Team USA didn’t make it to the medal round in women’s hockey last month at the World University Games.
No Medal, No Problem
Team USA didn’t make it to the medal round in women’s hockey last month at the World University Games.
While that was a disappointment for team member Sasha Hartje of Bloomfield Hills, she wouldn’t have traded the experience in upstate New York for the world.
“I have no regrets. It was incredible. Totally worth it. I’m extremely happy that I did it,” she said.
Hartje’s hockey career is coming to an end.
The 23-year-old is in her second and final season as a graduate student hockey player at Long Island (N.Y.) University after she played tennis at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., for four years, helping the team win a Division III national championship in 2021.
Hartje’s first hockey season at Long Island, a Division I program, was interrupted and brought to an early end when she suffered a broken leg during a game.
The Detroit Country Day School graduate and 2017 Jewish News Female High School Athlete of the Year jumped at the opportunity to play hockey for Team USA even though the World University Games were in the middle of her college season.
“I got to wear the Team USA gear and play against other countries,” Hartje said. “It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. And I got to keep the gear!”
Team USA went 2-3 at the World University Games, finishing with a 2-1 loss to arch-rival Canada on Jan. 18 in a sold-out arena. Hartje missed a Jan. 13 win over Czechoslovakia because of a conflict with the Long Island schedule.
She scored a goal against Great Britain on Jan. 15.
“I was in the slot and a teammate passed the puck to me,” she said. “I put a backhand shot over the goalie’s leg.”
Hartje said Team USA was at a disadvantage because many of the other teams had been practicing together for months. That wasn’t the case with Team USA.
“We did the best we could,” Hartje said.
Team USA’s five games were in pool play in Pottsdam, N.Y. The medal round games were held at the iconic Lake Placid, N.Y., rink.
Hartje didn’t get to play there, but she and Long Island teammates who were on Team USA got to spend a day walking around Lake Placid and taking in the atmosphere there.
Ex-Tiger Ian Kinsler Returns to Rangers
Former Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler has rejoined the Texas Rangers — the organization that drafted him and where he began his 14-year Major League Baseball career — as a special assistant to the general manager.
Before he begins those duties, Kinsler will manage Team Israel at the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March. He played for Team Israel in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Last summer, he was one of five torch carriers at the opening ceremony for the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Kinsler, 40, spent the past three seasons as a special assistant for baseball operations and player development with the San Diego Padres.
He was a four-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and 2018 World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox during his playing career and a 2022 inductee into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Rangers picked Kinsler in the 17th round of the 2003 MLB draft out of the University of Missouri. He played for Texas for eight seasons before being traded to the Tigers in November 2013 for Prince Fielder.
He was with the Tigers from 2014-17, winning a Gold Glove in 2016. He later played for the Los Angeles Angels (2018), Red Sox (2018) and Padres (2019).
Perfection in a Perfect 300 Game
Lyle Schaefer rolled his second 300 game in the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith Bowling League. This one was much less painful.
The 64-year-old Southfield resident bowled 223-300-219 — 716 on Jan. 23 at Country Lanes in Farmington Hills.
Schaefer’s first perfect game in Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson was Nov. 18, 2018, at the 300 Bowl in Waterford Township. He underwent hip replacement surgery two months later and was sidelined for eight weeks.
“I was hobbling around back then,” he said.
He isn’t hobbling around anymore. Schaefer played in five softball leagues last summer, about 80 games in total. He played in the outfield and infield and pitched.
Schaefer didn’t like the two games that sandwiched his 300 on Jan. 23. He said they were characterized by bad breaks and frustration.
But his perfect game was about as perfect as possible, according to his teammates on the NHL Property Management team (Schaefer owns NHL Property Management).
“My teammates told me that every ball in my 300 game was right in the pocket,” Schaefer said. “Rick Sherline [a teammate] said there was only one ball where all 10 pins didn’t go into the pit.”
Schaefer’s 742 was his third 700 series of the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson season. He was averaging 215 going into league play Feb. 6.
In an interesting coincidence, Jeff Berlin was competing on the set of lanes next to Schaefer when Schaefer rolled his 300 game in 2018. The same thing happened Jan. 23.
Schaefer now has 11 300 games in his bowling career, which stretches back about 40 years. He’s had seven 800 series, another bowling milestone, but none of those series has featured a 300 game.
Josh Alpert and Brandon Achtman were the stars of Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson play Jan. 30, leading the way in the night’s bowling.
Alpert rolled a 298 game and 726 series, both lifetime bests. He was a league-best 108 pins over average in his 298 game and 156 pins over average for the night. Achtman was a league-best 184 pins over average with his 682 series.
Montreal Star is Tanzman Tournament MVP
Gabe Bodokh from the Hebrew Academy of Montreal was named the Most Valuable Player in the fifth annual David Tanzman Memorial basketball tournament, held in late January at Farber Hebrew Day School in Southfield.
Ezra Feen (Atlanta Jewish Academy) received the Sportsmanship Award, and he also was one of the six All-Stars named along with Benji Gardin (Farber), Ben Avner (Denver Academy of Torah), Noam Azagury (Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh), Elior Haimovici (Montreal) and Aviel Metz (Columbus Torah Academy).
Here are the winners of the tournament’s skills competitions: Shooting Stars-Gardin; 3-point contest-Ari Schon (Farber); Hot Spot-Zachary Agichtein and Sam Kutner (Atlanta).
Farber won its first three tournament games, then lost to Montreal in the championship game.
Groves Tennis Standouts Make a Racquet
Birmingham Groves High School singles players Michael Liss and Nolen Koven and the doubles team of Jake Rosenwasser and Dylan Wolf were named to the Division 2 All-State Team by the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association.
Liss, a sophomore, had a team-best 26-6 record last fall. He played No. 2 singles. Groves’ co-MVP for singles was a regional tournament champion and state tournament semifinalist.
Koven, a senior, played No. 1 singles. His 22-9 record was second-best on the team behind Liss. He shared singles MVP honors with Liss. He was a regional champion and a state semifinalist, losing in three sets to the No. 1 seed.
“One of the best leaders we’ve ever had,” 13-year Groves coach Dave Farmer said about Koven.
Rosenwasser, a junior, and Wolf, a senior, played No. 1 doubles. They were 21-12. They made it to the regional finals and state finals, but lost both times.