RESULTS: 5 States Battle in the Fort

The Heartland Sled Hockey League season standings solidified a bit Feb. 19-20 at the 14th annual Bob Chase Frostbite Classic hosted by Turnstone in Fort Wayne.

The league-leading ASPO Wildcats from Wooster, OH went 4-0 over the weekend to improve to 13-2 on the season. The GLASA Falcons from Lake Forest, IL went 4-1 on the weekend to build a 7-2 overall record. The Falcons scored a late goal vs the Grand Rapids Sled Wings to edge out a 1-0 victory. The Wings went 3-1 this weekend with three of their games being decided by one goal. The Wings had a 2-1 victory over the Thunder from Bloomington, IL, and a 4-3 win over the host team, Turnstone Flyers to extend their season to 5-5.

Your Turnstone Flyers went 3-2-1 this weekend that included a first-ever goal by Allison Parker, a last-second goal by Tanner Pfeiffer, multiple sleds breaking, two overtime matches, three games decided by one goal, and a stellar performance from our goaltenders Noel Klein and Skylar Osborn. Turnstone is now 10-8-1 this season.

Turnstone will play USA Women's sled hockey team this Saturday, Feb. 26, at 8 a.m. at the Fort Wayne rink (Parkview SportONE Icehouse). Next month, they will play in the Heartland League Championship and the State Championship before concluding their season in April for the Nationals Championship.

The Hornets from Chicago went 3-0-1 to go to 6-5-1 overall in league standings with two of their games going to overtime. They had a tight battle with the Sled Bears from Knoxville, TN. The Hornets tied the game in the 3rd period to extend it to a shootout where they ended up winning in sudden death with 2 extra shooters. The Sled Bears had a thrilling match vs the Cincinnati IceBreakers as they came back from being down 2-1 heading into the 3rd period to win 3-2. The IceBreakers battled hard all weekend scoring 6 goals as they went 0-5.

Tennessee neighbor the Sled Preds from Nashville picked up their first victories in the Heartland League. Entering this weekend they were 0-7. They turned that around with victories over Cincinnati and Turnstone along with tight matches with the Falcons and Thunder. The Thunder also earned their first victory in the league with a 5-3 win over the Sled Preds. The Thunder put up fantastic battles with the Hornets, Sled Wings, Falcons and Turnstone.

Seven of the tournament’s 21 games were decided by one goal and there were 10 shutouts.

A 20-player all-tournament team was selected:
Representing the Wildcats were Cassie Followay, Jacob Baker and Tommy Miller, while the Falcons picked were Dave Michael, Adam Boardwine and Ethan Hurtado. Juan Rodarte and Mike McCarthy from the Hornets, C.J. Blackwell and Carly Pearson from the Sled Bears and Scott Stever and Tyler Anderson represented the Sled Wings. Turnstone’s Elliott Mohre and Cai Davis were honored as were Heath Fitzgerald and Chris Earle from the Sled Preds along with Jamie Benassi of the IceBreakers and Aaron McCaleb from the Thunder. The goaltenders selected were Rocky LeBlanc from the Sled Bears and Taggart VanderMolen from the Sled Wings who both kept their teams in games despite getting out-shot by wide margins.

Dave Michael of the Falcons was named the outstanding male player, and Jamie Benassi of the Ice Breakers the outstanding female player. Though a defenseman, Michael scored four goals and seven points in the tournament, and Benassi scored five of her team's seven goals.

Turnstone Season Stats:

Elliot Mohre 34 Points: 24 Goals & 10 Assists (2/3 Shootouts) ... 19 Games

Cai Davis 23 Points: 19 Goals & 4 Assists (1/1 Shootouts) ... 19 Games

John Pfeiffer 18 Points: 18 Assists (1/3 Shootouts) ... 19 Games

Kevin Hughes 17 Points: 3 Goals & 14 Assists ... 15 Games

Randy Mohre 12 Points: 1 Goal & 11 Assists ... 19 Games

Peter Mitchell 6 Points: 1 Goal & 5 Assists & 4 PIM ... 19 Games

Tanner Pfeiffer 4 Points: 1 Goal & 3 Assist ... 19 Games

Skylar Osborn 5 Points: 5 Assists ... 11 Games (Skater) + 56 Saves ... 5 Games (Goaltender)

Robert Walters ... 1 Point: 1 Assist ... 15 Games

Allison Parker 2 Points: 1 Goal & 5 Assists ... 16 Games

Noel Klein 157 Saves... 5 Games (Goaltender) + 2 Games (Skater)