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West Geauga icers have brotherly love
(by Steve Novak - December 23, 2008)
West Geauga icers have brotherly love
By STEVE NOVAK
In the "Slap Shot" film, a lot of popularity of Paul Newman's hockey team is due to the players on the team known as the Hanson brothers.
On this year's West Geauga varsity hockey team, there is a triple similar attraction. It's called the Madden brothers, the Bolt brothers and the Martin brothers.
There are three pairs of brothers, and instead of being coached by Paul Newman, they are coached by Justin Madden. He's also the father of two of the brothers.
Madden's triple play of six brothers is only part of the 2008-2009 Wolverine team that takes to the ice this season.
Members of the team include junior goalie Brendan Madden, senior forward Connor Madden, senior forward Chuck Bolt, sophomore defenseman John Bolt, junior defenseman Evan Martin, freshman goalie Seth Martin, junior forward Ryan Henry, senior defenseman Travis Wright, senior forward Sean Gergacs, senior forward Dan Szczepinski, senior forward Dan Hibas, senior forward Chris Yagour, sophomore forward Chase Calabrese and sophomore forward Seamus Baden.
Last season, the Wolverines finished with a 5-5 record in the Chagrin Valley Conference and a 7-12-1 record overall. But Madden seems confident that bringing back a host of experienced players for another year is going to be a big plus for this season. The Wolverines only lost two senior starters to graduation.
The early part of this season has been promising. The Wolverines won their first two games, including a 10-0 decision over Chagrin Valley Christian Academy. Then they suffered a 4-1 loss to Euclid last weekend in a match played at Quicken Loans Area in downtown Cleveland
In statistics for the Greater Cleveland Hockey League Blue Division for the first two weeks of play, three of the members of the Wolverines were listed among the top 10 scorers. They were Connor Madden, Chuck Bolt and Travis Wright. Madden and Bolt both recorded five points and Wright had four points.
The Madden name figured prominently in last year's statistics and accomplishments. Last season, Brendan Madden was voted to first-team All-CVC team and his own players voted him most valuable player of the team.
Brendan's brother, Connor, was the team's leading scorer, and Chuck Bolt was the second leading scorer on the team.
The path that led Justin Madden to become the head coach last year at West Geauga isn't difficult to trace. You just have to go back to the various municipal ice rinks where Connor and Brendan played when they were younger. Madden said he didn't coach his sons each and every year they were in municipal leagues.
"Not every season, but a lot," he said.
Also during those earlier years, Madden also managed to coach on a team where Chuck Bolt played in one of the mighty mite divisions.
But municipal leagues are a thing of the past for the Madden brothers now. Also, for his older son, as well as for Chuck Bolt, this will be the last scholastic season that Justin Madden will be able to coach them.
That's not to say that the coach is going to hang up his skates. For one thing, Brendan will still have another year of high school eligibility after this current season.
For another, there is an 11-year-old girl named Kelley Madden. She plays in two hockey leagues now -- one is a girls and boys mixed league in Cleveland Heights. She also is the forward on a municipal league team called the Ohio Flames. There's no telling that perhaps at some point in time, one or the other of Kelley's teams might need a parent volunteer, such as her father, Justin, to help out with the coaching.
Or, there's even the chance that Kelley's mom could volunteer to coach, too. Her mom, Anita Madden, plays hockey in a mixed league in Shaker Heights.
Anyone who thinks that hockey is the only sport to flow through the DNA of the Madden family should be advised to think again. Molly Madden, a 14-year-old, prefers to dribble the round ball and to work on her jump shots for the West Geauga junior varsity basketball team. Even the older guy on skates acknowledges her talent off the ice.
"She's a good basketball player," her father said.
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