The Fort Wayne Federals junior hockey team will play its first home game against the Wooster Oilers starting at 7 p.m. The teams play a rematch at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Canlan Ice Sports. Tickets cost $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and students. Kids age 12 and younger are admitted free. The team won its first two games last weekend on the road over Tri City by 12-0 and 8-2 scores.
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not that it matters all that much but they won the first game 14-0
I'm hoping to catch one of these games if I can fit it in, need the fix.
$6 for standing room only? Just sayin, since Canlan doesn't have much for seatng.
Can someone explain to me what level the Federals are? Their website says they are affiliated with the Toledo Cherokee, and it is a place players can play to develop if they aren't quite ready for Tier III Jr Hockey. I didn't know there was lower than Tier III.
I don't know the answer to your question yet nosebleed but if I catch one of the games I'll try to find out.
You can always sit in the lounge, stay warm, have a good seat, and have a server bring your beer and food/munchies to you. Kind of like sitting in Burgee's seats........
Sorry I have never heard of them.
I'm also a little interested how they are gonna police the tickets since there will be other stuff going on at the rink too. My kids often have practices during the high school games, and if you just walk in and ignore the ticket people like you are there for somethin else (which I am), you can just walk in. Probably can just do that for these games too :)
Are the games just played in rink 1? If not, rink 2 does have seating by the ice rink. But unless you want to freeze, I'd suggest just staying in the lounge. Make sure you get there early enough though (for the lounge) if you want to be able to see well enough.
Federals won their opener 8-5, attendance listed at 151.
http://gljhlsite.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=1357487
They played in rink 2 last nite. When i payed to watch the game, the person taking money said she couldnt believe how many people are showing up for the game.
Rink 2 today also. They won 5-4 but gave up 3 goals in the third as Wooster made a great attempt at coming back from being down 5-1. Fort Wayne controlled the play well with two minutes left and prevented the Oilers from pulling their goalie.
With all three sheets of ice up now it is definitely colder then when I was last in Canlan (for the curling), you can now see your breath.
OK, got my hockey fix this weekend. I watched Swift Current vs Moose Jaw on line last night (WHL Live) and the Federals today at Canlan. Yeah, good weekend, would have been better had the Broncs won both their games.
Steve, how do you rate the level of play with the Federals? How does it stack-up in your opinion?
Hit, I'd like to see more before making comments that I would feel comfortable with as a final judgment of this league but first impressions, above high school yes but room for improvement. I guess that's sort of a cop-out because obviously that's the purpose of this league, improve and move up the Junior chain or higher. A couple of players have already moved up to higher levels.
I enjoyed it, but I've been starved for hockey so I probably would have gotten into an air hockey game at this point :-)
Keeping in mind these teams have played only a few games and they're still sorting out their rosters (today was the first game for some of the kids) I'd say position awareness and passing were better then I expected.
Some checking, even a few board rattlers but not constant, but they did use their bodies and didn't hesitate to mix it up along the boards. Some players had speed, some seemed like they didn't.
A lot of shots were dead on, need more work on getting the puck off the ice and going for the 2 and 3 holes (sound familiar?).
At this point I will probably return just out of curiosity and to see more. I would not buy season tickets (if they're even available) even if they were the only game in town unless I had a more personal connection to the team.
I will sort of keep my eye on it just because it's Fort Wayne, at least for awhile. Met some really nice people there and had fun talking to Steve Fletcher and Ian Boyce. Fletch was there to watch the game and Boycie dropped in for a few minutes after spending time on another rink with the team he coaches. Fletcher was enjoying it.
nosebleed, as far as I can tell, here is how the Junior leagues rank in the United States.
Tier I One league, USHL 16 teams.
Tier II One league, NAHL 26 teams.
Tier III Junior A Six leagues, CSHL, WSHL, EJHL, NORPAC, AJHL(USA), and MnJHL 70 teams.
Tier III Junior B Four leagues, MET, GLJHL, Empire, and Continental-Premiers
Tier III Junior C Two leagues, Continental-Selects and SEJHL.
Tier III Junior B and C combined have 79 teams.
They all fall under the USA Hockey umbrella.
I had no idea there were that many Junior leagues/teams in the USA.
To add to my comments, I think this is a good idea, a good opportunity for kids who are at a point in their development that they need something above high school but aren't quite to the point to start out in higher level juniors. I think it's a great addition to the hockey scene in Fort Wayne.
The Federals, from what I understand, put this all together in about 1.5 months and I think that's impressive. Not all the players are from Fort Wayne (nor the coach), I would guess about a third are from out of town and live with host families here.
I hope the press picks up on this and gives them some coverage, that would be good. Not so much from an attendance standpoint (yeah that could go up but seating is a real issue at Canlan) but for the recognition of the team/players and the Junior programs.
Steve.. Thanks for the information. Sounds like you did your homework. I appreciate it very much. I am sure others here will also.
Thanks Steve. That is what I was wanting to hear. I want to go out and check it out soon.
Yeah, Thanks Steve. All these different levels always confuses me. My kids play travel hockey, and sometimes even at their ages, it gets confusing. A couple years ago, My son's team was playing in a "B" toutnament and had to play a team that was also a "B" team by USA hockey rules, but they played in a "AAA" league on a normal basis. Needless to say, they won, but man it's really confusing how teams are formed and at what levels.
The Federals are a Tier III Junior B program.
The previous post with the league designations is accurate.
This is my third season in this league. Coached in Chicago the previous two seasons. Went to Nationals twice and have one National Championship title. From this league.
Most of the kids I have coached the past two seasons have moved on to higher Tiers of Junior hockey.
This year alone, about 13 are playing NAHL, CSHL and Tier II Junior A in Canada. Kids from my teams the past two seasons.
I have already helped a local player, whom I barely know and who was not on my team, move to Tier II Junior A in Canada for this season. He is doing quite well, I understand.
This league has moved MANY players up to higher levels of Junior hockey in the two years of it's existence.
That is what I want to provide for players here, the opportunity for players to develop and learn what Junior hockey is about and then to move them to these higher level junior teams here in the US and in Canada.
So far, so good.
the feds are now junior a tier III this year ! this means a more fast paced game with lots more hitting. I just wish the Komets would support the federals with video highlights during their games to get the attendance up at the feds games ! also the feds deserve more media coverage, when high school tennis and golf are getting more coverage then junior hockey something is wrong !