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The
locker room was not unlike dozens across the U.S.—cramped and cold
but a welcome sanctuary where boys could be a team one last time.
This was a hard post-mortem. A USA Hockey National Championship
Peewee Major (12 and under) semi-final game just had been played
between the Chicago Mission and the Pittsburgh Hornets on the
outskirts of Boston in Lawrence, Mass. The Hornets were advancing to
the championship game. The Mission were going home.
The Chicago team sat quietly while Head Coach Stan Luberda tried to
put things into perspective. “We had one helluva run, boys,” he
said, “and after twenty-five years of coaching, this has been the
best one!” Coach Stan, as the boys like to call him, had the
benefit of his many years of hockey. He knows what an achievement it
is to make it to Nationals, and to outlast eight other teams from
across the country to reach the Final Four.
Only three short seasons ago, Luberda formed a team of
nine-year-olds for the Blues organization out of Bensenville. Though
he had not expected much better than a .500 season, the boys went on
to win an AA Blackhawk State Cup Championship. A year later, they
shocked Illinois hockey by winning the AAA state championship as an
AA team. That’s when Chicago Mission Hockey came calling. Would
Luberda like to coach the 93’s the following season and invite his
current players to try out for the AAA organization? Like a Pied
Piper with a hockey stick, the former Blues coach lead most of his
team to Addison. And again, the kids did not disappoint, winning the
2004-2005 AAA State Cup.
But the 2005-2006 season seemed especially promising. Luberda knew
at the beginning that this year would be his last with these boys—he
is starting over with a new group of youngsters as a hockey coach
for the Darien Hawks. Coach Mike McPartlin was asked to help with
the transition. McPartlin, a former University of Notre Dame player
and current owner/director of TAC Hockey, added a new dimension to
the team. Whereas Luberda is known for his emphasis on skills and
conditioning, McPartlin is a systems coach who taught the boys
concepts. Both men laughingly admit that their coaching styles are
oil and water, but somehow they made it work.
There were roster changes as well. Although the boys had never
lacked for ability, the chemistry hadn’t always been there. This
year was different. While eleven players had grown up with Luberda,
six new guys were welcomed to the team. Within a month’s time it was
hard to tell which teammates were newbies. They gave each other
nicknames like “Fridge”, “Ease” and “Hollywood”. They lingered in
the locker room after practice, joking and goofing around until some
brave father went to fetch his reluctant son. They were on the ice
five days a week most weeks; they asked to practice more.
“I knew we had an opportunity to get to Boston…if we worked hard,”
claims McPartlin. And work hard they did. They brought hardware home
in September, winning an early season tournament in Pittsburgh. They
were runners-up in the Chicago Mission/Chill International
Invitational, losing a heart breaker to a strong Los Angeles team.
They advanced out of their brackets during tournaments in Detroit at
Thanksgiving and in Toronto at Christmas. By the time the boys had
clinched first place in the Mid America Hockey League in mid
February, it was apparent that the team was peaking at the right
time. “We were hoping for a long tournament run,” says assistant
coach John Doherty, “but we didn’t want to jinx it either. First
things first.”
The Mission went about winning the Blackhawk Cup in a workman-like
manner, advancing out of the round-robin in first place and edging
the Chicago Chill in two close games in the finals. It was on to the
Central District playoffs, hosted this year in Vernon Hills. The
local boys first took on the Wisconsin Fire, handily beating them
4-1. Next up were the St. Louis Jr. Blues, who were pesky, but
ultimately were handled 4-3. About this time, defenseman Riley
Newman announced that he would not cut his curly, nearly
shoulder-length hair until the tournament run was over. His haircut
would have to be postponed until a later date, as the Mission played
one of their best games of the season, beating St. Louis 4-1 in the
Central District Final. The boys from Chicago were heading to
Boston.
All athletes dream of glory and championships, and twelve-year-old
boys are no different. They wanted that championship. They wanted
that ring. Only six games separated them from ultimate victory. But
after beating Los Angeles 2-0 in the fourth game (yes, the same LA
team that beat them earlier in the season), the Mission met their
match in the fifth. It was a one goal differential until late in the
game, but as the final buzzer blared, the Mission had succumbed 4-1.
And that brings us back to that chilly locker room. Coach Stan was
finished and Coach Mike was up. He looked around the room at the
eyes glistening with disappointment. He told the boys how honored he
was to be their coach and how proud they should be of their
accomplishments this season. “You walk out of here with your heads
held high,” he admonished, before closing the door behind him and
leaving the seventeen teammates alone to finish their season. The
boys sat for several minutes before forward A.J. Jarosz broke the
silence. He spoke from his heart, and then others followed suit.
They did one last “Mission!” cheer. Finally, when all were dressed
and ready to depart, they arose in unison, slung their hockey bags
over their shoulders, and filed out, heads up and eyes straight
ahead. A pillow fight loomed somewhere in the future, but for this
moment, they were men.
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