W
heatfield was well represented and has good reason to be proud of its Wheatfield Blades Squirt Mixed AA hockey team. The team is made up of seventeen local youngsters who gave it their all.
On March 31, 2012 the Wheatfield Blades Squirt Mixed AA team beat the Hamburg Hawks team with a final score of 4-3 for the WNY AHL (Western New York American Hockey League) championship. This caps off a record season for Wheatfield which only had two losses in regular league play as well as capturing the Silver medal in the coveted Revolution International tournament in Wilkes Barre, PA in February 2012. The tournament is one of the most prestigious youth hockey tournaments in North America featuring the top teams across the world. Over 100 teams traveled to Scranton in February for four days of exciting hockey competition. The Wheatfield Blades impressively skated their way into the finals against the Scranton Knights where they secured a Silver medal with outstanding performances.
The excitement continued at the Championship game and was a well fought battle that saw Hamburg winning 0-1 at the first period. Both Hamburg and Wheatfield cored in the second to start the third period 2-1. Through persistence and determination Wheatfield scored 3 unanswered goals in the beginning the third period. In major league fashion,
Chuckie Schmidt scored the crucial game winning goal to win the championship for the Wheatfield Blades.
The other three Wheatfield goals were scored by Brenden Dewey, Luke Wilson and Zach Porter. Assisting the scoring efforts were Chuckie Schmidl, Adam Franasiak and Colton Jankowski.
Coach Ken Franasiak said “We are very, very proud of our boys. We had a fabulous season in both league & non-league play. To see what these remarkable eight, nine and ten year old young men can do is a true testament to their hard work and dedication. The entire coaching staff is extremely proud as well as the entire organization. To have a record in our division with only two losses in league play the entire season is really only half the story. These boys have amazing skills and heart. Their hard work and drive made it a real pleasure watch and we’re proud to be part of such an exciting season.”#
(Submitted by Wheatfield Blades Hockey)
