KOHA, Wings West and Wings Event Center would like to welcome you to the 2018 8U Half-Ice State Tournament.  This tournament  is truly a special experience for all teams from across the state, who will compete for the chance to be called this year's 8U State Champions.

We will be using two the two Wings facilities Wings West and Wings Event Center.  Wings Event Center is the home of the ECHL Kalamazoo K-Wings and they will be playing the Brampton Beast Saturday night.  If your team is interested in attending the game each player will receive a free tickets with the purchase of an adult ticket.  A link has been setup to purchase the tickets so when you click on the link select how many player (comped) tickets and then how many additional adult or child tickets you’d like.  Your tickets will be available for pickup when you arrive.

go.kwings.com/MAHAUSA

If you have any questions or would like help in purchasing tickets please contact Ben Ruhlman  bruhlman@kwings.com - 269.226.0381 or Justin Ferrell jferrell@kwings.com - 269.226.3109

Score sheets will be located at the registration table at each rink.  Managers or Coaches please place labels on each score sheet for all games.  The standing board will be kept update at both locations.

Locker room assignments will be posted on the monitors at each arena.  With the 57 teams in the tournament multiple teams will be sharing locker rooms.  We will do our best to have the associations with multiple teams share a locker room.

Pucks will be provided however, please bring your own water bottles.

Rob Carr owner of Action Shots Photography and his team will be taking action shots during all of the games.  They will have a booth setup where you can view and get the pictures.   His website is www.asportsphoto.com so if you have any special requests do not hesitate to reach out to him prior to your team’s arrival.

Hockey Services (located inside the arena) Pro shop is open daily for skate sharpening or any other items you may need.  They have setup an online store with apparel for the weekend.  There will be limited amount of items available at the rink on March 3rd and 4th but you are encouraged to pre-order items.  Click on the link to place your order and the merchandise will be available for pickup when you arrive. 

https://hockeyservices.com/product-category/maha-8u/

Old Burdick’s Bar & Grill is located inside of the Wings West arena.  They are offering a team menu that I’ve attached to this email.  If you’d like to organize a team meal please contact them advance at (269) 488-4500 or email  www.oldburdicks.com/wings-west/group-dining They do have a private room that can be rented out for your team so if you’re interested be sure to contact them for details and reservations.

Finally, due to the vast number of teams participating and games played (over 100 in 2 days) we will be using young, inexperienced referee’s.  They will miss calls, they will make mistakes.  Please respect the fact that USA Hockey/MAHA are working hard to help train and encourage new hockey players to start refereeing.  Please let coaches and parents know that we enforce the zero tolerance rule for berating referee’s.  It WILL NOT be tolerated and violators will be asked to leave the arena.  Please communicate this information to your parents.  The MAHA 8U State Tournament should be a celebration of all the good things in hockey, not just about winning.

Please remember, this is 8U hockey and it’s about participation and fun. 

If you have questions please let us know and enjoy your weekend in Kalamazoo.