Honeybaked ‘94s win Quebec International

AAA squad goes undefeated with seven wins, including a 4-3 win over Compuware in the final

Heading north to Quebec in February to compete in the International Pee Wee Tournament has become a tradition for top metro-Detroit area AAA teams.

The fabled 11-day tournament is both an endurance test and an unforgettable experience for the 108 teams and 2100 players from over 20 countries that descend on Quebec City each February.

Founded in 1960, the tournament draws over 200,000 fans over the two weekends of games and boasts an alumni list of that includes NHL greats Guy LaFleur, Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Mark Howe, Marcel Dionne, Gilbert Perreault and Mario Lemieux.  

This year four Michigan teams – Honeybaked, Belle Tire, Little Caesars and Compuware – made the trip north to compete in the tournament.  Honeybaked brought home the 2007 AA Tournament Championship with a 4-3 overtime win over Compuware on Feb. 18.   Playing in front of standing room only crowds of over 18,000 people at Quebec City’s Pepsi Coliseum, the Honeybaked ‘94s rolled to a perfect 7-0 record and allowed just 13 goals in the tournament.

“The tournament is different from anything else,” said Honeybaked head coach Todd Gardiner, who also coached the ’85 Honeybaked team to the Quebec tournament title in 1999.  “The players hear from us that ‘this is a big game,’ but this is one time where they all believe you. The whole team played well and it was a great experience for the kids.”

In the final two games Gardiner was miked for sound by Canadian television network TSN, who was broadcasting the tournament.

“Their take on the tournament is that you take the Little League World Series and take it to the tenth degree,” said Gardiner. “And that’s how I feel. The intensity of the town, the merchants, everything is pee wee hockey, it’s unbelievable.”

Getting prepared

Gardiner credits the competitiveness of their division in the MWEHL for helping prepare his team for the rigors of the seven games-in-11 days tournament schedule.

“All four of the Detroit franchises in our age group are really strong,” said Gardiner. “We’re set up to do well because there are no cakewalks on our schedule.”

But still, with the travel, sleeping in a strange bed and the stress of competitive games in front of huge crowds, “sometimes its not the most talented team that wins it, it’s the most prepared and most mentally and emotionally mature team that wins it,” said Gardiner.

Honeybaked arrived in Quebec on Wednesday, a day earlier than most teams to get the players comfortable.  The players moved in with their billet families on Thursday, two days before their first game on Saturday.

“That first game is always a little tricky because the kids are still getting used to their environment,” said Gardiner. “There is always some adjustment to staying at someone else’s house and realizing that you still need to do the proper things like eat and drink and get enough rest and that’s it not a sleepover. So being up there early helped.”

Gardiner, and assistant coaches Todd Dries, Scott Gosselin and Gary Matych, also benefited from the knowledge passed down by previous Honeybaked coaches who made the trip and kept a “book” on their experiences.

“The only thing that wasn’t in the book I think were Flu shots, antibiotics and anything you can do before hand to prepare because by the end of the tournament everyone is worn down,” said Gardiner, who team played in the final game number 113 of the tournament.

In action

A good skating, offensively oriented team, Honeybaked opened the tournament with an 8-1 win over Bratislava (Slovakia), a 7-2 win over Richelieu Eclai (Quebec), a 3-2 victory over South Florida and a 7-3 win over the highly regarded Victoriaville Tigres to make it to the Class AA semifinals where they beat Suroit (Quebec), the champion of the losers bracket in the other division, 7-1.  After losing their first game to Victoriaville, 3-2, Compuware reeled off four straight wins to win the losers bracket and then handed winners bracket champion Syracuse (NY) their first loss of the tournament, 3-2, to set up the all-Michigan tournament final.

Honeybaked had lost five straight games to Compuware before the Quebec Tournament final, and “it seemed like whoever won the last meeting always tried to get into the other’s heads a bit,” said Gardiner.

The final was a close, seesaw affair from the opening faceoff. Compuware took a 1-0 lead in the first period, a 2-1 lead after two periods and a 3-2 lead until Honeybaked tied it 3-3 with four minutes left in the game. 

“Historically, when they take the lead like that, they have a phenomenal defense that seals off their goal,” said Gardiner. “But we keep coming and were able to tie it.”

After a penalty late in the final period, Compuware entered the four-on-four extra session shorthanded.  And just 13 seconds into overtime, Honeybaked’s Josh Henke grabbed his own rebound at the left circle, did a 180 and slid a pass to defenseman Cameron Yarwood whose one-timer from the high slot was the game and tournament winner. 

“There aren’t many times at this age group when the kids really connect on a one-timer, but he caught it perfectly and it hit the back of the net and came out just as fast as it went in,” said Gardiner. “It was a nice pass and nice shot

Goaltender Brandon Hope got the win in net, while goaltender Vincent Brophy picked up three wins including the semifinal victory over Suroit. The line of left wing Henke, center Tyler Gardiner and right wing Sheldon Dries led the team in scoring with 21 points a piece, while Yarwood and Grant Webermin were especially solid on the blueline.

“For 12 days there we had 18 guys and the coaches all performing at a high level,” said Gardiner. “Our goaltending was solid and we got production from everywhere.”

The whole Quebec experience

In addition to the competitive nature of the tournament, the Quebec tournament is a cultural change for most teams as they live with billet families in a predominantly French-speaking environment.

“The whole tournament was fun, and staying with my billets was awesome,” said Honeybaked goaltender Brandon Hope, who especially loved eating the grilled meat Japanese steakhouse style that his billet family prepared.  

Most of the families that housed this year’s Honeybaked squad were veteran billets, and including one family who had photos of every Honebaked team since 1994.

“(Former Honeybaked players) David Booth (Florida Panthers), T.J. Hensick and Matt Hunwick (Michigan) had all stayed there,” said Gardiner, who took out his ring from the ’99 championship team and wore it during the week. “They take good care of the kids and they take pride in how the kids do.”

In addition to daily team meals and a Honeybaked parent’s-billets dinner out, the group also went to the Quebec Ramparts QMJHL game and spent a whole day at the Val Cartier Snow Park.

“It was just a day to blow off steam and have some fun,” said Gardiner. “A year from now they’ll remember that as much as any game.”

In the end, Gardiner believes that all the Detroit teams got something out of their Quebec experience.

“Even the three teams from here that didn’t win, they had just as good a time,” said Gardiner. “I saw their eyes when we were up there and they were lighting up for the same reasons as our kids were and it wasn’t all because of hockey.”

The 2007 Quebec tournament champion Honeybaked ‘94s also includes:  Nolan Gluchowski, Dennis Guss, Nicholas Schilkey, Jesse Young, Connor Wood, Cameron Heath, Bryan Yim, Kurtis Gosselin, Robert Ault, Alex Kile and Aaron Soave.

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