With nothing for the Jr. K's we will move on to the 1975 season. 

1975 GYHDA Season 

If HWHC did not make their dominance clear in their previous season with their 15-4-2 record, then it would be this year’s 21-2-1 record that would do it. HWHC was 13 points clear of second place and took home three of the MVP awards, both the Mr. Galapetra and the Defender award going to 17 year old defenseman Robbie Metzger and the Forward award going to 16 year old Jerry Priest, who likely lost out on Mr. Galapetra due to age. Although this team looks like it can’t be stopped year after year, this might be their best chance to leap the obstacles that have always faced them on their way to a title. If not this year, who knows when time will come for HWHC.

The race for second was where the action was this year with the Reapers, Harps and Herd all separated by only 3 points. The  Reapers would end up taking the honor of second best on the second to last game of their season beating the Herd to assist the Harps to their highest finish yet. Certonrack was an interesting case this year, having no standout stars that one would expect to be this high in the rankings. It was James Bishop’s leadership that led the way to the regional tournament, shocking many along the way. 

Speaking of shocks, in third was the Portarra Harps who fielded a slightly above average team this year. Before the season, expectations for the Harps had them sitting right outside the top 4 again, but in a last minute move Sal Kidd decided that he had enough of the Portarra Travelers promises of support and decided to take his talents across the building to the Harps for the year. Kidd went on to play anchor the whole season, providing a performance that only saw 17 goals go by him in all 24 starts. This was the best GA of any team in the league and he rightfully took his Goaltender crown for his performance, robbing HWHC a clean sweep of awards along with a perfect season. Yes, it was the Harps who delivered HWHC their only loss in the third to last game of the season.

Closing out the qualifiers was the Herd who held on to their spot after last year’s title win. While a majority of the championship team had faded into a memory, the lack of experience gave a chance to 17 year old defenseman, Barry Burns, to show his homegrown aggressive talent. With this leadership change Vorackberg had officially claimed their title as the most feared team to play in the TYHDA. 

The final five are a clump that find themselves at least 7 points out of a playoff spot, starting with Rosran in fifth. Unfortunately, Bruck Donahue will not be returning to the regional tournament despite his admirable efforts to keep his team above the line. Instead, he will look to take his talents to Howerton where he will find many other top tier Rosran Grads alumni having more success on the college level. The next team is Fort Bevin, and although they find themselves 4 places out of last they have never felt better. With pressure from the Torland Outstanding Youth Association (similar to ROTC in the states), the athletics director decided to give more focus on the Braves who are playing in a league with such high national attention at the moment. Training and development ran through the whole summer and the product was the best a team limited by a city as well as military participation could put together.  The seventh team was the Kirlow Jr. Ks, who found themselves unprepared for the overall talent and travel demands in their first year. Eighth was the Cooley Bay Blur who lost a lot, but looked sharp doing it. In last was the Portarra Travelers, who let up 20 more goals than the previous season after losing star goalie Sal Kidd. 


Mr. Galapetra - Robbie Metzger (HWHC, 17)
The Forward - Jerry Priest (HWHC,16)
The Defender - Robbie Metzger (HWHC, 17)
The Goaltender - Sal Kidd (PORH, 17)
 

1975 TYHDA Season

With six more games added to the schedule for each team this year there was plenty of opportunity for the players to show what they had to offer. The team with the most to offer was the Hyletville Penguins, winning 16 games and walking away with the regular season title with 34 points, two more than the Yubay Drillers. The names that led this team are familiar, Brendon Chestnut and Steve Parrot have had an impact on the Penguins since day one and now that the curtain is beginning to close on their outstanding performances they seek the ultimate prize. The torch will be handed to Bradley Bloom, a 16 year old defenseman who found his size this year. Growing 5 inches over the summer to total a towering 6’5”, Bloom will also play a large role in Hyletville’s national push.

In the second spot is a team that can always be found buzzing around the top three. The Drillers have plenty of veterans on the roster to take care of business this year, but their duo in net left something to be desired. Ever since the personality of Dusty Connelly had left the locker room Kip Waggoners had not looked like himself. With the lack of confidence in net, offense was leaned on heavily. The pressure wasn’t felt as Jack Skinner filled the trophy cabinet with the Forward award, and a younger Blaine Cushman found his scoring touch when put on the first line half way through the year. 

The team that caught the attention of all of youth hockey this season settled in third place, but this attention did not come from their dramatic change of performance. The Kavalos Rad Cats shook up the scene when the push to let 14 year old French Canadian Jacque Betancourt break the age rule was accepted. The TYHDA was hesitant at first to break their own rule four years into their history, but the talent’s parents threatened to just put Jacque back on a plane so he could play junior hockey in Quebec. Instead, the TYHDA caved and Betancourt made plenty of noise in his first year. Betancourt shared a line with another international player, Jared Tanaka, making up a line dubbed the “Intercontinental Kids”. The Rad Cats also found stability on their back end, with stay at home defender Coleman McCray watching the back of offensive minded defender Andy Ledbetter on their first line.

Yubay would find another spot in regionals as the Ambassadors boxed out the Wind Socks, keeping the Kurohara team from returning to the tournament. Dirk McKenna was the player who made the difference this year for the Ambassadors, leading his team in +/- and assists. His performance capped off an amazing career, being recognized by a Mr. Tamokeva honor that was paired with the Defenseman of the year award. 

Fifth place was a very competitive Wind Socks team that were outclassed at the end of the year. Kurt Carlin put on an impressive performance in net that earned him most valuable goalie. Despite Carlin’s efforts, the team failed because of lacking performance under pressure, having 7 games in the tie column at the end of the season. 

In the bottom two spots are the Podangrad Polar Bears giving a performance worse than their previous year, and the Tri-City Triangles who continue to plummet ever since their national title.

Mr. Tamokeva - Dirk McKenna
The Forward - Jack Skinner
The Defender - Dirk McKenna
The Goaltender - Kurt Carlin 

I guess it wouldn't a youth league without teenage drama. Haha. Looks like Kavalos is already bucking the trends and bending the rules. Betancourt could end up being the future of the THL though if early reports are true. I was hoping for a deeper run by the Harps but Kidd can only do so much.

1975 Tamokeva Regional Tournament 

The tournament would start midday with a 3 and 4 matchup that pulled many spectators to the stands to see the Rad Cats and their group of young talent that many had been talking about. While the scouts didn’t get to see much from the young, pressured group, the Ambassadors put on a bit of a show themselves. One goal was scored in the first by the Yubay team and this was followed by a shutdown defensive performance that only allowed 15 shots on net. Dirk McKenna was the star of this 1-0 Ambassadors win with 7 blocked shots and another handful of chilling hits. The two teams with the highest expectations going into the tournament would play next, and despite the high flying action the final score would be inconclusive. Yubay scored in the first period on a nice give and go play from Blaine Cushman to Jack Skinner out from behind the net. After this, coach Mark Warden showed confidence by trying to sit on the one goal by focusing on defense. This strategy worked until the third, but the offense of Brendon Chestnut would be too much to hold for the Drillers. A shot from the right dot would make its way under Waggoners blocker, hitting the far side post and going into the net. The game would end 1-1.

The inexperience of the Kavalos Rad Cats continued to show in their second game against an even more challenging Hyletville Penguins team. Steve Parrott would find the net twice in a 3-0 win over Kavalos. The other game on the day would be another battle of Yubay. While both present very good teams, the Drillers always seem to have the Ambassadors number in recent history, and that would not change today. The offense of the Drillers broke out, putting up 3 goals in the first 30 minutes before things evened back out. The Ambassadors looked like they were gaining ground, but ran out of time before any serious move could be made. Yubay Drillers would take the game 3-1 over their rivals from across town. 

The race on the final day seemed tight, but many thought it would be the Drillers playing Hyletville in the finals, based on the Rad Cats performance in the tournament to this point. The Rad Cats, however, were not ones to settle with their fate before the round robin was over. The Kavalos team showed some resilience against one of the top teams in any region, grabbing a goal in the first five minutes of the game. While it wasn’t pretty, 14 year old Jacque Betancourt set the tone with his desperate crash on net that resulted in the puck squeaking through Waggoners pads. The time would trickle to only 4 minutes left in the third with the same score of 1-0 when coach Warden would make the decision to pull his goalie just as Kavalos pulled off their top line. The Rad Cats were able to hold the Drillers for a minute, but the 6 man push from the Drillers that included Cushman, Skinner and Park was just too much. Park would take a shot from the point and Jack Skinner would tip it in. The game ended 1-1, a shocking result to most at the tournament. The next game between the Hyletville Penguins and the Yubay Ambassadors had less to show. While it seemed close on the scoresheet, the game was less of a question of who was going to score, rather a question of when would the Penguins score. The Ambassadors played some solid defense, and their 16 year old goalie put on a performance that would remind an Ambassadors fan of a William Schreiber regional performance from the previous year, but the stalemate ended late in the third with a Hyletville goal. This 1-0 loss put the nail in the coffin for the Ambassadors team looking to return to nationals. Instead, it would be the Hyletville Penguins meeting the Yubay Drillers in the finals for the first time since the league’s inaugural year. 

Fun fact: At least one of these two teams have been in the Tamokeva regional final every year since the league started. Meaning these two teams have made up over 50% of Tamokeva’s national appearances.


 
1975 Tamokeva Regional Championship Game 

The final game between the Hyletville Penguins and Yubay Drillers was a clash many had expected, but the outcome could be a little puzzling. When the first period started the Drillers pushed hard, remembering that the last game played between the two had a sour outcome due to their team easing up on offense. The Penguins were prepared for this jump, matching the tempo and producing just as many chances. This reckless play resulted in many simple errors that caused an ample amount of scoring chances, but the goalies came to impress, shutting down anything coming towards the net. The first would end 0-0. 

The intermission would not stop the style of play, and the second mirrored the first. There were more chances and more frustration seen as pucks trickled across creases, hit the posts and nicked the smallest bit of pads on jaw dropping saves. Another 20 mins would go by and another 30 shots without a change in score. The teams were now at a combined 62 shots with goose eggs to show for it. 

The third started and the feeling of the crowd seemed anxious. With all the risks being taken something had to change, and they did only 2 minutes into the final stand. Yubay had broken into the Hyletville zone outnumbering the Penguins 3 to 1. A pass to the top player breaking in resulted in a shot that rimmed around the boards, prompting an odd man rush the other way for Hyletville that included an additional defender hoping in. With so many options to pass to, the Penguins puck handler became distracted, not realizing that a guy from the previous rush had stormed back, coming close enough to poke the puck from the stick of the Hyletville player. The puck slid to the defending Driller who immediately stepped up when he saw what happened. It was again a 3 on 1 rush for Yubay! Marcus Park came into the zone straight up the center, faked a pass to the right and waited for his teammate on his left to slash in front of the net, creating a screen. Park simply wound up and took a low shot towards the bottom of the net. Hyletville’s goalie, not being able to see, could only drop and hope for the best, but was informed by a red light flashing that the puck had beat him between the legs. The frustrated Hyletville team would have no response besides pushing further into the way they had been playing, causing more problems that would lead to a 4 goal Yubay period. It was final. A game that had no scoring through 40 minutes would end a 4-0 blowout. The Yubay Drillers had claimed their third regional championship, but celebrated like it was their first. The feeling never gets old.