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The Atom 52 Team travelled to Brantford over the Jan 11th -13th weekend to compete in the 10th Annual Walter Gretzky International Hockey Tournament. The round robin games were fairly easy as Erindale beat a Brantford team 5-0 then Port Credit 9-0 then London Oakridge 6-1. The remaining four teams were reseeded for the semi finals and they were in order Kitchener Patriots, Erindale Eagles, Brantford Sportzone and Kitchener Spitfires. The Eagles faced the #1 team from the Brantford league in the semifinal, Brantford Sportszone. Erindale opened up a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Matthew M. and Patrick only to have Brantford fight back to tie it by the end of the second period. It stayed that way until midway through the third period when Anthony, standing just off to the side of the net one timed a shot into the open side. Erindale took a very marginal tripping penalty with a minute and a half left, from the home town Refs.. The Eagles were able to hold off the two man advantage as Brantford pulled their goalie on their powerplay. The Erindale defence play super tough to keep Brantford off the score sheet to help us close out the win.

In the final the Eagles faced the #1 seeded team in the tournament the Kitchener Patriots who had just finished destroying their semifinal opponent 10-2. We had not seen the Patriots play but in the round robin and semi final they had outscored their opponents by a combined score of 32 -3. Our game plan was to play solid team defence and wait for the opportunities to score.

The Eagles executed perfectly a total team effort to win. The game was tied 0-0 half way through the second period with both teams having good scoring chances. Amir jammed a rebound through the pads of the Kitchener goalie on a wild scamble in front. Then just before the second period ended Patrick beat his man in the corner, passed to Warren who saw Chris in the deep slot. Chris found the top corner with a beautiful wrist shot. As the third started Kitchener poured everything on and Arjan was outstanding in our net and all our defence cleared rebound after rebound safely out of our zone. This part of the game was key to our win as if Kitchener had scored it clearly would have been a different game. With about three minutes left in the third on almost the same play as the second goal, Chris this time beat his man to the puck in the corner , passed to Warren who fed Patrick in the deep slot who scored in almost the exact same spot as the second goal. You could see Kitchener wilt at this point although they pressed and spoiled Arjan's shutout with a little over a minute left.The Eagles hung tough and won the game and the tournament.

Walter Gretzky was amazing all weekend. He was around for hours everyday signing autographs and taking pictures. At the final he came on the ice and presented each player with their medals and took an individual picture with every player on both teams. Walter then took numerous team pictures with both teams. Its was quite a thrill for everyone who met and talked to such a remarkable person as Walter Gretzky. All of our Moms who came on the ice to take pictures also got a group shot with Walter. Its really something. The entire weekend is something all the Erindale Eagles Players and Parents will remember for a long time.

Erindale Hockey Association is proud to announce we are having Food Bank Drive, at Erin Mills Twin Rinks, to support local area food banks on December 15^th. The Initiation Program and its convenor, Dan Bowman, is the driving force behing this. . Boxes will be set up in the lobby to accept all donations. We have the Eden Bank and Foodpath as two organizations we can support in Mississauga. So, if you are playing at Erin Mills that day, lets try to help out the less fortunate. Even if you are not playing, please make a contribution so others can enjoy the holiday season.

Chevrolet and its dealers have proudly supported grassroots hockey in Canada through the Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Program since 1999. In an ongoing effort to teach and foster the values of Respect & Responsibility in young players aged 5-8 years and their parents, the Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Program offers a fun approach to teamwork, sportsmanship, hockey fundamentals and valuable lessons that can be used on and off the ice.

The 2006-2007 season will see Chevrolet dealers of

Canada

donating 500 hours of ice time to Minor Hockey Associations across

Canada

in support of Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Jamborees.

With the support and assistance of Hockey Canada, more than 7 500 players and 100 000 parents will participate in a Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Program this season, helping promote the values of Respect & Responsibility in the game of hockey and also in life.

Coaches: click on the link below to sign up at the MHL Member Services for your passes.

January 22, 2008 - Erindale Hockey Association's Bantam White Team No. 92 captured the Championship at the London Minor Hockey Association Annual Thunder House League Tournament held in London, Ontario, January 18-20, 2008.

Playing in a Bantam loop comprised of ten teams, the Erindale team remained unbeaten in their quest for the championship. After easily winning the first two games 8-0 and 5-0, they squeaked by in the third round robin game winning 5-4. Their 5-3 win in the quarter-final sent them into the semi-final facing a strong Waterloo team also boasting an unbeaten record.

The semi-final match was about as exciting as hockey gets. Regulation play ended in a 0-0 tie. The five-minute overtime period also ended with no goals. The game eventually went into three shoot-out rounds ending in victory for the Erindale team when captain Bradley Roblin finally beat the Waterloo goalie while Erindale goalie Ryan De Carli stonewalled the Waterloo shooter. The final game for the championship win was almost anti-climatic with Erindale winning 4-1 over another Waterloo team.

In addition to Roblin and De Carli, team members include Derek Jones, Jake Onishi, Cameron Woods, Michael Maurer, Scott Healy, Matthew Gravina, Sean Brace, Cody Strong, Colin MacNeil, Andrew Perrella, Ryan Kinghorn, Michael Papaloni, David Smith, and Daniel Washington. The team is coached by Brett Jones, Nello DeCarli, Peter Smith and Frank Papaloni.

The Erindale goaltender development program will continue this season with the Saturday Goalie School.

This clinic will consist of five 90-minute Saturday evening sessions between November and February. The program will be led by Mark Riopel, professional hockey instructor, with the assistance of Erindale volunteer coaches and older players. Registration is limited to 25 goaltenders. Cost is $75. Location is Erin Mills Twin Rink 2.

The purpose of the program is two-fold: to teach basic goaltending skills to young players and to provide coaches with goaltender instruction experience they can bring back to their team practices.

The success of this program increases with the participation of the coaching staff of the goalies attending the clinic. The clinic is much better with their on-ice assistance, and the coaches who participate in the clinic are able bring these drills back to their own team practices. An ideal team practice would include 10 minutes of 1-to-1 time with your goalie while the other players are doing warm-up skating drills. It is a good approach to assign one of the bench staff the responsibility of working with the goalie at each practice.

To ensure that we put forward a quality program we will fill the first 12 spots to the goalie of teams that will also commit to providing an on-ice instructor from their bench staff for each of the five evenings. The remaining 13 spots will be available through an open registration night.

Please discuss this program with the parents of your team goalie. If they are interested and if you are willing to commit a member of your bench staff to the five evenings, respond to me by e-mail by November 1 indicating the names of the goalie and the bench personnel that would like to participate. The first 12 teams to respond will be allowed to pre-register.

If you do not have a member of your bench staff who can commit to attending the 5 clinic sessions, inform the goalies' parents of the open registration date. Let them know it's limited to 13 goalies and they should bring $75 cash or cheque.

EHA HOCKEY SCHOOL

This school is run by Erindale Hockey with the participation of Erindale coaches. It is led on the ice by professional hockey instructors. The 7 week clinic is designed to supplement the instruction players receive in team practices and covers skating, stickhandling, passing and shooting skills.

There will be two winter clinics again this season. Each clinic consists of seven 55 minute sessions.

Eligibility: Minor Novice to Minor Bantam - house league levels green, blue, white, red

Location: Erin Mills Twin Rinks
Cost: $70 for the seven sessions (payable by cheque or cash on January 13)

Do you remember when you played hockey as a seven year old? Do you remember your coach? Most NHL players fondly remember a coach from their early years, as someone who always had a smile, someone who provided a lot of encouragement, someone who made hockey fun.

Would you like to do the same for a team of seven year olds this season? We are looking for 16 individuals who are willing to lend a hand at weekly practices, someone with a big smile. If so, email me at ted.varty@adidascan.com or call me at 950.821.0142.

You must be willing to attend at least 90% of the weekly practices, (usually early on Sunday mornings, with some on Friday night or Monday night), and attend a daylong Initiation Program clinic; to become a Hockey Canada, certified instructor.

The Erindale Hockey Association will cover the cost of the clinic, we only ask for your commitment. The volunteer hours you spend assisting these seven-year-olds could be applied to your Secondary School community hours requirement. This is great opportunity you to share your love of the game with these young players and a chance to give back to the sport you love so much. I hope to hear from you soon, spaces are limited.

We would like to congratulate Tim Manning on his election to the Mississauga Hockey League Hall of Fame. This honour is the highest award that a volunteer can achieve in the minor hockey system in Mississauga. Tim served as Erindale's president from 1992 - 1996 and made significant contributions that shaped not only our Association but the MHL as a whole. Two of his major achievements were the introduction of the Initiation Program to Erindale and the establishment of a child abuse program at Erindale. We are proud of what Tim accomplished and the MHL and Erindale are proud benefactors of his efforts.

The Erindale Hockey Association is excited and proud to have been selected, along with two other local associations, to participate in the design and implementation of a Mentor Coach Program for the up coming hockey season. This pilot is the direct result of recommendations coming out of the recent Open Ice Hockey Summit last August 1999.

This initiative is a partnership between the Hockey Canada, and GTHL members Goulding Park Hockey Association and the Etobicoke Canucks with the Toronto Maple Leafs President, Ken Dryden acting as the Honorary Chair. Erindale has set up their Mentor Program to fulfill the needs identified during the summit. Statistics indicate that there is a 60 % turnover of minor hockey coaches annually due to many problems, which could have been worked out if caught early and some solutions proposed.

The Erindale Hockey Association has identified 4 coaching members of the association, to fulfill their normal team coaching duties and also take on the design and delivery of this program within Erindale and share with the other 2 participates their experiences. Long time coaches; John McCreath, 25 years, Barry Fielding 20 years, Bill MacKenzie 10 years, Ron Short 15 years are ready to guide and make suggestions to the more than 300 coaches now at Erindale. " This is an exciting opportunity for our association and the coaches within it", says Bill MacKenzie. "It will no doubt serve to support coaches at all levels within Canada, but also make for a more rewarding coaching experience. Ultimately, it is the kids that will benefit. A real Win-Win situation".

The GTA Program contact: Herb Ebisuzaki,
Technical Director, GTHL at 416-651-7031

Coaching applications are now being accepted for next year. Minimum requirements for head coaches of house league teams up to the Novice age group is "Initiation Program" and "Coach" level for all other house league teams. Head coaches of "A" teams are required to have their "Intermediate" level.

All coaches and trainers must have completed the Abuse and Harassment clinic to qualify for bench passes.

Applications are available by clicking here. Your NCCP number must be recorded on your application or indicate when you will take the course.