BUTLER TWP - Mike Rodgers Memorial Trophy winner Blaise Steadman says he lives and breathes hockey.

That's only fitting because Rodgers did the same thing.

Steadman is the goaltender for Hindman Hall, which defeated Phoenix Metals 7-3 in the Butler Dek Hockey Adult League championship game Sunday night.

The Rodgers Trophy is presented to the MVP of the championship game and honors the memory of Mike Rodgers, a 19-year-old Chicora man killed in an automobile accident April 6, 2003.

Rodgers was dedicated to the Butler Dek Hockey League, playing at least two games a night, four nights a week.

"When another team needed a player to fill in, they called Mike and he was out the door," said Diana Rodgers, his mother. "He lived for that stuff.

"He was captain of his team, put his team together and ran it. He got all of his friends to play in the league," she added.

The Rodgers Trophy is the brainchild of Joan Montgomery, his grandmother. The trophy was first presented in 2003 to Tom Doran of league champion Phoenix Metals.

Montgomery formally presented the trophy on the Butler Dek Hockey court immediately following the championship game both years.

"I just wanted to do something to honor Mike's memory," Montgomery said. "I contacted (Butler Dek Hockey general manager) Bob Hoehn and he liked the idea, so we went with it.

"The presentation was a little more organized this year. It was hard last year. … It was hard for me to even pull into this parking lot. I hadn't been here since I came to watch Mike play," she added.

When Rodgers played, he played with passion. He played with banged-up knees and never missed a game after once taking a stick to his left eye that opened a gash requiring 12 stitches to close."He nearly lost that eye," his mother said. "But he wore a (face) shield and continued to play."Hoehn remembered Rodgers as one of the league's top players."No question about it," he said. "He was here every night and he could put the ball in the net."It's fitting this award be in Mike's name. He demonstrated the heart and dedication it takes to play this game."The Dek hockey adult league has 10 teams. It plays both fall and spring leagues. Rodgers was a consistent player in both.Rodgers' favorite professional hockey player was former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, though he had numerous jerseys of other players.Included among those jerseys was that of Mike Rogers, a former Hartford Whalers center."Mike played in that Dek hockey league before he was even old enough to," Diana Rodgers said. "Hockey is the only sport he really cared about."Steadman feels much the same way.The goalie for the Butler High School hockey team until he graduated in 1994, the 29-year-old has never stopped playing the game."I never knew him (Rodgers), but it sounds like he had the same passion for hockey that I have," Steadman said. "This is a great way to carry on his name."