Affton hockey team wins at Ohio meet

The Affton Americans Bantam B boys hockey team capped off a successful 2006-07 season by winning a title in a large regional tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Affton team of 13- and 14-year-old kids is a mixture of players from Missouri and Illinois. Some of the kids have been on an Affton Americans team ever since starting to skate. Others were in their first year on the team.

Their coach is Barclay Anderson. He's former St. Louisan who moved with his family to Detroit but came back to attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Americans finished their regular season with a 12-2-3 record to win their division in Missouri hockey. They then competed in the Winter Elite Classic tournament in Cincinnati on Martin Luther King weekend in mid-January.

They were the only Missouri team in their bracket and competed against teams from Ohio and Indiana. The Americans won the title game, 3-1.

Goalie Raymond Bednara echoed the sentiments of most of his teammates when he said the Cincinnati title was his best hockey experience so far. The 14-year-old lives in Collinsville and is an 8th grader at St. John Newman Catholic School.

He said helping his team win felt pretty good for a kid who started playing hockey just three years ago. "The first year, I had no idea how to play," he said.

On the Americans, Raymond is the only goalie so he played all four tournament games.

Thirteen-year-old Matt Boning is a kid who has been with the Affton Americans ever since he started team play at age 6. And he's known both the ups and downs of hockey.

"Two years ago, I was on a team that finished last in our Pee Wee division," he said. Matt lives in Arnold and is a 7th grader at Holy Child Catholic School.

Fourteen-year-old Nick McIntyre has been on an Affton Americans team ever since he started playing team hockey. But, unlike Matt, Nick's memory of two years ago is good.

But, at that time, he was on a different team than Matt. Nick is an 8th grader at St. Martin of Tours Catholic School in south St. Louis Country.

Nick lists this year's hockey experience as being his best in hockey. "But, that's mostly because I remember it better than two years ago," he said.

Nick knows he needs to get bigger to continue hockey and he's hopeful. His older brother in high school weighs about 250 pounds and "my dad is 6'3" and weighs 300," he said.

Some of the team members played hockey on two teams this season. That's because some kids can play on high school junior varsity teams while still in middle school.

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Dempsey is one of the American team members who also played junior varsity hockey. Ryan is an 8th grader at Rockwood South Middle School in Fenton who played JV hockey with the nearby high school team.

He rated getting a chance to play early on the JV team as his best hockey experience so far. He also said the chance to travel out of town for tournaments is especially fun.

Thirteen-year-old Anthony Marino also lives in Fenton and played JV hockey this year. He said he got to play at in the Rockwood high school team although he's a 8th grader at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Valley Park.

Anthony said what he likes about tournament hockey is that "I get to meet a bunch of guys from all over."

Fourteen-year-old Alex Stelmachowicz said all his hockey experiences have been good. "I like the idea of competing," he said.

The 7th grader from Oakville admits that positive attitude probably is helped by never having played on a team that lost more games than it won.

Thirteen-year-old Kyle Steibel is another Americans team member from Illinois. He's a 7th grader at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in his hometown of Columbia, Ill.

He said he plays in Missouri because "my dad wanted me to have the challenge of playing against kids from Missouri."

And he's taking the challenge seriously. He said he goes every Wednesday for hockey instruction at the Brentwood (Mo.) rink. "My instructor is helping he with quick starts and keeping better balance," he said.

Anthony Marino is another team member who does some extra practicing. And his method is a little unusual and gives new meaning to the term, "icing the puck."

Anthony said he needs practice with his shot so he hits the puck in his basement. But, to keep the puck from jumping on the concrete floor, he puts his pucks in the freezer first. That gives then a frosty coating that he said helps the puck slide better on concrete.