by Scott Fredericks
The St. Jude Knights Hockey Club has enjoyed a wealth of success over the years, but the club has been without a state championship banner since 1994.
However, a group of 15 hard-nosed and talented players who refused to quit ended that drought on March 10.
The Knights, comprised of 9 to 10 year olds, captured the Tier II Squirt A state championship with a heart-pounding 1-0 triumph over Winnetka. 
The state title made up for a tough 5-0 loss to Barrington in the Northern Illinois Hockey League Squirt Gold Division final earlier in the season. That setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise, according to St. Jude Coach Chris Van Eck.
“I think the kids were more relaxed going in because we had already played in a championship game,” said Van Eck. “Personally, being a South Sider made it a little sweeter to beat a team from the north suburbs. It’s special to be a part of something like this. All these kids worked hard and were rewarded for it. It was a great day for St. Jude.”
The Knights tallied the lone goal of the championship game midway through the first period on a goalmouth scrum. Andrew Sobczak beat the Winnetka goalie after corralling the puck in front of the net. Luke Lawrence and J.J. McCarthy were awarded assists on the goal.
The defense and goaltender Richie Haley did the rest. Haley stopped 24 shots to record the shutout and lift St. Jude to the championship.
“Richie played out of his mind,” said Van Eck. “In a 1-0 game, the goalie has to come up with big saves, and he made several. Our other goaltender, Owen Flaig, and Richie were our two best players in the playoffs. Anything can happen in the state tournament. There were so many close games early on, so the goaltending was huge.”
St. Jude had a bye in the opening round and then beat the Sabres 6-3 in the round of 16 to advance to final pool play. The Knights bested the Bruins 6-2 then tied the Hawks before winning their pool with a 3-0 win over the Glenview Stars to advance to the championship game against Winnetka. In the semifinals, Mick Badke tallied two of the three goals to lead the squad to victory.
The state title was the culmination of a season that got off to a slow start.
St. Jude was 1-6-1 on Dec. 15 and sat in last place in its 10-team league. The Knights finished 29-17-4 overall.
“This was a resilient bunch that didn’t know how to quit. We pulled out some exciting wins,” said Van Eck. “Most of our games were one-goal contests in the first part of the season. We lost a lot of those, but the kids found a way to turn them into victories late in the year.”
St. Jude played in four championship games out of six tournaments. It won a preseason tournament and was also the runner-up at the Steel City Classic in Pittsburgh and at the Wolves Cup.
“The depth of our team was the strength,” said Van Eck. “We had two fantastic goalies, four great defenseman and nine strong forwards. Anyone of them could be the hero on a given night and put the puck in the net.”
Team members of St. Jude are Mick Badke, Blake Breitzke, Nick Capuano, Owen Flaig, Richie Haley, Jimmy Jurcev, Blake Kashark, Luke Lawrence, Dominick Lococo, J.J. McCarthy, Kyle Muhr, Michael Mullarkey, Andrew Sobczak, Jelani Wilson and Tommy Wright.
The Knights were coached by Chris Van Eck, Mark Steinken and Ralph Lawrence.

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