WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla – The hockey players who took part in the 2025 USA Hockey Men’s Adult National Championships, presented by Long Drink, aren’t just regular Joes who love the game of hockey and have played since they could walk.
Former college players, former minor league players and former NHL players who won Lord Stanley’s Cup were littered throughout the rosters. Those include Garry ‘Toy Tiger’ Howatt, who won the Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders in 1980 and 1981. He still plays despite having epilepsy.
In one of the 10 championship games on Sunday at AdventHealth Center Ice, the Northland Stars from Minnesota dethroned the Chicago Sharks 5-3 to win the 50-plus Tier 1 championship.
In the process, the Stars won their fourth title in five years.
“This team’s genesis is from a Sunday night senior checking league in Minneapolis,” Steve Wendorf said. “We got everyone funneled into this as we got older. Some guys hate my guts because I knocked their teeth, but now we’re best friends.”
This isn’t your ordinary Sunday night league. Many players played Division I hockey.
While the Stars have all these great collegians, they also have Jeff McMurchie. He never played organized hockey in college or high school but taught himself to be a goaltender.
“It’s just a thrill,” he said. “I picked it up and studied and studied.”
Wendorf added, “Our other goalie is 64. How do they do it at that age?”
John Koufis, the player-owner of the Chicago Sharks, had hoped his team could defend its 50-plus Tier 1 championship.
However, injuries piled up for the Chicago team, which only had 11 players available for the championship game. Northland, which had 18 players in uniform, used its depth to avenge a 3-2 loss earlier in the week.
“It hurts, it absolutely hurts,” Koufis said. “It still hurts. It doesn’t matter how old we are. We’ve been together for 34 years and our core has been together for about 25 years. We’ve probably had 10 runner-up finishes along with seven titles and all 10 sucked. Period. We’re all the same way.”
In the other games:
The defensive-minded New England Polar Bears edged Red Wing 2-1 for the 60-plus Tier 2 title, capping off an undefeated tournament.
“It was tougher this year, easier last year,” said Marc Gendron of the Polar Bears, who repeated as champs.
Their players are from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire as well as Chicago. Some of them played college hockey for Dartmouth and Bowdoin in Maine.
“You need to build a team with some of the best players, and if they’re friends and you can win, that’s even better,” Gendron said.
The 75-plus champion Elder Statesmen beat the Illinois Ice two times to win the title. The Elder Statesmen also beat the Ironworker 75s 6-2 but were upset by the Minnesota Old Timers 4-2.
The North Carolina Eagles went 1-1 in title games as the 60-plus Tier 1 team beat Florida Pond Hockey 4-1, while the 40-plus NC Eagles fell to the Chicago Red Dogs 4-3. The Eagles’ 40-plus team features Dimitri Afanasenkov, who played for the Tampa Bay Lighting.
The Chicago Red Dogs earned the title by beating the Eagles for a second time this tournament, as they won against the North Carolia team 6-3 on Friday.
The Ironworkers 70-plus team won its division’s national title with a 3-0 win against the Northland Stars, the second time it beat the Stars during the tournament.
Alabama-Huntsville, which had NAIA and NCAA hockey from the mid 1980s until 2021, has quite a few alumni from those collegiate teams on its team at nationals, which beat the Michigan Stings 8-2 in the 50-plus Tier 2 division. Huntsville cruised through the tournament, beating the Minnesota Lumberjacks 9-3, the Portland Pilsners 7-2 and Metis 8-2.
Spicy Exotics from Louisiana were just too hot for Rusty Blades in the 50-plus Tier 3 final, winning 6-3. All the team’s victories were by three goals — 3-0 over the Cyclones, 5-2 over the Illinois Landsharks and 4-1 over Zuber Hockey.
Team Modelo doubled Phantoms 6-3 to win the 50-plus Tier 4 championship. The high-powered team scored at least five goals in every game in the tournament, including two games where Modelo lit the lamp 10 times.
Another New England team, Vermont, blanked Metro Merchants 2-0 for the 60-plus Tier 3 crown. In an undefeated five-game run to the title, Vermont allowed only six goals.
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
Source: usahockey.com