It seems like only yesterday, when Trasher (Michael Trzinski) and Bergler (Bill Berg, Sr) contacted me and talked about me helping to cover Wisconsin Girl’s High School Hockey. For me it was a dream come true, I was going to be able to cover sports. I had a daughter just getting ready to play for a first year girl’s high school team, the South Central Freeze (Reedsburg Co-op) and still had two boys playing youth hockey. Now we are many moons down the road and I have a grandson getting ready to play his first year of squirt hockey. My wife and I will be celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary in December. Out of those 34 years,  29 of them will have had hockey involved from our oldest starting to play in the Mauston Youth hockey, serving on the Wisconsin-Minnesota Hockey League board, serving on the Reedsburg Youth Hockey Association board and working with Wisconsin Prep Hockey.

I have made many friends along the way. Needless to say, it has been a lot of fun working with Bergler, Trasher, MJ Hammett and Bill Berg Jr. Also, I have gotten to meet some different individuals along the way. I had the opportunity to interview Mark Johnson on two separate occasions. I got his input on what he thought of young players concentrating on one sport too soon and his personal thought as to what age they should consider that philosophy. The coaches have been willing to answer my questions and early on poor Matt Cranston got flooded with questions from me. Michael Johnson (former head coach of the Cap City Cougars), Jeff Thornton (former head coach of the Cap City Cougars), Duane Woeshnick (former head coach of theWarbirds), Matt Cranston (St. Croix Valley Fusion), Neil Mattson (RWD) and John Blosinski (former Baraboo head coach and current asst for Badger Lightning) are just a few of the coaches that have been generous with their time for questions and friendship.

We have seen girl’s hockey fluctuate from a high of 33 teams to lower numbers and currently sit at 28. I believe that we, Wisconsin Prep Hockey, have helped players gain some attention over the years. At the end of the 2009-10 season, the first Jessie Vetter Award was given to Hillary Drake of the Central Wisconsin Storm. The next year, we added the Jinelle Siergiej and Molly Engstrom awards. The Joe Pavelski, Davis Drewiske (now known as the Jake McCabe award) and Kirk Daubenspeck awards were awarded at the end of the the 2012-13 season. The Adam Burish and Rachel Kenyon “Unsung Hero” awards were started in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 season respectively.

I have been lucky enough to witness some of the best girl’s games at the state tournament. I can remember the 2011 state championship game between the St. Croix Valley Fusion vs the Central Wisconsin Storm. They had played twice earlier in the season and two close games. I had written an article that 51 minutes might not be enough to find a winner and it wasn’t. The game lasted 75 minutes 24 seconds and Alice Cranston took a shot that deflected off her sister Sally into the net. It was the Fusion’s third straight state title and their last trip to state. Can this be the year they get back?

One of my favorite memories will be the season WiPH challenged the high school teams to raise money for Cancer Research. The team/school that raised the most money would have the opportunity to shave my head at center ice. University School won the challenge and their final home game of the season the boy’s and girl’s teams were hosting Onalaska. They shaved my head at center ice between the two varsity games.

Reminiscing is fun, but what to look forward to this season. Since the 2023-24 season is my final year with Wisconsin Prep Hockey, I want to make a special effort to try and see all 28 girl’s teams in person at least one time this season. I want to be able to cover at least two of RWD’s games during the season.

In closing, thank you to all of you that have made the last few years a joy. I wish you all the best in the future. I will be staying busy with Bikers Against Child Abuse® and riding my motorcycle during the summer. The winters will be spent watching a few youth hockey games and maybe an occasional trip to see a high school game.