ANSWER: Rule 607(c) & (d) in the USA Hockey Playing Rules states, (c) A minor plus a misconduct or a major plus a game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to a player who body checks or charges a goalkeeper while the goalkeeper is within his goal crease or privileged area. READ MORE>>

By Ross Forman - Elizabeth Mack, a junior defenseman at Fenwick in her third year on the school's varsity team, is following a family path for the Friars. Her dad and both of her brothers went to Fenwick and all played hockey during their time at the Chicago Catholic Hockey League (CCHL) powerhouse.

"My dad has been the biggest influence on my hockey career," said Mack, 17, who lives on the northwest side of Chicago. "When I was 2, he was the one who got me into my first pair of skates and went to almost all of my early games. Then, the older I got, the more I knew how much he loved the game and that made me love it even more. It only mattered that we had fun on the ice and played the best game we could. It didn't matter how our team played; if we played the best we could, that's all that mattered. My dad has always known how to make me a better player." READ MORE>>

By Ross Forman - Grant L. Salanty was in his first big game - in goal for his mite gold Falcons team about 10 years ago, playing for the state championship against a team that had already defeated the Falcons three times that season. The opposing team featured Colby Saganiuk, who now skates for the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Simon Motew was the main defenseman for the Falcons, and he is now a forward for the Chicago Cougars of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).

During warm-ups, the opposing team's coach said, "Easy 4 goals on this goalie." But that didn't happen, not even close. Salanty led the Falcons to a 2-0 victory, which included a late empty-net insurance goal.

Salanty was on his way to goaltending glory. READ MORE>>

By Ross Forman - Connor Mackey - with No. 3 emblazed on the back of his road white Calgary Flames jersey - took to the ice Saturday, Feb. 13, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, marking his NHL debut, a dream-come-true for the son of a former NHL player.

Mackey, who skated for the Barrington High School JV Team as a freshman about 10 years earlier, was one of six defensemen that night for the Flames who ultimately lost 3-1, as Vancouver ended a six-game losing streak with two third-period goals. He was minus-1 for the night in the plus/minus column, but still thrilled with the moment, a magical experience that sent smiles throughout Illinois, particularly Chicago's northwest suburbs. Another one of our own has had made it to the pinnacle of hockey. READ MORE>>

By Ross Forman - The past five years have been a struggle, at best, for Danny Oganovich, a three-year varsity player for the co-op Cobras Hockey Team and a 2019 graduate of Bremen High School in Midlothian, where he lives. It all started when he drank a knock-off red Gatorade at school, he said. He had lower abdominal pain and doctors told him he had kidney issues. He was diagnosed with kidney disease early in his sophomore year after blood tests came back abnormal. 

By NCAA.com - The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the finalists for this year's Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men's NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. Nine goaltenders (including Downers Grove native Dryden McKay) from a "Watch List" of 35 were singled out by a panel of voters from across the hockey community. The winner of this year's Mike Richter Award will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four. READ MORE>>

By Greg Bates, Special to AHAI - It's inevitable that every hockey player who hits the ice is going to mess up at least once in his or her career. How a coach or parent reacts and finds a rational solution for the kid that "failing" on the ice is ok will go a long way in that player's development.

"Every human learns by failing," said Guy Gosselin, a USA Hockey ADM regional manager and Paralympic gold medal-winning head coach of the U.S. National Sled Team. "We all make mistakes and we learn from them. In human development and youth sports or any kind of sport, you're going to make mistakes out there and the way you react to your fails essentially is going to control your destiny. Our players need to understand that from a skills standpoint, you can always get better and from a mental standpoint you can always get better. You don't want to have too many peaks and too many valleys. You don't want to go in the tank when you fail; you want to understand what happened and, can you come to a solution for that?" READ MORE>>