We finally WON a game against the Latvians!!!

Just want to THANK everyone who participated in the charity game on December 18’th! We FINALLY won against the Latvians!!!!

It was an incredible game! We were down 3-0 in the first period and we actually came back and won it 7-6! It was a hard fought game and the last minute of the game was a nail biter! The fan turnout was great for both teams and the new mastercard centre was a perfect pad to play on.
After taking a 2 year hiatus, Brian Mielko came back full force & scored a HATTRICK that night! Mike Mazeika shook the monkey off his back and finally scored not 1 but 2 goals that night. As always, Steve Podsadecki scored a goal and so did Rick Dresher. There were soooo many assists that night but none were recorded but I’m sure Derek Smith had a couple. Everyone played great and Danius Lelis played awesome in net!

We raised $300 for the Labdara Lithuanian Nursing Home that night from our team alone!Everyone one who participated donated $10 and we had 4 penalties that night so those guys donated an additional $20 each. Matt Bonner had 2 penalties and Tomas Girdauskas & Romas Biskys had one.

The Maple Leaf bar afterwards had great wings, good service and a great setup! Overall this game night was a success!

Maybe this year we’ll win the Baltic Cup???

Toronto Baltic Charity Game

Baltic Cup Playoff Schedule

Next up, the BALTIC CUP PLAYOFFS...

The playoff schedule is as follows:

Game 1 Latvians vs TKL - Friday March 27th, 7PM - Central Arena

Game 2 Estonians vs TKL - Friday April 3rd, 7PM - Central Arena

Game 3 BALTIC CUP FINAL - Friday April 17th, 7PM - Central Arena

Mark these on your calendars and come out to support your team!

Exhibition Game Result: TKL 6 vs. Estonians 4

Sorry to our fans for the short notice regarding this game. It was a Baltic Cup qualifier game organized by the Toronto Estonians on Friday Feb 27, 2009. 6 - 7:15pm at Centennial RC (Scarborough). Great ice given the rink time shortages throughout the GTA!

The Estonians were a bit short staffed and many thanks to the four TKL'ers that jumped over to the dark side to help them out! The score was tied at 2 after one period, 4-3 TKL after two and we traded a few goals in a hard fought third.

Most notable was the great effort on the part of both goalies, mainly TKL's Jonas Kurpeikis who took a couple hard shots off the clavicle and had some serious welts to take home as his souvenir along with his second Baltic Cup win. Stewart Pitchford filled in for the Estonians and did an admirable job snagging his share of shots too.

Also of note was Mike "Shakes" Mazeika finally breaking the ice - more like opening the floodgates - to rifle in 4 goals! The other TKL goals were scored by Alvin Kišonas and Rick Dresheris.

Here are a couple of game photos...

Another close one against the Latvians!

AWESOME Baltic Charity Game yesterday!!! It was for a great cause and the Labdara Nursing home really appreciates it.

Even though we didn't win, we sure came close to winning our first game against the Latvians. We scored the first goal and we were leading late in the 3'rd with a score of 3-2.

The final score was 4-3 for the Latvians and would of won it if only we didn't have 3 men in the penalty box during the last 3 minutes! The Latvians tied it with 3 minutes left on a power play with the go ahead goal while we were down two men with one minute remaining.

Steve Podsadecki scored 2 goals and Alex Butkus scored the other. Our youngest player Brendan Butrimas played in his first baltic game and made a beautiful assist. Danius Lelis played terrific in net!

Nice work guys and AČIŲ to EVERYONE who participated!

Charity Game vs. Latvians - January 4, 2009

Our first game of the season is scheduled for January 4, 2009, 5PM at George Bell Arena. Click the image for more information.

Festivities after the game will be held at Lokys.

This is a charity game so please donate generously since all proceeds go to the Seniors home!

2008/2009 Season Starts September 25'th!!!

We're back again every Thursday at 10pm at the Hershey Centre starting September 25'th and Ending March 12'th. Exception dates are December 25'th and January 1'st.

TKL Golf Day...

Thanks to the Toronto Lithuanian Golf Club (TLGK.ORG) and club President Linas Saplys (at left in below pic) for allowing the TKL to join their golf day at Harborview on June 21st. Ten TKL hockey players joined in and had a terrific day, loads of laughs.


Here's Alvin handing out one of many prizes generously donated by TKL players (check out the first-rate prize table!), this one handed to tournament winner and TLGK member Vic Kaknevicius who shot 75 with Steve Podsadecki in second place with 78. Eddie G won one of the closest to the pin prizes in the 57 golfer field! Numerous door prizes and a putting and chipping contest added to the fun.

Larry teeing it up.

In the above photo, Mike Mazeika, Steve Podsadecki, Eddie Gincauskas, Chris Sturmas, Jurgis Kairys, Alvin Kisonas and, all the way from Ottawa, Joe Radzius. Also at the tourney but not in this photo are John Mazeika and Larry Richardson.

We hope to see more TKL'ers and our Baltic hockey friends join in next year!

Ausra Junior Hockey

TKL is supporting Lithuanian youth hockey in Toronto through coaching and sponsorship. Practices are being run at Lambton Arena from on April 8, 15, 22/2008 at Lambton Arena from 7-8PM.

Pictured is the Ausra junior hockey team with coaches Wally Dauginis, Ed Gincauskas, Juo Zenkevicius, Alvin Kisonas and Romas Biskys. Larry Richardson is also coaching this year.

WE WON against the Estonians!!!

Lietuva 3 - Estija 2 (Overtime)

Results can be found here: http://balticcup.blogspot.com/

2008 Baltic Cup Playoff Schedule!!!

LATVIANS vs. ESTONIANS:
Saturday, March 29'th
Varsity Arena
5pm to 7pm (fans/family skate after game)

TKL Lithuanians vs. ESTONIANS:
Friday April 4'th
Iceland Arena Rink # 2
7:15pm - 8:45pm

TKL Lithuanians vs. LATVIANS:
Sunday April 6'th
Iceland Arena Rink # 3
4:15pm - 6:15pm (fans/family skate after game)

FINAL CUP GAME: ( 2 best teams after playoff elimination round)
Sunday April 13’th
Iceland Arena Rink # 3
6pm - 8pm (fans/family skate after game)

Baltic Charity Game was a success!!!

Toronto “Klevo Lapai” 4 – Toronto Latviai – 5

Gruodžio 15 d. Toronto “Vasity“ ledo ritulio arenoje vyko labai įdomus tarptautinis lošimas. Maždaug 130 žmonių stebėjo varžybas ir tuo pačiu paremė Lietuvių ir Latvių slaugos namus. $2,500 buvo surinkta nuo visų dalyvių – lošėjų ir stebėtojų - ir padalinta per pusę slaugos namams.

Latviai su pilna Komanda atvyko bet pakeliui kažkaip pametė savo vartiniką. Jonas Kurpeikis – iš Klevo Lapų komandos – sutiko laikyti Latvių vartus. Iš anksto Latviai vedė 2 – 0. Lapai tuoj pasivyjo ir sulygino 2- 2 (Petras Gverzdys, ir Steve Podsadecki (p. Vitkūno sūnus) įmušė). Vėliau Latviai parsimušė ligi 4 -2 ir vėl Klevo Lapai sulygino 4 – 4 (Jonas Mažeika ir Fred Duz įmušė). Bet trečiame kėlinyje Latviai įmušė penktą įvartį. Lapai tuoj pat sukūrė audringus puolimus bet nespėjo įmušt.

Toronto Klevo Lapų, Latvių ir Estų ledo ritulio komandos sukūrė Šiaurės Amerikos “Baltic Cup“ varžybas, kurios šuomet vėl vyksta Toronte. Mes dėkojame visiems žiūrovams ir kviečiame toliau apsilankyti Baltic Cup lošimus ir pasižiūrėti nuotrakas ant Internet: http://torontoklevolapai.blogspot.com/.

J. Zenkevičius.

Toronto Baltic Hockey Charity Game

2007/2008 Season!!!

We play every Thursday at 10pm on Rink#2 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

Please note there will be NO hockey December 27'th and our final session will be March 13'th, 2008.

TKL in the CMHL!!!

Our Canadian Multicultural Hockey Challenge Team. We did well considering our small team and that we played against some former NHL'ers from the Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs!!

-AK

We're going to the Baltic Cup FINAL!

We're playing the Estonian's in the Final Game for the Baltic Cup!
Even though we lost to the Latvians 8-6, we came in first place overall in points for the Baltic Tourney. It's gonna be a hard final game for the Cup against the Estonians. Even though we defeated them 9-2, they will be prepared this time!

For more information from the Tournament... http://balticcup.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Events!!!

NORTH AMERICAN BALTIC CUP TOURNAMENT:
Iceland Rink #1 Mississauga
http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/200.htm
Friday March 30'th 8:45pm - Estonians vs. Lithuanians
Saturday March 31'st 11am - Estonians vs. Latvians
Saturday March 31'st 6:45pm - Latvians vs. Lithuanians

NA BALTIC CUP FINAL GAME:
(best 2 teams move onto the Final Game)
Canlan Icesports EtobicokeFriday April 13'th at 8:30pm
http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/1412.htm

CMHL Multicultural Tournament:
Art Thompson Arena
http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/1574.htm
Friday April 27 - 6pm play against the FRENCH NORDIQUE
Saturday April 28 - 11am play against the SCOTTISH MUSKOKANS
Saturday April 28 - 7pm play against the SOUTH ASIAN VIPERS
Sunday April 29 - (possible final game)

GAME RESULT: TKL 2 - Toronto Latvians 3

A thrilling NA Baltic Cup exhibition game was witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd of 100 last night as the Toronto Latvians defeated our TKL 3-2, at George Bell arena Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 6pm. Thanks to all who attended, your cheers were greatly appreciated!

The game started out slowly with the Latvians scoring first in the last minute of the first period, followed by two more quick ones early in the second.

TKL fought back midway through the second and scored their first goal, a nice shot in the top corner by #14 - Steve Podsadecki on a feed from #9 - Alvin Kišonas at the 10 minute mark.

TKL kept the pressure on and a few minutes later, #13 - Juozas Zenkevičius tucked one in, passed from #69 - Gintas Batūra, behind the sprawling Latvian netminder.

The third period was closely contested with TKL having several scoring chances but were denied by the Latvians. TKL's #25 - Brian Mielko almost tied it up with just 3 seconds remaining as the puck came to rest on the goal line!

After-game festivities on Latvian Night at the The Dark Horse were well attended by our fans. TKL's next stop will be at the North American Baltic Cup in Toronto. Stay tuned, right here, for details to follow.

GAME RESULT: Toronto Estonians 5 - Toronto Latvians 3

Friday, January 19, 2007: 6pm - George Bell Arena, Toronto.

A strong Estonian team had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit to overcome new NA Baltic Cup rivals, the Toronto Latvians, with some third period heroics to claim a 5-3 win. A number of penalties were assessed and the game was watched by 30+ fans.














- EG

Some TKL historical photos

Here's a couple old photos I found in an old North American Lithuanian sports club book (Išeivijos lietuvių sportas 1944-84 - Čerkeliunas, Mickevičius, Krašauskas).

There were two teams from Toronto back then and we all travelled to Boston, Chicago and Detroit in the early 80s. Now their kids play on the TKL (they're in their 30s!). We even have a couple of these original players -from the other squad - in uniform today.

Hope to see everyone come out to watch us play the Latvians on January 26th at George Bell Arena!

- AK

GAME RESULT: Estonians 5 vs. TKL 0 - November 3, 2006 - 6:15PM

The TKL played the Estonians in a rematch on RINK #1 at Canlan's Ice Sports in Oakville on Friday November 3rd, 6:15PM. The WINNER was a Baltic Team!!! The score was 5-0 for the Estonian's.

2006 Season starts September 21'st

We start our first "pick-up" hockey game at the HERSHEY CENTRE on Thursday Sept. 21'st at 10pm on Rink#2 and this will be our weekly schedule.

We have lots of new members this year, so it should be an interesting year!

Stay tuned for the BALTIC game events, the Estonian's want a rematch and the Latvian's apparently have 2 full teams.

We finally got our new jerseys!!!

Thank you to our Lithuanian Credit Union "Parama" for sponsoring us this year!!! Labai Aciu!

Check the TZ

Our team photo was shown in the May 2nd (nr. 18) Tėviškės Žiburiai Lithuanian weekly newspaper!

The photo took up a full 1/3 of the page in the sports section!! Check it out.




Scroll further down this blog to the game summary for a full colour photo version.

The logo has been finally finalized

Our new logo is finally done and incorporates popular Toronto, Canada and Lithuanian themes. The stylized vytis was designed by a famous Toronto Lithuanian artist in the late 60s and is royalty free! The leaf is our own design and borrows elements of both the Canadian National team leaf and the Toronto Maple Leafs logo, in 3D! It'll look super sharp on our new uniforms. Stay tuned for the number design, it rocks too!

Download this sample image to your computer and use it as your background image. Enjoy!


Keep a spot open in your rear window for window stickers featuring our new logo. The logo has been vectorized and can be scaled to any size, including flags and banners, oh the possiblities.

Here's a review of the over 30 designs that didn't quite make it. Thanks again to all TKL'ers for their input!

Canadian Lithuanian Federation (KLB) link added

Many thanks to TKL old timer Rimas Kuliavas for adding the TKL to the Canadian Lithuanian Federation (KLB) links page. We also added a link to them on the right hand side of this page.

-AK

GAME SUMMARY: Toronto Klevo Lapai 3 - Toronto Estonians 0

Toronto "Klevo Lapai" Lithuanians (TKL) played their first Baltic game against the Toronto Estonians and prevailed by a score of 3-0 at Iceland Arena in Mississauga on April 21st. A hard fought game by both sides which saw fast paced passing, good defensive play by the Lithuanians and great goaltending by R. Steer and D. Lelis who shared the shutout. The Olympic sized rink was huge and the open surface allowed good skaters room, making the game fun to watch.


TKL Goalie Dan Lelis after his shared shutout with Richard Steer where he turned away 20 shots.

The first goal was scored by TKL Centre Brian Mielko on a brilliant individual effort in the first period. Mielko scored again in the second period followed by a tip in by winger Rick Dresher after a mad scramble in front of the net in the third.

The valiant Estonians were short two players due to injuries and are eager to have a rematch with their full squad.


TKL (in gold) and Toronto Estonians (in blue/white) were all smiles after the game. A great time was had by all. Click to enlarge the photo.

Stay tuned as to where and when our next game will take place - sometime in the fall - as both players and fans alike considered this first game a huge success and a great way to enjoy a Friday night. Thanks to all who attended!

- AK

Some photos from the game thanks to D. Lelis.

A brief history about Toronto Klevo Lapai

Toronto Klevo Lapai (Maple Leafs in Lithuanian) consists of players of Lithuanian descent or who are related or married into Lithuanian families. TKL is the fourth generation of hockey in Toronto, the first in the late 70s, second in the early 80s when there were enough players for two teams, another in the late 80s and finally the current team which still has a handful of players from the good old days. Speaking of which, check out the photo below;

Here's a blast from the past, the actual game roster sheet from 1983 when we sent a pretty big team to Boston - just before we split up into two teams - and came in 1st. Ah, the memories...

TKL practices every Thursday night from fall to spring at Hershey Arena. If you would like more information, would like to arrange a game or have comments about this blog please send an email to Alvin Kišonas or Ed Ginčauskas. We'd like to hear from you!

- AK