Page 4 • May 2009 The PRIDE of champions Jr. B National Championship pumps new energy into Suffolk PAL Hockey By Joshua Boyd From its origin as a Peewee travel team in 1975, it was a long climb to March 31, 2009, when the Suffolk PAL Hockey organization celebrated its first-ever Jr. B National Championship. Here, we look at the building of PAL Hockey, its mission, what the Jr. B National Championship means to the organization and the thoughts of its top players. coach/GM/you name it.” The origin of a winner As you will read under the heading “Jr. B title a long time coming,” the Jr. B PAL One could say that Ron Kinnear is the “We have always been self-sufficient,” Hockey teams had many chances for a heart and soul of the Suffolk PAL Junior said Kinnear. “We are going to be a stand- championship. PAL Hockey has been Hockey program. He was on that first alone organization, but the juniors will represented at the National Jr. B Peewee travel team as a player. Later, he still be called Suffolk Hockey.” Championships a total of eight times, returned as a coach and general manager PAL Ice Hockey hosts everything from beginning with its first appearance in of the team, and now he is the Director of travel to recreational house leagues for 1995-96. Junior Operations and General Manager boys and girls, along with skills When Kinnear re-started the PAL Jr. B for the organization. development and USA Hockey Initiation team, he also created a Jr. A team as a “I’ve been involved with PAL Hockey programs. The Tier-1 travel teams direct affiliate, and the New York Bobcats for every year of its existence, except for competing at the Mite, Squirt, Peewee, were born. Kinnear hired, as head coach of four years when I went to college,” said Bantam, Midget and the Jr. B and C teams the Bobcats, Russian émigré Aleksey Kinnear. are called the Silver Shields, while the Nikiforov. A lot has changed since that first Tier-2 teams are called the Blue Knights. When the Bobcats and the Suffolk PAL The 1991-born defenseman Nicholas Peewee travel team took the ice – different The Silver Shields junior teams have a separated and became their own Giuffrida registered almost a point per game teams have formed and disbanded over the non-continuous history going back to the organizations, Nikiforov joined PAL in the regular season and added a pair of course of nearly 35 years under the PAL late 1980s. points at Nationals to help contribute to the Hockey as its eventual championship- Hockey name. And the times they are still Silver Shields' title win. In those days, the Suffolk PAL joined winning head coach. a-changin’. with the Suffolk Royals to present a Photo by Nicole Goodhue Boyd Kinnear had coached the PAL Jr. B’s to The 2008-09 season was the last to see combined junior team. Silver Shield on their jerseys over the its first five Nationals appearances, before years. Notable alumni include Montreal the letters PAL stand for Police Athletic “That went by the wayside, as junior turning over the reins to Jim Wright. Canadiens players Mike Komisarek and League. Starting in 2009-10, those letters hockey wasn’t as popular in the late 1980s Wright, still an assistant coach with Chris Higgins, AHL goalie Bobby will stand for “PRIDE in Athletics for and early 1990s as it is today,” said Nikiforov, led the PAL Jr. B’s to the 2004- Goepfert and UMass-Amherst All- Life,” as far as Suffolk PAL Hockey is Kinnear. “I re-established the junior 05 and 2006-07 Jr. B Nationals. American college hockey player James concerned. program back in 1994-95 as the Hundreds of players have worn the Marcou. Mission: Build the better hockey player Jake Laime. He is not only our assistant, his specialties. Over the years, his but he also runs the PAL Hockey strength American students in private lessons and conditioning program and he fills in included NHL players Mike Komisarek, as a recruiter.” Chris Higgins and Eric Nystrom, recent In Soviet-era Russia, Nikiforov worked Hobey Baker winner and New York to earn the highest coaching degree one Rangers prospect Matt Gilroy, New Jersey could obtain there, while also coaching Devils prospect Tony Romano and hockey in Lithuania. There, he trained UMass-Amherst player and All-American future NHLers such as Darius Kasparaitis James Marcou. and Dainius Zubrus. He also had coaching Also, of course, he trained his son time with former NHL stars like Alexei Vladimir, a former New York Bobcats Yashin and Alexei Zhamnov during his standout who has played this season with time in Russia. both the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers “In Lithuania, I worked on my coaching and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. degree and lived in a three-bedroom Overall, Nikiforov’s philosophy is apartment. I still have that apartment – my straightforward: Never “sit back.” mother lives there,” said Nikiforov. “Whether we’re winning or losing, you When he came to the United States in have to be responsible for every single 1991, after the “Iron Curtain” fell and action, every single play,” he said. “Small Russians were allowed to travel abroad things make big things. When you build a freely, he found a developmental hockey house, you start with the basement. I don’t A 1990-born goaltender, William Cirillo won all five games he played in the Jr. B National system that made no sense to him. like to see a player get the puck and dump Championships, finishing with a .909 save percentage against the best Jr. B teams in the “Over here, it was not coaches, it was it in and go after it. If you get the puck, country. Photo by Nicole Goodhue Boyd parents,” said Nikiforov. “Their create, do something with it. If you have knowledge about hockey was so low. [A the puck, make something happen. How do you train a hockey player to Nikiforov. coach] feels this game, lives this game, “If you dump it in, you’ll never take become a champion? To make the better “When people ask ‘Why are [the Silver smells this game. This is my situation, this that responsibility. But if you have the decision, to shoot the puck that much Shields] successful?’ It’s because we put is my business.” puck and you beat one, two or three guys, harder, to be in the right place? our resources into our coaches,” said Nikiforov had never heard of such a you build confidence,” said Nikiforov. One word, and it’s so simple: Coaching. Kinnear. “We have Aleksey, who’s trained thing as private 1-on-1 lessons in Soviet It’s a philosophy that has worked to the That is the basket into which Suffolk several NHL players [in Russia and in the Russia, but it ended up becoming one of tune of earning some of his former PAL Ice Hockey places all of its eggs. U.S.]. We have Jim Wright, Aleksey’s his claims to fame when he settled on students a living playing the game they These days, that basket is overflowing, assistant and our assistant general Long Island in the 1990s. love. manager. We also have a third assistant, thanks to the seemingly endless Power skating and stickhandling were knowledge of Jr. B head coach Aleksey who’s just finished his first year with us, May 2009 • Page 5 Jr. B title a long time coming For Suffolk PAL Hockey, winning the the commitment to return for another year 2009 Jr. B National Championship was like and literally go for the gold in 2008-09. climbing a mountain on a hiking trail. “Our core players were our second-year The view changes around every turn, and players, guys like Matt Vidal, Jesse Petito, you keep getting glimpses, but your goal of Patrick McNally, Ryan Gay – there were the peak looks bigger each time. eight of them who stayed in total,” said Sometimes, when things don’t go your way, Kinnear. “They had a mission of winning it can look farther away than it really is. Nationals.” Then, before you know it, you’re on top and The Silver Shields finished second nothing can take that away from you. overall in the regular season of the The Silver Shields first found their way Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, going to Nationals in 1995-96. “From there, we’ve 37-5-0-1 to finish with 75 points, one just grown every year,” said PAL Hockey behind the Walpole Express’s 38-4-0-0 for Director of Junior Operations Ron Kinnear, 76 points. who coached the team’s first five Nationals In the MJHL playoffs, PAL Hockey challengers. eliminated last year’s Jr. B champion the The 1997-98 PAL Hockey squad, which Long Island Royals. They beat the New included then-future Montreal Canadien Jersey Titans, but lost to the Central Penn Mike Komisarek as a 16-year-old, went all Panthers in the Keegan Cup semifinal. All season long and right through Nationals, 1990-born Jeremy Puglia was the epitome of the way to the Jr. B finals. There, the Toledo Suffolk PAL Ice Hockey entered the hard-nosed defense for PAL Hockey, registering 123 penalty minutes, often keeping the Cherokee defeated the Silver Shields. Nationals as the Met League’s No. 4 seed. opposition 'honest.’ Photo by Nicole Goodhue Boyd PAL Hockey was back in the finals in In the round robin, the Silver Shields went win over the Panthers.