Cleveland Barons

 The Cleveland Barons Hockey Club is now accepting coaching applications for the 2012-13 Season until February1, 2012. Please email your resume to talexclev@aol.com or mail to: P.O. Box 81172, Cleveland, Ohio 44181

Attention young Cleveland-area hockey players: Kevin Irwin has advice on how you can become an elite-level prospect. And if you know hockey, you can probably guess what it is:

 “Work hard,” said the native of Hinckley, in Medina County. “Everything you do is important. First impressions are important. Appearance-wise, have yourself well put-together. Have a good attitude and good character.”

 Living by those simple rules has helped Irwin go from the AAA Cleveland Barons during the 2009-10 season to this summer being named to the USA Hockey Under-18 Select Team. The 6-foot, 170-pound right wing earned his spot on the team by impressing coaches in July at the USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp in Rochester, N.Y. Irwin finished the camp tied for sixth with eight points, on five goals and three assists.

Starting today (August 9), he and the rest of America’s top under-18 players are participating in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Ivan Hlinka is one of the world’s most prestigious junior tournaments, and through the years many NHL draft picks have made names for themselves by standing out against some of the world’s best under-18 players. Irwin is one of three Ohioans on the team,  joining defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Sean Kuraly, both of Dublin. It is Irwin’s first time representing his country.
The Americans opened the tournament in fine fashion today with a 3-2 win over the Czech Republic. Irwin got off to a fast start, as well, earning distinction as the U.S. team's player of the game — despite not scoring a point.

But Kevin Irwin hasn’t always been a player who could dominate a game without denting the scoresheet. Two years ago, he missed the cut for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, a team that plays year-round out of Ann Arbor, Mich., and grooms players for juniors and college — and, perhaps, the NHL. Irwin had the moves and the goal-scoring ability, but coaches wondered whether he had what it took defensively, and whether he knew the effort and commitment it would take to reach the next level.

Tim Alexander, a longtime Barons coach who has worked with Irwin off and on since he was 14, said it’s not a coincidence that Kevin’s approach — at the rink and away from it — has transformed in the last year and a half.

On January 22, 2009, a family tragedy forever changed the lives of Kevin, his older brother, Jimmy, and their mom, Sue. The boys’ father, Jim, died of a heart attack at age 51. He had been a constant in their lives, and, Sue says, was the one who “handled the hockey” for the boys, taking them to practices and tournaments, and just being there when they needed support.

Jim’s death left a big hole in their lives, and as Kevin got back to hockey, he had to decide how to go on without his biggest supporter at his side. He decided he was going to jack up his level of commitment across the board: not just playing harder in games, but doing more to help his team defensively, and going as hard as he could for everything — on-ice practices, off-ice conditioning, the works.

“His dad was one of those fathers who was at every game, was at every practice and was always around his two sons,” Alexander said. “They were very close. I can very much see from the coaching side where losing his father coincides with when he really started to develop. I’m sure he wants to make his father proud.”

“I’ve just tried to become a more all-around player,” said Irwin, who attended Highland High School in Medina County for three years. “Like in the defensive zone, getting low on my wing near the dots and helping out, instead of flying the zone (looking for a chance on offense).”

During the 2009-10 season, Irwin was a better player, doing the little things that don’t show up on a scoresheet. And his stat line during didn’t suffer, either. He finished the 77-game campaign with the Barons scoring 39 goals and adding 45 assists.

“He has just gone all out,” said his mom, Sue. “He just wanted to be at the rink 24 hours a day. He just decided he was going to do everything in his power to make his father proud of him. And I know I am so proud of him.”

Irwin credits Alexander and two other Barons coaches, Marc Fritsche and Greg Brown, with helping him grow the last couple of seasons. When he was in Cleveland this summer, Irwin worked out nearly every weekday at Barons Arena with Alexander, who assembled a group of 5-6 college and pro players that he put through an hour-long ice session each day. In that group of former Barons, Irwin skated with Rocky River native Carter Camper, who will be a senior captain at Miami University this fall; Parma’s Tom Fritsche, who plays for the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters; Parma’s Tom Goebel, who played professionally in Germany last season; and Shaker Heights’ Eamonn McDermott, who will be a freshman at Division I Colorado College this fall.

Alexander says he deliberately tries to expose younger players to guys who have made it to the pros or high-college level so they can see what it takes.  “I don’t think Kevin realized the commitment and hard work it takes to be a player of the level he wants to be at,” Alexander said. “When Kevin looks at those guys, he can see, ‘If I really dedicate myself, I can be like that.’

“He’s always had the skill. The biggest thing in the last year that I’ve really seen is that maturity. And I’m real excited about the future for him. He’s just gone through the roof. If he really dedicates himself, does the right things off the ice, takes care of his body, he can be an NHL player.”

This fall, Irwin will move to Iowa, where he will spend his senior year of high school and play for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, the top junior league in the U.S. The Bucs drafted in the second round (17th overall) of the 2009 USHL Futures Draft. But first things first — like playing some hockey for your country and seeing the world. The U.S. Team did its pre-Hlinka training in Arlington, Va., at the Washington Capitals’ facility. During their downtime, the players toured Washington, D.C., taking in the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and other sites. “I hadn’t been to Washington since eighth grade,” Irwin said.

Then, it was a trip to Europe for Irwin’s first-ever trip out of North America and an opportunity to play against some of the world’s best under-18 players.

A bigger stage? Yep. An NHL draft resume at stake? Possibly.

But Irwin said he would use the same approach that made him a standout at the Rochester camp.

“I just worked hard,” he said. “And it all worked out.”

Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins, entering their 20th season in the American Hockey League, announced today that former P-Bruin Brett Harkins and Jeff Wells will participate in the Alumni Game on November 13 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Harkins, who hails from North Ridgeville, Ohio, split the 1994-95 and 1996-97 seasons between Providence and Boston. Drafted by the New York Islanders 133rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Harkins played one season with the Adirondack Red Wings (AHL) before being traded to Boston. In his first season with the P-Bruins, the left wing scored 23 goals and added 69 assists for a team-high 92 points. Harkins enjoyed his first NHL call up with the Boston Bruins during the 1994-95 season, recording an assist in one game with the Black and Gold. Harkins spent 1995-96 season with the Florida Panthers (NHL) and their AHL affiliate, the Carolina Monarchs. He returned to the Bruins organization in 1996 and split the season between Providence and Boston. In 108 career games with Providence, Harkins notched 32 goals and added 100 helpers for 132 points.

The 5'11", 172 lb. left wing saw time in 78 NHL games with Boston, Florida and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Following the 1996-97 season, Harkins spent time with the Cleveland Lumberjacks and Houston Aeros (IHL), the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) and the Blue Jackets before continuing his career overseas. He finished his professional career at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season with Rogle BK in Sweden.

Over the next month, the Providence Bruins will continue to unveil the roster of players that will return to Providence for the November 13 Alumni Game.

Before the U16 Cleveland Barons headed to New Jersey this weekend for another undefeated Tier 1 Showcase ( 3 -0-1),  Nick Magyar of Mentor Ohio received the call.  Peter Ward the Head Scout of the NDTP (National Development Team Program) called Nick and informed him that he had been selected to the team that will represent the USA at the Youth Olympic Games in Austria from Jan 13th - 22nd.  Nick has been a leader on the 96 Barons Team since becoming a Baron and this is a great accomplishment.  The team consists of the best 96 birth year players in the country 9 forwards, 6 defenseman and 2 goalies.  NIck has been the teams leading scorer from the beginning of the season and continues to bring his "A" game every time he steps on the ice. " Nick has always been able to score but what I am really starting to notice and appreciate is what he is doing in all ends of the ice", said his coach Brett Harkins. "I also believe Peter Ward is doing the same as Peter told Nick at the Select 15 camp when he has the puck on his stick he is one of the best 96s in the country but he needs to work when he doesnt have the puck and he has begun to do those little things that help you to win games".   Congrats to Nick and Good Luck, represent the Barons well!!!