14U AAA

Congratulations to the more than 30 Alliance players that were recently selected at the Texas Affiliate Camp (TAC) in Dallas to represent Texas and Oklahoma at the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) Development Camp, which is scheduled for May 2-6 at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah.

14U Bantam AAA: The Alliance 14U AAA team had a good tournament, beating the Colorado Thunderbirds, getting nipped in overtime by the Attack, and then playing tough before falling to the eventual champion Phoenix Firebirds at the 2007 Rocky Mountain District Championships in Frisco.

It's finally here, and the games are being played now in the 2007 Rocky Mountain District Championships in Frisco. The Pointstreak link has been activated and game results, box scores, and stats are now available.

14U Tier I Bantam AAA: The Texas Attack '92AAA recovered from a 3-goal 2nd period deficit to defeat the Alliance 14U Bantam AAA team 8-6 in Game 2 of the Texas State Championships to take the 3-game series 2-0 for the 14U Tier I title Saturday at the StarCenter in Grapevine. The Attack had taken Game 1 earlier in the day by a score of 7-4. Both teams will advance to the 2007 Rocky Mountain District Championships in Dallas March 1st- 4th.

The Tier I Divisions of the Texas State Championships start today, with all 4 age groups playing Games 1 & 2 of their 3-game series at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Grapevine. Alliance has 3 teams participating, in the 16U, 14U and 12U age groups. To see the schedule and results of games, click HERE...

The 2007 version of the Dallas Cup was concluded in exciting fashion Sunday, and there are 4 new Champions. In the 16UAAA Division, PF Chang's used the momentum of a 3-2 double overtime win in the Semi-Finals to propel themselves to a 4-1 win in the Championship over the Colorado Thunderbirds. In the 16UAA Division, the Alliance Bulldog Prep team turned the tables on the Palm Beach IceHawks, handing them their only loss of the tournament after losing to them earlier in preliminary play, and won when it counted most in the final, 4-0.

In the 14UAAA Division, the Florida Everblades did the same, taking down the Texas Attack in the final 4-3, after having lost to them on Saturday. In the 12UAAA Division, the Phoenix Firebirds completed their sweep through the tournament, beating the Alliance Bulldogs in the final 4-2, the same score they posted against one another on Saturday as well.

It was a great weekend, and the Alliance Hockey Association congratulates all the participating teams on a well-played tournament, great competition, and camaraderie among all players, parents, and coaches during the tournament. A huge THANK YOU goes out to all the Alliance parents that helped out and extended a hand of Texas hospitality to our out of state visitors, and we look forward to another great Dallas Cup in 2008.

Day 2 of the Alliance Dallas Cup today provides for 28 more games of expected intense and competitive action, carrying forward from the momentum of Friday's contests. Of the 22 games played Friday, there were 4 ties and 14 games with margins of 2 goals or less. All spots in the playoffs are still up for grabs in every division, with Saturday's games looming big.

There are 2 Alliance teams in NTXHL action this weekend, the 18U Midget Major AA and Squirt Prep teams. You can click on the "Weekend Games" tab at the top of our home page, which will take you to a page with a schedule indicating all the Alliance games being played this weekend, with results as they become available.

With 28 teams from 22 different organizations in 4 divisions, the Alliance Dallas Cup is bigger and better than ever in 2007, and play starts to this morning at Valley Ranch and Polar Ice, with 6 total Alliance teams participating. The 18U Prep Bulldogs actually started play Thursday afternoon in the 18UAAA Division, hosted by the Dallas Stars Major Midget AAA at Farmers Branch.

Come out and see some of the best youth hockey in the country this weekend. Game schedules, results, box scores, stats, rosters, and more can be seen by going to our Dallas Cup page HERE....

The remainder of Alliance games for the weekend will be posted later today (Friday) to the "Weekend Games" tab at the top of our home page.

The Alliance Youth Hockey Association is proud to announce that we have been selected by the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) to host the 2007 RMD Championships for 6 of the 8 Boys Divisions. Alliance will be the official hosts for the Tier I 18U, 16U, 14U and 12U Divisions, and the Tier II 18U and 12U Divisions. The Houston Wild has been selected to host the Tier II 16U, 14U, and all Girl Divisions.

Alliance and the Wild have met, and will be hosting the RMD Championships together, to present them as one continuous tournament. The Tier I Championships will be held March 1-4, and the Tier II will be held March 8-11, with all games being played at the Dr. Pepper StarCenters in Frisco and Plano respectively. The Girl Divisions will be played March 1-4 in Houston.

As the teams to participate have not yet been selected by the RMD (other than the Hosts), the game schedules and related information has not yet been released. To see the official web site of the RMD Championships, click HERE...

Other Thanksgiving Notables.....The Squirt Prep team won 3 straight, and advanced to the Championship Game of the Dallas Stars Select Fall Roundup, falling in the Final to the Texas Aces A1 team. As mentioned above, the 16U Midget Minor Prep team went 4-1-1 in route to the Semi-Finals of the Mile High Thanksgiving Tournament in Colorado, falling to their 16U AA brethren in an in-house tilt. The Bantam AAA team went 3-1-0, taking their only loss of the weekend in the Quarter-Finals of the Team Illinois Thanksgiving Tournament in Chicago.

Thanksgiving is a time for celebration, thanks, and reflection on the many blessings we have experienced, but sometimes it just comes down to believing Thanksgiving was created for hockey tournaments. Evidence of that is the 1,730,000 Google hits on "Thanksgiving Hockey." The biggest weekend of the season is heading our way, as this week 11 Alliance teams will play almost 50 games in 5 different tournaments, from the mountains of Colorado and the deserts of Arizona, to the shores of Lake Michigan and to the city lights of Bid D.

The big draw, as in tradition with years past, is the always competitive Mile High Thanksgiving Tournament in Littleton, Colorado, where five Bulldog squads will compete with some of the best teams in the west. Our two top Midget Major & Minor teams will compete here locally, starting play Wednesday in the nationally recognized US Hockey News Challenge Cup, and the Bantam AAA team will get a taste of Chicago in the Team Illinois Thanksgiving Tournament. The 12U PeeWee A team will get warm at the Thanksgiving Shootout in Phoenix, while our Squirt teams will stay at home in Valley Ranch with the Dallas Stars Select Fall Roundup.

The teams participating in the 5th Annual Dallas Cup Invitational Tournament have been confirmed, with the newest division of the tournament, 12U PeeWee AAA, making it's debut with 8 teams. This year, the 16U Minor Midget AAA Division has 12 teams, up 2 from last year, with the new 14U Bantam AAA Division having 4 teams.

The 16U Minor Midget AA Division has 2 more teams to confirm to bring its total to 8, making the total number of teams in the tournament this year at thirty two (32). To see the complete list of accepted teams, click HERE...

Alliance – 4, Team Carolina - 3: The Alliance Bantam AAA Bulldogs came out this morning ready to play in Game 3 of the Nike/Bauer AAA International Invitational. Their opponent, Team Carolina, had just come off of a tie with the California Wave, and a win against the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins.

In the first period, the Bulldogs went on a power play and scored a goal with 12:46 left in the period for an early 1-0 lead. Carolina came back with an even strength goal at 9:23 tying it up at 1-1. Alliance, however, was not through for the period, and scored an even strength goal with only 1:54 left in the period ending the period with a 2-1 lead.

The second period continued with quite a few penalties, and fortunately, the Bulldogs were able to capitalize. Working with a 5 on 3 power play opportunity, Alliance scored with 8:42 left in the period, making the score now 3-1. This was the only scoring within the second period.

The third period was full of penalties, but there was not any scoring until a fast and furious finish. Team Carolina scored an even strength goal with 4:01 left in the game to make it a 1-goal game at 3-2 Alliance. The Bulldogs quickly countered, with a beautiful breakaway goal at 3:07 increasing their lead once again by two at 4-2. Team Carolina was not finished, and scored a final even strength goal with just 1:47 left in the game, making the final score a 4-3 win for the Alliance Bulldogs.

Chicago Mission – 5, Alliance – 2: The second game of the day and of the Nike/Bauer AAA International Invite was against another very good opponent, the hometown Chicago Mission. The Bulldogs played a tough game, but came out on the short side, being out-shot 29 to 16. In the first period, Chicago scored two even strength goals, the first with 13:10 left in the Period, and the second with 8:08 left in the period to take a 2-0 lead into the 2^nd frame. The Mission increased their lead with a third goal at 4:10 left in the second, a power play goal, making the score 3 -0.

In the third period, the Bulldogs came back with a goal at 13:13 of the period to make the score 3-1. However, at 12:51, Chicago scored an even strength goal putting the score back to a 3-goal margin at 4-1. Alliance answered back less than a minute later, when at 12:03, the Bulldogs tallied a power play goal to make it 4-2. Chicago then went on a power play, and scored another back door goal with 8:00 left in the period, ending the game at 5-2.

Alliance - 3, Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins – 3: The Bulldogs had an early wakeup call this morning for their 7:00 a.m. opening game of the Nike/Bauer AAA International Invite against the Pittsburgh Jr. Penquins. It was an exciting game from start to finish, with back and forth lead changes, finally ending in a 3-3 tie.

In the first period, the Bulldogs scored an even strength goal at 8:02 left in the first period and went up 1-0. The period stayed with the Bulldogs up by one into the second period, until with 4:39 left in the middle frame, the Penguins scored an even strength goal to tie it up at 1-1. Pittsburgh then scored a second goal with 3:38 left in the second period, once again an even strength goal, giving them a 2-1 lead after 2 periods of play.

The third period started with Pittsburgh scoring a third goal with 12:00 left in the period, a breakaway goal, making the game 3-1. However, with 5:16 left in the period, the Bulldogs came back with a power play goal making the score 3-2. This got Alliance on a roll, and they scored once again with 1:44 left on an even strength goal, tying it up at 3-3.

Attack - 10, Alliance - 3: In a game that could serve as a "Poster Boy" for the penalty filled contests occurring throughout USA Hockey all across America, this exhibition against the Texas Attack Bantam AAA team in Valley Ranch Saturday night was not pretty on any accounts. More than half the goals scored in the game came with a 2-man advantage, while 75% of all goals were on the power play. There was even a 3 on 5 shorthanded tally mixed in for good measure. In the end, what was anticipated to be a great game as a follow-up to the overtime contest between these 2 teams less than a month ago, never materialized.

The Attack opened the scoring with back to back 5 on 3 tallies less than a minute apart, halfway through the opening frame for a 2-0 lead. Alliance responded late in the period with a power play goal as well to make it 2-1 headed into the 2nd period, but it was never going to be close after that. As the second period began, so did the parade to the penalty box for both teams. The Attack added 2 more 5 on 3 goals, a 5 on 4 tally, and a shorthanded score to make it 6-1 at the end of 2 periods, effectively putting the game out of reach.

The Attack added one more 5 on 3 mark to make it 7-1 early in the 3rd, before both teams would mix in a few rare even strength goals to go along with a couple more man advantage goals to bring the final score to 10-3. The wide open, free-wheeling skating USA Hockey is looking for was nowhere to be found at Valley Ranch on Saturday night. The Bulldogs will put this one way behind them, as they begin preparations to hit the road to Philadelphia this Friday for the Silver Sticks Regionals.

Attack - 4, Alliance - 3 (OT): The Alliance Bantam AAA team started their season early Sunday morning at Polar Ice, with a fast paced exhibition against the Texas Attack Bantam AAA team. The first period began hard hitting right from the start. The first goal was scored with 8:53 left in the first period by the Attack, while the Bulldogs were on a Penalty Kill situation. The 1-0 lead was the result of an up-close tally on a rebound at the net.

The Bulldogs quickly regrouped, and came on strong for an answering goal at 6:50 in the first period to knot the score at 1-1. The Bulldogs scored this goal while on the Power Play, with a shot that split the Attack defense and then went in the net glove high. There were no further goals in the first period, just lots of hard hitting, ending the first period as a 1-1 tie.

The second period remained scoreless until with only 25 seconds left in the period, the Attack scored another power play goal, causing the second period to end 2-1 in favor of the Attack.

The third period began with the fourth goal being scored at 10:56 by the Attack, a wrist shot from the point, an even strength goal making the score 3-1. The Bulldogs kicked it up a notch, and put in two unanswered goals in the third period to tie it up at 3–3, with these goals coming at 7:20 and 3:43 respectfully. One tally was a power play goal with a two man advantage, and the other came while both teams were at full strength.

The game ended in regulation with the score stilled tied at 3-3, and the teams headed into a 5 minute overtime period. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost in overtime, when with 4:20 left on the clock, the Attack scored with a wrist shot in the slot to win the game 4-3 in OT. An exciting beginning to a great Bulldog season!

Monday, August 14, 2006

U14 AAA Roster & Preliminary Schedule Released...

The Alliance U14 Bantam AAA Roster and Preliminary Schedule for the 2006-2007 season was released today, and this team will be busy early, as they currently have several events scheduled for the fall, starting with the Silver Sticks Regional in Philadelphia, and will also compete again in the very tough London Jr. Knights Invitational in Ontario during October.

In addition to other events, the Bulldogs will spend their Thanksgiving at home in Dallas for the 2006 EHK Sports USHN Challenge Cup, and end the first half of the season with a trip to Minnesota to face Shattuck's St. Mary's in a 3-game series. Alliance will also most likely be competing in a newly formed Bantam Tier I Division of the 2007 Dallas Cup this year in January, hosted by Alliance.

The Bulldogs will once again play an independent schedule, and attempt to return to the USA Hockey National Championships after falling in the Regional Championship Game last season, ending a fine campaign ranked #11 in the Nation. Alliance was the 2005 Rocky Mountain District Champions and competed in the 2005 National Championships.