fluff balls on top.
Pads?
Gabriel Richard’s
Nicholas O’Brien No way. If the players were
lucky, maybe they remembered
battles for the puck
against a Skyline to tape some newspapers or
their dad’s old Cabela’s catalog
player on Sunday
while, below, the Ann around their shins.
Arbor Pioneer and Saline The skates were probably
hockey teams play at handed down from an older
Michigan Stadium. brother, and they probably
weren’t any famous brand
name.
But they served their pur-
pose.
The game has changed since
then, and it’s all thanks to cli-
mate control.
In an effort for players to
hone skills and play more often,
hockey moved indoors.
Creature comforts were
added, like benches, penalty
boxes, bleacher seating, and –
gasp- real goals instead of a pair
of shoes tosses a fair distance
apart from one another.
And the players improved.
They got better at every level
as they were given the chance to
play as much as they wanted to.
No longer was hockey just a
winter sport. Players could play
all year round if they wanted to.
But real hockey fans know
that the real game has always
been outside.
On Sunday afternoon, six
local high schools got the
chance to travel back in time
and play a game out of the
accommodating arenas.
As part of the University of
Michigan’s Big Chill event, an
outdoor hockey game that will
pit the Wolverines against rival
Michigan State next Sunday, the
“It was a little
“It’s incredi-
“It was a really
Michigan athletic department
cold out there; it amazing experi-
got kind of hard ble. It’s a ence. It was real- decided to allow several differ-
to breathe. But I once-in-a-life- ly nice. The ice ent hockey teams to play on the
thought it was a time opportu- was a little bit ice surface, which was set up on
lot of fun. It’s not nity. I know shaky. It felt like the Michigan football field in
something you everyone in a pond hockey the Big House.
get to do every the stands game, which was Gabriel Richard, Skyline,
day. I had fun wishes they a little bit weird. Pioneer, Saline, Huron and
with it, and the could do it. It Once we got Dexter all took to the outdoor
team had fun with was so much used to it, it was ice, skating around the hal-
it.” fun.” great. lowed football stadium.
Dexter’s Kyle Aaronson And the event was a hit.
Pioneer’s Joe Joe Chronis Huron’s Kyle Despite temperatures that
Chronis Andrew Erber Aaronson made the idea of climbing into a
PLEASE SEE LARSON/2-B
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THRILL
FROM PAGE 1-B
once the puck got over the main
part of the boards and gets in
the glass, it’s really hard to see
it.”
And of course the hardest
part about playing the game
outside was the temperature.
“It was just so cold,” said
Rocco Corrunker, whose Saline
team fell to Pioneer 3-2. “We
just weren’t used to playing in
that kind of cold. It’s hard to get
your lungs going when it’s like
that. But we battled hard and I
thought we did a good job.
Despite the challenges and
the frigid temperature, all the
players and fans seemed to have
a good time.
“How could you not enjoy
this,” Armstrong asked. “This
is how hockey was meant to be
played. This is the kind of game
that everyone wants to be a part
of. It has just been a really won-
derful experience for everyone
involved.”
Mike Larson can be reached
by email at MLarson@A2Journal.
com.
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
The Pioneer and Saline hockey teams prepare for a faceoff Sunday evening at the Big House.
Pioneer won the game, 3-2.
Special teams are extra
special for Pioneer
Pioneers score shorthanded
twice in 3-2 win over Saline
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
Penalty killers are normally
just charged with keeping the
other team’s power play unit
from scoring.
On Sunday though, the
Pioneer penalty
killers were also
the team’s most “One shorthanded goal is tough
productive scor-
ers. enough for the team on the power play
Saline
hosted Pioneer to overcome. But to have two short-
in a game
at Michigan handed goals on the same power
Stadium, and
Pioneer scored play? That’s a tough thing to get past.”
two shorthanded
goals to help
them win the
game, 3-2.
The contest
started out slow, with neither
team able to get a goal.
In fact, after two scoreless
periods, the teams entered the
LARSON
FROM PAGE 1-B
meat locker give you the warm
and fuzzies, the players and
fans loved the idea of moving
the game outside.
When asked about the expe-
rience, most of the players said felt like a pond hockey game,
it was great.
They all seemed to give a
variation on the sentiment
that it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play like that again.”
chance, and that win or lose,
they were glad they partici-
pated.
But two players in particu-
lar had a different take. Sure,
they were happy and thrilled
to have been able to play at the
Big House, but they were even
happier to get the chance to
play outside.
Dexter’s Andrew Erber and
Huron’s Kyle Aaronson played some good friends, a pair of
against one another in the final skates and a stick.
game of the night, an overtime
contest that ended in a 2-2 tie at ly hasn’t changed that much.
around 10 p.m.
“The ice was real bumpy
Thursday, December 9, 2010 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/A2 JOURNAL
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
Snow flies as the Pioneer hockey team waits for the opening faceoff at Michigan Stadium on Sunday.
third frame knotted at 0-0.
Early in the third, with the said. “But to have two short-
Hornets on the power play, it
looked as if the momentum was same power play? That’s a tough
going to shift to Saline.
However, Pioneer’s Tom
Polorney put the puck behind
the Saline keeper to give Ann
STEVE ARMSTRONG
Pioneer hockey coach
Arbor a 1-0 lead.
Then, just 21 seconds later,
Joe Chronis scored another
shorthanded goal, the second in second goal of the night on the
and we don’t normally play on
that kind of pond,” Erber said.
“But that’s all of us, growing
up as kids, we loved playing on really well. I was happy with the
ponds.”
Erber’s Huron counterpart
echoed almost the exact same
sentiment.
“The ice was a little bit
shaky,” Aaronson said. “It
actually, which was a little bit
weird. But we grew up playing
outside, so it was nice to get a scored again, taking a pass from
The game of hockey has
become cluttered with a lot of
add ons. Some of them make
the game easier for the players, into it,” Corrunker said. “The
some make it more accessible
for the fans.
But on Sunday, six high
school teams got a chance to
see that the heart of the game
still revolves around a few sim- the score up late in the game,
ple things: some frozen water,
Perhaps the game itself real- “But at least we got to play in
Mike Larson can be reached
by email at
MLarson@A2Journal.com.
the same power play.
“One shorthanded goal is
tough enough for the team on
the power play to overcome,”
Pioneer coach Steve Armstrong
handed goals scored on the
thing to get past.”
With Pioneer holding on
to a 2-0 lead, the Hornets had
to scramble to get back in the
game.
After two score-
less periods to start
the game, the flood-
gates opened in the
third.
Saline jumped
right back into the
game when James
Olson scored with
about eight minutes
left in the game to
make the score 2-1.
Seth Giles and D.J.
Aben were credited
with assists.
The Pioneer special teams
kept the Ann Arbor team roll-
ing when Chronis scored his
power play. Anthony Moran and
Kyle Waitz assisted.
“It was a good goal,” Chronis
said of his power play tally. “I
thought our whole team played
effort.”
Leading 3-1 with five minutes
left in the game, it appeared that
Pioneer was going to cruise to
a win.
However, the Hornets weren’t
ready to give in.
With just about four minutes
remaining in the game, Olson
Rocco Corrunker to put the
puck in the net.
“We gave up those two early
goals, and just couldn’t get back
late goal was nice, and I thought
we might be able to come back,
but we just couldn’t get it
going.”
Despite a strong effort to tie
Saline ended up falling 3-2.
“It’s always hard to lose in a
rivalry game,” Corrunker said.
the Big House.”
Mike Larson can be reached
by email at MLarson@A2Journal.
com.
Huron, Dexter skate
to a snowy stalemate
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
The Huron hockey team walks out of the tunnel and takes the
ice Sunday at Michigan Stadium. The Rats took on Dexter and
tied 2-2.
OT not enough for Rats and
Dreads, SEC foes tie, 2-2
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
Huron scored the first pair
of goals, Dexter scored the
last pair, and after a score-
less overtime period the two
Southeastern Conference teams
ended a long day of hockey at
the Big House in a 2-2 tie.
The Dexter-Huron showdown
was the final high school hock-
ey game played on Sunday night
at Michigan Stadium, after
three other prep contests.
It started at 8 p.m. and didn’t
end until after 10 p.m., and the
whole while the players were
left to deal with harsh winds
and frigid temperatures.
“It was really cold out there,”
Huron’s Kyle Aaronson said.
“It made it hard to catch your
breath.”
However, despite the rough
conditions, Huron jumped out
to an early lead.
With just 5:25 left in the first
period, Huron’s Oliver Owens
scored the game’s first goal.
Robert Keedy and Aaron Tisack
assisted on the goal.
Neither team was able to
score for the rest of the period,
and Huron took a 1-0 lead into
Open skate Sunday at Michigan Stadium
The Big Chill at the Big
House open skate has been
scheduled for Sunday, Dec.
12, at Michigan Stadium.
There will be eight 30-min-
ute sessions, beginning at
10:15 a.m. and ending at 3:35
p.m. Tickets are priced at
$15 per person, cash only.
Tickets will be available
on a first-come, first-served
basis at Gate A of Crisler
Arena beginning Sunday,
Dec. 12, at 8 a.m. There is a
limit of six tickets per order.
Tickets will be specifically
valid for one of the eight
sessions.
Skaters are encouraged to
bring their own skates as
skate rental will be very lim-
ited. Sticks and pucks will
not be allowed on the ice.
Attendees must wear skates
to be allowed on the ice sur-
Chill out! We’ve video
Check out
www.heri-
tage.com to
watch video
highlights
and inter-
views from
all of
Sunday’s
action at the
Big House!
the intermission.
After the break, Huron came
out putting the pressure on the
Dreadnaughts.
The River Rats were
rewarded for their work when
Aaronson took a pass from
Justin Roose and scored to give
Huron a 2-0 lead.
“It was a great pass, and I
put a good move on the goalie,”
Aaronson said. “It was a great
feeling to score in that game.”
Again, neither team was able
to score for the remainder of
the period, and Huron took a 2-0
lead into the third period.
However, in the game’s final
frame, it was all Dexter.
With 10 minutes left in the
game, the Dreadnaughts got
their first goal of the game
when John Grover scored off of
a pass from Evan Sanford.
A minute later, Jake Waldrup
scored the equalizer for the
Dreads.
“We had a great few shifts
in the third period,” Dexter’s
Andrew Erber said. “We worked
hard all game, and took advan-
tage. We needed those goals.”
After the short scoring burst,
the game went back to a dead-
lock.
Then, at the end of regula-
tion, with the score tied at
2-2, and overtime period was
required.
The teams battled for eight
more minutes in the extra
frame, but neither capitalized,
forcing a 2-2 stalemate.
“It’s not the way we wanted to
end this game,” Aaronson said.
“We need to play better and take
better care of the puck. We just
need to do better.”
Mike Larson can be reached
by email at MLarson@A2Journal.
com.
Open skate sessions:
Session 1 -- 10:15 a.m.-
10:45 a.m.
Session 2 -- 10:55 a.m.-
11:25 a.m.
Session 3 -- 11:35 a.m.-
12:05 p.m.
Session 4 -- 12:20 p.m.-
12:50 p.m.
face.
Parking is free and avail-
able on a first-come, first-
served basis in the Blue Lot
adjacent to Michigan Sta-
dium. Ticket holders must
enter through the tunnel at
the east side of the stadium.
A portion of the proceeds
from the public skating
event will be donated to C.S.
Mott Children’s Hospital in
Ann Arbor.