| The Eden Prairie Mallrats are an international street hockey team and member club of the VASHL.
The organization has been renamed several times, eventually settling on Eden Prairie Mallrats in late 2012. Earlier iterations of the franchise included The Laffs in 2010, Red State Raiders in 2011 and the original Hit Somebody! Hitmen in 2012. As of 2023, the Mallrats are tied with the Bethlehem Buddies, View Askew Vulgarians and the Clerks for the most Walter Gretzky Cup championships (2) won of any VASHL franchise. The team theme and imagery are largely based on the 1995 film, Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. Mallrats was filmed inside the Eden Prairie Center Mall in Minnesota. Smith decided to film the movie at this mall (which in the movie, is referred to by its actual name, but is supposed to be located in New Jersey) after various malls (including the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey, and the now-closed Bannister Mall in Kansas City, Missouri) objected to content in the film, and refused to allow the production to be shot there. The Eden Prairie Mallrats wear the colors of the former Minnesota North Stars to pay homage to this fact. They are also one of the six VASHL franchises that have participated in the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament, as well as the September Classic. Contents |
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2023 WGSHT Roster
| # | Nat | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 7 |  |
Jeff Mader |
| 9 | |
Gerry McRae (A) |
| 10 | |
Mike Caputo |
| 11 | |
Andrew Lewkowicz |
| 12 | |
Jordan King (A) |
| 23 | |
Cole Rudnicki |
| 25 | |
Dave Mader (C) |
| 52 | |
Brady Kemp |
| 23 | |
Luca Sisti |
| 83 | |
Russell Collins |
| 92 | |
Ryan Cassista |
| 420 |  |
Benny Graves (Goalie) |
Team Captains
- Dave Mader, 2017-present
- Jeff Mader, 2015-2016
- Dave Mader, 2013-2014
- Darryl Clarke and Dave Mader, 2012 (Hit Somebody! Hitmen)
- Darryl Clarke and Gavin ap’Morrygan, 2011 (Red State Raiders)
- Angela Robson, 2010 (The Laffs)
WGSHT Team MVPs
| YEAR | PLAYER |
| 2024 | Russell Collins |
| 2023 | Jordan King |
| 2022 | Benny Graves |
| 2019 | |
| 2018 | Steve Wilson |
| 2017 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2014 | Mike Caputo and Steve Wilson |
Photos
Eden Prairie Mallrats in 2014
Team Logos
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| The Laffs Logo 2010 |
Red State Raiders Logo 2011 |
Hit Somebody! Hitmen Logo 2012 |
Main Team Logo 2013-2014 “Willam Rat” |
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| Main Team Logo 2015-present “Brodie Rat” |
Shoulder Patch 2015-2018 |
Shoulder Patch 2019-present |
Games
WGSHT Record
| YEAR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PLACE |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 26 | 5th |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 8th |
| 2019 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 30 | 2nd |
| 2018 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 13 | 4th |
| 2017 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 6th |
| 2016 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 13 | 6th |
| 2015 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 6th |
| 2014 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 1st |
| 2013 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 11 | 1st |
| 2012 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 2nd |
| 2011 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 30 | 5th |
| 2010 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 | N/A* |
| Total | 53 | 29 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 223 | 196 |
*Pre-VASHL
September Classic Record
| YEAR | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | PLACE |
| 2019 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 4th |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 5th |
| 2017 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 30 | 3rd |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 29 | 4th |
| Total | 16 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 100 |
Team History
Let me tell you about a team with an identity crisis: The Eden Prairie Mallrats.
Now you may be asking who are the Mallrats? Well, let me tell you. This is a team that has evolved many times and it is survival of the fittest, baby!
It began with a dream. It was more of a daydream really but I’m sure you understand. This dream was to play ball hockey with Kevin Smith and all of his amazing friends.
Following the formation of the View Askew Street Hockey League in 2009, there were many Kevin fans who wanted to be part of it. The problem was they had no idea where to start. They weren’t members of the message board and they had never played poker at the stash. They had no juice whatsoever.
The following year, a small group of eager beavers from southern Ontario decided to pursue their dream of becoming VASHL champions. Unfortunately, there was no room on any of the teams at the time. This band of hopefuls was not discouraged. Instead, they played anyway in the tournament’s recreation division as “The Laffs”.
At this point, the team franchise was founded by Dave Mader, Gillian Frederick, Jeff Mader and Angela Robson.
They finished with a disappointing record of 0-2-1. They couldn’t even afford real jerseys and had to resort to red, yellow and black ice hockey sweaters with a demented cyborg cat as their crest. Although they got their asses kicked, they did get their first taste of the sweet pudding that is View Askew. They got to meet a lot of great people and had a blast.
For the 2011 season, most members of the group formerly known as “The Laffs” continued on their quest to become official VASHL players. They were recruited in tandem with other long-time VASHL veterans by our legendary Commissioner, Darryl Clarke. Under his guidance, they formed a new mash-up franchise known as the “Red State Raiders”, in honour of Kevin’s upcoming film. They wore red and white with stylized euro-trash advertisements. The team was co-captained by Clarke and Gavin ap’Morrygan. They played their hearts out but finished with a record of 1-3 in round-robin. It didn’t matter though. They had popped their cherry. Nobody was laughing at the “Laffs” anymore. They were now living their dream.
The following season, Clarke in his ultimate wisdom, decided to re-brand the team. This time going by the name “Hit Somebody! Hitmen” in anticipation of a Kevin Smith movie that was never made but could possibly one day be a miniseries. This time the team wore red, white and black. Clarke then recruited Dave Mader, one of the original “Laffs”, as his co-captain – possibly marking one of the greatest decisions of his storied career. The Hitmen finished with a record of 1-2 in round-robin. They would advance for the first time to the playoff round of the tournament and won the semi-final in a shootout against the Vulgarians with a magical goal by ap’Morrygan. The Hitmen would go on to lose in the final to the Leonardo Reapers in a close 4-3 game.
Clarke then ceded the captaincy to Mader, who did a little rebranding of his own and renamed the team once again as the “Eden Prairie Mallrats” inspired by the 1995 Kevin Smith movie and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where it was filmed. Paying homage to the Minnesota North Star made a lot of sense and the team now wears green, yellow, white and black. Willam Black is seen in Mallrats struggling to find a sailboat within an autostereogram. At the end of the film, he snaps after being unsuccessful in finding the sailboat. However, it is revealed in the conclusion that Willam eventually found the sailboat, although Willam himself seems surprised. The sailboat appears as a shoulder patch on the team’s jerseys as an Easter Egg for this.
In 2013 and 2014, they won back-to-back league championships.
Dave Mader passed the captaincy to his brother, Jeff Mader, following the 2014 tournament. Jeff passed it back to Dave in 2017 when Jeff left to begin an expansion franchise, the Moose Jaws.
WGSHT Player Appearances with Eden Prairie Mallrats (Franchise)
| Rank | Player | GP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dave Mader | 56 |
| 2 | Gerry McRae | 42 |
| 3 | Jeff Mader | 41 |
| 4 | Andrew Lewkowicz | 38 |
| 5 |  Gillian Frederick | 38 |
| 6 | Mike Caputo | 35 |
| 7 | Sean McKenna | 33 |
| 8 | Ryan Verdone | 31 |
| 9 | Steve Wilson | 25 |
| 10 | Jordan King | 24 |
| 11 |  Benny Graves | 20 |
| 12 | Russell Collins | 18 |
| 13 |  Jim Edelston | 13 |
| 14 | Joey Schell | 12 |
| 15 | Mike Schell | 12 |
| 16 | Court Weaver | 11 |
| 17 | Cole Rudnicki | 8 |
| 18 | Linda Madden-Loveday | 8 |
| 19 | Ashley Bourguignon | 8 |
| 20 | Luca Sisti | 8 |
| 21 | Ryan Cassista | 8 |
| 22 | Brad Loveday | 8 |
| 23 | Josh Foster | 6 |
| 24 | Josh Rich | 6 |
| 25 | Tristan Blackmore | 6 |
| 26 | Steve Kertesz | 5 |
| 27 | Kyle Richardson | 5 |
| 28 |  Michael Lowery | 4 |
| 29 | Niall Hynes | 4 |
| 30 | Adam Smith | 4 |
| 31 | Brady Kemp | 4 |
| 32 | Alex Brown | 4 |
| 33 | Andrew Flatt | 2 |