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7.30.00
ON THE FLOOR, WITH COURAGE
By Lee Samuels
Las
Vegas -- Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes in very small packages.
For
example, take the story of bright-eyed, eager, all-hockey David Malone, 11 years old. He's the one you see skating his heart out every week over at Crystal Palace on Rancho Drive. And, he's skating now on the road with the Tour Rebel 10s, who blazed to a 2-1-1 record in their first four roller games at the NARCH Nationals in Toronto.
When the
Tour Rebel 10s come home, David Malone has an August 14 appointment for surgery to correct a birth defect.
"David needs
some work in the chest area," said his father, Mike. "The doctors need to get inside, work on the septum. It's going to keep David out of hockey at least six months."
His older brother, Kevin, is 13 and plays on the Tour Rebel 14s. He is also in Toronto, watching his brother suit up in the Rebels red and black and take on all of the hotshot teams.
We're taking e-mails for David right here -- all 'best wishes' for this brave, dynamite player can be sent to: LSAMU00007@AOL.COM.
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So what does it take to be a Junior A player?
That's what Eddie
and others found out on the ice the other evening at Sante Fe Arena.
When the midget-level (18-and-unders) were skating off on Wednesday eve, Micah Sanford came onto the ice all by himself. With coach Rob Pallin studying his stopwatch, Micah blazed around the arena ice several times. He "power skated" for 30 minutes. He huddled with coach Pallin several times, discussing his times.
Micah is getting fine-tuned to get ready for an August 18 report date to the Chilliwack Chiefs in Western Canada where he has already made the roster, but wants to be in top condition.
"After I get there, we will be in camp doing drills for two weeks, then we start our exhibition season," said Micah, who starred for Vail's AAA midget ice team last year. "Sure, I'm excited. I'm going to go there, give it all I got and see what happens."
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J.C. Caron, 16, has always been one of top Tour Rebel roller players. Now he wants to make the transition to ice hockey and plans to try out for Rob Pallin's Las Vegas Mustangs midget team in a few weeks.
"I've
got a lot to learn about ice, real quick," he said. He plans to work with younger players like Eddie the next two weeks and "toughen up" and get wired in for the tryouts. Caron has imposing size, can shoot, and is willing to learn the game.
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Coach
Pallin is assembling an 18-and-under midget team at the Sante Fe to take on a visiting AA Utah Grizzlies midget team which is coming into town August 5-6. The two games will be played at the Sante Fe Arena. So far, Las Vegas' players will include Josh Jasek, Eddie Samuels, Justin Grossman, Jason Allen, P.J. Miles, J.C. Caron. The coach is reaching out for other players and for two goalies, including Cody Fulweiler. Pallin is regarded as an outstanding coach and plans to field a very competitive midget-level team this winter.
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Ice Notes -- E-mail here (LSAMU00007@AOL.COM) if you wish to play for Las Vegas vs. Utah, whose roster will include fighter Scott Chism.....Geez, the roller Tour Rebel 10s at the NARCH Nationals in Toronto are heroes already: 3-3 vs. Brantford, Canada; 9-1 over the Missisauga, Canada, Rattlers; 4-6 loss to the Mission Snipers of New York followed by a 8-0 win over the Buffalo Jr. Wings...That adds up to 2-1-1 with 24 goals scored, only 10 against.....Coach Larry Sanford: "The nice thing is, the scoring is coming from many different starters.".....Now, the Tour Rebel 10s can do something no other Las Vegas team has ever done: win a NARCH sudden eliminator game. In all of our glory years, the Tour Rebels have never gone beyond the first round at NARCH. Think about that one!!!!.......
7.24.00
TOUR REBELS 10s HEADING TO TORONTO
By Lee Samuels
Las
Vegas -- There were just a few people rattling around the bleachers late Saturday night over at Crystal Palace on Flamingo. But you could feel the electricity from the parents. There was rink-buzz about their talented Tour Rebels 10-and-under hockey roller team which was working out on the big blue floor, getting set for the trip of their lives.
Our Tour Rebels 10s are heading for Toronto, our only rink entry in the best tournament of all -- the NARCH Nationals. Other Tour Rebels teams -- the 16s, 14s, 12s and 8s have turned in their red and black jerseys for the season. But the 10s, our best working unit, is heading northbound Tuesday evening to begin playing Thursday.
So, coach Larry Sanford -- whose son Micah holds practically all scoring records at Crystal Palace on Rancho -- asked a few of our 14s to "work with the boys."
That's why
Eddie, late Saturday evening,, was on the blue floor with Kevin Malone, Brian Jaeger and Adam Tamura.
For
an hour, Eddie -- in his final duty as a Tour Rebel -- worked the puck to help this Tour Rebels 10-and-under team fine-tune its beautiful, well-spread offense. There's something special and unselfish about this team. When they break out, passes fly onto blades of sticks and the red shirts really move.
One
of the Dad's, Rich Fiore, mused in the bleachers. "The great thing about going away for the tournaments is watching our older teams go onto the floor, play hard, win some games.
"But this time we're by ourselves."
Eddie has been to many national tournaments and knows all about butterflies. When Eddie was 10, he was in Des Moines, Iowa and the team was known as the Rolling Thunder. He was with Jason Allen, Andrew Leggiero, Eddie Lewis, Travis Hackney, Thomas Oakes, Danny Fitch.
Las
Vegas worked its way to the USAC National championship game and took on the Jersey 99ers, who were unbeaten and unscored upon going into the sudden-death elimination round.
So when the game started and the puck was dropped, Eddie took it, blazed down the floor, attacked and scored. We were less than a minute into the game.
"I watched their goalie for a few games and didn't think much of him," Eddie said later.
We lost 4-3, got a silver medal and the following year we were factory-sponsored.
But it all went so fast, the tournaments, the awards, the long-forgotten battles in faraway arenas. It has all whizzed by. Eddie, 14, now plays ice in Vail, Colorado. Jason Allen is heading out to Westminster, Calif. Eddie Lewis is with his family in New Mexico. Andrew Leggerio, we are told, is now playing high school football. Travis Hackney is playing for Team Las Vegas' ice team. Danny Fitch and Thomas Oakes are out of the game, at least for now.
Finally, coach
Sanford blew the final whistle. Madison Fiore, Nicky D, Robbie Silvernail, Chris Francis and others skated off to the raised bleachers. Clusters of parents surrounded the young players and spoke excitedly. Moms and Dads spoke about plane tickets, hotel reservations, start times for the first few games. Rebels players examined their gloves, sticks and made minor repairs. All talk was hockey talk. ......
At the far end of the rink, all by himself, Eddie watched it all and then took a long swig of Gatorade.......
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The Tour Rebels 10s
NARCH National Schedule in Toronto:
Thursday
vs. Hamilton Power Blades, 1:00 p.m.
Friday
vs. Missasauga Rattlers, 6:25 p.m.
Saturday
vs. Mission Snipers of New York, 8:45 p.m.
vs. Buffalo Jr. Wings, 1:15 p.m.
7.17.00
THE INCREDIBLE BILLY T
"C'mon ref, give us a break -- call a few our way......"
By Lee Samuels
That's what someone shouted to referee Billy Tufano during a house leagueroller game over at Crystal Palace on Rancho the other night.
At center rink, wearing a ballcap and his striped referee's shirt, Billy Tufano smiled and skated over to the blue line to drop a puck.
The Dad doing the complaining didn't know the story behind the story.
Just hours before, Billy Tufano wore a red and black Tour Rebels jersey for the 16-and-under team. And he then proceeded to score one of the biggest goals of all-time for the Rebels.
Las Vegas, playing in a TORHS National roller eliminator match last week,
was in a
wild scramble with less than a minute to play. Texas led 6-5 and Rebels coach Larry Sanford sent his "best four" onto the floor for one last drive towards the net.
The
puck went over to Tufano who drove down the left side with a Texas defender hacking at him all the way. Tufano went past him, another, then angled towards the net at high speed. He then fired a backhand shot and watched the hard plastic puck rip into high net, right side as the Las Vegas Moms and Dads exploded from around the boards over at the Flamingo rink.
There was exactly 0:47.4 left to play, the goal tied the game 6-6 and it was Billy's third goal of the game.
Texas eventually won, 7-6, in overtime, but as coach Sanford said later "Billy stepped it up in the big game."
At the house league game, referee Billy T worked quietly and kept the game in control.
His father, Bill Sr., was worked the house mike and the electric scoreboard.
He played roller back in the 1960's, in Brooklyn, outdoors in all kinds of cold weather including snow squalls. In those days, there was "full check," just like in ice hockey today.
"That might have been Billy's best game, against Texas," someone said, as the father kept his eye on the clock.
"He played as hard as he could," said Dad. "I was proud of him."
There have only a few hotshot game-breaker, buzzer-beater scorers at Crystal Palace -- Micah Sanford, Patrick Stevenson, Freddie Young, Leroy Garcia.
Now you can add teenager Billy Tufano to the list, one of the best of all-time on the famous wood rink.
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Billy
has scored 100s of goals in house league games and has won more than a dozen scoring titles on his home rink.
Vegas Hockey News Every Day
www.geocities.com/blazinice26
7.4.00
PROUDLY WEARING THE RED AND BLACK
Las Vegas -- All he wanted to do was pull on the red and black, skate with the Tour Rebels once again.
But
the people at the Six Pac nationals said no -- Eddie had to play in at least one qualifying game earlier in the roller season.
It didn't matter that he
had been on the roster since January. Or that he had spent a snowy wintertime skating for Vail's AAA bantam ice team in faraway arenas.
Rules are rules, they said.
So he signed up as assistant
coach, went to the bench and worked with head coach Kurt Weiman with the Tour Rebels of Crystal Palace where Eddie began playing as an eight year old.
During games
Eddie huddled with the head coach, suggested line changes, worked with the power play units. So whenever long-time friends Travis Hackney or Jason Allen or Adam Tamura returned to the bench he could offer some advice.
And he soon learned what coaching heartache is all about.
That happened in the
first 14-and-under tournament game, late at night at Crystal Palace on Flamingo. Adam Tamura scored off a rebound, knocking in a super-clutch goal with about a minute to play against a bigger, taller Team Bladeworld of Tucson.
That tied the game with 3-3 to go. And when they dropped the puck again, the Rebels rushed to the the attack.
Then the
puck got loose. A Bladeworld player got into our attacking zone. He took a fast outside lane and drove behind our net - and with exactly 0:15.7 left - circled around and stuffed in the winning goal.
Bladeworld fans went wild as a shocked Tour Rebels team tried to regroup.
But we were out of time. Bladeworld 4, Tour Rebels 3.
And it got worse, real quick. In the second game about an hour later, the Las Vegas Titans won 4-1. Losing was bad enough. Losing to the cross-town rival hurt more.
But something happened overnight. The red and black were a diffferent team the next day in sudden-death playoff games, playing super-smart hockey, making passes work, clearing the puck perfectly, running textbook power plays.
Team Excalibur of Phoenix went down, 8-0. Bladeworld, which beat us earlier, got beat 6-1, packed up and headed southbound on Route 95.
All of a sudden, the Tour Rebels were in the 14-and-under national finals. We took on the Dallas Stars, took a 2-0 lead and eventually lost a 5-4 chiller.
But for 48 hours Eddie had a new perspective of the game. From up high, standing on the bench, arms folded, heart pounding as the Tour Rebels played as hard as they could.
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RINK NOTES...... Eddie
did get a lot of floor time this week. In house league action last Monday, he scored two goals, added two assists as his 1-3 Overkill team won its first game, 6-5....... On Tuesday, he had a goal for Nevada Rep in a 5-4 loss to Eddie Del Grosso's house ice team over on the Rampart rink........ Evan Zucker of the Las Vegas Titans 12-and-under roller team, got a lot of attention this week. He was named Six Pac Player of the Year, was a national scoring champion (52 goals, 21 assists) and was mulling over an opportunity to play for a new bantam ice team -- the AAA Washington Braves........ Eddie's long-time roller sidekick, Eddie Lewis, came to the rink on Sunday........ Lots of Tour Rebel players hung around to watch Brett Watts, the exciting junior forward for the Las Vegas Titans, play this past weekend. Watts, 17, is looking for an ice team this fall....... There are 158 roller teams reporting to Crystal Palace on July 7 to begin the TORHS National Championships....... One suprise entry: the 14-and-under Vail, Colorado, Dynamite which includes Eddie's ice teammate, Keith Denton....... Las Vegas Titans have announced plans to launch an ice hockey program, in all age divisions. The teams will play at the Rampart rink which is said to be adding another sheet of ice...... Eddie will play for Tour Rebels 14s during the TOHRS roller nationals here in town next week......
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