Ivo
Jaschick's
Eye on Europe
Global Edition: The Cayman Islands
Ivo Jaschick Reports from Germany and across Europe
Cayman Breakaway Rocks the World
Hall of Fame Ceremony Follows
BY IVO
JASCHICK
WWW.HOCKEYTALK.BIZ
NORM KLEIN
APRIL 5, 2006 -- While the National Hockey League got back into full swing for the 2005-2006 season, and the 2006 Torino Olympics were crowning a new ice hockey champion, it was the Cayman Islands that were making hockey history in early 2006.
For over 20 years, hockey starved Canadians living in the Cayman Islands have played ball hockey to satisfy their love of the sport. They progressed from a handful of players running once a week in venues ranging from the parking lots of bars and basketball courts to twice per week in a league of six teams in an indoor arena built in 2003. Around 25% of the isles’ inhabitants (approx. 10,000) are of Canadian origin.
However, it was in early 2004 that ‘the earth moved’. Long-time resident Bill Messer chanced upon a story in the Wall Street Journal newspaper about the four-on-four World Pond Hockey Championships held in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. Filled with excitement and the conviction that a team from Cayman could compete, he convinced fellow hockey fanatics Marty Goschl, Norm Klein and Joe Stasiuk to form a team for the 2005 tournament, and the ‘Cayman Breakaway’ was formed.
MARTY GOESCHL
While Hurricane Ivan tried to derail their training, help from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and the national carrier Cayman Airways allowed the Breakaway to train weekends on-ice in Tampa, Florida from December 2004 through January 2005. At the 2005 WPHC and with 96 teams entered, the Breakaway went a respectable two wins and three losses and narrowly missed the final playoff round of 32 teams. However, the Breakaway vowed to come back to the 2006 WPHC tournament better prepared and determined to make the playoffs.
In the interim, Breakaway members Marty Goeschl and Joe Stasiuk made the cut for the 2005 Cayman National Ball Hockey Team and competed at the 2005 World Street & Ball Hockey Championships held in June in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania. While Stasiuk was the second leading scorer for the entire tournament, Goschl scored the lone goal that nearly upset the Switzerland team and would have qualified Cayman for the world top eight teams.
With a target set by the Breakaway to reach the 2006 WPHC playoff round of 32 teams, they set a serious on & off-ice training program to begin in October 2005. On paper it looked great except for one small problem – teammate Marty Goschl had emergency surgery to remove a seriously infected gall bladder in early December. While the Breakaway were considering replacement alternatives, Goschl defied all odds with a miraculous recovery and was all ready for on-ice training in January.
AN ISLAND ADVENTURE: CEREMONY AT HOCKEY HALL OF FAME
BILL MESSER
While Breakaway training progressed and they felt all of the surprises were behind them, they received a once-in-a-lifetime call that would forever change their lives. The return trip to Roulstone Lake was put on hold due to a special honor - the jersey of the Cayman Breakaway was to be put on permanent display in hockey’s ultimate shrine, the Hockey Hall of Fame. In a grand ceremony on February 6th in Toronto, their team sweater was presented to the Hall, and the Breakaway name will now live on forever – although the Stasiuk name is already engraved on the Stanley Cup. Vic Stasiuk, a relative of Breakaway team member Joe Stasiuk, won the Stanley Cup three times with the Detroit Red Wings back in the 1950’s.
JOE STASIUK
After the festivities, the serious side of their hockey business continued. As in 2005, the Caymanians were asked to lead out all the teams at the opening ceremony of the tourney and the first game on the Thursday night. The next day, it was so warm that it began to rain, and Friday games were canceled, and had to be packed into the Saturday program. To advance to the final playoff round of 32 teams, the Breakaway had to win their last two games and finish top of their group to reach their goal. Thanks to the relentless forechecking and offensive firepower of Marty Goschl and Joe Stasiuk combined with the solid defensive play of Norm Klein and Bill Messer, they finished top of the division and one of the top 24 teams going into the final round of 32.
“We were all very proud that each of us dug down deep and won the last two games, and especially the last one. In that last game, it would have been very easy to pack it all in being down 14-12 with three minutes to go or to settle for a tie with one minute left to go, but each time we re-emphasized our aggressive forecheck and it paid dividends,” noted Joe Stasiuk. “Many people didn’t realize that our first three games were against teams that were all ranked in the top six and each of them ended up qualifying for the playoffs. I don’t know of many other teams that had such a difficult opening draw. While it came as a surprise to many when they saw that that the Cayman Islands had qualified for the playoffs, we knew we could make it if we kept plugging away”, Stasiuk added.
HALL OF FAME CEREMONY
In the playoff pool, the Cayman Breakaway drew the tournament #1 seed, the Barrie Bruins. The Bruins had earned the #1 seed by scoring 168 goals and having only 11 scored against in their five qualifying games at the 2006 WPHC. The Bruins were also the finalist in the 2006 Canadian Pond Hockey Championships held last month in Ontario.
In a hard-fought game, the Breakaway lost in the playoff elimination game to the Barrie Bruins by a score of 20-8.
Summing up their experience, Marty Goschl said, “We came here with one competitive goal in mind and that was to make the championship playoff round of 32 teams. To make that happen was a tremendous feat, especially with having to play four games back-to-back on Saturday. At the same time, we came here as ambassadors of the Cayman Islands. We met a lot of people and made sure they knew a lot more about our islands and our culture. Many of our new friends from New Brunswick and Canada are now planning trips or stops on cruise ships to the Cayman Islands and we look forward to greeting them when they arrive.”
Captain Bill Messer added’ “We can’t thank enough the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cayman Airways, SPEEDO, and Tortuga Rum Company for all of your financial and product support. Plaster Rock has become a second home for us, and we look forward to returning again next year.”
The next stops for the Breakaway include the 2007 WPHC tournament in Plaster Rock, and the 2007 World Street & Ball Hockey Championships to be held in Düsseldorf/Ratingen & Stuttgart, Germany.
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Copyright 2009 Western Hockey Network
Editor's Note: IVO JASCHICK, our man in Europe, wrote about these passionate hockey guys from the Cayman Islands during the NHL lockout. It was a breath of fresh air then, and it is now. These guys represent WHAT'S RIGHT ABOUT THE GAME. Thanks, Ivo, for uncovering this great story. --- Ed.
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