The Behlers would just like to say thank you for the meals that were sent home from Simply Suppers. They not only were convenient but delicious too. The kids enjoyed the Parmesan Encrusted Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes. All the entrees were very tasty and we would recommend them.

Brock was also very appreciative of the Dick’s Gift Card. When he got out of the hospital, his first road trip was to Dick’s to scope things out. He purchased targets for his hockey net and a back of the door basketball hoop courtesy of the Jacks!

Also, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. It was a difficult time for our family. Just knowing people are there for you make a difference.

Brock is on the road to recovery. He’s been out of the hospital for almost 2 weeks. We find out soon when he will have the appendectomy. Hopefully, he will get to go back to school this week after a check up.

Again, your generosity and thoughtfulness are appreciated!!

Regards,

John, Renee’, Erich, Brock & Jake

Cleveland OH AAA Hockey-Saturday November 21st – For Immediate Release

The Cleveland 99 Jr Lumberjacks split a pair of games with Empire West rival West Seneca Wings Saturday at Gilmour Academy near Cleveland.   The 99 Jr Jacks had hoped to get back on the winning tracks after two consecutive losses but the Wings had other plans this day, at least in the first game.

In Game One, the 99 Jr Jacks launched 33 shots at the Wings creating numerous scoring opportunites throughout the contest and the Jacks defense limited West Seneca to only 14 shots.  Still, it was tight battle with a 1-1 score after two periods.  The Wings scored early in the third period to take a 2-1 lead but the 99 Jr Jacks bounced right back to tie the score at 2-2 midway thru the final frame.  Unfortunately, the Wings tallied again late to make it 3-2 and managed to hold off the 99 Jr Jacks the rest of way despite some last minute pressure with an extra attacker.  West Seneca, to their credit, received a great goaltending performance enroute to their first ever victory against the 99 Jr Jacks.

Game Two went off as expected as the 99 Jr Jacks shook off their earlier defeat and took it to West Seneca from the opening faceoff.  Both teams traded early goals but the 99 Jr Jacks took over with a dominating last half of the first period and staked themselves to a 5-2 lead after one period.  They didn’t stop in the second period either as they scored four more goals off of some beautiful passing plays just like the first period to hold a commanding 9-2 lead after two periods.  The third period was pretty much academic as the teams traded goals to make the final score 10-3 in favor of the 99 Jr Jacks.

“I’ve got to give West Seneca credit in that first game.  We had our chances but their goalie played great and pretty much stole that game, ” commented Coach Bill Menges.  ”Unfortunately, we couldn’t do the same and those two third period goals were the difference.  If you let a team like that hang around, bad things can happen which is why I was glad to see us jump on them right off the bat in the second game.  You could see the boys get their confidence back in themselves and each other.  Game two was definitely a better overall team performance and I like that heading into the Boston tourney.”

The 99 Jr Jacks hope to carry the monentum of Game Two’s performance as they head to Boston this week for the Valley Jr Warriors Thanksgiving Tournament.  The boys are excited as they will square off against the Assabet Valley Patriots, Seacoast Spartans, New Hampshire Avalanche and the Connecticut Clippers in preliminary round play and will hopefully get a shot at the Valley Jr Warriors and the York-Simcoe Express in the playoff rounds.

Let’s Go Jacks!

Cleveland OH AAA 99 Hockey

Cleveland, OH – Sunday November 15th – For Immediate Release

In a game that can be best described as bizarre, the Cleveland 99 Jr Lumberjacks dropped a 4-1 decision to the Chicago Fury on Sunday at Iceland Arena.  The 99 Jr Jacks came out of the gate early and cashed in on a 5 on 3 advantage to take a 1-0 lead as they controlled the first half of the period.  The Fury, with strong physical play and agressivenes, grabbed the momentum and the lead with two goals late in the 1st period to take a 2-1 lead.  Both teams traded chances in the 2nd but the 99 Jr Jacks could not get the equalizer.  The Fury opened up a two goal lead late in the 2nd period with a shorthanded breakaway to make it 3-1 after two periods.

Heading to the third period, the game was still not out of reach and the 99 Jr Jacks had several good scoring opportunities including two posts but just could not find the back of the net.  Both teams battled back and forth and the Fury eventually put the game away with a redirect goal off of a three on two break.

“It was just a strange game, ” commented Coach Bill Menges.  “We didn’t play all that bad but we just missed a few chances that really could have turned the momentum.  This game reminded me of the Rochester game earlier this season where we just couldn’t catch a break.  But you’ll have a few of these games over the course of a long season so we’ll regroup and get back after it this week.”

The 99 Jr Jacks will look to rebound this weekend with two Empire West league games Saturday against the West Seneca Wings followed by a trip to Boston for the Valley Jr Warriors Thanksgiving Tournament.

Chicago, IL – Sunday November 8th – For Immediate Release

The Cleveland 99 Jr Lumberjacks fell short of their goal to win the 99 AAA Division at this year’s Nike Bauer Invitational in Chicago, IL but they put on a great display of hockey in posting four big wins before being eliminated in the quarterfinal round by cross city rivals the Cleveland Barons.

In Game One of the tournament, the 99 Jr Jacks faced off against the Washington Little Caps who were ranked just five notches below the Jacks at 30th.  The boys took a 2-0 lead after one period and then broke the game wide open with a five goal second period to take a commanding 7-2 lead heading to the third period.  The Caps, to their credit, never quit and scored two third period goals to the Jacks one to make the final score 8-4 in getting the Jacks off to a good start in the tournament.

Game Two on Friday evening saw the 99 Jr Jacks outshoot the Dallas Alliance Bulldogs by a whopping 40 to 6 margin enroute to a dominating 4-1 victory to improve their round robin record to 2-0.  Had it not been for the great goaltending of the Dallas netminder, the score could have easily been in double digits.

In Game Three, the last of the round robin tilts, the 99 Jr Jacks completely manhandled the overmatched Windsor Jr Spitfires as the game was never in doubt.  The boys played Jacks hockey from start to finish and clinched first place in their tournament division winning 8-2 and outscoring their opponents by a total of 20-7 in preliminary round play.

In Game Four, the Sweet 16 playoff round, the 99 Jr Jacks drew the Los Angeles Jr Kings (ranked 2nd overall in 99 USA Tier 2) and this game did not disappoint as it produced non-stop action and great hustle and determination from both teams.  The 99 Jr Jacks once again started out strong and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after one period.  The Jr Kings, however, caught some momentum in the 2nd period and cut the score in half with a power play marker to make it 2-1 heading to the third.  With the next goal being so critical, the 99 Jr Jacks would not be denied and turned a great pad save on the defensive end into an odd man rush the other way and converted rebound to up the score to 3-1.  The game continued back and forth but the 99 Jr Jacks held on for the 3-1 victory and a date in the quarterfinals with cross town rival Cleveland Barons.

In this the second meeting of the season between the two clubs (the 99 Jr Jacks defeated the Barons by a score of 5-2 a few weeks earlier at the Reebok Little Caesars Invitational in Detroit) both teams were highly motivated to win and move on to the semifinals.  This was a hard fought affair as each team took turns carrying the play and momentum.  After a scoreless first period, the Barons struck first on a partial breakaway to make it 1-0 but the 99 Jr Jacks came back a few minutes later off a shot from the left face-off circle to tie the game at 1-1.  From there, it turned into a goaltenders duel as both teams traded good scoring chances but could not break the tie through regulation time.  A five minute 4 on 4 overtime ensued and then another 3 on 3 overtime period and still neither team could put the game away.  The 99 Jr Jacks failed to capitalize on two power play opportunities and the Barons were stymied on two shorthanded breakaways as the game headed for a seven player sudden death shootout to decide this contest.  Unbelievably, the shootout was tied at 2-2 after the initial five shooters took their turns and two extra shooters each were needed.  In the end, the Barons capitalized on one of their two extra attempts to end this monumental game with a 2-1 victory to eliminate the 99 Jr Jacks.

“What a game,” commented 99 Jr Jacks Coach Bill Menges.  “I thought we controlled a lot of the play but we couldn’t cash in on our power play opportunities and when you get to the shootout, anything can happen like hitting a post and a crossbar.  But that’s hockey and we’ll be fine.  We’ll practice our power play a bit and be ready when we get in this situation again.”

“That was a tough loss, no doubt about it”, added Coach Rob Krueger.  “But I know these boys are smart enough to learn from this experience and turn it into a positive down the road.”

This quarterfinal loss did not do a whole lot of damage overall as the Jacks played very well in just their first Nike Bauer Invitational and fully expect to be placed in the Elite Division at next year’s tournament.  The just-released My Hockey Rankings have the 99 Jr Jacks slipping only one notch to 26^th. The same can not be said for the Barons, however, who dropped all the way to 47^th as they failed to capitalize on their good fortune by dropping their semifinal game to the Chicago Young Americans 4-0.

Looking ahead, the 99 Jr Jacks are excited about their upcoming trip to Boston to play in the Valley Jr Warriors Annual Thanksgiving tournament where they’ll play a host of different teams and will hopefully get a shot at the Jr Warriors Elite and York-Simcoe Express.  The Jacks management has also been flooded with game requests from teams from Detroit, Chicago, Ontario and Philadelphia so the rest of the season should indeed be an adventure as the 99 Jr Jacks gain more and more notoriety.

Let’s Go Jacks!

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Cleveland 99 AAA Hockey

Pittsburgh, PA – Sunday November 1st – For Immediate Release

The Cleveland 99 Junior Lumberjacks traveled to Pittsburgh on Sunday for a pair of matinee games against the Pittsburgh Aviators in the 99 Jr Jacks final tune-up before the Nike Bauer Invitational this coming week in Chicago.  These two teams previously met back in Cleveland on September 12th where the 99 Jr Jacks posted a 3-0 shutout win.

Game One saw the 99 Jr. Jacks take 2-0 lead after one period despite some early pressure from the Aviators.  The Aviators, to their credit, played a spirited game in what was probably their best effort of the season, despite only being a Tier 2 AA club.  They were highly motivated and fought back to tie the game at 2-2 and only a late second period goal kept the 99 Jr Jacks in the lead heading to the third period.  The third period went back and forth with both teams trading power play opportunities but neither team could capitalize and the final score remained 3-2.  The 99 Jr Jacks maintained their composure and work ethic in holding on for the victory despite being outshot 28-22 in this classic “trap game” scenario for the higher ranked Jacks.  Their excellent team defense and goaltending led the way.

Game Two saw the 99 Jr Jacks play a much stronger game as the Aviators clock struck midnight and they returned to their pumpkin status.  The boys outskated and outworked Pittsburgh bolting out to a 4-0 lead after one period as the game was never in doubt.  The teams traded second period goals and the 99 Jr Jacks notched a late third period goal enroute to a 6-1 victory.  In a sign of a good and confident team, the boys shrugged off that tough first game and got stronger and quicker as the afternoon wore on to post the two wins.

The team is excited as it heads out to the Windy City to make their first appearance in the Nike Bauer Invitational this weekend November 5th through 8th.  The boys will make final preparations with practices on Monday and Wednesday and hope to make a major impact.

Let’s Go Jacks