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2008-09 AIHL
Inaugural Season

Team USA's Noris back behind the bench in search of more gold
Posted June 27, 2009
Joe Noris proved it as an ice hockey professional in the 1970s with the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres and with 76 goals and 197 points in three years in the World Hockey Association.

Noris proved it at the executive level as president of the San Diego Barracudas of Roller Hockey International for two years and proved it again on the inline court as a player in the men’s 35-and-older division in the elite-level NARCh and TORHS tournament series.

The Skate San Diego rink operator proved it as a coach by guiding an inexperienced Team USA with no great expectations to the gold medal at last year’s FIRS senior men’s world inline hockey championships in Germany.

Noris is back as the Americans’ bench boss this year and will once again be leading a largely inexperienced Team USA unit into the throes of international competition in Italy and Chinese Taipei.

First up is a repeat appearance as the defending gold medalists at the FIRS senior men’s worlds July 5-11 in Varese City in northern Italy. Noris and his team will then travel halfway around the world to compete in the World Games July 23-26 in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.

“I’m very happy with this team,” said Noris, 57, who was not involved in the team’s selection process after trials held in Colorado Springs. “It’s a tricky puzzle to try to put together, especially that intangible thing called chemistry — who to play with whom and in what situation. I’ve got to make some quick assessments and quick reads in a lot of cases because of limited practice time together before the actual tournament starts.”

Team USA defeated France, 7-2, to win the gold medal at last year’s FIRS senior men’s worlds, thereby shocking the international inline hockey community in the process. Noris personally called it a “very rewarding experience.”

“It was something that was so unexpected of us,” Noris said. “No one expected us to even do well. I mean, how could you blame them when you lose Rob Laurie, the best goaltender in the world, (to retirement)?”

What Noris had going in his favor last year were three returning veteran players who he made co-captains: C.J. Yoder, Mike Cioli and Eric Weichselbaumer. “Those guys had something like 30 years combined of international experience and 15-plus gold medals between them,” Noris said.
Noris called this year’s team “very different” from last year.

First off, there are only five returning players. Secondly, Yoder, Cioli and Weichselbaumer are not among them.

“Last year, it wasn’t like we had just those three veteran anchor players,” Noris said. “We had other guys who had played before at that level to go along with them but their experience was nothing like the three veteran leaders. Last year, I also had the buffer of the three veterans to go through when dealing with the team. Now I have different kinds of veterans.”

Chula Vista’s Luis Gonzlaez made last year’s Team USA squad but was not included on this year’s team roster after cuts were made at the trials.
Noris describes his 2009 Team USA squad as “inexperienced, very fast and very young.”

The U.S. bench boss believes he is up to the challenge once again, however.

“Last year, I took more of a stand-offish approach and let the veterans, for the most part, run the team meetings,” Noris said. “I relied on my captains to get things done. This year I will have to be more of a father figure and help make the guys feel more comfortable. I’ve got to have more team meetings and longer meetings.”

The five returners from last year’s gold medalist team include defensemen John Mosenson (Bethpage, N.Y.) and Greg Thompson (Bayport, N.Y.), forwards Brandon Barnette (St. Charles, Mo., but originally from Corona), Travis Fudge (Springfield, Mo.) and goaltender Mike Urbano (Huntington Beach).

Overall, there are four Californians on the playing roster. Joining Barnette (a 2003 graduate of Centennial High School) and Urbano are defenseman Chris Connole (Murrieta) and forward Joshua Laricchia (Huntington Beach).

Connole (Irvine Anarchy), Laricchia (Huntington Beach Blades) and Urbano (Huntington Beach) all recently wrapped up seasons in the first-year American Inline Hockey League, a qualifier for various Team USA programs. Laricchia and Urbano helped lead the Blades to the Pacific-South Division regular season title.

Rounding out the Team USA roster are defensemen Eric Keene (North Wales, Pa.), Anthony King (Boston, Mass.), Daniel Marmorstein (Phoenix, Ariz.), forwards John McGuinness (Yaphank, N.Y.) and Dustin Roux (McMurray, Pa.) and goaltender Keith DiPrima (Ronkon-koma, N.Y.).

Roux helped lead the Steel City Phantoms to an appearance in the first AIHL national championships after racking up 77 points (32 goals, 45 assists) in 27 games while Marmorstein (Phoenix Dragons) led the AIHL in regular season scoring with 100 points (32 goals, 68 assists) in 32 games.

Though Team USA lost a lot when commitments would not allow Yoder, Cioli or Weichselbaumer to play for the team this summer, Noris said his five returners do bring something very important back with them: the accomplishment of winning a gold medal.

“They know it can be done,” Noris said. “They demonstrated that it could happen. It’s huge knowing you can do that and do it at that level.”

Noris said the 2009 squad has the potential to find success if it buys into the same system that brought the 2008 unit a gold medal.

“One of the things I stress is that nobody can put themselves over the team,” Noris said. “Because we don’t have time to deal with egos, if somebody doesn’t want to buy into our team mantra, well, he’s not going to play.”

Team USA will face off the 16-team tournament with round-robin play against fellow Group A members Switzerland, Italy and Great Britain. Group B members include France, Czech Republic, Canada and Germany. Group C consists of Spain, Australia, Belgium and Japan. Group D consists of Mexico, Korea, Venezuela and Columbia.

Noris did not down play the competition. “You have no idea how good those other nations are,” he said.



World Games
The World Games, which are held every four years, are scheduled July 12-26 in Chinese Taipei. The men's inline hockey tournament is scheduled July 23-26. Participating teams qualified on the basis of results at the 2008 World Championships in Dusseldorf. They include the United States, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. Those five countries will be joined by Chinese Taipei as the host nation to round out the six-team field.

Noris said that with a couple of exceptions the same U.S. squad that competed in Italy will also compete in Chinese Taipei.

AIHL season #1 in review:
Young Voodoo squad grew up on the playing court

Posted June 18, 2009
The American Inline Hockey League, a field of dreams inline hockey style, took the playing court by storm this past fall in selected rinks across the United States and is set to crown its inaugural champion at next month’s USARS-USA national championships in Feasterville, Pa. The AIHL men’s elite (18 and older) nationals are scheduled July 1-2 and, for some players, it will serve as a jumping off point for international competition later this summer.

The San Diego Voodoo, the 31-team circuit’s local entry out of Skate San Diego in National City, will not be a part of the AIHL’s first-ever nationals — that honor goes to the Western Conference champion San Jose Pirates and Eastern Conference champion Steel City Phantoms — but Voodoo head coach Joe Noris called the experience of playing the closest thing currently akin to professional inline hockey an “invaluable” one for his players, many of whom are graduates of the CIF/Metro Conference high school roller hockey circuit.

The Voodoo fielded one of the league’s youngest and most inexperienced line-ups and finished, perhaps not surprisingly, with the league’s worst record. In 22 on-court match-ups against Pacific South Division rivals, the Voodoo won just one game while dropping 18 regulation contests and coming up short in three overtime games. Despite the team’s poor 1-18-3 record, Noris said he wouldn’t take the experience away from any of his players.

“It was pretty amazing that our record was what it was considering I thought we had a pretty competitive team,” said Noris, who needs no introduction to the sport of hockey after playing in both the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association in the 1970s and serving as president for two years of the San Diego Barracudas of Roller Hockey International. “We lost a lot of close games (six by one goal, another by two goals and three more by three goals). It’s not that we didn’t match up so much with the other teams. We didn’t have the depth that the other teams had. But having the opportunity to play at that high a competitive level was invaluable to our guys. It was great for our players to play against the best players in Southern California. It was a great experience for them.”

Noris singled out former Mar Vista High School standout and CIF/Metro Conference scoring leader Ian Nicklen and Castle Park alum Richard Garcia as two of the Voodoo’s younger players who “grew” into the game as it is played at the next level.

“Tommy Neer and Dave Brito were seasoned players who had played at a high level before and you expected them to do well,” the Voodoo chieftain said. “But you take some of our young guys here who had never played at that level before and they grew as players.They understood what it takes to play at the next level.”

Noris, who still plays in house leagues at 57, counts himself as one of the AIHL’s more enthusiastic supporters. He gave the league a passing grade for its first year and is looking forward to the start of its second season.

“There were a few hiccups but overall it was a tremendous opportunity for a lot of higher caliber players to get together and play. And by that, I mean play on a regular basis. There has never really been a venue for the top players (from the various rinks) to play together in a regular season-type of league. Before it had been guys just getting together now and then to play in a high-level tournament somewhere.”

Noris also pointed out the intrinsic value the AIHL serves as a role model pool to its fan base — younger players at the rinks. “It provides the kids with someone to look up to — role models, if you will,” he said.

The Voodoo’s lone win came Feb. 21 in a home game against the Junior Ducks (based out of Corona) as Neer scored the game-winner in a 2-1 overtime victory. To that point, the Voodoo had gone winless in its first 12 games.

“That got a big monkey off our back,” said former Chula Vista High standout Luis Gonzalez, who assisted on teammate Luke Storno’s game-tying goal. “We celebrated all night long.”

While RHI (1992-1999) perceived itself as a major league sport and failed, Noris said the AIHL presents an opportunity to establish the foundation for a future professional league that could fare much better.

“The AIHL is really developing the infrastructure for a major league sport to grow out of it,” Noris said. “You can’t have a major league sport playing out of a recreational rink but you can develop the infrastructure for it.”

Young VooDoo rolls onto the court still in search of first win
Posted Jan. 29, 2009
The San Diego VooDoo has yet to win a game in its first American Inline Hockey League season — the team sports a 0-8-3 record heading into Saturday's double-header against the Huntington Beach Blades at Skate San Diego — but coach Joe Noris feels there is room for improvement for his young team.

Luis “Speedy” Gonzalez (Chula Vista) and linemate David Brito (St. Augustine) have lit the lamp for the VooDoo thus far. Gonzalez leads the VooDoo with 23 points on 16 goals and seven assists while Brito, another former national team standout, ranks third in team scoring with 12 goals and four assists for 16 points.

Brito had four goals in the VooDoo's 7-6 loss to the Anarchy in the opener of the teams' double-header in December while Gonzalez registered four points on one goal and three assists. Each had a goal in the VooDoo's ensuing 5-2 loss to Irvine in the second game.

“Right now we have one line that is working well together," Noris said in reference to the VooDoo's tough start.

In the 7-6 loss, the VooDoo was on the verge of capturing its first win of the season before the Anarchy struck for two goals in the last 2:47 to steal a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Chris Cannole tied the game with 2:47 to play with his fourth goal of the match-up and Stephen Campbell scored the game-winner with 2:16 left.

Goaltender Adam Meehan (Hilltop) was spectacular at times in the net for the VooDoo.

"Tough loss," Gonzalez said simply.

The VooDoo appears to have its work cut out for it in Saturday's AIHL double-header. Huntington Beach leads the Pacific South Division standings with an 8-0-1 record. Face-off is 7 p.m. Cost is $5.

Pacific South Division: Huntington Beach Blades 8-0-1; Pama Cyclones 6-4-1; Junior Ducks 6-4-0; Irvine Anarchy 5-4-0; San Diego VooDoo 0-8-3

VooDoo scoring leaders: Luis Gonzalez 16 goals, 7 assists, 23 points; Brian Keefe 7-11-18; David Brito 12-4-16; Richard Garcia 2-6-8; Ian Nicklen 0-6-6; Adrian Rodriguez 2-3-5; Luke Storno 1-3-4; Tommy Neer 1-3-4
Vaiasuso 1-1-2; Erick Morgan 1-1-2; Paul Newell 1-1-2; Jeff Vincencio 1-0-1.

AIHL rolls into Skate San Diego

Posted Dec. 17, 2008
Professional inline hockey rolls into National City's Skate San Diego this Saturday (Dec. 20) as the hometown San Diego Voodoo faces off against the Irvine Anarchy in double-header action. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Voodoo and Anachy complete in the newly-formed American Inline Hockey League, which includes divisions on the West Coast and in the Pacific Southwest. The Voodoo is 0-8 but dropped three one-goal decisions in their first five games, including a pair to the high-powered Pama Cyclones (a player on the national scene).

The AIHL is the latest vehicle to showcase the sport at its highest level, following in the footsteps of Roller Hockey International and the TORHS and NARCh Pro cash prize tournament series.

Voodoo head coach Joe Noris, who served as president of the RHI San Diego Barracudas, said the opportunity for homegrown players to compete against some of the top teams and players in the sport is an invaluable experience.

Dave Brito and Luis "Speedy" Gonzalez, both Team USA members, currently rank as the Voodoo's scoring leaders. Gonzalez attended Chula Vista High School while Brito attended St. Augustine High School.

The Voodoo's roster also features numerous notable area rink rats such as goaltenders Adam Meehan (Hilltop) and Tommy Prewitt (Monte Vista), defenseman Tommy Neer (Granite Hills) and former CIF/Metro Conference scoring champion Ian Nicklen (Mar Vista). Forward Paul Newell (Hilltop) and defenseman Adrian Rodriguez (Otay Ranch) also rank among the best players to ever come out of South County.

Neer is fresh off last Friday's 9-0 SDSU ice hockey victory over Loyola Marymount. Neer completed his final semester with the Aztecs, who improved to 17-7 on the season.

Tickets are $5 for adults, with discounted tickets available for children. For more information, call 474-1000.

AIHL faces off 2008-09 season
Posted Nov. 26, 2008
The American Inline Hockey League has faced off its 2008-09 season and the early leaders in the league's far western outposts were the Nor Cal Riot at 3-1-0 and San Jose Pirates at 2-0 in the Pacific North Division and the Huntington Beach Blades at 3-0 and the Pama Cyclones at 2-1 in the Pacific South Division.

San Jose defeated the East Bay Jawz, 8-2, in an Elite game on Nov. 22. The three stars of the game for the victorious Pirates were Dustin Tilbury (2 goals, 3 assists), Adam DeKeyrel (2 goals, 2 assists) and Kelly Spain (3 goals). San Jose opened up s 5-0 lead. Jason Weiser scored both goals for East Bay (0-4).

Tilbury (2 goals, 4 assists), Spain (3 goals, 2 assists) and DeKeyrel (3 goals, 2 assists) led the Pirates in scoring in their undefeated start.

The Riot topped the Oakland GOODLIFE by scores of 2-1 and 3-1 on Nov. 22. Jorrel Cabana and Jon Drake had the goals for the Riot in the first game while Cabana, Lonuy Lovins and Blake Peckham each scored goals in the second game. Drake (4 goals, 2 assists) and Cabana (2 goals, 4 assists) led the Riot with six points in four games.

The NorCal Mustangs split their opening two games against the Riot Nov. 15 at the Silver Creek Sportsplex, winning 3-2 in the first game and then dropping the rematch 6-2. Dominic Mamon, Jeff Brown and Ryan Greenwood each scored single goals to power the Mustangs to their first win in front of the solid play of goaltender Ryan Lowe.

Oakland swept its season-opening series against East Bay, winning by scores of 5-2 and 4-2.

Casey Kennedy and Gavin Klatt each scored two goals and Kevin Silva had 19 saves to help Oakland win its season opener. Kennedy had three goals and an assist and teammate Ben Caliz had a goal and two assists as Oakland completed the two-game sweep of the Jawz.

Meanwhile, Huntington Beach opened its season on Nov. 22 with a sweep of the Pama Cyclones (2-1), Irvine Anarchy (3-2) and San Diego Voodoo (5-2). The Cyclones bounced back with wins over Irvine (8-5) and San Diego (5-4).

The Junior Ducks split their first two games of the season, slipping past San Diego by a 7-6 score for their first victory. The Voodoo finished 0-3 in the festival format.