Another year, another season of great strides forward for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League. The league added new teams and a new title format to its Open Division. Once again, the PIHL held Championship Saturday on Ice at the Mellon Arena, and the league crowned Quaker Valley, Pine-Richland, Mount Lebanon and Carrick as champions.

The Pennsylvania State champions will get their just desserts tomorrow. MSA looks back on a successful campaign by honoring the leagues top players.

For the third year in a row, team MSA members were polled, and with the exception of a few hanging chads, the results have produced MSA’s All-Icers for 2005-200.

Here is a look at MSA’s top twelve icers from the 2005-2006 season:

FIRST TEAM:

JOSH FODOR – SR. FORWARD – PINE-RICHLAND

If a word ever fit a player, leader fits Josh Fodor to a T. The senior captain led Pine-Richland in the regular season with 65-points, which also topped Class AA. Fodor led the Rams in playoff scoring with 8-points. And most importantly, the talented forward helped PR to it’s first ever Penguin Cup Championship.

Just in case you think Fodor just gets it done at one end of the ice, think again. Rams Head Coach Jim Black praised Fodor saying, “He has been a leader since day one.” Fodor, who plays smart and physical at both ends of the ice, was a three-time all-star selection and was named PIHL AA Player of the Month for November.

TYLER MUROVICH – SO. FORWARD – MOUNT LEBANON

Two years, two selections for the Blue Devils talented sophomore forward. Last year, Murovich netted 75 points. This season, he led Mt. Lebanon to the Class AAA Penguin Cup Championship by posting a regular season best 70 points. His regular season performance was enough to move the sophomore onto MSA’s first team. Murovich’s point total included 25-goals and ranked first overall in the entire PIHL.

Murovich and his Mt. Lebanon ice mates will face Cardinal O’ Hara on Saturday April 8th for the Pennsylvania Cup AAA Championship.

MATT BARTKOWSKI – SR. DEFENSEMAN - MOUNT LEBANON

Lebo’s senior blue-liner with the cannonading slap shot joins fellow Blue Devil Murovich on the All-Icer first team. The solid defenseman has helped Coach Paul Taibi’s squad to Two Penguin Cup Championships, a state runner-up finish and a semi-final appearance over the last three seasons.

Bartkowski tallied 14-goals, 29-assists for 43 points during the regular season, which ranked first among AAA defenders, and 11th overall. Bartkowski tallied two goals and five points in Mt. Lebanon’s three playoff wins.

TIMMY O’BRIEN- SR. FORWARD – BETHEL PARK

If it seems the Blackhawks forward has been around forever, it’s only because he has been good forever. O’ Brien was a big part of why Bethel Park is the team that set’s the bar high in PIHL Class AAA Hockey.

The two-time all-star paced Bethel Park’s semifinalist season by scoring 30-gaols and adding 23-assists, good enough for fifth overall in Triple-A. Last season, O’Brien scored the lone goal in Bethel's 1-0 Penguin win, which marked the Hawks 4th championship in seven years.

BROCK HEINAUER – JR. FORWARD – THOMAS JEFFERSON

The Jaguars speedy captain capped off a great regular season by finishing third in scoring in Class AA with 61-ponts in just 20 games. Heinauer, who made the all-star team for the second consecutive season, netted 43-goals, tops in the PIHL.

He also helped TJ qualify for the PIHL playoffs, something the Jaguars have done every season in this decade.

AARON NOLTE – SR. FORWARD – SERRA CATHOLIC

The senior forward was a big reason that Serra Catholic was charged rent for this years title game, as Nolte helped Serra to a 7th consecutive berth in the Single-A Championship game. Even though Quaker Valley shut out Serra, Nolte notched a pair of goals and assists in the Eagles playoff run.

The two-time all-star led Class A in scoring, finishing with 64 points (37 goals – 27 assists). Even more impressive is the fact that Nolte and line-mates Michael Ellis and Steven Gruhalla finished 1-2-3 in PIHL Class A in scoring. The unit combined for 83 goals and 95 assists, while adding 13 more points as a trio in the post season.



SECOND TEAM:

RYNE SAVISKY – SR. FORWARD – WEST ALLEGHENY

Ryne-O led the way for West A for a second consecutive season. The team captain and a three-time all-star, Savisky topped the Indians in scoring with 62-points, finishing second to only Josh Fodor of Pine-Richland in Class AA.

DAVID CROCKETT - SR. FORWARD – UPPER ST. CLAIR

The Panthers king of the ice frontier led USC to the playoffs by tallying 33-goals and 22-assists in his fourth and final varsity season at Upper St. Clair.

ZACH ZINGER – JR. GOALTENDER - QUAKER VALLEY

For the second consecutive year, Z-2-G paced the entire PIHL with stellar numbers between the pipes. Zingers 21 regular season wins (24 overall) topped the league. Double Z also posted an outstanding save percentage (.938) and goals against average (1.30) to lead QV to its first ever Penguin Cup Championship and a spot in tomorrow’s State Title tilt.

SHANE FERGUSON – SR. FORWARD – MOUNT LEBANON

The Fergy Flyer makes it a hat trick for the Blue Devils as far as the All-Icers are concerned. Ferguson scored 21-goals and added 29-assists during the regular season. He also chipped in with 4 points (2G – 2A) in helping Mt. Lebanon capture the PIHL AAA Penguin Cup Championship.


WES WALDSCHMIDT – JR. FORWAD – NORTH ALLEGHENY

One of three Waldschmidt brothers to suit up for NA over the last several seasons, Wes paced the Tigers to the PIHL Class AAA Finals by scoring 24-gaols and adding 21-assists during the regular season. Wes (and younger brother Brady) will return next year for North Allegheny, which should make Papa W happy. Bill Waldschmidt is an assistant coach for NA.

NICK TROUP – JR. DEFENSEMAN – KITTANNING

The junior defenseman was an offensive force for the Wildcats, posting 14-goals and 22-points during the regular season. Troup added 3-goals and 2-assists as Kittanning finished as Class AA runner-up to Pine-Richland.