Suburban Stars share hockey, hamburgers with Ukrainian squad

By Brian Kalisher –

HAZEL PARK – The words “travel hockey” mean many things for youth players and their families.  Long car trips with dad – check.  Weekends playing mini-sticks in strange, far-away hotel rooms – you bet.  But imagine coming to the rink and competing against a team that traveled not hundreds, but thousands of miles for the game.

That’s exactly what happened on Nov. 13, when the ’97 Suburban Stars showed up at Viking Arena in Hazel Park to take on Druzhba ‘78 from Ukraine.  That’s right – a team from Eastern Europe.  The Ukrainian players arrived in vans at 5:30 in the morning with the first game not starting until 9:30 a.m.  They had driven all night from Chicago, where they took part in the Bauer Invitational Tournament as part of the Elite AAA division, to play a morning and evening game with the Stars.

Despite being a bit tired after the first game against the Stars, members of the Ukraine team spent the afternoon hanging out with their opponents – a learning experience for all parties involved.

“I noticed they were pretty tired and they fell asleep in the car on the way home,” said Eric Babler, father of Stars’ goaltender Matthew Babler.  “They slept for a couple hours at home and then my wife cooked them lunch – hamburgers and stuff.”

If that doesn’t sound like a typical afternoon for the average American teenage hockey player, then maybe the rest of the afternoon will spark a memory or two.  After a nap on their hosts’ couches, the visiting players took part in some friendly competition before heading to the rink for Game 2.

“They smelled [my wife’s] cooking so they got up and chowed and the next thing I know there’s a huge game of mini-sticks going on,” said Eric Babler.  “I was explaining American football to them a little bit and they were talking about soccer.”

Druzhba player Dima Kobylanskey shared his thoughts of the experience.

“We were driving all night here; we were pretty tired after the car ride and everything,” Kobylanskey said.  “The [first] game was good, but it was pretty hard to play.  After the game [our players] ate something or slept in the car and a couple players went with [the Stars’] families.”

Although Druzhba was victorious in both games, the opportunity to play in a doubleheader with a team from across the globe made for quite a hockey-filled Sunday.

“It’s been fun, the flow of the game is really nice and they spread it out,” said Stars’ player Robby Flannery.  “It’s just fun playing against someone from another country.”

But more importantly, it made for an experience that the players and parents involved will not soon forget.

“We’re really excited, [as] the parents, just to have the kids at our house,” said Stars’ parent and Suburban Skating Director Susan Bottrell.

Druzhba ’78, an elite Ukrainian hockey program, is led by coach Ivan Pravilov, who is also a head coach of the National Team of Ukraine.  He is held in high esteem around the world for his work with youth hockey players and is known for his focus on skating and finesse.  The Druzhba Hockey Club and School is actually based out of New England.  Not only is this a laboratory for great hockey players, but an academy for academic learning, as well.  This enables Ukrainian boys to come to the United States and train under Pravilov while getting an education.  His former students include NHLers Dainius Zubrus and Mark Fayne of the New Jersey Devils, along with Andrey Zuizin of the Chicago Blackhawks.

“My son Robby skated with Ivan a few years ago,” said Stars’ assistant coach Rob Flannery.  “Ivan came to town and did some power skating schools and I was just impressed by [his] technique, it was foreign to me.”

Because of this technique, the Druzhba ’78 players came out looking like a group of well-oiled professionals.  Prior to taking the ice, the players from Ukraine sat in their locker room fully dressed for the game and looking focused and attentive to their coaches’ demands.

Since Flannery knew Coach Pravilov, he was able to set up Sunday’s games for his Stars and the Ukrainian club when he found out they would be in town.

“I’ve kind of kept in touch with these guys and when I knew Ivan was coming to town I got his information and we lined up the games,” Flannery said.

Both teams showed a lot of speed and efficiency from the outset, moving the puck well and keeping the game interesting for fans and parents in the stands.  The Druzhba ’78 group didn’t play physical hockey, but that worked out just fine for the Stars who prefer finesse also, according to Coach Flannery.

The Stars were efficient, making crisp passes and finding teammates in open ice, but they were unable to match Druzhba’s near-flawless skating ability and speed. The Stars dropped the first game of the day 4-3, in what many parents described as a close contest.  The hometown hospitality must have agreed with the Ukrainian boys – they won the second game 8-2.

“The kids are skilled, it’s a different kind of hockey,” said Stars’ goaltender Matthew Babler.  “They attack the puck more; they don’t mess around with the puck.  It’s been a fun experience – crazy.”

The Druzhba ’78 squad will be in the United States for another week, sharpening their skills against other American clubs.  But Sunday night they planned to bunk up with the Stars and share some dinner before hitting the road.

“Even though these boys have grown up almost on the other side of the world, hockey kind of brings it all together,” Flannery said.  “These kids are very similar in skill level and how they play and they both love the game.”