Welcome to the Home of the
Amateur Hockey Association Illinois, Inc.

The Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois was founded as the governing body of Illinois amateur hockey in 1975. During that season, AHAI was recognized as a sanctioned affiliate of USA Hockey which was appointed by the United States Congress as the governing body of American Ice Hockey. 

Two Local Illinois Girls Makes Olympic Debut!

Lisa Chesson, from Plainfield, Illinois, and Molly Schaus, who played part of her youth hockey at the Sabres and Team Illinois are making their Olympic debuts in Vancouver.

Lisa after playing at the 2009 World Championships spent the 2008-09 season with the women's residency program in Blaine, her first with the national team. In her world championship debut, she helped the U.S. to gold over Canada, scoring a goal and two assists in five games. She played four years at Ohio State University, finishing in 2007-08, and has one year of school left there.

Schaus served as the backup goalie at world championships in 2008 and 2009, during breaks from Boston College. Schaus has started three world championship games, winning two including one shutout, and earned gold with the U.S. team both years. Schaus has played three season at Boston College, with one year of eligibility left, and she is taking the year off from school to focus on training for Vancouver.

Growing up in Plainfield, Chesson played on boys' teams, as well as a few girls' teams later on. But even in high school, she was still playing on some boys' teams. It was at that point that Chesson started to realize "Growing up you don't really know the difference," she said, "but in high school the guys were a lot bigger than me." The rules permitted contact, but it was often after the whistle that she was hit. "Some of the guys would go after me. But my team was good about protecting me." Now that she only plays with women, Chesson prefers those rules. "They don't let us check, but it gets pretty gritty. There's a lot of hitting."

All of us in Illinois wish Lisa and her teammates the best in bringing home the GOLD in Vancouver.

For more information on Lisa, please Click Here

For more information on Molly, please Click Here

Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame Inducts Eight Members into the Class of 2009

The Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame recently inducted its 5th class of inductees into its Hall of Fame. The honored inductees who were inducted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at the Belvedere Banquet Hall in Elk Grove were Dan Ahearn, Jim Augustine, Patrick Byrne, Tom Gullen, Bill Holke, Tom Hughes, Dave LaBuda and Bob Melton. Over 350 people joined in the celebration dinner.

Illinois hockey has a very long and rich hockey history, due in large part, to the foundation laid down by these inductees. Their tireless dedication in making sure every individual who had a desire to participate in this great sport has had the opportunity to do so.

The mission statement of the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame is as follows: “To honor the excellence of those individuals who, through their exceptional endeavors both on and off the ice, have contributed in an extraordinary way to enhance the sport and image of hockey in Illinois.”

On behalf of everyone involved in the game of hockey, we admire and thank each of the inductees into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2009. They truly are in a class of their own.

Seven Bridges Ice Arena to host IHHF
World Women's Under-18 Championships!

The 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Under-18 Championship will be held March 27-April 3 at Seven Bridges Ice Arena, 6690 South Rt. 53 in the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, Illinois from March 27 – April 3, 2010. This two-sheet facility will host the first-ever IIHF World Women's U18 Championship staged in the United States.

Make your family plans now to come out to Seven bridges and watch the best female under 18 players in the world compete for the Gold Medal.

Tickets are on sale now for the World Women's Under-18 Championship by clicking here.
For further information, please click here 

2010 High School All-State Team Announced

The Amateur Hockey Association Illinois has announced the official Boys and Girls High School All-State Teams for the current season.

The games will be played at the AHAI Hockey Center located at 735 Jefferson Street in Bensenville, Illinois on Monday, February 8, 2010. The girls game will begin at 6:35 p.m. and the boys game will begin at 8:30 p.m.

This is the 21st year the All-Star Game has been held and we hope that you will be able to enjoy the experience by coming out to the games. There is no charge for admission. Come Out and Watch the Best Against the Best. These Players were Selected by the High School Coaches. We Congratulate All of These Players on Their Accomplishments!

Please “Click Here” for Girls High School All-State roster

Please “Click Here” for Boys High School All-State roster

Latest In High School Hockey News

Can't get enough high school hockey news, information and stories?  The Daily Herald www.dailyherald.com has you covered, with the only state-wide HS Hockey column, appearing every Thursday.  The column covers every school from Stevenson and Warren to the north to Naperville Central and York out west, not to mention those in Cook County, and those in and around Elgin and St. Charles, among others. Written by veteran HS hockey reporter Ross Forman, who has a rare Illinois high school hockey triple-header on his resume:  he won a state championship as a player, was a linesman for the championship game of the 2005 Blackhawk Cup at the United Center and has covered the HS state championship as a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years. Go to www.dailyherald.com and search Ross Forman for the latest on Illinois high school hockey.

Chicago Blackhawks and AHAI Announce
Partnership for Brick Tournament!

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI) accepted an invitation to send a 2000 Age Squirt Team to attend the Super Novice Brick Edmonton Showcase Tournament! The event is an exclusive tournament by invitation only and truly an honor and opportunity of a lifetime for our state players.

The "Chicago Jr. Blackhawks Illinois Brick Team" will bring together the most talented 2000 aged hockey players in the State of Illinois. The team will represent Illinois at the prestigious Brick Invitational Super Novice Hockey Tournament held annually in Edmonton Alberta.  The tournament will take place June 29th through July 4th at the West Edmonton Mall whose unique ice rink is centered in one of the largest facilities in the world. Not only does the tournament provide great hockey, but also there are a number of off-ice activities to make the tournament a fun-filled experience for the entire family. The objective is to assemble a team to represent Illinois and to make it a special and fun experience to compete against top talent from around the North America. For those of you not familiar with the Brick, it is the most prestigious tournament in the world for ten-year-old hockey players. Twelve all-star teams from North America attending are: California, Minnesota, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Detroit, Connecticut, Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Illinois. 
 
The Brick Spring Hockey Tournament is the closest thing scouts get to a crystal ball. Some of the most noted Chicago Blackhawk alumni are Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Troy Brouwer and Colin Fraser, all of who are currently playing on this year's roster.  Over the years, the tournament has seen the likes of Dany Heatley, Dion Phaneuf, Mike Comrie, Kyle Turris and Jay Bouwmeester pass through on their way to the NHL as well.

If you think you have what it takes to be a member of this team, send in your application to tryout by no later than January 28, 2010.

TRYOUTS

For those Travel Hockey Players born in 2000 and are interested in becoming a part of this year’s Jr. Blackhawk Brick team, open tryouts will be conducted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at the United Center.  As part of the tryout process, we encourage only the top end travel player's born in the 2000 calendar year to register.  Those players who register and qualify will be contacted individually regarding the opportunity to attend the Tryout Session.  The tryout application process is based on current playing level and coaches recommendations. If you are not selected to tryout - a full refund will be mailed immediately back to you.

This 2000 team is not pre-selected before the actual tryouts and our program is absolutely not affiliated with any in season team, coach or club. The only requirement is that you reside in Illinois except for the allocation of the three (3) import player provision.  Everyone is welcome to register for the tryout and be part of this most memorable and exciting hockey experience. Hopefully your child can be one of the 15-17 kids that will help represent the Chicago Blackhawks and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois.

Interested travel players born in the 2000 calendar year who wish to tryout for the team that will be going to the Edmonton Brick Super Novice Tournament in 2010, please fill out the application form today, so you can be considered to attend the tryout date. Good Luck to all Tryout Candidates.

*The Chicago Junior Blackhawk Illinois Brick Program is a non-profit effort

Please “Click here” for Tryout Application Form

Please “Click here” for Waiver Form

Announcing The NEW Chicago Blackhawks Coaches Club

The NEW Chicago Blackhawks Coaches Club Supported By The U.S. Marine Corps and AthletiCo

The Blackhawks are proud to introduce a new tool for AHAI Coaches: the NEW Chicago Blackhawks Coaches Club. The Coaches Club was created to give you, the coach, an inside look into the NHL coaching ranks.

Membership includes quarterly emails, coaching clinics / seminars, special ticket offers and more! This program is designed to improve coaches of every level, from Learn to Skate through High School, by providing practice drills, game management advice, nutritional tips and off-ice training information. Click here to download the application.

Check back for more information and a sneak peek into the Coaches Club! For questions, please contact Eric Dumais at 312.455.7039 or edumais@chicagoblackhawks.com.