A few years back, Greg Breen and Lance Adank's dreams came true--the hockey team that they and many other volunteers had worked to get on the ice made its WIAA debut in November 2002.

Times were hard and the teams compiled a record of 4-80 over the first four years, winning one playoff game in February 2004--a 4-2 decision over Wisconsin Dells. Pete Kotlarek coached for 1 1/2 years, and then Tim Markgren took over for the next 2 1/2 seasons.

In the summer of 2006, former Onalaska coach Tim Franzini came on board with his staff and won eight of 22 games the first season, including a playoff win.

The team's win total has improved each year--going from 10 to 11 to 12 in a three year span. Numbers have improved as well, increasing from 14 in the early years to a high of 28 two years ago. This year, the team is composed of 22 players, including six from Aquinas, 14 from Holmen, and two from Cochrane-Fountain City. A fourth member of the co-op--Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau--does not have any players competing this year.  

And the playoff seeding has gotten better as well.

"We had never been (better than) a number six seed," noted Franzini. "We finally climbed to a number five seed last year, and lost to state-bound Wisconsin Rapids 4-2 in the regionals."

As the program grows and develops, the team improves and better results can be expected. That doesn't mean that Franzini will stray far from the formula that he has embraced. 

"We've kept things pretty simple," he said. "We've been known as a blue-collar team/program and (try to) out-work other teams."

Although he has solid players, for the most part his squad is not a team of superstars.

"We haven't had the Team Wisconsin or AAA-type of players," Franzini stated. "So we've had to rely on working hard, playing hard, and being physical.

"For the most part it has worked."

This year, Franzini's squad has more talent than most previous years, but injuries and sporadic play have plagued the Avalanche, who as of January 26 are  9-6-1.

"Some major injuries have derailed us a bit," said Franzini, noting that defenseman Jordan Schreiner (broken collarbone), D/F Alex Harpenau (broken elbow), and goalie Brady Welvaert (concussion) have all missed significant chunks of playing time.

"January 25th is the first game this season that we have had all our skaters in the line-up," Franzini said. "We're hoping to start putting things together and make a strong finish into the playoffs."

They look to be on track to grab a number five or six seed when seeding meetings are conducted on February 6.

Seniors that are four-year players are Liam Koons, Peter Coppola, Bryan Robinson, Andrew Strom, and Matt Anderholm.

"We've kept things pretty simple, stressed sportsmanship and being a class club.

"I feel we have been successful in that department."

Now all the Aquinas co-op would like is a deep run into the playoffs.