The 2022 IHAAZ season kicked off over the Feb. 11-13 weekend in Yuma for the first tournament of the season.

Five champions were crowned at Kennedy Memorial Park as the Arizona Jr. Wildcats took the 8U (pictured above) and 10U titles, followed by the Knighthawks at 12U, Arizona Outlaws at 14U, and the home team Yuma Blaze taking the 18U championship.

“Eight months off of IHAAZ hockey had everyone hungry to play some roller hockey and also hungry for the famous Tri-Tip BBQ the Blaze organization does at their home-hosted event,” said IHAAZ tournament director Nick Boyarsky. “A few divisions were a little lopsided, but we still managed to see some great games get played. One of the most exciting was the 14U consolation game between the Arizona Jr. Wildcats and the hometown Yuma Blaze.”

8U

Conner Hillegonds scored five goals and Ben Van Houten added four as the Jr. Wildcats knocked off the Yuma Blaze 9-1 in the title game.

Talon Ducharme netted the lone goal for Yuma.

Jr. Wildcats goalie Ryland Scott earned the championship win while Evelyn Stewart played well in the Yuma net.

In the round robin, Van Houten led all players with 12 goals and 16 points and Hillegonds posted nine assists. Scott picked up four wins and had a 0.50 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage with three shutouts.

10U

The Jr. Wildcats Red team took a 7-3 victory over the Knighthawks for the championship.

Hillegonds tallied four goals and Henry Shoun went for three goals and an assist for the Jr. Wildcats. Keoni Weir earned the win in net.

For the Knighthawks, Peyton Miller registered a goal and an assist and Mason Maschner and Amelie Des Rosiers scored one each. Brayden Barnes kept the Knighthawks in the game back in goal.

During round robin play, Van Houten recorded 18 goals and 21 points while Gia Alvarez picked up seven assists. Weir had two shutouts and four wins and Barnes fashioned a 2.75 GAA with a .761 save percentage.

12U

In a close game, the Knighthawks used two goals and an assist from Owen Smailys and a goal and an assist from Joey Lepore to down the Jr. Wildcats 4-1.

Landon Jans also scored for the Knighthawks and Lennon Mikan stopped 12 of 13 shots he faced between the pipes for the win.

Riley Peterson collected the Jr. Wildcats’ goal and London Simpson made 12 saves in goal.

Smailys led all scorers in the round robin with 10 goals and 16 points. Lepore tacked on eight assists. Mikan was the top netminder with three wins, a pair of shutouts, a 0.67 GAA and a .778 save percentage.

14U

Eli Shulman led the way for the Outlaws with three goals and four assists in the 9-1 championship win over the Cyclones.

Jack Goar added three goals and a trio of assists, while Zayne Maragh had two goals and Nick Munez also scored.

In goal, Jeremy Widders made 16 saves for the win.

Gavin Fine scored for the Cyclones and Keegin Palmer stopped 12 shots between the pipes.

During the round robin, Shulman led all players with 11 assists and 17 points and Goar popped 10 goals. Widders had three wins, one shutout, a 1.00 GAA and a .850 save percentage.

Luke Freeman scored all four goals for Yuma in the consolation game, a 4-2 win over the Jr. Wildcats, while Giovanni Servin made 25 saves in goal. Jeremiah Ledcke and Nolan Wilde scored for the Jr. Wildcats and Antonio Bras-Taylor was sharp in goal.

18U

Austin Estes scored twice and added an assist and Brandon Ott added two goals as the homestanding Blaze defeated the Jr. Wildcats 5-1.

Matthew Boelts scored once for Yuma and Jackson Gebhart turned aside eight of nine shots in goal.

Damian Kostadina netted the Jr. Wildcats’ goal and TJ Rivera made 18 saves in the crease.

In round robin action, Ott tallied seven goals and nine points and Yuma’s Justin Vandenberg compiled five assists. Gebhart was the top goalie with three wins, a shutout and a 1.33 GAA. The Yetis’ Dallin McShane posted a .849 save percentage.

The next IHAAZ tournament is scheduled for March 11-13 at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center with the same five divisions taking part – 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, and 18U.

“We’ll start seeing more of the ice hockey player-based teams start to show up in Tucson, which will definitely change the dynamic of some of the more uneven age divisions,” noted Boyarsky.

For more information, visit IHAAZ.com.

Photos/IHAAZ

— Matt Mackinder

(February 21, 2022)