GENEVA, ILLINOIS (Courtesy Chicago Steel)  — The Chicago Steel announced recently the hiring of Mark Abalan as Associate Head Coach, joining Head Coach Dan Muse and Assistant Coach Mike Garman behind the bench. Abalan joins the Steel from the prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault, Minn., where he served as head coach of the

A successful regular season turned into a nice, but shorter than hoped for East Coast Hockey League playoff run for the Toledo Walleye. For a second straight year, the ECHL Kelly Cup Championship series had not Midwest-based teams as the Walleye advanced furthest, but ultimately made its exit in the Western Conference finals against the

A great playoff run sadly resulted in another heartbreaking finish as the Peoria Rivermen reached the league championship series, but for a second straight season, watched another squad raise the President’s Cup for a second straight year. The Rivermen overcame a slow start and finished the season with a record of 32-13-11, tied for second

The Federal Hockey League’s Commissioner’s Cup as the Danville Dashers matched its regular season supremacy with a pair of playoff series victories in 2016-17. The Dashers dominated the regular season with a 39-9-4-4 record for 129 points (the Federal League uses the international style points system ie: three points for a regulation victory, two for

On one hand, parity is at a premium in the United States Hockey League to the extent that it was not unusual to see teams rise or fall two positions or more in a weekend through the second half of the 2016-17 season. But, on the other hand there was the Chicago Steel and Sioux

The Soo Eagles, lone American squad in the 13-team Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League certainly saved its best for the post season in 2016-17. The Eagles finished fourth in the NOJHL’s West Division, just clearing the .500 plateau at 27-26-2-1 for 57 points, just three behind third place Rayside-Balfour Canadians and four up on the