Brief History of High School Hockey & the Excellence of Glenbrook North

The Beginning

In 1963-64 The Catholic Hockey league was formed. It was the first high school league to be formed in the state. Tragically, it was the year that President Kennedy was assassinated and thus the CCHL awarded their champion, the Kennedy Cup, which is still used to this day.

1971 was the first year of High School Hockey that took place outside the Catholic League. The founding teams were York, Lane Tech, Notre Dame, Proviso West and Immaculate Conception. 

In 1972-1973 Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South, Deerfield, and Evanston entered the hockey picture. This new league was called Metro Hockey.

The mid 70’s saw an enormous influx of high school hockey creating a Metro North, Metro South, Metro Southwest, Near West, Northwest, and Northeast Divisions. Going into the 80’s Metro slimmed down to Metro North, Metro West and Metro Northwest. 

Teams would play inside their divisions for their championships. Glenbrook North competed for the Metro North Championship.

All Metro teams at the end of the season would play for either the Scholastic Cup (top half of the teams) or the Founders Cup (bottom half of the teams).

The top two teams from this round robin playoff would emerge to face the other Metro’s in a one and done scenario. 

Glenbrook North has won a number of Metro North Championships, and at least 4 Scholastic Cups.

GBN’s State Championship Excellence

The State Championship was started in 1973. Many of the state games including the finals were played at the Northbrook Rink. Large crowds and Blackhawk’s participation in the state tournament moved the games to the Chicago Stadium and then the United Center. 

Glenbrook North has excelled in the state tournaments.

GBN Varsity has appeared in 11 state championship games and has won 5 state titles. The 11 appearances and the 5 titles represent the second most in the state only behind New Trier. In the last 10 years GBN has appeared in 4 state finals and 7 final 4’s.

The Junior Varsity owns 3 state titles. 

Scholastic Hockey League

In 2013 a new high school league was formed called the Scholastic Hockey League. The new league mission was to create an ultra-competitive high school league both at the Junior Varsity and Varsity level.

The League has its own press corps, streaming network and website found at www.scholastichockeyleague.org.

The Scholastic Hockey League has captured every state championship since its inception. 

The league itself plays homage to the origination of high school hockey by playing for the Scholastic Cup. Glenbrook North has won 3 Scholastic Cups at the Varsity Level and 3 at the Junior Varsity Level.

Last year two past alums of the SHL made their NHL debut.

Various High School Awards

Awards given out at the high school level include:

The JJ O’Connor Award for “Player of the Year”. Glenbrook North has had 4 recipients of this award: Todd Keats, David Rubin, Matt Dahlke and Kyle Slovis.

The Blackhawks give out a “Blackhawk Scholarship Award” for the finest Student Hockey Player. GBN has had 3 student athletes that have won this award. 

There is an “All State” selection process and an all-state game played each year in Bensenville. GBN has been fully represented with 45 All Staters in the past 20 years.

The Scholastic Hockey League names a player of the year, and a First Team and Second Team “ALL SHL TEAM”. Over 25 GBN players have been named to these prestigious teams in last 9 years.

SHL also names an All-Academic Team. This is comprised of students with a GPA of 3.5 or better. GBN has a high percentage of the players making this team.

The Blackhawks, AHAI and the SHL all award a coach of the year and 4 times a GBN coach has been honored. Many of these awards are given out at the Blackhawk Banquet where all the former Blackhawks and current Blackhawks attend, along with 400 other guests.

It’s the Entire Journey

To play at Glenbrook North is a journey that builds memories and friendships forever. The success on the ice is really second to the success of the relationships built over this journey.

Tradition

The tradition and the quality of Glenbrook North Hockey is one that the entire community can celebrate. In the GBN locker room there is a bold caption that reads.:

“Legacy of Champions”

Commitment, pride and a pursuit of excellence is what has made this statement true.