Pee Wee squad wins tournament

JEREMIAH BARTZ

Sports Editor

For teams in the Matanuska Amateur Hockey Association, tournament championships are always noteworthy, but some are extra special.

The Mat-Su Eagles PeeWee B hockey squad won the annual Alaska Wolves Thanksgiving Tournament in Anchorage last week, but hockey was not the only thing on their minds.

One of the Eagles' own, Charlie Holman, is the son of Mike Holman, a local pilot who was missing for five days. On route to Seldovia, Mike landed his plane on remote Koyuktolik Bay, but when he went to finish his trip the plane wouldn't start and was later destroyed by the incoming tide.

Mike was missing for nearly the entire week leading up to and through Thanksgiving weekend. Paul Friese, the Eagles' head coach, said he encouraged Charlie to at least come to most of the hockey events.

"It was a good diversion," Friese said. "The kids were very warm toward (Charlie)."

Friese said throughout the week and throughout the tournament, the players and the families came through in support of the Holmans. Players wore stickers on their helmets and parents made badges to wear on their lapels, Friese said.

Friese said it was the goal of the coaching staff, to not only lead the team, but guide the players through a difficult circumstance.

"The kids were very aware," Friese said. "For most it was the first time they faced anything like this."

The Eagles played well in the first three days of the tournament, Friese said, and earned the fourth-seed in the final bracket. Friese said his team kind of snuck into the next round, and were struggling, but 30 minutes before the Eagles' first game in the final-bracket, the team got a phone call -- Mike was found and was

alive.

"The room lit up like a roman candle," Friese said. "It was pretty exciting."

Inspired by the news, the Eagles knocked off the top-seeded Junior Aces, Mat-Su's toughest competition, according to Friese.

"From the drop of the puck until the game was over we were absolutely on fire," Friese said.

Living off the same high, the Eagles' earned a 3-2 win in the championship game.

"The news we got was at the right time," Friese said. "A lot of the people we talked to said (the Eagles winning) was inevitable."

"I don't think there was anything we could have done to beat you," a parent on the opposing team told Friese.