30 | AUGUST 15 • 2024 J
N

O

n July 29, the first-ever 
championship of Partners 
Detroit’s newly formed 
ice hockey league took place at the 
Buffalo Wild Wings Arena in Troy. 
It was a close game, culminating 
in a tense overtime shootout. Five 
nail-biting minutes later, as the 
crowd cheered, the aptly named 
Pastrami Penguins scored and 
ultimately took home the oversized 
trophy. 
The winning Pastrami Penguins 
— Avi Kohn, Daniel Kohn, Dovid 
Rosenfeld, Eli Seligson, Jason 
Cohn, Jeff Katzen, Jonah Stern, 
Ron Stern, Moshe Perecman, Scott 
Richmond, Yosef Belen, Tzadok 
Eliyahu and Meir Bulua — also 
received championship T-shirts and 
bragging rights for being the first 
winning team on what is likely the 
biggest Jewish hockey league in 
Michigan.
Hockey isn’t Partners first 
venture into the world of sports. 
For several years, they’ve had 

successful football and 
basketball leagues. 
“Ice hockey was our 
next natural foray into 
things,” said Rabbi 
Noam Gross, who has 
worked for the Young 
Professionals Division 
of Partners for the past 
nine years. He had discussed the 
possibility of forming a Partners 
hockey league in the past with 
Avrumi Lorkis, 35, an avid player 

who has organized 
the popular Matan 
B’Seter Detroit Hockey 
Showdown fundraiser 
for the past six years. 
The two men just 
weren’t convinced they 
could find 60 Jewish 
hockey players in Michigan.
“It didn’t seem promising, so 
we never pursued it before,” Gross 
said. 
When Noah Linkner, 27, a fellow 

hockey aficionado and former NHL 
equipment manager, moved back 
to Michigan from Florida last year, 
the three connected and decided to 
give it a solid try. 
They spread the word via social 
media. 
Band director Alan Posner of 
Berkley saw the call out for hockey 
players on Facebook one day.
“I hadn’t played since college, but 
I thought it sounded like a great 
way to get back into it,” said Posner, 
who promptly signed up together 
with a friend. 
In total, more than 50 men 
from the Detroit area signed up, 
ranging from established players to 
newbies. It took about six weeks to 
arrange the admin side of things, 
from figuring out where they’d 
be renting ice, acquiring jerseys, 
hiring referees and organizing the 
teams.
There’s nothing like a good 
Jewish pun and the hockey players 
had fun inventing their team 

Partners Detroit holds first hockey league championship.
Fun and Fellowship on the Ice

Avrumi 
Lorkis

Rabbi 
Noam 
Gross

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Noah Linkner, Avrumi Lorkis and 
Rabbi Noam Gross at a recent 
Partners learning on Tuesday night

Edmonton 
Mohelers 
watch the 
action from 
the bench.

Winning team, Pastrami Penguins

ROBERT BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHY

ROBERT BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHY

