News

Defenseman Mark Yanis heading home for first USHL action

Published: Wednesday, September 08, 2010, 10:00 PM

Ron Rop | The Muskegon Chronicle

“I only live 10 minutes from there,” said Yanis, a native of Grosse Pointe Woods. “And hopefully, we’ll be playing in front of a lot of fans, but my family will be there.”

The Lumberjacks will take the ice at 8 p.m. on Friday to battle fellow United States Hockey League member, the Chicago Steel.

After a week of off-ice training, the Lumberjacks started skating Tuesday at Lakeshore Sports Centre as they continue to prepare for the start of the regular season on Oct. 2.

“It’s been 3-4 weeks since I’ve been on the ice,” said Yanis, 6-3, 195 pounds. “Coming out here with all the guys, moving the puck and shooting has been great. It’s been a great couple of days.”

Yanis likes what he sees so far.

“Our forwards can really skate and our defensive corp is real strong,” Yanis said. “We have a lot of quickness.”

How that matches up against the Steel will be determined on Friday night.

“Friday is a great opportunity for our guys to compete against another team in our league,” Lumberjack coach Kevin Patrick said. “Obviously, we won’t have all our systems in place, but the bottom line is to compete.

“We’ll go into this game and use it as a gauge to see what areas we do well and what we need to improve on,” Patrick said. “The month of September is preparing us to get better as we head toward opening night.”

Patrick doesn’t know a whole lot about Chicago other than they have a corp of returning players and a new coach.

The team bus will depart from L.C. Walker Arena at 2 p.m. and make the trek across the state. Besides Yanis, five other players will be relatively close to home.

“This will be a good benchmark for us,” Patrick said.

There is no admission charge for the game, which is part of the Motor City Cup Midget Festival hockey tournament.

The Motor City Cup is in its eighth year and has grown into the largest midget major and midget minor hockey tournament in North America. More than 100 top teams from the United States and Canada are expected to compete at hockey rinks throughout the Detroit area.