Thirty Years Later..

What It Means To Us

In the summer of 1984 sixteen boys were selected by head coach Neil Carnes to play for Little Caesars bantam major hockey team.  These boys came from a diverse set of backgrounds and families but all had the same goal of playing hockey at the highest possible level.  The team had an incredible record of 70-7-2.

We were teammates and in hockey that means a lot. We didn't always get along or necessarily like each other all of the time but we were teammates. We all had dreams and goals to play hockey to the best of our abilities. Whether it was college hockey, the Olympics or the NHL.

Who would have thought that two of us would make it to the NHL and two more were drafted. One of us would play on the USA Olympic Hockey team. Eight of us would play Division I College Hockey and three would play Major Junior in Canada.

Those achievements are remarkable but the real story is the life lessons that were learned.  It taught us to believe in each other and work for the betterment of the team. To strive to be the best we can become. We have all dealt with adversity in our lives and have all taken our own path to be who we are.  Today we are husbands, fathers, stepfathers, coaches and mentors.

On the weekend of May 13, 2016 we came together for a 30-year reunion.  We laughed, cried, rejoiced and remembered one of the greatest times in our life. We remembered a teammate we lost and our parents that are no longer with us. The stories told from events that happened 30 years ago were recalled as if they happened yesterday, it was an amazing experience.

We walked away from that weekend with our hearts over-filled with joy and happiness.  We will all be forever grateful for the opportunity to play on that team but, even more grateful for the opportunity to come together as adults and relive that year for just one weekend in May.

It is our hope that the players within the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club hold true to the program’s core values.  They are just as true now as they were then, and wearing the iconic blue and orange jersey is something you will remember forever.  We wish all the teams the best of luck this upcoming 2016-17 season, and would like to thank the program’s directors, coaches, players and families for all their efforts in continuing the tradition of being the premier sports organization in North America.

Sincerely,

Little Caesars Alumni of 1970

Doug Abraham, Jim Aldridge, Bill Baffy, Mark Beaufait, Dave Burke, Neil Carnes (not pictured - Deceased '89), Jim Cummins (not pictured), Tiger Davidson, David Green (not pictured), Steve Green, Todd Koehler, Frank Mariani, Randy Morrow, Shawn Sarkisian, Eric Shurin, Doug Tucker.