Novi Snowcats claw their way to Pittsburgh tourney win

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The Snowcats hit the road for an early season tournament in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we found out we were matched up against three travel teams from the home state,” said head coach John Henehan. “The idea was to get the new players familiar with each other and a chance for the players and families to form an early bond for the season. Give credit to Its Hockey Time for knowing which teams to put in the A bracket and which to put in the A/B division,” he continued.  “It turned out to be all of that and more!”

The first game featured a determined squad – the North Hills Vipers.  The first period ended in a scoreless tie, featuring great goaltending from both teams.  The Snowcats struck first early in the second with a goal from Garrett Cox on a nice pass from Tyler Allen. Novi followed up with another goal by Matthew Slate on a “in the right spot” rebound from Camron Farida’s shot.  The Vipers responded 41 seconds later with a power-play goal to pull with in one.  Brody Henehan’s break-a-way goal put the Snowcats back up by two to end the thrilling second period.  The third period was tight with the Snowcats controlling much of the play.  Then, at the 7:47 mark Ryan Owens in perfect position slammed in a rebound off another Brody breakaway. Snowcat goalie Freddie Samson played a solid game from beginning to end, ensuring the Vipers never got closer.  Forwards coach Michael Taormina talked after the game about the importance of going to the net and following your teammates all the way to the goal for just such an opportunity. “Hockey is always fun,” said veteran Snowcat Kamren Kerch, son of assistant coach Kevin.  It was clear after the first game that the Snowcats were there to contend.

The second game started out with a great pregame talk about passing, and putting shots on the net because good things will happen.  Shoot the Snowcats did, in the first period putting 34 shots on net, but only coming away with one goal from Tyler, assisted by Brody.  The Allegheny Badgers goalie, Ethan Siler, literally stood on his head in stopping the Snowcat onslaught. The second period started out with a natural hat trick for Camron as the Snowcats continued to use the blue liners Davey Farhat, Kamren Kerch, Anthony Makkonen, and Brody who moved the puck around to all draw assists.  Brody and Tyler added additional second-period goals. Evan Krol, Camron, Ryan and Davey all added third-period goals with forwards Jeevak Manivannan, Buddy Verellen, and Michael Trajkovski all drawing assists.

“This was really a team effort; we passed and shot a lot!” Brody added after the game.

Garret concluded, “We are playing like an organized team.”

The team followed up with a pizza party at the hotel, organized by team manager Maria Makkonen and Djana Trajkovski. Linda Krol presented the team with individualized Snowcat pucks featuring their name and number with the mascot on the front and all the teammates and jersey numbers on the back.  Then, it was onto the hallways, where the hotel actually allowed mini-sticks!

The third game was to be the toughest match up yet for the Snowcats, matching up against the Butler Valley Dawgs, who had the same goals for and against differential in their first two games. Defense coach Dave Farhat said in the pre-game talk, “You win hockey games by winning every battle, every shift and every period.”  The game did not disappoint as the teams were very evenly matched.  The Dawgs drew first, scoring at 9:13 of the first.  The Snowcats would even it up before the period was over on a goal from Tyler with assists coming from Buddy and Evan.  Tyler would add the only goal in the second with assists from defensemen Brody and Davey, on a great breakout play going coast to coast. The Snowcats had to fight off four third-period penalties, while Freddie stood strong.  Kamren would give the Snowcats the insurance they needed on a great pass from fellow blue-liner Anthony Makkonen. The Snowcats led the shots on goal by the narrow margin of 22-19.   This was the competitive edge going into the final that Coach John was hoping for.

The final was going to be rematch of the third game, between the two evenly matched teams.  The pregame talk was mostly about having “the heart of a champion,” and what it takes to win big games.  Coach John loves to have the players input both before and after the games and this was no different.

The Snowcats have a team soccer ball that is signed by every player and coach.  Whoever has the ball has the floor, and everyone listens.  Each player and coach was able to convey something that we needed to do in order to beat the home team. The Snowcats were ready early and were let out to watch the prior game end and see what its like to celebrate a championship.  That never happened as a check to the head left a player down and an ambulance was called.  The team was taken back to the locker room.  The game was called and fortunately after 20 minutes down and a ride to the hospital the player was shook up but OK.

Rink management moved the teams to the second rink.  Then eleven seconds into the championship game the rink went completely dark and the referees blew the whistle.  No one had told the arena’s energy manager that the game had been moved.  Truly this would be a championship game like no other. Once the game resumed, first-period goals would come from Ryan and Camron, both unassisted for the Snowcats.  The Dawgs pulled to within a goal late in the second.  Tyler’s goal from Davey would give the Snowcats some breathing room before the period ended.

The third period started much like the previous game with all the calls going the Dawgs way, and the Snowcats in the sin bin.  The Dawgs took advantage of this despite the stellar goaltending from Freddie and pulled within a goal again.  It was a real nail-biter with plays going end to end as the Dawgs tried to even up the game.  The stingy defense and goaltending of the Snowcats stood mighty, having only given up four goals in the tournament.  Camron and Kamren put it away for the Snowcats in the last part of third, with assists from Tyler and Brody to give them the coveted trophy.  Helmets, sticks and gloves went flying as the last seconds ticked off the clock and their goalie was mobbed!  The traditional handshake ended the game showing true sportsmanship, with the Dawgs begging for a rematch.

The Snowcats roster:

• 3        Freddie       “Firewall”            Samson
• 5        Ryan           “The Rocket”      Owens
• 7        Buddy         “ Viper”               Verellen
• 9        Evan           “ Express”            Krol
• 11        Michael        “Trigger”             Trajkovski
• 12        Davey          “Flash”                Farhat
• 13        Tyler           “Tornado”          Allen
• 19        Anthony      “Macco”             Makkonen
• 20        Matthew     “Slammin”          Slate
• 23    Camron        “Mr. Clutch”      Friada
• 40        Nathan        “Nitro”             Anton
• 44        Jeevak        “Jammin”          Manivannan
• 88        Garrett       “Cyclone”          Cox
• 96        Kamren      “Muscles”          Kerch
• 99        Brody          “Hat Trick”      Henehan

Head Coach

• Henehan,John

Asst. Coaches

• Allen,James
• Farhat,David
• Kerch,Kevin
• Toarmina,Michael
• Behen,Dennis

Team Manager

• Maria Makkonen