At the 1st ever Highland Avenue Invitational the field was filled with seasoned vets and inexperienced rookies. In the end the vets stood tall as the Final 4 comprised of Chris Hychalk, Mike Cline, Dave Luskin(Rookie) and Dave"Bones" Thornborough. With Cline using Detroit and Luskin using Chicago, they were obviously the favorites. After Cline ousted a disheartened Chris Pico, he moved on to dispatch Hychalk and his St Louis Blues on his way to playing Luskin. Luskin pulled a 4-2 win out of his ass on his way to play Bones. The heavy underdog (team wise) was obviously Bones. Even so, his Flames won the Title, 2 games to 1, in what was an exciting final. Thornboroughs style of the "quite killer" served him well as he was able to capture the Trophy in the Inaugural Tournament, while not getting caught up in the trash talking.
We also were witness to some epic losing. Jason Barish bowed out in the under 90 minute mark as he quickly lost his first two games. That gave him a spot in the Losers Lobby. Other notable disappointments where Eduardo Juarez whose one timing style, could only carry him so far. Jasons' dad Marc, also put on a sad display, as he bowed out much earlier than his bragging would have had anyone expect. Rol Juarez, however, with the help of his Boston Bruins team did make some noise along with late entry Mike Renzo and his Philadelphia Flyers. We look forward to bigger and better things in 2015, along with a new Champion??
2014 Winter Classic: In The Beginning..........
Bones with what used to be his Trophy
2015 Winter Classic: #BallsInTheSnow
2015 was a year of firsts. A snow storm during the tournament, a SOBER champion, an UNDEFEATED Champion and a new hashtag ,#ballsinthesnow. We even had a CAKE made by Renzo.
Team selections had some surprises. Rookie Tom Keeley won the right to draft first and chose the Rangers, screwing Bill Hussa in the process. Renzo picked the Flyers AGAIN. The room cheered as Cline ended up with the last pick, somehow allowing him to still take Montreal.
The Prelim round offered us a look at how the tournament would end as Hychalk took the number one seed.
As the tournament started Chele Juarez immediatley fell into the losers bracket along with rookies Bob Bond and Bernie Petit. For the other rookie in the tournament Bill Hussa , he knocked off Renzo in the first round but then suffered a crushing 4-0 shutout to Cline, sending him off to the losers bracket. Bones and Hychalk laid waste to the winners bracket before Hychalk knocked Bones down with 1 loss. In the finals it was utter dominance as Hychalk and the Dallas Stars swept Bones and his Bruins to take the second title ever, while unseating the reigning champ with ease.
Rol Juarez again finshed 7th for the 2nd year in a row as he lost the brother vs brother battle allowing the 10 seed Chele to storm to a 4th place finish. The suprise of the tournament was Chris Pico. He finished in 3rd after laying the biggest beatdown in tournament history on Hussa (12-3) to eliminate Hussa from the tournament. Last years runner up Dave Luskin started hot knocking of Chele, but then proved the oddsmaker right with his 10th place finish.
What will 2016 hold? Hopefully a new NOT sober Champion and someone dipping their balls in the snow.
Renzos Cake
Chris receiving his *
2015 KKC Recap: Mucked Up
In our first attempt at a team play tournament, the day was filled with highs and lows. Not having a third 4 way adapter cost us a 3rd Tv. This made the games run longer, which in turn forced the favorites to have to drop out of the tournament. Much to their dismay, the tournament continued and TRUE CHAMPIONS were crowned. We also learned that our pairings for team ups were not the best way to create an even playing field. Heading into next year (if we do this again) teams will be paired up by the way they finish in the Highland Avenue Invitational in February. This will ensure a competitive balance and stop all the crying and complaining. Through all the distractions, whining, crying, dog barking and Daves rage, the team of Chele and Cline stepped to the forefront and destroyed their competition on the way to the title. A 9-2 beat down in the Championship vs the team of Renzo and Little (Canucks) displayed their dominance for all to see. Hopefully we have this day straightened out and next year everyone sets aside a full day to participate in this great time.
2015 KKC CHAMPS
2016 Winter Classic: Marathon
In what was the LARGEST Highland Avenue Invitational ever held, it was a day filled with surprises. With 18 contestents, 6 of them being rookies, it was hard to project how this year would go. The team selection process went well with Cheles suggestion of a wheel randomizer. The defending champ *Chris Hychalk, lucked into the first pick, taking Toronto. 1st year Champ, Dave Thronborough, did not fair as well, as he ended up 16th and was tasked with taking Edmonton through the tourney. As the pre lims kicked up it became evident that Little his mouth and his Penguins were going to be a challenge for most to face. Bond, Keeley, Hudson and Emil all had strong Pre Lims, seeding them in the top ten for the elimination portion of the day. 4 of the bottom 8 were rookies ( Carr,Bello,McDivitt and Carmody) which should have been expected to a degree. The 4 veterans (Renzo,Barish,Howe,Pettit) have no excuse for their pathetic effort. As the Elimination games started up, Hychalk and Thornborough suprisingly were not the top seeds. Quickly, the most disappointing player in the day, Chele , found himself in the losers bracket after one game, as his 4-2 record in the pre lims , seemed to be smoke and mirrors. As Little knocked Carr to the losers bracket, Cline disposed of his former nemesis Thronborough(who had already bumped Hychalk to the Losers Bracket) . In the Winners finals it was mouth vs mouth and skill vs skill, and of course Clines dominance showed itself in both areas as Little was unable to play any style of defense to slow down the Stars offense. Cline locked up his first ever appearance in the Finals.
The Losers bracket had even more surprises. Chele once again, lost which bounced his ass in one of his worst showings ever. As for bad showing, the panty game featured two noobs in Carmody and McDivitt. In a game of this magnitude between two noobs, of course it was tied 0-0 late in the 3rd when Carmody misplayed the puck with his goalie, in a way only a rookie can, and it cost him. Rob put the game away and forced Carmody out of the tournament and into some hot pink bra and panties. After that ridiculousness was sorted out, Rob Howe decided he would eliminate 3 people, before he was taken out by Hychalk. Rol Juarez had a strong day as he to would eliminate 3 from the tournament and then finally be ousted by Dave Thronborough. Which set up a clash of titans as the 2 former champions ever would fight each other in an elimnation game. Hychalk would prove to much as he would boot Dave and his sorry ass team from the tourney. Hychalk stood one game away from reaching the finals for a 2nd consecutive year, he just had to shut Little up. Which he did, rather easily , as again, Littles defense played alot like his last name. With that win, Hychalk put himself back in the Finals for the 2nd year in a row.
In the Championship round, Hychalk and Cline played a closely contested Game 1 as Hychalks Maple Leafs kept the score close and hoped for a big 3rd. In the end he would lose 4-3 in game 1. After thinking the tournament was over, we checked the rules and played Game 2, this was not so close as it was obvious the Asterick was no longer next to Hychalks name. Feeling the full effects of the 9 hour marathon tournament finally catching up to him, Cline laid 7 goals on Potvin , his Leafs and Hychalks ass to put the years Tournament in the books. Cline claims his first Championship in one hell of a 10 hour marathon.
Cline also placed the "Golden Nuggett" on Bernie as he laid a 15-1 epic beatdown on Bernie and his sharks. As for the Tim Horton, it was a runaway, Rob McDivitt with his vomit stained shoes, claimed the title.
Cline with his first ever Winter Classic Title
2016 KKC: How Did That Happen?
The second ever KKMC took place on a day that the temperatures reached 97 degrees outside. With 5 teams participating, the favorite coming into the day was Chele and Tom. Chele knew what it would take to win the title on that day, having been a part of the winning team in 2015.
The Prelims started up and quickly the favorites jumped out to 2-0 on the day. Renzo and Little, who were the only team playing in the tourney that played together the year before also came out of the gate hot. Cline and Bernie, the pairing with the least likely chance of winning the title started the day 0-2 with losses to Renzo/Little and Chele/Tom. The pairings of Rol/Bob and Rick/Hychalk did not fair so well in pre lims as it was obvious they had not had anytime to put a gameplan together. In the end of the pre lim round, Chele and Tom stood above the rest at 4-0 and would take the first seed with Renzo and Little on their heels and 3-1 and the second seed. Rol and Bob could not get out of each others way and finished 0-4 and as the 5th seed.
As tournament started it was obvious Chele and Tom had the title in their grasps, but something happened. As the drinks continued to flow, Renzo and Little, the 2nd seed were the first team ELIMINATED from the tournament. Little who was visably frustrated by the play of his teammate was disguted at the outcome of his day. His revenge will have to wait till February. Bob and Rol faced off against Hychalk and Rick in a game that would go to Overtime, where Hychalk would put the game away and eliminate Bob and Rol. It was a tough outing for Bob and Rol as they def were not on the same page, proving once again that a gameplan and some strategy would have helped. In the Winners bracket, Chele and Tom would get the ultimate oppertunity to push Cline/Bernie into the losers bracket and sow up a spot in the championship. ALAS, it was not meant to be as the underdogs on the day vanquished the heavy favorites to the losers bracket and took their spot in the championship where they would wait for the winner of Chele/Tom vs Hychalk/Rick.
For two periods this game was close until Chele and Tom used their experience of practicing together and knocked Hychalk and Rick out with three goals in the 3rd period. A good run came to an end for Hychalk and Rick, with no practice together, they put up a good fight.
With that win, that would put the favorites coming out of the loseres bracket of Tom and Chele vs the underdogs coming from the winners bracket of Cline/Bernie. If Chele and Tom could pull off two wins, they could end Clines reign of Championships, if not, they would forever suck. Game one was a close contest as late in the 3rd Bernie would net the game winner and the Reigning Champ and his new partner were 1 game away from pulling one of the biggest upsets in KKMC history. The second game, with all the pressure on their shoulders, Chele and Tom looked like they were crumbling. Eventually Cline and Bernie would net 8 goals and kick Tom and Chele right out of the Tourney and secure the Championship Trophies and the CASH! As the clock hit zero, Chele turned to his teammate and laid the blame at Toms feet "how did that happen?" he asked, as if he was stunned at the greatness he just experienced and realizing he was obviously not the reason he won the KKMC in 15 and that riding coattails might be his only option in the future.
In what was a superb effort from Bernie, the player who was nuggetized in february , he now becomes a Champion and owns his fair share of bragging rights. As for his partner, Cline, he has now won 3 consecutive tournaments. With all the pressure and stress of having to live up to his greatness, he proved again that he is one of the best if not the best and we are all experiencing what can only be called the CLINE DYNASTY. Can someone put a stop to this run? We will find out in February.
Poor Ed, passing on his Championship
Bern and Mike with their Titles
Post Championship Handshake, 8-6 Final, 2-0 sweep
The "Los" being handed off to the "New" Champion
2017 Winter Classic: A New OLD Champion
February 25th 2017, the day we crowned our first repeat Champion in the Winter Classic. In what was the largest tournament held to date , it was an event to behold. The day started off with the draft where Keeley surprised everyone with his pick of the Montreal Canadians. This had a snowball effect, Rob Howe then took New Jersey, which threw Dallas to Hychalk and Vancouver to Dave. This also allowed the Penguins to tumble all the way to the 14th pick.
The Prelims started off hot, Shootouts occured in the first two rounds, both happened to include Bernie. There were 6 Overtime games, 2 shootouts and 17 shutouts through the Pre Lim round. The biggest surprise was Thornborough, finishing at 2-4 and getting a 13 seed. Going undefeated through the Pre Lims at 6-0 was Cline, whose form from 2016 continued through 2017 and he took the first seed heading into the tournament. Marino, Bello and Little all showed well in the prelims and secured top 10 seeds. Of course at the bottom were Rob McDivitt and Carbomb Carmody, both seemed as though they were trying to duplicate last years results but Carmody ended those thoughts with a stellar 2 to 1 victory over Rob. A lot of the stalwarts held their places moving into the tournament with strong pre lims - Bond secured the 6th, Chele the 4th and Keeley the 5th.
The Tournament kicked off with a bang as Renzo knocked Andrew into the Bra and panty game. Rol would join him, as JP would give him his first loss. It was not a game however, as Rol took the fight to the punchless Flyers 5 to 1. Andrew would have to wear the bra and panties, which he did magnificently. With that out of the way, some names started to be bounced from the winners bracket. The 13 seed would bounce the 4 seed Chel, Dave would also get Keeley and eventually beat Cline by 1 goal. Sending them all to the losers bracket. Then the rookie JP , who racked up wins vs Rol, Santi and Howe would take an OT thriller vs Thornborough to win the Winners Bracket. Now he would sit and wait, and wait and wait.
The losers bracket became a battleground. Rol eliminated Marino and Bello before bowing out of another tournament where he finished top 10. Bobby Bond , with what might be the biggest elimination of the day, knocked Hychalk out. After last years epic failure by Chel, it must be said, Hychalks performance on this day will go down as an utter implosion. Right up there with Cheles 2016. The thing is , Hychalks destruction hid the fact that Chel, yet again had another tournament let down. After eliminating Bernie, Rick and Santi, his nemesis stood before him. His day would end there as Cline would ELIMINATE Chel . Clines road would also include sending the surprising Tom Keeley home after a long run by the Canadians. Tom eliminated Bond, Rol and Howe. He just couldn't keep up with the scoring of Cline as he went down 10-7, and his day was over. Setting up in the losers bracket final, Cline Vs Thornborough. In another 1 goal defeat, Cline would exit the tournament, being eliminated from a Highland Avenue Tournament Series for the first time since Winter Classic '15. Thornborough escaped the losers bracket to face JP in a final that would not live up to the hype. Dave would take the first two games, and the prestige of being the first 2x Winter Classic Champion. JP, well he would take 2nd and be left to wonder what could have been.
Thornborough is the first Champion to come from the Losers Bracket, The first Champion to have a losing record in Pre Lims and the first Champion to hold the newly renamed "LOS"
The Nugget, for the second year in a row, was placed by Cline, this time on Bello, 17 to 1. Bello took it as well as Bernie did in '16.
The Tim Horton award is still being tallied as Hychalk and Hudson are in the running.
2018 will be a huge year, as we will have a Champion who has an opportunity to be the first ever to win back to back Winter Classics, BUT we will also have a loaded field with another year of experience under their belt.
The biggest question will be, WILL 2018 FINALLY BE CHELS YEAR??
2017 KKC : #Emiled Up
July 29th 2017 - To date this would be our largest KKMC, 7 Tea......scratch that, 6 teams, thanks to Emil and his shitty planning. 6 teams is still the most teams we have had in the 3 years of this tournament. After the clusterfuck of sorting out the mess dropped on us by Emil, the draft order spin and team selection were held. JP and Tom H would end up with the first pick and they would select the Pittsburgh Penguins. The last pick would fall on Chele and Bob and they would stupidly select the Winnipeg Jets.
As pre lim play kicked off, the favorites of Cline and Hychalk started out slow but would charge to a 5-0 Pre Lim Round. JP/Tom H and Chele /Bobby and Dave/Bern would battle it out over the second seed with equal 3 and 2 records through the pre lims. Through pre lims it was apparent that Rick and Little along with Bello and Keeley would be in for a long day, with 1 pre lim win between the 2 teams.
When tournament play kicked off, Rick/Little and Keeley/Bello would be the first 2 teams eliminated. An OT win in the 2nd round for Chele/Bob over JP/Tom H would send the February runner up, down to the losers bracket with his rookie teammate. The favorites would easily dismantle the Sultans of Swing though, dispatching them to the losers bracket and securing a spot in the finals. The first for Hychalk and 3rd in a row for Cline.
This would leave the losers bracket to battle it out. Dave/Bern would eliminate JP/Tom H from the tournament with a 1 goal win. This is a familiar place for JP, being eliminated by Dave. Then the game of the tournament would be held as Bobby/Chele would face Dave/Bern. In an epic TRIPLE OVERTIME game, Dave and Bern would pull it out to clinch the losers bracket spot in the final.
This final would have been blowout if not for the runner ups stealing game 2 in Overtime. In the end the Iceholes proved to be to much outscoring their opponents in the 3 championship games 18-6, and 2 games to 1.
This win will cement the Pucking Iceholes as one of the all time BEST teams to ever play in this tournament. Going 8-1 , with their only loss coming in OT, cemented their legacy. This would be Hychalks first KKMC Championship, giving him 2 overall titles. Cline, who has won 3 consecutive KKMC titles, has proven that he is in fact the best player in the game today with 4 of the last 5 Championships in his trophy case. Will there ever be another player to win 3 consecutive titles? Not to mention with 3 different partners.
In 2018, the most coveted spot will be whoever gets paired with this titan. Will it be 4 in a row in 2018?
The Pucking Iceholes, 2017 KKC Champs
2018 Winter Classic: Back to Back
February 17th 2018 - On a day that started out sunny and clear and ended burried in 5 inches of snow, we crowned our first ever back to back Champion. 22 teams is the most we have ever had in the tournament. This field of players could be considered the most talented we have ever had. In the end the old bastard Dave Thornborough pulled it out in a couple of close games against Mike Cline in the Championship. Fuck it , im to pissed to write this.
Dave with his 3rd Winter Classic Title
Bern and Mike with their winnings from their second KKC title together
2018 Kisio Kup Challenge : We are all WITNESSES
July 20th, 2018 - In a day where new things were tried and experimented with, it was a couple of old hands that came out victorious. The field was filled with weaker NHL teams as the scrip was flipped to see how we could all compete with less then stellar teams. The pre lims had few surprises this day as Renzo and Thornborough went winless through the 4 games and Bernie and Cline went undefeated at 4-0. The rest of the field finished at the mediocre mark of 2-2. As the tournament opened Renzo and Dave were quickly sent to the losers bracket by Chris and Ed then hastily eliminated from the losers bracket by Tom and Rick, their day was over before it ever even began! JP and Bob grabbed momentum as they beat Tom and Rick then knocked Cline and Bernie to the losers bracket, locking up their spot in the finals. Bern and Cline, once in the losers bracket, eliminate Ed and Chris in overtime 4-3, locking up a spot in the finals for the second time as a team and Clines 4th time in a row. This would set up one of the best finals we have seen in either tournaments over the last 5 years. JP and Bob would steal game one in OT 5-4, putting their winning streak vs Cline and Bern at 2-0 in this years tournament, but Cline and Bernie were not done. They obliterated their opponents in game 2, 11-4. It was as if they had never played together, EVER. The title would come down to one game. JP and Bob were on the precipice of their first Titles, but Cline put this biscuit in the basket in OVERTIME to take the title with a 5-4 win and winning the series 2 games to 1. Bernie and Cline become the first team to ever repeat and Cline becomes the first ever player to win 4 titles- IN A ROW.
JP with his first ever Winter Classic Title win over Dave
:03 Seconds left to win the title!
2019 Winter Classic: The Blast that shook the world
February 16th 2019 - On a day where the title reign of a titan comes to an end, a new day has dawned. It was a chilly day that had 17 players come out, Rick dropped the morning of due to the flu. Marino figured out how to solve that problem then we moved on to the wheel spin. Carbomb would end up with the first pick, THE FIRST PICK, and he took.....LA! WITH THE FIRST PICK! This would have ramifications on down the line. The suprise of the tournament, Bob Bond would end up with the supreme team of Buffalo, Keeley would take Montreal for the 2nd time in 3 years. Toronto would fall all the way to 10, and Dave. Newcomer Dan would end up lucking out as somehow a two time champion team would fall to him at 14, Dallas. As the pre lims kicked off the 4 newcomers held their own until Joe Scott and Dan Becker separated themselves from John Patenaude and John Blaze. Cline would rule the Pre Lims, going 6-0 in the Prelims, becoming only the 4th player to ever go undefeated in Pre Lims (Clines (2x) Hychalk (1x) JP(1x)) Entering the Tournament portion of the day, the only real surprise was Hychalk and his 11 seed, failing again to prove he still belongs with the Executives of the tournament. Through the day we were entertained by Doody , who hands down swept voting for the Tim Horton after literally falling asleep in game. A close runner up was Kagan with his 1 hour of sleep the night before, his endurance was impressive until his game collapsed in the Tournament with a 21 goal loss, you read that right. Ed put the nugget on Kagan with a TWENTY ONE GOAL WIN. Ed has no heart. So the hockey gods spat on Ed and he failed to prove that he belongs at the adult table. For the third straight year Ed finished 6. He has yet to win a Winter Classic title. As the Tournament wound down, Keeley knocked Cline to the losers bracket in a 1 goal battle , redeeming his 5-0 shut out in the Pre Lims. Dave joined Cline in the losers bracket early as JP bounced his ass. Joe Scott, Keeley and Marino all fell and would win some games before eventually being eliminated, Marino was bounced in a 15-0 loss to Cline.
Doody and Kagan would battle in the panty game with Kagan winning 1-0. This was a battle of consciousness, not hockey, it was spectatcular and wretched at the same time. Doody ended up in the panties. As we closed in on the final, Bobby Bond waged an epic comeback over Ed. Ed collapsed like a deck of cards after surrendering a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period. Bob would also eliminate newcomer Dan. Dan finished 4th, a terrific accomplishment for a player who drafted 14th. Bob would not win another game however and he would finish 3rd. In the Championship it was a rematch of the title games from 2017. Dave vs JP. Jp had knocked everyone out of the winners bracket with ease. Dave had battled through the losers bracket, racking up goals (84 goals) and wins on his way to his 3rd consecutive Finals. JP would take game 1, Dave game 2. The final 3rd game was tied up until the final :03 seconds of the game when JP and Mark Messier became one and he fired a shot from the top of the cirlce to win the game, the Finals and JP's first EVER title in the HAI. It was a momentous effort and one of the greatest Finals in tournament history. JP unseats Dave, takes the trophy off the shelf in the garage where it sat for two years and takes it home to his bed. Can JP defend his title in #2020?
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2019 Kelly Kisio Challenge : Florida Sucks Ass
August 10th 2019 - The 5th annual KKC kicked off on a beautiful Saturday. The field was the largest ever with 8 teams. The favorites heading into the day were the team of Pettit and Cline who were playing in their third tournament together and looking for their 2nd consecutive title together. The rest of the field would have something to say about that. The pre lims were filled with one goal games. Teams like JP and Doody, Kagan and Dave fought to keep themselves in the action. No team scored more then 19 goals through the 7 game pre lim schedule. The team of Carbomb and Bibby finished pre lims 3-4 and looking like they would have an earlier exit then they wanted. Dan and Rob could not find any consistency as they would finish 1-6 and enter the tournament as the 8 seed. As the tournament started all 4 of the higher seeds would lose their first game and enter the losers bracket, Dan and Rob would light the lamp with ease vs the defending Champs. Kagan and Dave would be booted to the losers bracket by Tom H and Johnny Cage, who surprisingly found some mojo, just a little to late. Finally Carbomb and Bibby would defeat JP and Doody to complete the first round of the tournament. As eliminations started, tension grew. Blaze and Chris defeated Cage and Tom, Bob and Carbomb defeated Dan and Rob to set up the final in the winners bracket. In the losers bracket, Cline and Bernie would eliminate JP and Doody, the first team eliminated. Then they would finish off Cage and Tom H in a tight game. Ed and Patty would be making a similair run in the losers bracket. Eliminating Dave and Kagan and Dan and Rob. They would follow it up with eliminating the defending Champions in Bernie and Cline. This is the first time Cline had ever been eliminated in a KKC. With Blaze and Hychalk losing to Bibby and Carbomb in the Winners bracket finals, the losers bracket finals was set with Hychalk and Blaze Eliminating Ed and Patty.
For the first time ever the HAI KKC Championship would be played outside on the projector. In what was one of the most boring finals in HAI history, the Florida Panthers and their ICING TACTICS won the tournament with a decisive 4-0 win in game 1 and a 3-2 win in game 2. John Blaze playing in his first KKC won his first HAI Championship. Hychalk won his second KKC. Congratulations to Hychalk and Blaze and getting to spend the next year with "the Emils"
the 5th KKC Championship
Hychalk and Blaze win the 2019 KKC!
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2020 Winter Classic: Chopping Dicks
February 15th 2020 - On a cold morning the 7th Winter Classic would commence. In a field of 17 players, all were returning players, it is the first year that we did not have any newbies. The competition, the trash talk and the drinking would all be taken to another level. The pre lims started off as they usually do, the more experienced players racking up wins. After the first two games though that fell apart. Tom Hodo would win one of his biggest games of his HAI career as he would defeat Dave 2-1 in game two of the prelims. This would lead to Dave losing 3 in a row. Kagan would also achieve notoriety defeating the former champ 1-0. Then Dave would face his nemesis Chris Hychalk, and Chris smacked him down 2-1. It was a shocking turn of events. The whole room goes silent when Dave loses, its a sight to see. The best team in the pre lims was Dan and his NJ Devils, he went undefeated in the pre lims, 6-0, a great accomplishment in any tournament, however , as Dan would learn, this does not make you a champion. Patty, Doody, Rob, Rol and Kagan would win a few games through pre lims, but none really with any impact. They would all enter the tournament phase as low seeds. Our defending Champion did not have the showing he wanted early on finishing the pre lims 3-3 and only scoring 17 goals. Mike Cline and Ed Juarez would have their standard pre lims, both finishing at 4-2. Mike having defeats vs his two toughest opponents in Dan and Dave. Ed would lose to JP and also Dan. Blaze and Bernie played their role, taking down unsuspecting opponents and entering the tournament in the middle seed area. Bernie actually had his best pre lims ever at 4-2. Blaze, who played a really hard schedule battled but lost a few 1 goal games against his toughest opponents. The biggest dud of the day was Bobby Bond, he got the first pick in the draft (for the second time in three years, and a top 3 pick for the 3rd year in a row.) He chose Buffalo and then proceeded to shit the bed in such a way that it was so epic and will be talked about forever. After finishing 3rd the year before, Bobby lived up to his 50-1 odds.
As we entered the Tournament play, it was a three man race for the Tim Horton, Rob, Mark and Joe all seemed to be trying to achieve greatness through their booze. Only Joe would come out with the award though as his ability to still be standing later that night was an achievement on its own. Chris would place the nugget on Doody after beating him 13-0. Eliminations would begin as Doody and Rob would play in the panty game and Doody would pull a win out of his ass 5-2, staving off back to back years in the bra and panties. Rob wore them gracefully as we all took pictures. Tom Keeley would take his 2nd pick Buffalo Sabres on an terrific run even knocking former great Dave to the losers bracket with a 7-5 win. He would then be bounced to the Losers bracket by Cline after Cline emasculated Hychalk 12-2 in a game where vancouvers offense finally showed up after scoring 12 goals total in 6 pre lim games. Dan and Ed would play an epic game in the winners bracket where Ed pulled it out 9-8 and vanquishing Dan to the losers bracket. Ed and Cline were due to face off in the Winners Bracket Final for a spot in the championship. Ed would lose this game 7-4, Cline earning his 3rd trip to the WC Finals. The losers bracket would then become the focus,Patty,Rol, Hodo, Joe and Doody would all be bounced in the same round. Bob, Kagan and Bernies runs would end shortly there after. Once JP disposed of Blaze 6-3, we were down to some fierce competition. Dave and Chris were due to face off. Chris is now known as the "Dave Killer". Beating Dave 5-1 and eliminating him from the tournament for the 3rd time in his HAIWC career. However , waiting for Chris was Dan, who would kick Chris to the curb 4-2. Keeley and JP were next. Keeley played one of his best games of his career and bested the defending Champion 7-2. Eliminating JP from the winter classic. As TAPS played we all paid our respects to the former Champion. Keeley would then face Dan. With Ed in his sights, Keeley would not be denied. He would squeak out a win 6-5, putting himself up against his lover and mortal enemy Ed. Dan would finish 4th for the second year in a row. In a game that should have been one for the ages, it flopped. Ed would route his butt buddy 7-3, giving Tommy 3rd place, just behind Ed, as he likes it. Ed would clinch his first EVER WC final. In what would be touted as the battle of Highland Ave (being they are neighbors) Ed would quickly grab the first goal as the Jets would go up 1-0 :15 seconds into game one. However that would be the last moment of joy for Ed. He would lose game one in the most lopsided game in HAI Winter Classic history, 12-2. He would have to recover fast to try and take back to back games against Cline. It was not meant to be as he would play catch up all game long in game two before losing 13-8. Ed would finish second. Cline wins his 2nd Winter Classic Title. Scoring 25 goals in the two Championship games is a HAIWC finals record. After scoring only 12 all pre lims, no one saw this coming. Cline destroyed his competition on the day only losing twice. and only giving up more than 4 goals in a game 2x. Will 2021 be back to back for Cline or will someone new step up and take the title?
Cline Wins his second Winter Classic title
Ed, just happy to have played in the Championship
2020 Kelly Kisio Challenge : NO TOUCHING!
July 18th 2020 - the 6th annual Kelly Kisio Challenge was held on a day where outside temperatures reached 97 degrees. The field was filled with evenly paired teams. Bond and Dave were the favorites heading into the day. Getting the second pick only made that road easier as they finished the Pre Lims as the #1 seed with a 4-1 record. JP and Kagan seemed to have the hardest day as they could not get their game going in either the Pre Lims or Tournament. They were the first team eliminated. Doody and Chris put together a heroic day. Even after fumbling the first pick! After an average Pre Lim round (2W 3L) they went on a run in the tournament, knocking the team of Bob and Dave to the losers bracket but eventually losing to Wallace and Cline in the winners bracket final 5 to 4 in overtime. An amazing effort for the WC Champion and rookie Jay Wallace. Hychalk and Doody had a 1 goal lead with :35 seconds left in the game when Eric Lindros went on to score two goals in :33 seconds to give Wallace and Cline the victory and a spot in the Championship. Chris and Doodys day would then end as they would be eliminated by Chris' arch rival, Dave. Bern and Blaze were one of the favorites early, but as the former champions kept losing, they realized this was not their year. Ed and Patty also had a surprising day as Patty showed he had the fortitude to tolerate his partners selfishness and help them extend their day as long as possible, for Ed, that means until he plays Cline or Thornborough.
The Championship was held indoors this year due to the heat. The Flyers in their first ever final in HAI history, took game one with a 6-2 win and a dominant showing by Wallace and Cline. Game two was an OT thriller. After Dave had a meltdown over JP touching him, Cline scored the goal to tie the game with under 1 minute remaining in the game. However, Dave was saved another meltdown as Bob scored the winning goal to tie the series at 1 game a piece. Game 3 would be a let down as Bob and Dave(now sober) would easily shut out the now malfunctioning team of Wallace and Cline. a 5-0 pasting would give Bobby his first title ever and Dave his first KKC title. Great run by the favorites.
Dave and Bobby win their first ever KKC Titles
2021 Winter Classic: Even Steven
February 20, 2021 - Not a pandemic or freezing cold temps could keep the tournament from happening in 2021. 18 experienced 95ers showed up to stake claim to the most prestigious title in the NHL95 East Coast Community.
New players this year, Mike Hall, who returned to the tournament after being absent since 2018 joined by Jay Wallace, a runner up to the KKC this past August. The day kicked off with the draft and team selections. Lots of strange picks in the top 8 this year, leaving lots of opportunities with some top teams leaking into the double pick area of the draft.
The Pre Lims kicked off with a bang as Patty got his biggest win of the tournament with a 3-0 shutout of Bernie. Bernie would respond with a fantastic game vs Ed, though he would still fall short in OT as predicted by Kagan. Dan would navigate through a .500 pre lims as he just could not find consistency in his game. Carmody and Doody played up to their panty wearing history. It seemed like destiny that one of them would be the first to repeat as panty wearer. Mike Hall had his ups and downs as he tried the admirable, taking the Kings (a la Kelly Hrudy) through this tournament. Blaze, Tom H, Tom K, Cline, Dave, Bobby and Chris all hung in the 4-2 area with pre lims coming to a close. The top seeds of JP at 5-1 and Ed at 6-0 were on fire. Ed is just the 4th player ever in HAI WC history to go through the pre lims undefeated ( Chris '15, Mike '16, JP '19) However, of those 4, Ed is the only one NOT to win the Championship in that same year.
We moved on to the tournament with the usual suspects moving on through the first two rounds. Keeley however, would drop to the losers bracket earlier then many would have predicted. He would however hang around for awhile. Dave never seemed to get going as he zipped through the first two rounds but was defeated by JP and sent to the losers bracket. Dan would bounce Bobby, who after a solid week of convincing himself he was ready, surely wasnt ready! Dan then also fell to JP, 7-5. Dans day ended not to long after. Ending a disappointing day for someone considered a contender. Chris knocked out some wins vs Patty and Bernie, but then ran into a hot Ed. Cline would defeat hall and place the Nugget on Hodo 12 -1 en rout to JP. In a back and forth game with some amazing goals Cline would pull it out 7-6. Setting up a rematch of last years Championship in the Winner Bracket Final of Cline V Ed. It was a dogfight, one that Cline literally BEGGED Ed to beat him. In the end Ed would submit, 5-4 in OT. Sending Cline to his second consecutive Winter Classic Final, with a chance to win back to back titles for the first time since Dave in '17 and '18.
The losers bracket would be littered with ex champions and hopefuls. Bob would finish 12th, losing an OT heartbreaker to Dave 6-5, in what could have been Bobbys biggest win ever. Instead Dave moved on to face and defeat Bernie, before having his own day ended soundly by JP. Keeley ripped through the losers bracket eliminating 4 players (Patty, Tom H, Blaze and Hychalk). Keeley was a game away from a shot at redeeming himself in "The Rub" game the year before, but it was not meant to be as JP would thump him 11-2. Setting up JP vs Ed for a spot in the championship. It wasnt close. JP smacked Ed 11-6, simple destruction. JP wins the losers bracket and moves on to play the defending Champion. In game one JP would bloody Cline 11-3, but due to the premature playing of taps, the sabres and Cline responded in game 2 9-5. Setting up an epic game 3 for it all. Cline took his title defense to the third period of game 3 up one goal. The Bruins and Ray Bourque would score 3 3rd period goals to win the game and the CHAMPIONSHIP. Jp and the Bruins are the Champions! JP wins his second WC title!. Carmody would finally etch his name on a some hardware also, as he won the Horton Award, all while sporting those hot pink panties.
Cline wondering why he is the road team in the Championship round when he won the winners bracket
2021 Kelly Kisio Challenge : GREATNESS
July 24th 2021 - The 7th Challenge was held on a day where the temperatures topped out at 85, much cooler then years past. It was a field of five teams. The teams were filled with returning vets, outside of Justin Ham who made his first appearance at a HAI event. Justin held his own, proving he will be some competition when we get to february. The day started with the team of former Champions Blaze and Hychalk getting the number one pick, taking the San Jose Sharks - the team that was used to win the championship in 2020, and lost in the finals in 2019. With pick number two, the reunited team of Jay and Mike, who had lost the year before in the finals, drafted the same team as the year prior, the Philadelphia Flyers. Unsurprisingly , the team of Bob and Ed reached and took the Tampa Bay Lightning with the 4th pick. As the pre lims started it was obvious the team of TK and Bern just couldnt get any consistent play going, they would finish 1-3 in prelims. JP and Justin would secure the last seed in the tournament with a 1-3 record. Blaze and Hychalk would put up a fight in each game, finishing 2-2 in the pre lims. At the end of this portion of the day, it was two teams, Jay and Cline and Bob and Ed with 3-1 records, however Jay and Cline would secure the number 1 seed according to goals scored. As the tournament started the defending WC champion, JP and his inexperienced partner, Justin would be shown the door early by Hychalk and Blaze. Blaze and Hychalk would go on to eliminate TK and Bern also, as their disappointing day would come to an end. In the finals of the winners bracket Jay and Cline would bounce Bobby and Ed 6-3 in a game that wasnt even that close. In the losers bracket final it would be Ed and Bobby vs Hychalk and Blaze, this was a rout. 9-4 win for Tampa Bay. Blaze and Hychalks dump and chase style took a giant dump on their chests this year. Ed and Bobby secure their spot in the finals. Eds third appearance, Bobbys 4th. Bobby would be going for a repeat as he was 1/2 of the champions in 2020. Their opponents had revenge in sight though. In game one it was a 6-4 win for the Flyers, Jay and Mike. In game 2, Bobby and Ed would get Tampa their first ever finals win in a HAI event. It would not be enough. Game 3 the Philadelphia Flyers would choke up a 3-0 lead and a 4-1 lead. with :10 seconds to go Big E carried the puck in the zone and ripped a shot that would hit the back of the net and secure the lead and the win with :03 left in the third period. An epic win for a team on a path for redemption. Jay wins his 1st KKC title in his second appearance in the finals in back to back years. Mike wins his 5th title in his sixth appearance, its safe to say he is the pinnacle of greatness in the KKC tournament and perhaps the HAI series. Jay and Mike will go down as one of the top duos ever in KKC play.
Jay and Mike win the KKC with :03 left
2022 Winter Classic: Glitched
February 19th 2022 - 19 players showed up on this saturday in February to fight for their chance at the Los. Rick Carr retuned to HAI play after a few tournaments off. New comers Rob Lloyd and Joe Trunzo arrived and made some noise. The rest of the field was filled with experienced players. The wheel spin and team selection kicked off the day with Cline getting the first pick and taking the New York Rangers. Keeley and Bond kept their tradition alive of getting top five picks as Tom had #2 and Bond had #4. Jp ended the draft with the last pic and the returning champion was able to select the team he played with the previous year in the Boston Bruins, a bad sign for most. As the pre lims kicked off Tom Hodo gave Bobby Bond and his 4th pick their first loss, newcomer Joe won his inaugural matchup vs Bernie, and Ed stole a win of the other newbie Rob lloyd. As the pre lims would progressed Carmody and Patty would find no liuck, both finishing pre lims with 0-6 records heading towards what could be a panty matchup vs each other. Jay, Rol, Joe and Ed would finish pre lims at .500. Kagan would steal a win vs Carmody to finish 1-5. Even though Rob L finished pre lims at 2-4, everyone was aware that this guy could def play. Dave Thornborough would complete his first ever undefeated pre lims (joining Chris '15 , Mike '16, JP '19 , Ed '21) however he and Ed are the only two to complete the task and NOT win the championship that same tournament. Cline and Domanico would both finish 5-1, as would the surprising Johnny Blaze. With Dave as the number 1 seed and JP as the number 2 seed , it was almost like we were being told what was coming. As the tournament portion kicked off, it was decided due to a no show, there would be no panty game this year sadly. So we moved on. Shockingly JP would lose his first tournament game to Bernie. This would force the defending champ to the losers bracket, presenting a daunting task for the champ to repeat. Rick, Carmody and Kagan were out of the tournament in 2 games. Followed by Patty, Rol and Tom Hodo. These 6 players can not seem to ever get any steam going to make an impact. Joe T would be eliminated next as his day would come to an end at the hands of the defending champ in a hard fought one goal battle. Keeley would get a win in the losers bracket and then be eliminated by Blazer. Rob L would eliminate Bern. Ed who would lose to Cline then head to the losers bracket to eliminate Jay, Rob L and Dan ALL in one goal games. Becker had another let down of a year. He had a 2 goal lead on Ed late in an elimination game and Ed pulled it out, sending Dan home with his head down and his controller in his hand. Dave would beat Kagan, Bobby and Dan on his way to facing Cline in the winners bracket final. Cline had escaped Rob L with a one goal game, beat Ed by 2 goals and crushed Chris by 6 goals. Dave however would get a goal with :32 seconds left in the game to knock cline down to the losers bracket final. JP in the meantime was putting notches in his belt, Blaze, Chris and an OT victory over Ed would put JP in the losers bracket final vs his opponent in the WC final in 2021. Cline would fall behind by 4 goals , but storm back to tie the game in the 3rd period with 1:03 remaining in the game. However in OT, JP would net the winner and secure his place in the final vs Dave Thornborough. JP heading for his 3rd title and back to back, Dave looking for his first singles title since 2018. The finals had some glitchiness, but all in all it was a hard fought series where JP would eliminate his rival, securing his 2 straight title and 3rd over all, tying him with Dave for the most SINGLES titles in HAI history. Tom Keeley would take home the Horton which will probably be the only hardware he ever wins. 2023 is around the corner, can JP become the pinnacle of Winter Classic success or will someone else steal the glory?!?!
2022 Kelly Kisio Challenge : LEGEND
2023 Winter Classic : Weight of the Room
