Sports
Check This: Hockey Team's First Season a Hit
Brookfield Battalion plans to play next year after inaugural season in Great Lakes Hockey League is a success.
For the average family that is tired of big league attitudes and big league prices, finding adult amateur baseball leagues is relatively easy. These leagues are all over the place. Finding an adult, full-check amateur hockey league, well, that is a bit more difficult.
In fact, there is only one adult full-check amateur hockey league in the United States, and that would be the Great Lakes Hockey League. The GLHL, which has been around for almost 75 years, has 12 teams spread out across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. One of these teams, the Brookfield Battalion, just wrapped up its inaugural season as an exhibition team.
The Brookfield team, which is named in honor of America's armed forces, was founded by head coach Rich Washer. Washer, who was previously the head coach of Wisconsin's Triple AAA team, knew about the league from his days as an assistant with the another team in the GLHL, the West Bend Bombers. He also knew players who had not gone on to play professionally and still wanted to compete at a high level, which was the main reason as to why he petitioned for a team.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Battalion have done well in their first season in the league, Washer said. Even though they don't qualify for postseason play — a mandatory rule for all first year teams — they finished right about .500. Washer had confidence in his team before the season had started, and much of this is credited to his previous experience with the league.
“Since I had some experience with this league from the days when I coached with the Bombers, I knew the talent level of the league, I knew that the team we were putting together was at least going to be able to compete,” he said.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
And compete they have. They have beaten every top-tier team in the league at least once and they have had some pretty good individual performances, such as forward Greg Wellhausen having several several hat tricks over the course of the season.
Washer said the Battalion definitely will return for a second season. Games are at and tickets are $4 for adult and $2 for kids, with all active and inactive military personnel admitted free.
Mosinee defeated Vernon Hills last weekend to capture the GLHL championship, after Vernon Hills had the best record in the 26-game regular season.
