Joe Nix's SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI
ICE HOCKEY
Page 2
National 2005
Championship
Youth Tier II 18U
March 30th - April 3, 2005
Host: Jordan Valley Ice Park, Springfield MO
Results
on USA Hockey site
The
showing of the Springfield host midget U18AA team should not be taken
as an indicator of the calibre of youth hockey in Missouri.
They lost all 13 games and ended at the bottom in the Missouri Hockey
Midget U18AA final standings. I have no information on how they did
in an additional 6
games stated in a news report. They are to be admired for accomplishing
what they have but the younger divisions in Springfield as stated below
have fared much better.
AK=Alaska
Wolves - State Champions
(bypasses PC regionals)
RM=
Colorado Springs Jr. Tigers- Rocky
Mountain Champions
PC=Jr.
Ice Dogs -
Pacific District Champions, Lakewood CA
AT=
Mercer Chiefs, Atlantic
Champions, Hamilton NJ
NE=Mid-Fairfield,
CT - New England
Champions
MI=Port Huron Wild - Michigan
Champions
MA=South Boston Shamrocks- Mass.
Champions (can't find their website)
HOST=Springfield Jr. Spirit - Hosts
(no website)
MD=Pittsburg Predators ,
Mid-America
Champions(parochial term referring to 'mid Atlantic)
CN=Darien Huskies Darien,
Illinois (USA site calls them 'Chicago')
SE= Ashburn Xtreme Ashburn VA,
Southeastern Champions
NY=Freeport Arrows ,
New York Champions
Minnkota District, Minnesota & Dakotas not entered.
USA
Hockey Districts Map
 2005 Tier II Nationals
first day Freeport Arrows vs
Mid-Fairfield Blues |
 2005
Tier II Nationals first day Pittsburg Predators vs Port Huron Wild.
|
2005 SYHA A2 Bantams Missouri State Champs
Runnerup to Affton.
Versus KC Outlaws, next five pics focused on 12 Ryne Laster
|
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|
|
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In 2004 SYHA
B1 Bantams became Missouri State Champions, 3 to 1
over St. Peters Spirit. |
 Creve Coeur
Comets vs St Peters Spirit 1, MO State Bantam B-1 Play Offs
|
Springfield
Spirit vs St Peters Spirit 2. State Play Offs Springfield MO
2-28-04. |
 SYHA A1 Peewees State Runnerup
losing 6 to
3 to Affton Americans March 4, 2004 after notably
defeating St. Peters 3
to 2 eight hours earlier, Fenton MO
|
SYHA Squirt
winners of the B-1 division postseason Kirkwood MO Spring
Classic, March 5, '04
|
Afton MO at Springfield MO Peewees
11-23-03
|
 Afton
rented a bus for the trip from St. Louis, 11-23-03. |
 adjusting
equipment delay. 12 minute stop time periods. 11-23-03
|
 Afton
on attack 11-23-03
|
 Ryne
Laster SYHA wins faceoff vs Tulsa at Springfield Nov. '02 |
tiny kid 4
keeping up,
SYHA Tournament April '02. |
 Peewees SYHA Tournament April '02 |
Even in the
Tier II Midget nationals I see players going after the puck in
competition with another player with one hand on the stick. They rarely
come away with the puck. Laura Stamm's 'power skating' instructions
have encouraged this. You don't see it on the better teams. The Boston
Shamrocks
notably had 'two hands on the stick' at all times, sending and
receiving
hard precise cross ice passes. If I
were coaching I would have someone count how many times 'one hand
on
the stick' caused my team to miss a play. Forget counting
'hits'. I watched the
SMSU Ice Bears play U of MO Columbia 'Mizzou' on Feb 28, '04 and
did not see any 'one hand on stickisms', although there were some
'stick not on the ice'.
The only Junior
Spirit
Youth Ice Hockey Classic was held April 6-7, 2002. Springfield
fielded
a team in each division, Mite, Squirt and Peewee with teams from Tupelo
Mississippi, Memphis Tennessee, Springdale Arkansas, Oklahoma City and
Tulsa Oklahoma, Wichita and Topeka Kansas and Kansas City. Ryne
Laster
photo courtesy of his dad, Todd Laster, who has been instrumental
in bringing youth and college hockey to Springfield. His bio includes
play
in Edina, MN, Kimball Union Academy Meridan, NH and the U. of Kansas,
Lawrence.
I have links
and
information
on rinks and hockey for Missouri and surrounding states on my listing
by states page.
SMSU
BEARS inaugural hockey season began Sept 22, 2001.
Prior
ice rinks in Springfield
From Bruce Goettelman by
email,
December 24, '02
"I went to SMS from 1972
to
1976
and worked at the ice rink during those years. The rink was named 'Ice
Chalet' and opened some time in 1972 or 1973. The rink itself was an
inflated
bubble that was sold to Southeast Missouri State, for use as an indoor
track after the rink was closed in 1975/76. A group of ten business men
from St Louis were the owners. One of the owners was a man named Jack
Spencer
who moved down there and ran things. The manager was local, Gary
Gilmore
who lived with the owner of Bass Pro Shops, had a parking lot striping
business and also ran a Christmas tree lot.
We organized two teams
from
SMS,
one from Drury, and one from Evangel and had an informal league for a
few
years. A few local youth leagues tried to form but we could never
attract
enough interest. A few exhibition games with teams coming down from St
Louis were played (owners kids).
The rink was located by a
car dealer
south of Battlefield Mall. It was a nice facility with Pro shop, locker
rooms, concession stand, etc. Public skating resulted in average
turnouts.
The biggest draw was broomball teams from the local colleges.
Apparently this is the
rumoured,
'long gone ice rink' south on Glenstone near the current Loewe's or
there
was another, now a roller rink. A lifetime Springfield resident
in
his 70's informed me along with some others 'subject roller rink' had
started
out as an ice rink. I understand there was skating at Dowling
Park
on natural ice, possibly a covered outdoor rink at one time.
Copyright, Joseph P. Nix,
1999-2006
Email
to Joe Nix, web guru for these pages
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