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LZMW News

Matt Gurklis Joins Yeti as New Hockey Director

By Chris Yu 03/30/2024, 9:15am CDT

Matt Gurklis Joins Yeti

On behalf of the LZMW Yeti board, we are pleased to announce we have secured our new Hockey Director.  Coach Matt Gurklis returns to Yeti Hockey after a brief hiatus and will be taking on the Hockey Director position effective immediately. 

A familiar face to many, he was coach and head coach with the club from 2019 to 2022.  Coach Gurklis has a thorough knowledge of our program and a clear vision of how we can grow.

Welcome back Coach Matt Gurklis! 

In addition to Hockey Director, he will also be the Head Coach of the Varsity team for the Spring.  He is currently reviewing candidates for the Junior Varsity Head Coach position. We plan to announce the new full coaching staff prior to Spring Break.  

We look forward to many great seasons with Coach Brooks! 

James Brooks Moves On From Yeti

By chris yu 03/30/2024, 9:00am CDT

Transition to New Hockey Director Begins

As of Saturday, March 16th, James Brooks and has officially tendered his resignation as the LZMW Yeti Hockey Director.  

We are eternally grateful for everything James has done for the organization over the past several years.  James was instrumental in putting the Yeti on the map.  The Yeti is now a destination for young hockey players to come and develop with hopes of taking their game to the next level.  

In the past 12 months the Yeti program has been in back to back IHSHL North Central Championship games, #1 in the division this year, tournament champions in Madison, and various other accomplishments along the way.  

We wish James all the best in his future endeavors.

The search process and interviews of qualified candidates for the Hockey Director position are currently being conducted. Please reach out to any of the Yeti Board with questions.

Yeti Hockey Tournament Weekend

By James Brooks 01/22/2022, 9:45am CST

What a weekend for Yeti Hockey!  JV and Varsity both took home a banner from the Chicago Midwinter Classic tournament! 
 
JV started the weekend with two wins to push their winning streak to five games.  The boys battled hard in game three, tying a solid Naperville North team.  JV played Naperville again on Monday for the championship.  Unfortunately, Naperville was able to pull out the win, giving our JV team a second place finish for the second time this season.  Great job to Coach Gurklis and his squad as they continue to improve and overachieve!
 
Varsity started the weekend with a loss to Lakeland Falcons. This put the squad up against the wall needing to win out to make the Championship Game.  A solid effort against Joliet on Sunday morning put us in a solid position to make the final.  Sunday night, Varsity faced Marist in a "win or tie gets us in" scenario.  Varsity totally outplayed Marist, but Marist goaltending really kept them in the game. The boys rallied late to tie the game and send the team to the Championship game on Monday. 
 
Monday was yet another barn-burner as the game was tied at the end of regulation. Varsity battled hard through overtime and in the final moments before the shootout, Will Soldano went end-to-end and put a shot off the Marist goalie's pad.  And Logan Corneil was there to bury the rebound, giving Yeti our first tournament championship in Yeti history. 
 
We'd like to give a huge shout-out to Kaitlyn Audet who played in ALL 8 games for both JV and Varsity and led Yeti hockey to a first place and second place finish this weekend. Outstanding work by Kaitlyn and all of our Yeti hockey players.  I couldn't be more proud to coach you all.  I know the entire coaching staff feels the same. 
 
This is just one more step In the right direction as we come down the stretch here to the playoffs.  We're excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for us. 
 
Great job, YETI!

LZMW Rebrands as Yeti

By Greg Freimark 06/29/2021, 12:45am CDT

The new LZMW Yeti Hockey Club is looking good in bigfoot blue!

This past Spring 2021 season kicked off the inaugural year of the LZMW Yeti Hockey Club.  The LZMW Board decided to allow the players to help choose a club name during the previous Fall/Winter season.  After sifting through over 100 spirited team names, the players, coaches, and Board all agreed on the savage Yeti!  The last LZMW hockey team name was the Bears, but the team has been nameless for over 10 years, going only by "LZMW". 

We're excited to highlight our brand new LZMW Yeti logo and jersey designs.  The home jersey features a dark blue base with light blue arms and hem.  And the away jersey uses a white base with light blue highlights on the arms and hem.  We believe our players will look snappy in a unique yet classic jersey design with a unique color palette. 

The term Yeti is coined in Himalayan folklore, and describes a large, man-like, bipedal creature that lives in the wild mountain terrain of Nepal.  These fierce, furry creatures are believed to be dangerous to humans.  Like a Yeti, our hockey players stand large on the ice as a ferocious presence and a legendary foe.

To celebrate the new team name and icon, we encourage you to check out the Yeti Hockey Online Store, presented by Melon Ink Screen Print in Lake Zurich.  There you can purchase shirts, hooded sweatshirt, drink tumblers, hats, and other Yeti-branded gear to show your support for the LZMW Yeti Hockey Club!

LZMW Hockey Spirit Store:

https://yetihockey.itemorder.com

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