The Northwest Chargers players, coaches, parents and board members would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the 8th class of the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. This year’s inductees were made up of 3 different categories: Builders, Players, and Officials. The “Builders” category included Bob Arturo, Karl Kaebel, Amy Lapoe, Don Levin, and Bob Turngren. The “Players” category included Tim Breslin, Bob Nardella, and Mike Rucinski. The “Officials” category included Scott Brand and Paul Ciancanelli.

This year the Northwest Chargers have the distinct honor of having 2 of the 3 inductees from the “Players” category associated with us either as players or coaches. Many of you may know Coach Rucinski, he currently is and has been the Chargers Midget Major CSDHL coach for several years. Mike has two sons playing for the Chargers at the Mite and Squirt levels, he has taken multiple Charger teams to the Tier 2 National Championships and for the 2009/10 season was named Coach of the Year by the Chargers. Mike played for a number of IHL teams from 1986 to 1990. He also played for the Chicago Blackhawks during their 1988/89 season. Some of you might recognize the name Bob Nardella as number 7 for the Chicago Wolves. Bob Nardella played 9 seasons with the Chicago Wolves along with a number of other teams during his playing career. But what you may not know is that Bob Nardella played as a Bantam for the Northwest Chargers for the 1982/83 season! Blake Sloan was an IHHF 2011 player inductee. Blake played for the University of Michigan from 1993 to 1996 just a few years after he played the 1989/1990 season with the Northwest Chargers as a Midget. While at U. of M. he won the NCAA championship in 1996. He was also awarded the “Humanitarian Award” after the 96/97 season. This award is given annually to the NCAA player judged as “college’s hockey’s finest person”. He started his NHL career in 1999 with the Dallas Stars where they won the Stanley Cup in 1999. Blake also played with the Calgary Flames and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Today, you can find Blake playing pro hockey in Europe where he has been playing since the 2005/06 season. He is currently playing with EHC Munchen in Germany.

The IHHF Induction Dinner will be held in honor of all 10 inductees on Sunday, January 27, 2013 at the Belvedere Banquet Hall located at 1170 West Devon Avenue in Elk Grove Village. The celebration will begin at 5:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased for $50.00 each. If you are interested in attending, please contact Ralph Pike rpike@nwchargers.org by Friday, November 23, 2012 to let him know how many tickets you would like to purchase. We would like to have all Charger family attendees sit together to show our solidarity and support for all three of the inductees in the “Players Category”. We hope to see you there.

P.S. When you see Coach Rucinski at the rink, please feel free to give a “way to go” salute!