Ice Hogs Fall To Hawklets

Kansas City Team Defeats Northwest Arkansas 9-2, 5-1

Weston Easley, right, with the Northwest Arkansas Ice Hogs checks Connor Prochonow of Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday during day two of play at the Jones Center in Springdale. Easley scored the only goal of the game for the Ice Hogs. The Ice Hogs, coming off their first lost yesterday, lost again to Rockhurst, 5-1. The Ice Hogs are the Mid-America High School Hockey League defending champions and is comprised of players from around the state.
Weston Easley, right, with the Northwest Arkansas Ice Hogs checks Connor Prochonow of Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday during day two of play at the Jones Center in Springdale. Easley scored the only goal of the game for the Ice Hogs. The Ice Hogs, coming off their first lost yesterday, lost again to Rockhurst, 5-1. The Ice Hogs are the Mid-America High School Hockey League defending champions and is comprised of players from around the state.

— If you’re looking for competitive high school ice hockey in the state of Arkansas, there is only one place you can find it. 

The Jones Center in Springdale is home to the Northwest Arkansas Ice Hogs, a team made up of high school boys from all over Arkansas, and even one from Oklahoma.

“We have about eight different high schools represented on this team,” Ice Hogs coach Scott Lamers said.

This weekend the team hosted the Rockhurst Hawklets from Kansas City, Mo., for two games, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Heading into the weekend, both teams were fighting to stay undefeated in the Mid-America High School Hockey League. 

The Hawklets defeated the Ice Hogs in both games, winning 9-2 on Saturday and 5-1 on Sunday.

“We got off to a quick start and scored the first goal on Saturday,” Lamers said.  “Then we got some stupid penalties and lost our heads.”

Lamers said he was more impressed with the team’s effort on Sunday regardless of the loss.

“I thought we played pretty spirited in the second and third periods,” he said.  “But we got behind, and when you do that against Rockhurst, it’s hard to come back.”

It’s likely Rockhurst was looking for some revenge heading into the weekend after losing the championship to Northwest Arkansas last season.  The Ice Hogs finished last in the league, and in true Cinderella story fashion, came back to win it all in the season-ending tournament.

“We were the sixth seed going into the tournament and got hot at the right time and played the best hockey we had ever played,” Lamers said.  “We beat the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 in a row to win.  And of course the sweet victory of beating Rockhurst in the finals was great.”

The Mid-America League consists of seven teams from Kansas and Missouri with the Ice Hogs representing all of Arkansas.  

With Springdale being the only place high school boys can play competitively in the state, a few members of the team travel up to three hours to play. 

“We have three kids from Little Rock and one from Tulsa,” Lamers said. 

Adam Korenblat is a senior and has been playing for the Ice Hogs for four years. He travels from Little Rock every weekend, whether it’s to play in Springdale or travel with the team to a game hours away from Northwest Arkansas.

“I’ve played since I was three,” Korenblat said.  “I used to play for a Double-A team in Memphis, but this was closer.  There’s nothing like this anywhere else in Arkansas, so that’s why I travel here.”

Lamers said he is proud of his team and its accomplishments, especially with its limited time on the ice.  The team practices once a week, and the players who are not from Northwest Arkansas practice on their own. 

With the two losses this weekend, the Northwest Arkansas Ice Hogs (10-2-2) are in second place in the league standings with eight more games to play.

“This weekend kind of hurt, but we’re going to rebound,” Lamers said. 

Upcoming Events