Old Hosers not out to pasture yet

By Phillip Brents

Joe Noris played at the highest level of professional hockey in North America in the 1970s, skating first for Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the National Hockey League and later for the Birmingham Bulls and the long gone but still admired San Diego Mariners in the World Hockey Association. At 50, Noris admits the fire still burns inside and though he might be skating now on wheels rather than blades, he said helping the Old CCM Hosers capture the 35 & Older Division championship title at this year’s NARCh Winternationals ranks right up there with some of his greatest sports memories.

“I thought it was great. It was terrific fun. A lot of your physical skills slow down but your competitive drive is still there,” said Noris, who had a goal in the Old Hosers’ 6-4 championship game victory against the defending champion Nexed Detroit Iron Horse. “I’m 50 now. I had a blast. It’s so enjoyable to still be able to participate. That competitive spark never leaves you.”

The Old Hosers are comprised of a nucleus of players who suited up for the original San Diego Hosers squad and who have combined to set the standard in the men’s Senior and 35 & Older divisions with nine national championships over the past decade, including five USAC/RS titles (1992-94, 1996 and 1998) and three Winternationals championships (1996, 1997 and 2002). Many on the Old Hosers’ roster boast experience at the professional or international levels. Mike Duffey, who led the Old Hosers with a hat trick in the Winternationals title game against the Iron Horse, played on four world championship teams for the United States. John Gravelle suited up for a West Coast Hockey League game with the San Diego Gulls just prior to the start of the Winternationals, Gravelle had a goal in the January 7 championship game in Las Vegas while also earning honors as the division’s High Scorer. Don Thomson, another marquee name from the past, won honors for the Old Hosers as the division’s Top Goaltender.

Gravelle averaged three points per game for the 5-0 Old Hosers while Thomson recorded an .892 save percentage. The team was coached and captained by Marco Thompson, another member of those original, legendary Hosers whose roster at Winternationals also included Denis Amyot, Charley Becker, Mauri “Malka” Arminen, Darren Chula, Terry Shook and Craig Betts. Team members ranged in age from 35 to 50.

“We had a real strong team. All of us were from the old Hosers. It was fun to get back to play with them again,” said Duffey.

The Old Hosers and Iron Horse finished ahead of the third-place Bald Eagles and fourth-place Team Viagra.

“They challenged us. They had us going. We needed a come-from-behind victory,” Noris said of the championship game against the Iron Horse.

Old Hosers team members said as long as the competitive fire still burns, they are not yet ready to hang up their skates. The Old Hosers plan to compete in the NARCh Finals this summer.

This year’s Winternationals took place over six days, January 3 to 8, in Las Vegas. San Diego players made an impact showing. Former youth stars Mike Morrow, Paul Newell and Dave Brito all competed for the CCM Hosers in the Winternationals Pro Division with Noris serving as the team’s coach. Both Newell and Brito further helped lead the Rinkside Rockets to the 23-and-under Division I championship. Brito finished as the Division I High Scorer. Morrow was a member of the Division I runner-up team.

The Rockets claimed the Division I title with a 4-0 shutout victory against the Mission Empire Snipers from Long Island, N.Y. Brito averaged three points per game for the 5-0 Rockets while Vancouver native Ryan Frisk earned Top Goaltender honors in the division with a phenomenal .942 save percentage. The Rockets allowed just five goals in five games.

The Rockets’ roster was an interesting blend of players from Vancouver and Toronto with the two Californians thrown into the mix. Brito had two goals in the championship game while Newell picked up both assists on Brito’s goals.

“We had a solid all-round team,” said Brito, who has also played a handful of WCHL games for the Gulls. “We didn’t know if we would work well as a team but once we got together, we just flowed. The closest game we had in the tournament was the final — 4-0.”

Newell backed up Brito’s assessment. “They (the Canadian players) welcomed us. Our styles of play meshed,” Newell said.

Brito was born in Hayward but moved to San Diego with his family while in the fourth grade. He learned all his hockey in San Diego, eventually taking the ice with the Junior Gulls in the Midget AAA Tier before making the jump to the Junior hockey ranks for two years with the St. Louis Sting in the North American Hockey League. His roller hockey background includes stints with such formidable teams as Black Hole and the Beach Boys with whom he won a Pacific Cup Junior Division title two years ago.

Another California poster boy for the sport of amateur roller hockey, Newell’s previous best showing at Winternationals was the silver medal he picked up two years ago while playing for the celebrated NorCal Mavericks.

“It’s a great thrill. It’s definitely an honor. It’s the first national gold medal for Dave and myself. We’re both pretty thrilled about it. That team (the Rockets) had won a few major tournaments. It’s nice for us to get a gold medal under out belts.”

Finishing third in Division I were the Pama Cyclones; the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs were fourth.

Though the Hosers finished 1-2 in the Pro Division, Noris had nothing but positive feedback on the trio of young San Diego skaters. “All played very well,” he said.

The Pro Division championship game between the Tour Mudcats and Team Tour Labeda was decided in exciting fashion. After Tour Labeda pulled goaltender Joe Bonvie to tie the game with 18 seconds to play in regulation time, the Mudcats’ C.J. Yoder responded by scoring the game-winning goal with two seconds left.

Yoder finished as the division’s High Scorer by averaging 2.4 points per game while Mudcats’ teammate James Jensen, formerly with the Anaheim Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International, won the division’s Top Goaltender award with an .898 save percentage.

Team Mission finished third; the Nexed Canada Backhanders finished fourth.

“The NARCh championship is always competitive. It’s a little serious out there,” noted Team Mission’s Dean Wilson, a former member of the gold medal-winning USA IIHF InLine World Championship team who also enjoyed playing stints for Sacramento and San Diego in RHI.

With the continued absence of a national professional roller hockey league, the Winternationals and NARCh Pro Divisions more than compensate in filling that void, according to both Wilson and Noris, who served as president of the RHI San Diego Barracudas.

“The Pro Division is equally or more competitive as RHI ever was,” Noris said. “A lot of the old RHI players are in the Pro Division. Now they’re getting young guys like Morrow and Brito coming along. The pure roller hockey players are now just as good as the best cross-over players (ice and roller) are.”

The Nexed Orange County Blades won three Winternationals titles in the youth division, taking gold medals in the Atom, Squirt and Bantam divisions. The Blades also recorded runner-up team finishes in the Mite and Pee Wee divisions.

Rocco Grimaldi (High Scorer) and Laura Chamberlain (Top Goaltender) earned individual honors for the Blades in the Atom Division. Grimaldi averaged five points per game while Chamberlain recorded a .900 save percentage between the pipes. The Blades topped the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs for the gold medal while Team Excalibur and the Las Vegas Titans finished third and fourth, respectively, in the Atom Division.

C.J. Stretch (High Scorer) helped lead the Blades to the Squirt Division title, again ahead of the runner-up Bulldogs. Stretch averaged 2.6 points per game. Matthew Williams (.886 save percentage) earned the Top Goaltender award for the Las Vegas Tour Rebels, though the Cavemen and Team Eagle BC finished third and fourth in the Squirt Division, respectively.

Andrew Peterson keyed the Blades’ championship fortunes in the upset-riddled Bantam Division by earning Top Goaltender honors with a .900 save percentage. The Blades topped the Tour Mavericks (Ontario, Canada) for the division title with the Mission Empire Snipers taking third place and the Outcasts finishing fourth. Ryan Cowell of the Projoy Roadrunners averaged three points per game to earn the division High Scorer award. The Mavericks defeated the Snipers in overtime in the semifinals while the Blades ended a great run by the Outcasts in the semis. In the early rounds, three of the top four seeded teams fell. The Outcasts dispatched top-seeded Red Army in overtime while the Snipers edged a heavily-favored St. Louis team by a goal and the Mavericks edged the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs, 2-1, in a game every bit as tightly-played as the score indicated.

The CPH Velocity (Mite), Hyper Empire 87 (Pee Wee) and Mission Empire Snipers (Junior) rounded out the 2002 Winternationals youth division champions. The Velocity finished ahead of the runner-up Nexed OC Blades (Black), third-place Anaheim Mission Bulldogs and fourth-place Empire 91 in the Mite Division. The second-seeded Hyper Empire 87 captured the Pee Wee Division with a 4-2 victory against the top-seeded OC Blades 87 with the Tour Venom (Detroit) finishing third and the OCBlades 88 finishing fourth. The Snipers claimed the Junior Division title ahead of the runner-up Cyclones, third-place Anaheim Mission Bulldogs and fourth-place Bauer Pythons.

The Bulldogs’ Beau Bennett averaged 2.5 points per game to earn the High Scorer award in the Mite Division while the Velocity’s Brad Atkinson turned in a superb .949 save percentage to earn the division’s Top Goaltender award.

The top individual awards in the Pee Wee Division went to High Scorer Travis Suyeishi (3.0 points per game) of the Rollin Ice Patriots and Top Goaltender Thomas Tartaglione (.900 save percentage) of the Nexed OC Blades 88. The Blades 88 fell to the Blades 87, 3-2, in the semifinals while Hyper crowned the Venom 8-3 to advance to the finals.

Mike Cianfrani of the Empire Snipers won the High Scorer award in the Junior Division by averaging 3.3 points per game while Snipers’ teammate J.P. Susco captured the Top Goaltender award with an .895 save percentage.

Rounding out the 2002 Winternationals adult division champions were Team Hyper in the Men’s Senior Platinum Division, the appropriately-named OUTA Nowhere in the Men’s Senior Gold Division, Team Easton in the Women’s Platinum Division, the Las Vegas Titans in the Women’s Gold Division and the Michigan State Spartans in the College Division.

Team Hyper topped the Men’s Senior Platinum Division ahead of the runner-up Detroit Iron Horse, third-place West Coast Flintstones and fourth-place SportsplexBC.com. Kevin Stevens (2.6 points per game) of Team Xtreme earned the High Scorer award while Steve Kampf (.940 save percentage) of the Iron Horse finished as the division’s Top Goaltender.

OUTA Nowhere’s Will Kuo and Dustin Manko combined for a .918 save percentage to share the Top Goaltender award in the Men’s Senior Gold Division while Tommy Weiby of the runner-up Roosters claimed the High Scorer award by averaging 2.75 points per game. Finishing third in the division was the Pennsylvania Slim while fourth place went to the Fast Branches.

Top Goaltender Sarah Calabria (.898 save percentage) helped lead Team Easton to the Women’s Platinum Division title ahead of runner-up CPH and the third-place Cal Selects, who were led by division High Scorer Jessica Sandoval (2.5 points per game).

Amy Bowes keyed the Las Vegas Titans’ successful title quest in the Women’s Gold Division by averaging a point per game as the division High Scorer. Chelsea Acosta compiled a .910 save percentage to win the division’s Top Goaltender award in helping guide the K-Tek Bladium to a runner-up finish ahead of the third-place Mission Vixens.

The Michigan State Spartans topped an East Coast-flavored College Division medal field that also included the runner-up Ohio State Buckeyes, third-place RIT Tigers and fourth-place Penn State Nittany Lions. However, the division’s individual skills awards went to players representing the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs as Bobby Cottrell (4.33 points per game) won the High Scorer award and Chris Herbert (.838 save percentage) won the Top Goaltender award. Michigan State defeated Ohio State 3-2 in an overtime thriller.