2016-17 T4 Champions - IIP Damage
IIP Damage stands for "Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania (Damage)" This team is a collection of guys from the Midwest that enjoy playing roller hockey. This team was started with the scraps left behind from the 2015-16 Great Lakes Norsemen team that was unfortunately mis-managed by someone who charged the players fees and then never paid the team fee's to the league for some of the events. Most players would have given up on MIHA or even roller hockey in general, but these players saw that the league was not at fault and they still wanted to play competitive travel roller hockey.
The IIP Damage is not only made of players from all over the Midwest, they also come from many different professions. The team is comprised of a Firefighter, a Heavy Equiptment Operator, an HVAC specialist, a Pharmacist, an Engineer, a Police Officer that is also a SWAT team member, an Engineering student, and an Union Iron Worker. Many of the players in MIHA come from many different backgrounds, some are just working minimum wage jobs to help pay their way through college while some make six-figures. Some players are 18 years old while some are in their 40's and play together with their son. Its a great collection of roller hockey players that love to play the game.
Although the seasons ended on a high note, it did not start off that way. At their first tournament in Grand Rapids1, they went 1-1 on Saturday and then got mercied by the Buffalo Anarchy on Sunday (8-0). At Chicago1 they again split 1-1 on Saturday before getting knocked out in the first round on Sunday by the Windy City Syndicate (5-1). In their 3rd tournament, back at Grand Rapids 2, the Damage again split 1-1 on Saturday thanks to a SO win. On Sunday they were able to win their first Sunday game of the season by defeating the Chi-Town Shamrocks in OT. They went on to lose their championships game in OT to the Grand Rapids Giraffes. For their 4th and final tournament of the season, the Damage went to Chicago2 and went 2-0 on Saturday for the first time this season with a (5-2) win vs. the Cincinnati Rollerdactyls and a (3-2) win over the Windy City Syndicate. On Sunday they defeated the SW Ohio Outlaws and the Windy City Syndicate to win their only tournament of the season.
The Damage entered the MIHA T4 Championships as the #5 seed. On Saturday they defeated the Detroit Knights and the Mid-Michigan Saints. On Sunday they defeated the Detroit Revolution (8-3), Buffalo Anarchy (3-1), and the Buffalo Fusion in the Championship game (5-4). Congratulation to all of the teams that participated in the MIHA T4 Championships!