Saturday, February 9, 2008                                                                        

 

USA Hockey National Championships - A Look Back…

 

With the 2009 USA Hockey National Championships headed our way, we thought it might be interesting and informative to those not familiar with the Championships (as they are routinely called), to provide a look back at the Nationals in which Alliance has participated, with current and former Bulldog players, parents, siblings, and friends.

 

Having the privilege to play in a National Championship is a rare opportunity for most, and typically, significant memories are established during the experience.  It is the objective of this area of the web site to re-kindle some of those memories, have some fun, and communicate them to those interested as we approach hosting one in our own back yard.

 

The buttons at the top of this page represent links to the seven (7) Alliance teams that have advanced to participate in a USA Hockey National Championship.  The pages beyond those links include rosters, photos, game scores, game articles, and other information about the teams and players honored to have been a part of a lifetime experience call the Championships.

 

In the 3 National Championship seasons indicated above, a total of 109 different Alliance players and coaches have appeared.   Of those, 25 have appeared twice, and 4 Bulldogs have played in all 3 National Championships. 

 

You can see the alphabetical list of all Bulldogs that played in a National Championship while representing Alliance, by clicking on the "Bulldogs Who Played Nationals" button at the top of this page.

 

In 2004, prior to the activation of our current web site, Alliance published several newsletters that allowed people to follow the PeeWee AA and Bantam AA Bulldogs in their first trip to the USA Hockey National Championships.  These newsletters are filled with photos, game & team previews, game results, and other items of interest from the 2004 USA Hockey National Championships.  You may view and download those by clicking on the button at the top of this page labeled 2004 Nationals - Newsletters. 

 

Please Note:  The memories being requested that will be listed here are not limited to those by Alliance players, parents, siblings or friends.  If any person has an experience at Nationals with any other team, we welcome those memories as well, as the Championships cross all boundaries when it comes to having a fun and memorable experience of a lifetime.  Some memories will be posted as a part of an interview, and others just posted as a comment or two, so feel free to send us your memories.

 

 

Original Bulldog - It's Not About the Skill, They're All Good...

 

Original Bulldog Jordan Hall is one of only 4 players to have participated in 3 National Championships while representing Alliance, was fortunate enough to win a Bronze Medal, and now reflects back on his days at Nationals while in his freshman year in college.   Jordan played in the 2004 Nationals with the 14U Bantam Tier II team (Bronze Medal), the 2005 Championships with the 16U Midget Minor Tier II team, and in 2007 with the 18U Midget Major Tier II team.  Alliance Hockey visited with Jordan on the phone in his dorm room to discuss his memories of Nationals...

 

Alliance Hockey:  Jordan, you have as much experience at Nationals as anyone at Alliance.  Did some of the players going for the first time ask you about it, and if so, what do you tell them?

 

Jordan:  I learned that it is not the teams that have the most skill that win, it's the teams that play together the best.  All of the teams have a lot of skill.  There are a lot of really good players there, on every team, but the teams that won did not have necessarily the best players. 

 

Alliance Hockey:  You played at both a Nationals Host Site where there was only one division (2004 14U Tier II in South Burlington, Vermont), as well as in one with four divisions (2007 16U Tier I & II, 18U Tier I & II in Detroit).  What were the differences, and do you prefer one type over the other?

 

Jordan:  I liked the site when we were Bantams (South Burlington, VT) where only Bantams were playing.  It was nice because we were the only ones playing, we got a lot of special attention, and it was a big deal in the town where we were.  The highlights from the games were on the TVs in the hotel when we got back after a game, and the crowds were big and it was loud.

 

In Detroit, it was completely different, with all the teams from both Midget Major and Midget Minor, and there were big crowds and people everywhere.  The positive of that was you got to see a lot of good players at one place and see a lot of guys you knew from playing against them over the years, all in one place.  I found out that the youth hockey world is actually pretty small.

 

Alliance Hockey:  What do you think were the defining characteristics of your teams that made it possible for them to advance to Nationals each time?

 

Jordan:  We had some really good players on our teams, but I don't think we had as many of them as most of the teams I saw, but we all got along real good, played pretty well together, and wanted to win real bad.  We beat some teams that most people thought were better than us, and we never gave up, even when we were down against a good team.

 

 

Alliance Hockey:  If you could narrow down your fondest memories to just one or two, what would they be?

 

Jordan:  Actually, the best hockey memory I have related to Nationals happened in Regionals in 2004 when we were Bantams.  In the Semi-Finals against Phoenix, we came from behind with 3 goals in the last minute to win. 

 

I think that helped us to have confidence in the Championship Game, when we upset Littleton, who had beat us every time we played them that year.  It was actually the memory that is my most favorite of all my years playing. 

 

I think those wins helped us in close games at Nationals, because we won 2 games in overtime in Vermont.  I think it also may have helped us the next year, when with most of the same players, we won in the Regional Semi-Finals in overtime also, which gave us the momentum to win the Final and go to Nationals again.

 

It was funny, because the first year we went to Nationals, each player got a letter from Alliance to give to our schools explaining why we would miss almost a whole week, and that it was a "once in a lifetime" experience.  The next year when we went again and gave them the same letter, they told me they had been told it was supposed to happen only once.  I told them, "Well, I guess I'm pretty lucky, then, huh?"

 

More Memories on their Way...

 

We currently have a couple of other interviews with former players being finalized, and those will be posted here as soon as they are completed.  In the mean-time, please feel free to submit one of your own, or contact us about an interview...