What You Need to Know About the KOHLMAN CUP

The original Kohlman Cup was conceived over a plate of pancakes at Lief’s restaurant in Eagle River in August 2004 by Don Kohlman and Bill McCoshen with Cale McCoshen looking on. Mr. Kohlman told McCoshen to “put something on paper and we will take it to the WAHA Board in December.” Dan Schachte, Mike McCoshen and Dan Johnson helped produce the first draft of what became the Kohlman Cup. The original concept called for a Tier II all-star tournament at both the Pee Wee and Bantam levels. During the process it was discovered that Steve Billings had written a concept paper for a year-end all-star tournament a year earlier and Billings instantly volunteered to help with the Kohlman Cup. The WAHA Board decided to move forward with the Pee Wee Kohlman Cup in December 2004 with plans for the initial tournament in March 2005 “if we could find volunteers to make it happen in each WAHA region. The Kohlman Cup would have never become a reality without the help of the following individuals:

• Region 1 Mike McCoshen and Steve Billings
• Region 2 Dan Johnson, Don Kohlman and Gary Suter
• Region 3 Neil Anderson and Kipp Karakas
• Region 4 Bill McCoshen, Dan Schachte and Kim Schachte
• Region 5 Rene Cranston, Gina Roadhouse, Cal Roadhouse and Tom Slocum
• Region 6 Ian Hollaway, Kevin McCoshen, Jon Hailey and Leo Bronston

Mr. Kohlman passed away in October of 2008 in his hometown of Fond du Lac shortly after managing the Wisconsin Elite Hockey League Showcase tournament. His many contributions to improve the game of hockey in Wisconsin will not be forgotten. 

The Kohlman Cup is limited exclusively to Tier II Pee Wee Players. It will allow the top Pee Wee age level players in Wisconsin to test themselves against the best Tier II players in each WAHA region. 

Any player from a local Tier II Pee Wee organization is encouraged to tryout for the Kohlman Cup.

More than 500 players have tried out for the Cup in each of the first seven years.

An All-Tournament team will be selected in each age group of the Kohlman Cup. Those players will be members of Team Wisconsin and will play in the Northern Exposure AAA tournament this summer.

The Kohlman Cup will be a great way to end the winter season, and it will not conflict with the summer AAA programs. The entire process will be over within 2 weeks of the state tournament.

Kohlman Cup Skills Competition Renamed

The Kohlman Cup added a skills competition at the suggestion of Leo Bronston in 2006. Players compete in individual and team events. The skills competition has become one of the true highlights of the Kohlman Cup tournament.

The skills competition has been renamed the Jacob Trannel Skills Competition. In the inaugural Kohlman Cup tournament in 2005 in Madison, Jacob Trannel was a member of the 1993 birth year Pee Wee Minor Kohlman Cup championship team from Region 6. Jacob played on the Region 6 Kohlman Cup team in 2005 and 2006. He was selected to play for Team Wisconsin in 2005 and 2006. Jacob Trannel passed away unexpectedly at the age of 15 in December 2008. He was a freshman at Onalaska High School and played varsity soccer and hockey. In his final varsity hockey game Jacob had a goal and an assist against University School of Milwaukee. He will be greatly missed by family, friends and the hockey community.