Northbrook Bluehawks

Rich Blakey is the Northbrook Bluehawks' Hockey Director. Rich also coaches Glenbrook North High School's junior varsity team, the Bluehawks' squirt AA team, and oversees the organization's development program.

As a youth, Rich played minor hockey in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Prior to college, Rich, a goalie, played junior hockey in Canada. Rich earned a scholarship to play Division I college hockey at the University of Illinois-Chicago (1979-83) when the program was still a member of the venerable Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Rich's college scholarship enabled him to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in recreation and sports management & marketing. Rich subsequently served as an assistant coach at UIC and also taught at the university. In 1995 Rich was named the head coach at Division III Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he taught as well.

Over the course of more than 20 years, Rich has coached at virtually every level. He was the Hockey Director with the Skokie Park District for five years, and has also coached at Marist, Stevenson, and Loyola High Schools.

In six seasons with our organization, Rich's teams have earned several NIHL flags. His GBN junior varsity teams are perennially among the best in the state, and captured the 2007-08 state championship.

Rich has played a big role in the dramatic growth the Bluehawks and GBN organizations have experienced during the last six years. His desire is to expand the programs at all levels, and to give every child who wishes to play an opportunity to do so at a competitive level. Rich is looking forward to growing the Bluehawks program for all of the families involved and the entire Northbrook community.

Rich is married to Christine and has a daughter, Hannah.

Evan Poulakidas has coached Glenbrook North High School, St. Viator High School, Lake Zurich High School, and the Northbrook Bluehawks.

Evan's resume includes an International Silver Stick Championship, Final 8 National Championship appearance, two State Championships, two President's Cups, Scholastic Cup Championship, and five NIHL Championships.

Evan played hockey for the Morton Grove All Stars and Drake University. Evan and his wife Peggy have a daughter, Erin, and sons Nik and Brian, both of whom played for the Bluehawks.

Paul Gauger played youth hockey for the Deerfield Falcons, Chicago Minor Hawks, and Team Illinois. He has coached the Northbrook Bluehawks for six years and St. Viator High School for three years. Paul is married with three children and resides in Northbrook.

Click here to read Coach Blakey's bio. 

This is Chris' fourth year coaching Glenbrook North. Chris has also been involved with the Bluehawks for the past four years, coaching at all levels.

Chris grew up playing hockey locally before attending Hope College, where he played for four seasons. Chris worked for the Philadelphia Flyers teaching inner-city children the game of hockey.

Chris stresses good character, respect, hard work, and the importance of a good attitude.

Jim Porcaro has more than 30 years of coaching experience at all levels of youth hockey, from Learn to Skate and mite programs to AAA and high school teams. Jim has extensive travel and tournament experience across the United States and Canada, as well as in Europe.

Jim spent three weeks with the coaching staff and twenty U.S. youth players at the Spartak professional hockey team's facility in Moscow, Russia learning the Russian practice philosophy on and off the ice. Jim believes in the importance of incorporating "free lancing" time into each practice session.

Jim and his wife Judy have been married for 39 years. Their two sons, Mike and Joe, each played  travel hockey extensively. Both also played juniors and four years of collegiate hockey. Mike briefly played professionally in Lyon, France. Joe is currently a Northbrook Bluehawk pee wee and goalie coach. Away from the rink, Jim is a partner and VP of a distributor of office coffee products and water cooler systems.

Click here to read Coach Noonan's bio.

As a youth, Terry's teams won two International Silver Sticks and five Illinois state championships. While in high school Terry trained with the U.S. Select 16s and Select 17s. He was also a member of Glenbrook South's first varsity state championship team in 1989. Terry was the starting goalie for four seasons and an All-American for the University of Illinois' nationally-ranked ACHA Division 1 team. Terry also played semi-pro hockey for two seasons.

Terry assisted Illinois' ACHA women's team for two years. Over the years he has taught at several hockey camps, and coached various Bluehawk mite travel and house teams in each of the last four seasons.

Terry's son Ethan (8) is a mite travel skater, his son Jonah (4) is a pre-mite, and his nephew Maxwell (10) is a peewee. His wife Abby is a devoted Bluehawks hockey mom.

As a youth, Anthony played with the Tier 1 Chicago Young Americans. He played Junior A hockey with the Toledo Cherokee, and college hockey at Utah Valley University (ACHA Division 2).

Anthony is a USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach who has 15 years of coaching and teaching experience, from mites through college. He has coached the Lake County Atoms and Warren High School, the Pleasant Prairie Ice Devils Junior B, and Utah Valley University. Anthony currently works for Puckmasters Hockey Training Center in Glenview and is a regional scout for OneHockey International.

Anthony and his wife, Kelsey, have two girls, Alexandra (4) and Sophi (1). In his spare time, he loves to spend time with his family and fish. 

Greg played hockey for the Winnetka Hockey Club from mites through New Trier High School. Greg has helped coach pre-mite and mite house, as well as mite and squirt travel teams, for the past six years. Greg currently has three boys in the Bluehawk program: Casey, Timmy, and T.J.

Greg loves coaching and being on the ice with the kids, watching them develop and have fun.

Coach Pukszta's bio will be posted soon.

Click here to read Coach Blakey's bio. 

As a youth, Scott played for the Northbrook Bluehawks and Glenbrook North High School. He then played for the University of Iowa.

Scott has coached for the Bluehawks, Glenbrook North (junior varsity assistant), Deerfield High School (varsity assistant), Winnetka Warriors, and Glenview Stars. His teams have won four NIHL flags.

Scott was inducted into the Glenbrook North Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

Coach Konlon's bio will be posted soon.

Mike Noonan played youth hockey with the Falcons and Chicago Minor Hawks. Mike played high school hockey at Highland Park.

Mike has been a coach at Northbrook for the last 14 years. He is an instructor in all development classes with the Northbrook Park District and Bluehawks.

Mike has three kids: Matt (21), Trevor (20), and Kelcic (19).

Click here to read Coach Straza's bio. 

R.A. Mobile played college hockey for the New England College Pilgrims (ECAC EAST) for four years (2002-2006), and was a captain of the team his senior year. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Sudbury Wolves (1999 & 2000) and in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) for the Danville Wings (2000–2002).

This will be R.A.'s fifth season with the Bluehawks. R.A. believes he has been fortunate to be able to participate as a player and now as a coach in the great game of hockey. Play every shift like it's your last!

Joe was a goaltender for the Tier 1 Chicago Young Americans. He played junior hockey for the New Mexico Ice Breakers in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL), and collegiate hockey for New England College (ECAC East).

Joe has coached Northbrook Bluehawks teams for the past five seasons. He currently works for Republic Bank of Chicago. Joe's philosophy is, "Work hard, play hard, win games."

John played high school hockey for Fenwick from 1987 to 1991, and college hockey for St. Norbert College from 1991 to 1993.

From 2000 to 2003, John was the head instructor for the Carolina Hurricanes youth hockey program. Prior to that, John served as the head coach for Fremd High School's varsity team and Fenwick's junior varsity team. John has also coached the Huskies' peewees in 2004-2005, and the Flames' bantam major Central States team in 2006.

John lives in Palatine with his wife, Allison, and two children, Ava and Joey.

John played youth hockey in the Flames organization from 1989 to 1998. He played high school hockey for Fenwick from 1998 to 2002, and for DePaul University from 2002 to 2005. John led the Chicago Catholic League in scoring in 2002, and was selected to play in the Chicago Showcase.

John was an independent skills instructor for the Flames and Huskies from 2004 to 2006. He currently lives in Franklin Park and enjoys his summers with a lot of golf.

Coach Tanchida's bio will be posted soon.

As a youth, Thom played goaltender with the Huskies and Sabers. He also played 4 years of varsity hockey as the starting goalie for Glenbard West High School. Thom was a three-time high school all-star, and his team placed third in the High School Cougar Cup.

Thom is a level 4 coach who has been coaching for the last five years at multiple skill and age levels. He has coached the Northbrook Bluehawks, Kenosha Komets, and Chicago MsConducts (2011 Blue Division Champs).

Thom comes from a supportive family that instilled values that he carries into coaching. He encourages players to succeed off the ice as much on the ice.

Tony currently plays hockey at Buffalo Grove's Twin Rinks. Tony coached this past spring for the Northbrook Bluehawks. Tony has always enjoyed hockey and wants to share his knowledge and love of the game with others. He is constantly sharing this passion with his friends, family and teammates. Tony is new to formal coaching, but has informally assisted with Northbrook Bluehawks and Chicago MsConducts over the past year.

Click here to read Coach Poulakidas' bio.

Philip Strauss brings three years of coaching experience to the Northbrook organization, all of those years as an assistant coach with Conant High School.

As a youth, Philip played hockey for Barrington High School.  Philip was a three-year varsity player, several time All-Star and selected to the 2003 Illinois All-State team.

Philip went on to play for the University of Dayton, ACHA Division II, in which he was the captain in both 2006 and 2007 seasons.  Philip was also selected to the ACHA All-Conference Team in 2007.

Tim played travel hockey for Skokie and Team Illinois before playing collegiate club hockey at Northern Michigan University.

This is Tim's fourth season coaching at Northbrook (third as a head coach). Tim has coached the bantam A's since 2009. Winning the state championship in 2010 and 2009, as an assistant, have been the highlights of Tim's coaching career.

Tim grew up in Morton Grove with an older brother and younger sister, and now lives in Beach Park.

Ricky played youth hockey for Skokie and Niles, and college hockey for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ricky started coaching with the Skokie Flyers. This will be Ricky's second season coaching in Northbrook, and his fourth as a coach overall.

Ricky has a 12-year-old brother and still enjoys spending time with his parents.

Mark grew up in the Northbrook travel program, starting at age 5. He played for Glenbrook North, winning the state tournament at the junior varsity level, and placing third in state at the varsity level.

Mark played four years at the University of Kansas where he majored in psychology and economics. Mark then received his MBA at Roosevelt University.

Mark has coached for 13 years at Northbrook and other North Shore programs, and will be a certified level 4 coach this year. Mark's son Alex is a Bluehawk at the squirt level.

Matt grew up in Deerfield/Riverwoods playing for the Falcons and Deerfield High School.

Matt served as the Falcons' staff pro for three seasons, assistant director of hockey for the Northbrook Bluehawks for six seasons, and as a high school coach (Deerfield varsity/junior varsity, Lake Forest varsity, and Glenbrook North junior varsity) for eight seasons. He has led teams to a Silver Stick Regional Championship; NIHL Mite Gold Championship; 15 NIHL flags; and five high school Final Four placements. Matt has formed hundreds of positive relationships with hockey players and families in the Chicago area and nationally.

Matt's coaching philosophy is: Fun, skills, skills, skills, and more fun. Matt and his wife Ula, and their daughter Victoria, live in Deerfield. 

Growing up, Ralph played travel hockey in Chicago and Niles. As a bantam he played for Team Illinois and then for Notre Dame High School.

Ralph has coached at Glenview, for the Chicago Park District, Learn to Skate clinics, and goalie clinics. Ralph's midget team took 2nd place in the Northwest Hockey League's House Division, and won a President's Day tournament hosted at the Sears Centre.

Ralph's objectives are to teach children how to play hockey to the best of their ability, and to work for a strong program that continues to grow and expand.

Matt played for the Bluehawks for 12 years, and four years for Glenbrook North High School (one year junior varsity/three years varsity). Matt was the captain of Glenbrook North's 2007 state championship team.

Matt has two twin sisters who attend the University of Colorado at Boulder. Matt will be attending UIC in the spring of 2012.

Daniel played nine years for the Northbrook Bluehawks, and four years for Glenbrook North High School. Daniel was the captain of his state championship team.

Daniel recently graduated from the University of Iowa and works downtown for a telecommunications company. Daniel has two brothers who also played for the Northbrook Bluehawks and Glenbrook North.