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 names. 
Ultimately, it was the Hebruisers, 
Tefillin Tough Guys, Edmonton 
Mohelers and Pastrami Penguins that 
took to the ice. 
To even the playing field, Lorkis 
offered weekly classes to help 
improve the skills of players, if they 
wanted. 
“I heard from many players who 
were pretty new to hockey that they 
would never have had the confidence 
to say, ‘I’m going to play ice hockey 
on a big league,’ but they felt 
comfortable saying, ‘I’m going to play 
a game and this is just going to be a 
fun time,’” Lorkis said. 
After 10 weeks of league play 
on Monday evenings, they hosted 
the playoffs — and the Edmonton 
Mohelers and the Pastrami Penguins 
faced each other at the championship. 
About 50 people, mostly family 
and friends of the players, were in the 
stands enjoying the kosher munchies 
that Partners supplied as they 

YESHIVA BETH YEHUDAH

14 | NOVEMBER 3 • 2024 Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Special Edition J
N

Partners Detroit holds first hockey league championship.

Fun and Fellowship 
on the Ice

Avrumi 
Lorkis

Rabbi Noam 
Gross

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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

Edmonton 
Mohelers 
watch the 
action from 
the bench.

ROBERT BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHY

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 15, 2024

