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COVID cases wash out three games for Ice Devils

By Howard B. Owens

Two members of the Ice Devils, the hockey team that represents Batavia, Le Roy, Alexander, Elba, and Oakfield-Alabama, tested positive for COVID-19, meaning all players and coaches must quarantine at home until Feb. 24.

Three regular-season games have been canceled and won't be rescheduled.

Batavia Athletic Director Michael Bromley said one person tested positive last week and after consulting with the health department and the school's medical director, they would quarantine the team if a second person tested positive. That positive test came in on Tuesday.

This is only the second time a Batavia-affiliated team has been required to quarantine during the regular season. It happened previously with the Alpine Ski team.

Bromley said he can't emphasize enough how important it is for a parent to keep a child home from practice and games if a player is showing any symptoms because it can affect the whole team.

The Ice Devils were 0-4 on the season. The three missed games will be counted as "no contest." There will be five games left in the regular season once the team returns to the ice. Bromley said it will take multiple wins in those final five games for the team to reach the playoffs.

New champs crowned in Batavia Mens Hockey League

By Howard B. Owens

Evan Eckerson, Newstead Homes Kings, watches his slap shot sail into the net for a second-period goal against the Genesee Orthopedics Canadians in the Batavia Mens Hockey League championship Sunday morning at Falleti Ice Arena.

Eckerson's goal cut the Canadians' 2-0 lead in half and the Kings went on to win 4-3 to become the 2020 champions.

Bare Antolos and Jim Mohn were credited with an assist on Eckerson's goal. 

The winning goal was scored by Jim Ernst at 13:55 in the third period with assists from Eckerson and Antolos.

Paul Greean and Dan Eckerson also scored for the Kings.

Scoring for the Canadians were Adam Siedlecki, Nick Busch and Ryan Difilippo.

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

Timbit Beginners Jamboree is Saturday at Faletti Ice Arena

By Billie Owens

The Genesee Amateur Hockey Association (GAHA) Timbit Beginners will be participating in their end of the year “Jamboree” on Saturday, March 7th starting at 9 a.m. at the Falleti Ice Arena.

At 9 a.m. the players, ages 3 to 10, will be introduced one by one as they step onto the ice and proceed to the Blue Line for the National Anthem.

This year the Beginner Program consisted of 65 registered players. They are coached by Tim Sprague as well as many other dads, moms, family members as well as several GAHA Student Coaches serving as on-ice helpers.

Without all of this support it would be impossible to run this program.

Most of the players have been on the ice since early October. About 12 joined the program in early January.  At practices they run through drills established by USA Hockey’s American Development Modules – six stations are set up around the rink and a different drill is introduced at each station.  The players move from station to station.

GAHA is thankful for the sponsorship of their Beginner Program by the local Tim Horton Shop managed by Dave Lumberg. They provide the jerseys for all of the players as well as Timbit donuts for our special functions throughout the year.

For this Jamboree the players are divided into five teams denoted by the color of their jerseys and will play five 12-minute games with shifts of 2 minutes.  A great time is had by all.

The Falleti Ice Arena is located at 22 Evans St. in the City of Batavia.

Video: Try hockey for free at Falleti Ice Arena

By Howard B. Owens
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'Try Hockey For Free' clinic to be held at Falleti Ice Rink Feb. 22

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The Genesee Amateur Hockey Association invites children to the Falleti Ice Rink on Evans Street in Batavia on Saturday, Feb. 22, for a Try Hockey For Free clinic as part of "Hockey Week Across America."

Starting at 11:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. local youth, ages 4 to 9, are encouraged to experience ice hockey for the first time and learn the basic skills in a fun, safe environment.

“We look forward to welcoming families to Falleti Ice Rink to try our great sport of ice hockey” said Dale Hutchins, president of GAHA. “Our goal is for these families to enjoy watching their kids learn new skills with big smiles on their faces.”

USA Hockey’s Try Hockey program, with the support of the National Hockey League and NHL member clubs, among others, is designed to provide youth hockey associations with a national platform for introducing children to the sport, free of charge.  

All your youngster needs is a helmet (bike or sports) and winter gloves. Skates are available at the Rink. The GAHA organization does have some used hockey helmets available for the event as well as a few hockey sticks.

Players in attendance will be given a free hockey jersey to take home.

To register for this Try Hockey For Free event, please visit:   www.TryHockeyForFree.com

For more information, please contact Sharon, the coordinator for Try Hockey For Free, at:   svgray@rochester.rr.com or 585-344-2248.

Genesee Ice Devils Boosters are hosting Meat Raffle March 28 at Ascension Parish

By Billie Owens

The Genesee Ice Devils Boosters are hosting their Second Annual Meat Raffle on Saturday, March 28th at Ascension Parish's Slomba Hall, located at 17 Sumner St., Batavia.

Tickets are $10 each and include food, drinks, and entry into door prize drawings. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with first spin at 6:30 p.m. Fifteen rounds of meat and seafood raffles will be up for grabs, with up to 28 winners per round!

The Genesee Ice Devils Boosters support the Genesee Ice Devils Varsity and JV hockey teams, made up of players from Batavia, Le Roy, Alexander, Elba, Oakfield and Pembroke.

Contact any Ice Devils' family for tickets or email geneseeicedevils@gmail.com

Batavia Ramparts bring home the hardware from four tournaments

By Howard B. Owens

Batavia Rampart teams had a pretty good weekend of tournament hockey.

The Peewee travel team were undefeated champions of the Niagara Falls Blizzard Tournament.

The Peewee house team came in 2nd place in the Ohio Rock N Roll Tournament.

Bantam house are undefeated champions in the Empire State Cup Tournament.

Squirt house grabbed second place in the Ohio Rock N Roll Tournament.

Photos and info submitted by Teresa Pfendler.

Video: Batavia Ramparts skate with Santa

By Howard B. Owens
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Youth age 4 to 9 invited to 'Try Hockey For Free' clinic Nov. 9 at Falleti Ice Rink

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The Genesee Amateur Hockey Association invites children to the Falleti Ice Rink on Evans Street in Batavia on Saturday, Nov. 9th for a Try Hockey For Free clinic as part of Hockey Week Across America.

Starting at 11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m. local youth, ages 4 to 9, are encouraged to experience ice hockey for the first time and learn the basic skills in a fun, safe environment.

“We look forward to welcoming families to Falleti Ice Rink to try our great sport of ice hockey,” said Dale Hutchins, president of GAHA. “Our goal is for these families to enjoy watching their kids learn new skills with big smiles on their faces.”

USA Hockey’s Try Hockey program, with the support of the National Hockey League and NHL member clubs, among others, is designed to provide youth hockey associations with a national platform for introducing children to the sport, free of charge.

All your youngster needs is a helmet (bike or sports) and winter gloves. Skates are available at the Rink. The GAHA organization does have some used hockey helmets available for the event as well as a few hockey sticks.

Players in attendance will be given a free hockey jersey to take home.

To register for this Try Hockey For Free event, please visit www.TryHockeyForFree.com

For more information, please contact:  Sharon at svgray@rochester.rr.comor 585-344-2248 (coordinator for Try Hockey For Free).

Batavia women's senior hockey team wins area's Scottsville tournament

By Billie Owens
Submitted photo and write-up by Head Coach Craig Jackson:

 

The Batavia “Babes on Blades” women’s senior hockey team finished off another strong season this year by competing in and winning the area's annual Scottsville Women’s Senior Hockey Tournament during the last weekend of March for the second year in a row.

In the first game, the Batavia team defeated the always tough Buffalo “Stampede” by a 6 to 1 score.

The second game of the tournament was against the Brockport “Ladies on Ice.” Batavia started fast and were up 3 to 0 at the end of the first period. Brockport tightened up with the teams trading goals. Batavia won the game be a 6 to 2 score.

In the third game of the tournament, Batavia played against the host team Scottsville “Chicks with Sticks.” This game was more of a defensive game between the two teams with Batavia ending up with a 3 to 0 win.

The championship game finished with a rematch against the host Scottsville team again. Batavia scored the first goal about halfway through the first period and never looked back as they ended up with the win by a 8 to 0 score. Strong defensive play and goal tending during all the games was key to the tournament win.

Batavia/Genesee Police and Fire Ice Hockey Team skates this weekend in annual Buffalo tournament

By Billie Owens

Submitted photo and press release:

The Batavia/Genesee Police and Fire Ice Hockey Team will be skating this weekend in the annual Police and Fire Hockey Tournament at Harbor Center in Buffalo.

The team, comprised of first responders from the City of Batavia Police Department, City of Batavia Fire Department, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, and Town of Batavia Fire Department, has participated each year since the inception of the tournament.

Teams from the United States and Canada participate, with a strong showing from the Western New York area.

This year’s team is sponsored again by Kenny Mistler, owner of Ken’s Charcoal Pits (and wood-fired brick oven pizza). Mistler has sponsored the team for the past several years, and his continuing support for our local first responders is greatly appreciated.

For those who wish to go and support the team, the schedule is as follows: Friday, April 19th at 2 p.m. and again at 7:45 p.m.; Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m., with playoffs starting at 2:45 p.m.

Photos: Hockey -- Notre Dame 8, Genesee 1

By Steve Ognibene

Battle of high school hockey teams headlined the Falleti Ice Arena last evening where Notre Dame dominated Genesee Ice Devils 8-1.

In first-period action, the Irish came out flying led by Alex Totten who scored two goals and one assist. Max Hutchins added two assists and outshot Genesee 10-3 to lead 3-0 after the first period.

Second period Genesee had some opportunities and led in shots 10-8 but did not capitalize in the Irish zone. Hutchins added a goal and assist. Alonso Storey added his second goal of the night and Notre Dame led 5-0 after two periods. Storey also added a goal and assist later in the game.

The Irish added three more goals by Totten, Hutchins and Scott Tanner to lead 8-0. Ice Devils Ian Kemp replaced Alex Hunt midway through the third period. Goalie Mitchel Pangrazio for Notre Dame lost his shutout attempt with 12 seconds left in the game, where Carter Wasilewski put the puck over his glove to score for Genesee. Matt Frieday and Cameron Smith each picked up assists.

Pictured above is Alex Totten of Notre Dame scoring the first goal against Genesee’s Alex Hunt.

To view or purchase photos click here.

Photos: Genesee Ice Devils, Geneseo Knights tie in overtime

By Steve Ognibene

Genesee Ice Devils visited Geneseo Ice Knights last evening at SUNY Geneseo State College. Both teams were exchanging possession but remained scoreless through the first period.

Senior Jackson Backus found the back of the net three minutes into the second period; assist by AJ Versage.

Both teams had a wide variety of penalties until eight minutes into the third period when Genesee's Evan Dusky tied the game 1-1 off a pass from Noah Martin that finished the game through regulation.

Genesee started the overtime down two players from penalties, but defense protected goalie Alexander Hunt who was a star saver for the Ice Devils that stopped 43 shots. Isaac Sweet made 25 saves.

Genesee Ice Devils Head Coach John Kirkwoods said following the game,  "I’m proud of our team tonight after dropping a tough game on Tuesday. This past week was a focus of a few tough practices.

"I preach to our guys all the time that we are a very hard working team, we don’t quit and we keep coming at you, no matter the score or the situation. Our squad is a coming together to be a very competitive team. 

"I am very proud of our guys. Tonight improved our abilities to overcome challenge teams like Geneseo. It was a step forward for us for our program."

Next game for Genesee is at home against Aquinas this Tuesday night, Dec 11th, at Falleti Ice Arena at 6 o'clock.

To view more photos click here.

Batavia Ramparts team travels to Jamestown, comes home with 7-2 win

By Howard B. Owens

Batavia Ramparts Squirt III travel team traveled to Jamestown yesterday and picked up a 7-2 win.

Goals:
  • #15 Will Stevens, assisted by #26 Luke Staley
  • #26 Luke Staley, assisted by #15 Will Stevens
  • #16 Preston Viele, unassisted
  • #15 Will Stevens, assisted by #88 Coleman Hiczewski
  • #16 Preston Viele, unassisted
  • #15 Will Stevens, unassisted (Hat Trick)
  • #88 Coleman Hiczewski, assisted by #15 Will Stevens

Photos and info submitted by Teresa Pfendler.

Local police and fire hockey team enjoyed fast-paced tourney in Buffalo last weekend

By Billie Owens

Submitted photos and press release:

The Batavia/Genesee Police and Fire Hockey Team participated in the third annual 2018 Police and Fire Ice Hockey Tournament in Buffalo this past weekend.

Twenty teams participated in the tourney, coming to Buffalo from as far south as South Carolina, and as far north as London, Ontario, Canada.

It was another enjoyable, face-paced weekend for our local boys, who played against teams from Canada, Erie County, and Homeland Security.

All our thanks to those who came out and cheered us on! The team was once again sponsored this year by Ken’s Charcoal Pits & BBQ, with many thanks going to Ken Mistler.

Batavia's 'Babes on Blades' finish season with tournament win

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia “Babes on Blades” women’s senior hockey team finished off a strong season this year by competing in and winning the local annual Scottsville women’s senior hockey tournament last weekend.

In the first game, the Babes were down 5 to 3 in the second period before rallying to win 7 to 6. The second game against the host Scottsville team was a defensive battle with the Babes scoring the first goal of the game with 3 minutes left in the third period. The Babes scored an open net goal at the end of the game for a 2 to 0 win. In the third game, the Babes team’s offense exploded for 9 goals in a 9 to 2 win over Brockport.

The championship game ended up with a rematch against the host Scottsville team again. the Babes team scored early in the game and were able to maintain the lead throughout the hard-fought game for a 4 to 2 win.

Firefighters and police officers team up for hockey tournament

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire Ice Hockey Team is playing in the third Annual Police and Fire Hockey Tournament in Buffalo this April.

The Batavia/Genesee County Police and Fire team is comprised of members of the City of Batavia Police Department, City of Batavia Fire Department, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, and Town of Batavia Fire Department.

The tournament is played at Harbor Center in Downtown Buffalo, and has participants from law enforcement and fire departments from all over the Northeast and Canada. This year’s tourney is April 20th and 21st.

The team is greatly appreciative of its sponsor, Kenny Mistler, owner of Ken’s Charcoal Pits and Bar-B-Q, located at 59 Main St., Batavia. Kenny has continued to support first responders in the community, and this is the second year of helping the team participate in this tournament.

For those wishing to watch some exciting, fast-paced hockey at no cost, and cheer their local first responders on, head to Buffalo this April!

Submitted photo: This year's team with sponsor Kenny Mistler and mascots Sammy and Diesel.

Ramparts sweep series at Ohio tournament

By Steve Ognibene

The Batavia Ramparts 18U Empire team won the Rock and Roll Tournament championship this past Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio.

The team won all three preliminary games leading up to Sunday's final where they won by a score of 6-1.

Photo and information provided by Michael Freeman.

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