Now that the season is over and we’re all a little sad to not be seeing our teams and friends on the regular, it’s time to reflect on what hockey has meant to us as individuals. We all are changed in some way by being a part of this league and community. Writing and sharing our experiences helps others learn and grow and new players see a potential path for themselves into hockey and the LGBTQIA* community. Our Lives Magazine runs an essay contest on this subject each season and the winner gets published in the magazine as well as their dues waived for next season.

All are encouraged to write an essay. All 2022-2023 league participants are eligible for this contest (except previous winners). Essay length is not set, take as many or few words as you need to speak from the heart.

More explanation of this as well as previous essays can be found here https://www.madisongayhockey.org/about/what-gay-hockey-means-to-me/

If you only read one essay, I recommend Geoffrey’s essay from 2008 https://www.madisongayhockey.org/geoffrey-gyrisco-2008-essay/

Last year’s winner, Dexter Lane, in Our Lives Magazine https://ourliveswisconsin.com/article/what-gay-hockey-means-to-me-5/

Fun factoid: these essays are what someone at the NHL found and fell in love with and got them here to make a video about us. Oh, didn’t know the NHL made a video about us? https://www.nhl.com/news/madison-gay-hockey-association-stresses-inclusivity-fun/c-307952508

Please send your essay submission to Amanda Thornton. Essays will be read and voted on by members of the current board and captains who do not enter this year’s contest.

Deadline is April 16th!

Here are your 2022-2023 MGHA All the Way Award Winners and the nice things their teams had to say about them.

Cookie Monsters: Gwen Kay
Gwen is always showing up every week with a smile on her face and a fire in her heart. She gives everything she’s got to help defend our team and plays in the MGHA way.

Sith Happens: Liz Stadtmueller
Liz is always pumped up and positive in the locker room. She is very communicative on the ice and gives her all during games.

Liz is such a positive force on the ice. She’s cheering for everyone and providing feedback in the huddles. She is always talking to Suzanne about where the puck is, she’s kind of a goalie whisperer.

Queer Lime Pie: Angela Trentadue

Angela is super fun, spirited, and kind. I always enjoy chatting with her in the locker room, the bench, and skating on the ice. Angela is an Absolute can do hockey player, fun on the ice and in the locker room. Supportive and caring, an all-around excellent player!

The IncREDibles:  Jules Shatten
Jules had a fantastic first season with the MGHA—their spirit, enthusiasm, and hunger for hockey came through in every moment on the ice, and they brought their giant smile and great questions to the locker room every week. Jules is truly IncREDible!

Assembly Required: FL Morris
FL completely embodies the spirit of the MGHA, and is one of the best examples of a “rising L1” player that I can think of. They are engaged in team emails, always responding and keeping the positive spirits alive before big games and practices!

On the ice, they are lightning quick, but take time to play inclusively, skate in control, and pass often to their teammates. In the locker room, if they’re passing out apples from their apple orchard, or cheering on fellow teammates for a job well done—they embody the MGHA way in every aspect of their interaction with the league.

This was FL’s first year playing hockey with MGHA. She really got into it, asking lots of questions, subbing up to L2 games and skating hard every week. She was also a great asset off the ice, offering encouragement and tips from things she had learned. I hope to be able to play with her again in the future.

FL is a team player through and through, and while it’s hard to choose someone from a whole team of hard working and enthusiastic people, I think she stands out for this award. She’s worked hard to be our defense this season, and she’s always on top of communication and lifting the team up.

FL has been an awesome team remember who has always been super encouraging and kind all season. This is her first year playing hockey and she always has a good attitude and has fun and is nice to everyone! FL always had a positive and encouraging attitude in the locker room and shared helpful advice and suggestions during our practices and games.

Orange Crush: Casey Kautzmann
Casey jumped into her first year with great enthusiasm. She obviously loves the game of hockey and often does outside skating during the week, and you can tell by how much she’s improved in terms of passing, skating, and shooting the puck. She helps contribute to the super great vibes on Orange Crush by playing music in the locker room too!

Casey worked hard on the ice and was always positive in the locker room. She arranged social and hockey gatherings outside of MGHA time, and was always eager to learn new things.

She did her best to make every game, cheered loud on the bench, always brought the warmup tunes, and put in work outside of the league.

Always gives a full effort and brings energy to the bench

H2-Ohhhhh’s! Christina Libs

Libs is always so encouraging and has such a positive attitude at every game! She always does her best to make sure everyone feels included both on and off the ice. The way her (and Gabby) handled some sensitive situations with our team this year was with a lot of respect and maturity, much better than I would have handled them. It’s an honor being her teammate and having her as my captain!

Libs always has a positive attitude on and off the ice and is always encouraging us to play our best and have fun. Christina’s been a terrific captain, mentor, and pal — she’s upbeat, organized, involved, and has done a great job as a leader on the team. To my eyes, she does a great job of embodying what MGHA’s all about!

Freshmakers: Justin Sukup
Justin gives 100% and always has a positive attitude. He shows up every week and always supports the entire team. At the beginning of the season, Justin requested that everyone submit there favorite songs. He then created a team playlist that he plays before games, on the bench, and after games in the locker room. Justin is also incredible on the ice. He is a great team player and has contributed to many goals either as assists or on his own. He always plays the MGHA way and looks for the positive in times of frustration. In addition, Justin makes time to socialize after our games, encouraging camaraderie and supporting the league. Justin deserves the MGHA award!

The Heartthrobs! Maddy McKeown
Maddy is always fun, fast, and fabulous! Maddy is a wonderful captain, teammate, and all-around human. They communicate openly with our team, and other captains. They celebrate the accomplishments of their leaguemates, and advocate for equity on and off ice. They’re a wicked defender, and truly embody the MGHA way by adjusting their level of play, and encouraging safety and inclusion.

Jurassic Puck: Anna Johnson
Anna always has a positive attitude on and off the ice. On the ice, Anna uses her knowledge from coaching the D7 Oregon Dread Pirates team to propelle herself on the ice with knowledge and skills that she used to help her teammates. Anna is a talented baker and enjoys providing treats to her team. She is always prepared, organized, and willing to support her team and friends with whatever they ask of her. She truly embodies what it means to be the MGHA Way.

Anna is fantastic and lovely and always at the rink even when she can’t play. She’s made real strides (ha) in her confidence and play and is an excellent team player!

Goth Darn It! Joe Stella
Gene is our team’s biggest cheerleader. He’s always willing to help, offering advice, and volunteering his time. His passion for the sport, the team, and this league is awesome!

Blue Screen of Death: Laur Rivera
Laur is not only a fantastic goalie, she leads us through so many fun games. Laur showed us a ton of skating skills and made skating fun. Her best team chant so far has been be gay, have fun, stay safe. Sounds very MGHA to me. Too bad she isn’t coming back next year 🙁

Laur has been an amazing captain, answering all questions with patience and humor, encouraging new and old players, and being there for everyone – in hockey and in life. She is positive and passionate in her leading from the goal. I want to be like Laur when I grow up!

Best Goalie and mentor I’ve met so far!

Man, goalies are weird and I think this one is defective. She keeps telling the other team to shoot on her. Laur gets really excited when someone scores on her and is always the first one to fish the puck out of the net and give it to a skater when it’s their first goal. When she skates out it’s so cool. I remember watching her score and wow she’s like a hockey Swiss army knife.

Just Ice: AJ McGuire
AJ brings a positive attitude to the locker room every week and I love sharing the bench with them. They can be counted on to make smart plays on the ice and helped me learn to play defense!

Additionally, despite injury, AJ came to our games, acting as Gate Guardian, offering energy and support to any that need it. The gung ho nature and generally just affable nature that AJ brings with them has a welcoming effect in the locker room and for the MGHA as a whole. AJ takes it all the way!

Squirtle Squad: Sophie Manak
Sophie’s always fun in the locker room and on the bench and she plays a good MGHA game.

Sophie not only brings her best self to the team and on the ice, she also finds encouraging ways to support our team at every game! She strives to make sure everyone is having a great time and that we’re all on the same game page!

Sunny Defense: Collen Kenney

Colleen has been a great teammate to play with in her first year in the MGHA. She stepped up from the beginning to play center, and has always been receptive to feedback and constantly looking to improve. On the ice she plays inclusively with our team working to make good plays, and on the bench she’s very spirited and supportive of her teammates.

Rubber Puckies: Bri Buhr

Bri always has a positive attitude on and off the ice. In the locker room they always provide a good pregame pep talk and make sure everyone is doing good! On the ice Bri is the best line mate who is always there to set up the perfect plays and the bench would be silent without her AMAZING cheers

Bri exemplifies MGHA hockey each week, both on the ice and off. She is always encouraging teammates and brings a smile to everyone she interacts with. She gives it her all on the ice, strives to improve each week and picks up fellow teammates when they are struggling. Her positive energy and playful sense of humor makes it truly a pleasure to have Bri has a teammate!

Bri is a positive force of nature. Her encouraging cheers and funky dance moves always makes games extra fun

Hi MGHA – here is a reminder of key things in the coming weeks:

1. Feb 24: Turnabout Show This will be at 9:00pm at FIVE nightclub.  This fundraiser drag show is one of our biggest events of the year, and helps us pay for great things like the MGHA Classic Tournament, as well as our regular gear/scholarship program!
2. Feb 26: Slight Schedule Change All rink B games will be delayed 15 minutes.The schedule on the website is already updated, as are scorebox shifts. If you have the calendar integration synced with your personal calendar, you will need to reinstall the calendar.
3. TBD: Annual Town Hall Meeting is a meeting for all players to discuss survey feedback, share and listen to perspectives on this season. We are selecting a location (we will have a remote option) and will send a separate email with full details.
4. Mar 19: Championship Night As saddened as we always are to see the MGHA hockey season end, we always love championship night!  Plan on a potluck, league photo, awards, and as always a great night of playing and watching hockey!
5. Apr 28 – 30: MGHA Classic Tournament Registration is open on the website, so remember to sign up for your spot and invite your friends to play the MGHA Way with us at this community tournament.
6. May: Annual Members’ Meeting Our annual meeting of MGHA Members, where we discuss the season, the league, vote on new member applications, the new board, and any major change proposals – in the past changes voted on include rink location and re-structuring play by levels.  If you are interested in becoming a member, please fill out the application form.

Thanks as always to our sponsors: our February sponsor is Forward Fertility  https://forwardfertility.com

Forward Fertility is Wisconsin’s Surrogacy and Egg Donor expert. Since 2013, we have connected women who want to be gestational carriers and egg donors with families who need a helping hand. Owned by Christie Olsen, a women’s health nurse practitioner, you will receive individualized care throughout the process.

Thanks,
MGHA Board

The Forward Theater Company is our MGHA January Sponsor – their first production of the year is Airness, opening 1/26. Check out their 2022-23 Season Show line up to coordinate a group / team outing today!

#SafetyFirst – and always foremost reading for your hearts and heads this year.

In the MGHA, we commit to safety in the way we play and support one another’s growth through play in our community. Thanks to recently shared knowledge and individual feedback, we created a new home for important information and resources. 

Please read the new /Safety website page. It’s all about;

• Rules about required equipment* – strap in your chin, wear real shoulder pads, protect your pelvis
• Automated External Defibrillator AED – life-saving medical device in the lobby
• Concussions – a real, ongoing concern in our sport

*The MGHA follows USA Hockey rules. If you notice an equipment issue or inconsistency, you may notify the skater or a leader to quickly resolve and prevent injury. If players refuse to adhere to the rules, they can be penalized by refs and/or benched by a captain. If a player doesn’t have the proper equipment, they should contact their mentor or league leader to request assistance.

New Safety website page:

And now, a couple reminders for tasks, based on your role in the league. 

PLAYER TASKS

1. Fill out the midseason survey [in your email]
2. Sign up to sub on the Schedule page. This doesn’t commit you to that game, rather captains will see your interest and have more flexibility to fill in roster spots on Sundays. You can sub/skate outside of your official level.
3. If you use it, remove and re-install your calendar sync. We have a few schedule changes, and as the website calendar is updated, the sync needs a manual reset by you.
   • Specifically 2/26 – Jurassic Puck v Freshmakers is now at 5:00PM, Orange Crush + BSOD Practice is moved to 9:10PM.

CAPTAIN TASKS

1. Attend midseason captains meeting [link to vote on time – doodle]. Agenda: operational reminders, coaching survey results, breakout discussion for levels of play and what captains can/should do for the remainder of the season.
2. Organize (or delegate organizing) a team social or bonding event. Make a plan to use your stipend.

COACH TASKS

1. If you’ve coached at all, fill out the midseason Coaches survey. 
2. Attend coaches midseason meeting [link to vote on time – doodle]. Agenda: operational reminders, coaches survey results, discussion of what’s going well and adjustments for next year.

UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS

1. [non MGHA] Sunday, January 15th Boardslide LGBTQ+ Pride Ride – register by Monday Jan 9th, see email for details about snowboarding/skiing/tubing
2. Thursday, January 19th – Badgers Women’s Basketball Pride night event – see upcoming email to help staff a table for the MGHA
3. Friday, February 3rd – Fill the Bowl Social, Section 217, Kohl Center
4. (non MGHA) Saturday at 11AM, February 11th – Tenney Park, see locker room email to sign up
5. Friday, February 24th – Drag Turnabout Fundraiser for the MGHA Classic Tournament, see email for details

That’s all (for now) folks! You can reach out to the board individually via email at any time to make the next #News post.

Stay safe, and see you tonight!

New Scrimmage Available:

We’ve added a 5th scrimmage to Sunday’s events. Sign up for the new 8:15 PM Scrimmage, just after the 7:30 off-ice team reveal and photos. This scrimmage will be open for all levels, just like in past years where the MGHA had just one league. As this is a last minute add – if we don’t get ~14 skaters, we will not hold the scrimmage.

Chip in for Pizza:

If you want pizza, chip in what you can by paying Mason [see email for detail] or bring cash to drop in the lobby table. The board will cover excess cost.

MGHA Craft/Goods Table:

We will have a table with MGHA merchandise / crafts / swag in the lobby. Stop by to gear up!

1. Required: Finalize your level(s) preference on your account by Monday, October 10th.

We are committed to placing you in a level of your choice, yet we may request you a level shift to maintain safety, skills balance, and roster size. Today, we feel able to place 95%+ of our skaters within their preferences. Read more about the 3 league levels here.

Note: the 11 skills evaluated this year are new data points taken into consideration for team creation. These are not the only factors used to determine which level you play in this season.

2. Optional: Submit Must-play-with, Do-not-feel-safe-playing-with, Would-like-to-play-with requests here – by Monday, October 10th.

‘Must’ and ‘Do-not-feel-safe’ requests will be used to create teams. ‘Would-like’ requests will be considered. We have many of these requests to process, so please consider what you need vs. want and include relevant details on the request form as you wish.

Did you know? The MGHA Emails website page has all the individual role email addresses and all group listservs. When captains and teams are announced, you will be added based on your role and be able to communicate within those new listservs. Click the link and learn more for extra-special credit.

Next: We are working to add email contacts for the newly formed BIPOC@, Sponsorship@, and Photography@ groups so y’all can reach out to join, make a request, send an idea, etc. Until then, you can connect with Laur R., Gene Z., or Christina L., respectively.

Thanks,

MGHA Board, via Christina’s keyboard