Sled Dogs, Jr. Sled Wings capture national sled championships at USA Hockey Disabled Festival
By @SKubus –
Buffalo, N.Y. played host to the 11th annual USA Hockey Disabled Festival from April 9-12, and a pair of Michigan teams captured national championships.
The Grand Rapids Junior Sled Wings took home their first Junior Sled A National Championship and the Michigan Sled Dogs captured the Adult Sled B National Championship.
In the previous two seasons, the Sled Wings, ranging in age from 10 to 17, had fallen to the Bennett Blazers (Baltimore, Md.) in the national championship game.
For the Sled Wings, though, the third time truly was the charm, as they defeated the Blazers by a 4-2 final in the championship game.
“Going into the weekend, we had a solid plan and our athletes were very focuses, more so than I have ever seen them,” Grand Rapids head coach Steve Kozlowski said.” We also had our adult team with us for the weekend which offered a great deal of support.”
The adult Sled Wings finished second in the Adult B division, too. Not a bad weekend themselves.
En route to the victory over Bennett, the junior Sled Wings went on a 3-0 run, topping the Ohio Blades, 6-1, the Blazers, 8-2 and the Johnstown Sitting Bulls, 8-3. Kozlowski said that, heading into the season, the players’ sights were set on redeeming themselves, which they certainly did. This was a team whose average player age is 13 in an 18-and-under division, too.
“For a group of young athletes they have really showed a lot of maturity this season.
“Our team truly has a sense of family, all of our athletes understanding each other’s challenges and working together to overcome obstacles.”
Above wins, losses and a championship banner, Kozlowski said he and his staff are most proud of the way his players carried themselves as human beings.
“As a coach (along with assistant coach Tyler Anderson), we are very proud of these young men for how they have acted both on and off the ice,” Kozlowski said. “Throughout the season we had parents ask us to have talks with a couple of players about grades and attitudes while at home, we have those talks and assure that the athletes know that they have accountabilities outside of hockey.
“So for us it’s not just about hockey but also about growing up with an education, independence, social skills, and more. I truly believe that is why our team had so much success this season. They understand that they need to respect each other and also work hard and learn.”
Taggart VanderMolen, 12, led the Sled Wings in net, and 16-year-old defenseman and alternate captain Tanner Gentry led all skaters in the tournament with 14 goals and 16 points. Braxton Kalkman, Shaun Doss, Scott Stever, Joshua Stapel, Jake Nelson, Christian Teachworth, William Oberg, Jarrett Reynolds-Meyers, Philipe Hernandez, Caleb Janssen and CJ Blackwell comprise the rest of the Sled Wings.
Sled Dogs win Adult Sled B national title
It was a long, 10-year journey for Marc Henretta and the Sled Dogs to reach the national championship, but once they did, they certainly made it count.
The Sled Dogs went on an undefeated 4-0 run with three shutouts and just a single goal allowed by goaltender Rick Lewis en route to the Adult Sled B National Championship. The team consists of 12 players, male and female, ranging in age from 18 to 50, with disabilities ranging from cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy to leg amputations and spinal cord injuries.
“It was a long journey, when the team started out, 10 years ago, to finally get to this level,” Henretta said. “The look on everyone’s faces when the final buzzer sounded was the most amazing feeling ever. Everything we’ve taught, everything we’ve learned, came together at the correct time for us to pull this off.”
An emotional team meeting before their departure for Buffalo is what Henretta says fueled his team’s successful run. Teammate Mike Brown has been unable to participate with the team in the last couple of years due to his battle with cancer.
“We unanimously decided that we would ‘win this championship for Mike Brown.’ Mike is the strongest, most determined human being I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet and call ‘friend and teammate.’
“This weekend, the entire team will be going to see Mike, and we will proudly give him his USA Hockey Champion hat.”
It undoubtedly takes sacrifice to win championships, but this team has made these sacrifices not only on the ice, but off the ice, too.
“We’ve come a long way to get to this level,” Henretta said. “Literally hundreds of two-hour practices every Sunday morning at Fraser Hockeyland, bright and early, from 8:25 a.m. to 10:25 a.m. Some of our players have to get up at 5:30 to get to the rink on time, and they do it every Sunday.”
And off the ice, the team would cease to exist without a strong managerial foundation that comes in the form of 10-year Sled Dogs veteran Jennifer Deneau, who had a pair of assists in the tournament. Deneau was born with Friedrich’s Ataxia, which is closely associated with muscular dystrophy.
“Not only is Jen an awesome hockey player, she’s even a better player off the ice,” Henretta said. “Jen has been the secretary-treasurer for the team, since the beginning, and she has now taken over all off-ice responsibilities. Without her, the Sled Dogs cease to exist.
“I’m equally proud of all the Sled Dogs. Each and every one of them has overcome many health-related challenges, and have done so, in a role-model way. You won’t hear complaining about our health on this team. Everyone knows that we’ve all overcome many challenges to be playing sled hockey today.”
Henretta made one thing abundantly clear about sled hockey: it truly is a warrior’s game.
“We play using the same rules as they do in the NHL, so we are a full-contact league, and we would not have it any other way,” Henretta said. “We enjoy the fierce competition and the hard-checking. If we were playing in the over-25 or over-30 stand-up hockey leagues, we would not be able to hit, and a big part of our game is taking the body.”
The team typically takes a few months off after the season, but Henretta said that with the excitement and enthusiasm winning the national championship brought, the team wants to keep skating throughout the summer.
“None of this would be possible without the support of our family and friends, especially (team manager) Karen Deneau, head coach Mark Hilla and our newest assistant, Dan Duhaime,” Henretta said.
The rest of the Sled Dogs team consists of: Jesus Villa, Dan Studebaker, Bob Morris, Jeff Bielecki, Damon Donovan, Rico Vitelli, Mike Brown and Lawrence Howe.