Up through the end of the 1991-92 season, Al Zawacky was one of the hundreds of adults just playing and enjoying recreational hockey at what was then known as Fraser Ice Arenas. Active in adult hockey since 1975, Al had been a part of the adult programs at Fraser, the old USA Arena in Shelby Township (now Joe Dumars Fieldhouse), Grosse Pointe, St. Clair Shores and other Metro Detroit rinks, where he had organized or played for teams such as McDonald's, the Ancar Sabres, Mar-Kar, Seven-Eleven, Coachman Lounge, the Sabres, Century 21, Lipari Foods and Diamond Connection. From 1978 to 1986, he had also helped organize and run the old Shelby Senior Hockey League, which played its games on Tuesday nights at USA Arena.

In the summer of 1992, he approached rink management about the possibility of helping run the adult hockey league at Fraser. Al was hardly alone in being less than satisfied with the way the program had been run — few games were covered with scorekeepers, standings were seldom updated and elite teams were routinely playing novice teams, with predictable results. In making an effort to fix these and other problems, Al hoped to follow the example set by the late Jack Rice, who had previously run a very successful adult and youth program back when the facility on Utica Road was known as Fraser Hockeyland. Tom Viggiano, who was then the rink manager, was enthusiastic about the idea, and offered the program to him on a trial basis.

For the next five years, Al ran the Fraser Senior Hockey Program during the fall and winter months. In the fall of 1996, however, he got the idea to separate off from the rink and form an independent entity — one that would be able to negotiate ice times and prices on an equal footing with the rink management and get the best possible deal for adult hockey players. Following extensive negotiations with the Great Lakes Sports City (GLSC) ownership, the Fraser Senior Hockey Program officially became Michigan Sports Enterprises, Inc., in June 1997.

Al originally entered a partnership with a teammate on his KSI Canadiens team, Mike Smith, to form MSE. Mike later left and was succeeded in April 2000 by another of Al's KSI teammates, Brian White. Brian moved to Nashville, Tenn., to pursue a music career in January 2001 and another one of Al's hockey teammates, Steve Ricucci, took over for Brian. Steve is now a partner in MSE and serves as its President/COO.

A native of Detroit, Al is a graduate of Sterling Heights Stevenson High School and Oakland University (B.A., Journalism, 1979). He makes his home in Farmington Hills and retired in June 2008 after nearly 30 years as a professional journalist, including 24 years in corporate communications with the Michigan Credit Union League, a Northville-based trade association.

Steve is a graduate of Warren Mott High School and Walsh College (B.A., Marketing, 2003). He played youth hockey through Juniors and still enjoys the game today. He and his wife, Monnie, make their home in Macomb Township.

Today, some 200 teams and 2,500 players participate in MSE leagues, tournaments and hockey schools annually at GLSC, Mount Clemens Ice Arena and Kennedy Ice Arena in Trenton. MSE purchased nearly a half-million dollars of worth of ice in 2006 alone and, based on USA Hockey registration data, holds the proud distinction of being the biggest single adult hockey program in Michigan and one of the largest in the entire United States. We've earned a solid reputation over the years as a well-run and customer-friendly operation. That's undoubtedly why MSE has a large group of loyal customers — many of whom are familiar with the "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude and absentee management typical of most adult hockey leagues. We are grateful to all our teams and players for their support and we have even bigger hopes and plans in the future!

If you're interested in finding a well-run adult league as a team or individual, or if you want to learn the game from scratch or improve your skills in one of our unique adult hockey schools — check out Michigan Sports Enterprises!