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USA Hockey National
Championships 2004
    
PeeWees &
Bantams
Both Alliance
Teams Earn 3rd Place In the Nation
To see more
detailed information and pictures of Alliance teams during the 2004 USA
Hockey National Championships, see Newsletters by clicking
HERE...
PeeWees Come Up Just Short, Fall 4-2 in National
Semi-Final
Alliance PeeWees Play Like Champions
In their first
National Semifinal appearance the Alliance
Pee Wees played like Champions but lost to the Michigan Devils 4-2 who went on
to beat the Philadelphia Phantoms 8-3 and are now the reigning 2004 U12 National
Champions. At 13:29 in the first
period Alliance player #11 Matt McKinney sprawled on the ice for a defensive
play and met with tragedy. A Devils players skate sliced through his left
forearm. Matt tried to skate to the bench with his injured arm and was assisted
by the Devils coach who jumped onto the ice and helped him the rest of the way.
The injury was severe and there was tremendous blood loss. Due to the amount of
blood on the bench there was a delay of game while arena staff cleaned up the
bench. All the players skated around and tried to stay focused but it was very
unsettling to see their teammate injured in such a fashion. It was a huge blow
to the offensive strength of the team. Matt was leading the team with 15 points
for the tournament.
The first period was scoreless for both teams. Alliance
killed off two penalties successfully, but in the opening minutes of the second
period while still on the penalty kill the Michigan Devils had their first goal.
28 seconds later the Devils had their second goal. Following that Alliance
killed off several penalties successfully; they even went 5 on 3 for a full
minute without allowing a score. The penalty-killing unit of Blake Coleman, Dru
Burns, Corey Ramsey and Kasey Womble did an excellent job.
Finally at 8:48 in
the second period Alliance went on the power play and capitalized on the
opportunity, they scored their first goal. #25 Blake Coleman backhanded a shot
in the top left corner of the net after receiving a pass in the Alliance zone
from Corey Ramsey. The Devils had finally been scored on, this was the first
goal scored on the Michigan Devils in the National tournament. Until that time
they had gone 30-0. Following that goal the Alliance penalty-killing unit had to
kill off another 5 on 3 this time for a full minute and a half. With two of our
top offensive players in the box (Christopher Boe and Ryan Daugherty), the
penalty kill unit did an awesome job. When the penalty was over the team went
back to full strength but with 35.7 seconds left in the period Michigan slipped
in their third goal.
Once more the players left the ice for a 12-minute ice
resurface and a rest for their legs. The Alliance players came out hard in the
third period. At 7:20 into the third period #25 Blake Coleman placed a rebound
from Christian Ferm hard in the right side of the net to make the score 3-2
Devils. Alliance was fighting back hard they were hot on Michigan’s heals.
Michigan’s goalie was not allowing many opportunities, he was cutting off all
the angles and not spitting out any rebounds. Then Alliance took one more
penalty.
The Toledo Storm head
coach (formerly University of Minnesota coach) who was sitting in our stands was
heard to yell, “Come on ref let them play!” After successfully killing
off one more penalty the players were truly exhausted. Being without Matt was
causing some players to be double and triple shifted. At 12:38 in the third
period the Devils got their fourth and final goal. A pass was sent in from the
corner and deflected off one of the Alliance defenseman’s skates into the
goal. Alliance still fought hard and had some opportunities but with only one
minute left in the game the referees called one more hooking call and the game
was over.
Following the game the Alliance Bulldogs were presented
with their 3rd place National Championship medals. The Michigan
Devils coach said we were the best game of the tournament and one of the best
teams they had played all season. The majority of this Michigan Devils team will
be following their head coach to Tier I AAA next season playing for Belle Tire.
This was a tremendous accomplishment for all of the Alliance Pee Wee players.
For a team that was so young and that had only five returning players from the
year before their accomplishments were phenomenal. We are all very proud of what
they have accomplished this season.
Texoma Travel League Champions, Texas State Champions,
Rocky Mountain District Champions and 3rd best U12 Tier II team in
the country!!
Injury follow-ups:
#11 Matt McKinney underwent surgery on his left forearm Saturday evening. The
surgeon attached tendons and ligaments and stitched up the outer forearm. While
there is some slight nerve damage it is not thought to be permanent. Matt should
be fully recovered in four to six weeks.
PeeWees Race Back, Beat
Affton 4-3 in Quarterfinal
Bulldogs Advance to Semi-Finals, Face #1 Michigan
In their first
National Quarterfinal appearance the
Alliance Pee Wees defeated the Affton Americans from
St. Louis
with a 4-3 win. The game was a hard fought game.
In the first period
Affton
scored on their first shift. Following that we had two players in the box one
for checking and the other for interference. After killing off the first penalty
#19 Ryan Daugherty came down the ice took a shot and missed, circled the net
picked up the puck and shot again, that one also missed, he then picked up the
puck one more time and shot the puck in the net over the goalies head. Three’s
a charm and
Alliance
had their first goal, short handed and unassisted! This was Ryan’s first game
back after his injury on Thursday.
Affton
had an answering goal after one of our defenders sent the break out past to
their offense coming into the zone. Following, that there were several penalties
against
Alliance
that were not called two players had breakaways and were taken down with no
call and there was a check from behind with no call. The 1st period ended 2-1
Affton.
The opening of the second period saw Matt McKinney and Ryan Daugherty go into
the zone, Matt took a shot and Ryan Daugherty tipped in the rebound to tie up
the game. Then Again, two of our players received penalties for clean
valid checks and went to the box. Alliance killed off the first penalty and then
during the second penalty kill, Ryan Daugherty took the puck in the zone and
passed it across the net to Blake Coleman who put the puck in the goal for the
Alliance’s first lead of the game.
The next shift while still on the penalty
kill Matt McKinney took the puck in the zone and passed it across to Christopher Boe who also put the puck in the net. Two short-handed goals on one penalty kill
had given
Alliance
a 4-2 lead in the second.
Alliance
had been out shooting
Affton
all game but the shots were finally starting to fall. Shots on goal were 26 to
21.
Finally, the zamboni came on to resurface the ice and give the kids some time to
rest and regroup. Both teams looked very tired towards the end of the second
period. Every game here at the Nationals has been extremely intense and the wear
and tear is beginning to show. Legs are tired, bruises and injuries are nagging
but the kids are hanging tough. Jonathon Clutton saw a flurry of shots but
managed to keep all the goals on the other side of the goal line.
Once more as the third period opened a defensemen for
Alliance
took the player to the outside leaning in and using their body while skating.
As the
Affton
player fell the referees arm came up for a penalty and called hooking? There
was no stick involved in the play.
Alliance
managed to hold off the penalty. With 2 ½ minutes left in the game Affton
pulled their goalie and went six on five. Alliance hung tough but with 2.4
seconds left in the period Affton shot the puck, Jon covered it in front of the
goal line and three Affton players jumped on him and shoved both Jon and the
puck behind the goal line and the referees called it a goal making it 4-3
Alliance. A time out was called, then the puck was dropped at center ice and the
game was over.
Injury follow-ups:
#19 Ryan Daugherty played his first game since Thursday and looked like one of
the few players on the ice who had fresh legs. He played an awesome game.
PeeWees
Coast into Quarterfinals with 9-0 Win
Alliance Finish Preliminaries Undefeated, Punish Host Livonia
Alliance PeeWees undefeated in opening rounds!! Defeat Host Team
Livonia
Knights 9 to 0 to earn a birth in the Quarterfinals In their third National
Championship appearance the Alliance Pee Wees played the host team the Livonia
Knights. While
Livonia
played hard, they were outmatched by the Alliance Bulldogs. The opening goal
was scored by #4 Patrick Price, assisted by Josh Loomis and Dru Burns. Dru
passed the puck to Josh who took a shot, there was a scuffle in front of the net
and Patrick put the puck in the net. The second goal was scored by #25 Blake
Coleman on a pass out of the zone from Christopher Boe. The third and final goal
of the period was also scored by #25 Blake Coleman. Christopher Boe dove for the
puck as he went down and sent it low in the corner to Matt McKinney who passed
it out of the corner to Blake for a low shot in the goal to make it 3-0 at
the end of the 1st period.
The second period started with a
penalty. While on the penalty kill, #11 Matt McKinney scored a short-handed goal
assisted by Blake Coleman and Dru Burns. Dru passed the puck from the corner in
the Alliance zone to Blake along the boards, as Blake was skating the puck out
of the zone he was tripped and went to his knees, he then passed the puck out of
the zone and cross ice from his knees to Matt McKinney, who took the puck down
and scored for the fourth goal with the delayed
penalty being waved off. Christopher Boe #79 then scored to make it 5-0. The
goal to bring the game score to 6-0 was scored by #21 Corey Ramsey in the top
left corner, assisted by Blake Coleman and Dru Burns.
The second period saw five frustration penalties by the Knights.
Kasey Womble was checked from behind and several un-sportsman like
penalties occurred. John Clutton maintained his exemplary job in goal for the
first two periods. Shots on goal were 16
Alliance
vs. 9
Livonia
. The shutout was drawing closer for the Bulldogs.
The third period opened with Connor
Capetillo in the goal for the Alliance Bulldogs. Connor maintained the shut out
for the Bulldogs. #79 Christopher Boe opened the period with the first
unassisted goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, Christopher went to the box for
tripping and #66 Garrett McCook utilized the opportunity to get the second short
handed
Alliance
goal of the game making it 8-0
Alliance
, the Livonia Knights started taking major frustration penalties. With 2 minutes
left in the game
Livonia
boarded Kasey Womble who went down with an injury. He had taken a check from
behind in the second period, which resulted in a 2 and 10 for the
Livonia
player. The final goal of the game was scored by defenseman #26
Addison
Moody while on the power play. After receiving the pass from JC Tellez, from
Patrick Price, Addison took a shot from the point, which went in to complete the
game at 9-0
Alliance
.
The game was won handily. The
effective utilization of the defense and good passing, as shown by Dru Burns our
female defensemen who had four assists for the game made it an easy win. In
addition, our forwards also used good speed and passing. There was only one
unassisted goal. Excellent teamwork made this a very effortless game for
Alliance
.
Injury follow-ups:
#79 Christopher Boe who went to the hospital after our first game is doing
great, as can be evidenced by his two goals and two assists in this game.
#19 Ryan Daugherty who was taken to
the hospital in game two for a potential shoulder/collar bone injury did not
play today but did participate in this afternoons practice and will be skating
tomorrow. It is thought to be some ligaments in the shoulder which caused the
initial pain.
#20 Kasey Womble was treated and
released following game #3 and did not require a visit to the hospital.
PeeWees
Weather ‘Storm, Win 5-4
Alliance Gets Early Lead, Outlasts Toledo in Back & Forth Game
In the their second game at the National Championship, the
Alliance Peewees played the Toledo Storm. Toledo is a big strong team that
defeated yesterday’s opponent the Maine PVHC Bears 14 to 1. They play in
Division I of the Little Caesars league. Their team has three strong lines with
some amazing players but the Alliance Peewees were able to hold them off. Coach
Vanover was quoted as saying they were our toughest competition all season.
Alliance started the first period strong.
However, penalties on
both sides saw the Storm scoring their first goal on a 4 on 4, 7 minutes into
the first period. Thirty seconds later the Toledo Storm took a penalty for
roughing drawn by Josh Loomis. Alliance went on a 4 on 3 and the goal was
answered one minute after Toledo’s goal by #11 Matt McKinney with a cross goal
pass from Blake Coleman, that was fed to him from behind the net by Christopher Boe. Matt buried the puck in the top right corner. Christopher returned to the
team yesterday after spending six hours in the emergency room with a sore neck
and was ready to play!
Thirty seconds later Christopher Boe took a shot on goal
and Matt McKinney shot the rebound into the net to put the Alliance up 2-1. Alliance just kept bringing it. Storm took one more penalty and Alliance
capitalized on the power play. At 11:18 into the first period Blake Coleman sent
a cross-ice pass to Matt McKinney who was at the blue line. Matt took the puck
into the Toledo zone and buried the shot in the net for his second hat trick of
the tournament!
The next shift Patrick Price went to the penalty box for
roughing followed by Dru Burns for tripping. Alliance was able to kill off the
penalties for the rest of the first period. Kasey Womble dove in front of the
net and blocked a beautiful shot by the Toledo Storm with 13 seconds remaining
in the period. The Alliance had to kill off eight minutes of penalties in the
first period. Garrett McCook and Corey Ramsey did a nice job helping kill
penalties. The 1st period ended with Alliance up 3-1.
Unfortunately, their luck did not hold out very long into the second
period. The Storm still on a power play put the puck in the net to bring the
Storm within one goal, 3-2. This goal was followed by two more Alliance
penalties. The team did an admirable job of killing off the penalties but the
kids were getting tired and they were definitely slowing down. Toledo took
advantage of a brief let down to tie up the game 3-3. But, at 12 minutes into
the second Josh Loomis passed the puck to Patrick Price who dumped it into the
zone for a line change. Josh had exited the ice and Ryan Daugherty came into the
zone picked up the puck and backhanded it to take the lead back. It was 4-3
Alliance after 2 periods. Toledo out shot the bulldogs in the second period. Goaltender
Jonathon Clutton stood on his head. He held the team in the game during a
penalty-ridden period, when the kid’s exhaustion was showing.
Finally, it was time to go to the dressing room while the
ice was resurfaced. The Alliance
boys came out recharged and played hard for several shifts. Then there was a
mid-ice collision between Ryan Daugherty and #2 Michael Balogh of the Toledo
Storm. Ryan was crossed checked with the players stick and went down with what
was thought to be a broken collarbone. Once more an Alliance player was strapped
to a stretcher and taken to the emergency room. With Ryan gone the already tired
Alliance players were now going to have to work even harder because they were
missing a key player. At 8:15 into the period the Toledo Storm again tied it up
to make it 4-4. Less than thirty seconds later Blake Coleman #25 scored what
ended up being the final goal of the period for either team. On a pass from
Christopher Boe, Matt McKinney passed to Blake Coleman who took a shot on goal,
the Toledo goalie blocked the shot but Blake followed that up by backhanding in
his own rebound into the net to bring the score to 5-4.
There were still 7
minutes and 45 seconds left in the third period. Alliance worked hard to keep
the puck in the Toledo zone. Coach Vanover was rolling lines as fast as he could
to give some of the players a rest. Grady Graham came off the bench and was
checked into the boards while trying to keep the puck deep. He got back up only
to be checked hard again. But, he didn’t let that stop him; Grady just kept
fighting to keep the puck in the zone. Following that shift Alliance took it’s
final penalty of the game and the penalty killing team came back on the ice.
Toledo pulled their goalie with two and half minutes remaining making it a 6 on
4. It was a fight to the very end but the Alliance Bulldogs hung on to get their
second win at the of the championship weekend.
PeeWees Score Early & Often,
Open with 7-1 Win
Alliance Pounds Alaska in Game #1 at USA Nationals
The Alliance PeeWees had a
definitive win over the Alaska All-Stars
in their first National Championship appearance. The first goal was scored only
44 seconds into the game by Blake Coleman, assisted by a beautiful pass from
Justin Fikes. Josh Loomis followed up with a second goal at 1:52 into the
period, assisted by Corey Ramsey and Grady Graham. Grady passed it to Corey who
took a shot on net, Josh picked up the rebound and scooped it up over the
goalie.
Then the
Alliance
penalties started rolling in. Unlike in the
Rocky
Mountain
Regional, the philosophy of the referee was to not “let them play,” and he
called a tight game. Three penalties by the
Alliance
team left them short-handed for quite a while in the first period, but the
penalty killers did their job and no power play goals were scored. On the third
Bulldog penalty,
Alliance
forward Ryan Daugherty scored short handed and unassisted. The 1st period finished
3-0
Alliance, with the shots on goal 7-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The second period opened with three more penalties against the
Bulldogs. Again while on the penalty
kill, Matt McKinney, assisted by Blake Coleman, scored another short-handed
goal. At 6:00 into the 2nd
period, Garrett McCook scored a 4 on 4 goal, with assists from Ryan Daugherty
and Corey Ramsey. This goal was followed up by Matt McKinney’s second goal, a
rebound off a shot from the point by Justin Fikes, to make the score 6-0
Alliance
.
Alliance
then took one more penalty, but this time was unable to kill off the penalty,
and the All-Stars put one in the net to make it 6-1 after 2 periods. This ended the second
period, with shots on goal being 21-13
Alliance
.
The third period
opened with
Alliance
taking their final penalty of the game. About
6 minutes into the period Matt McKinney scored once again on an assist from
Blake Coleman, making
McKinney
the first Bulldog to ever get a hat trick in the National Championships.
Later in the period
Christopher Boe went into the boards head first was immobilized, taken off the
ice, and taken to the hospital. Word
on his condition is still unknown at this time.
The Bulldog defense,
led by star female defensemen Dru Burns, did an excellent job of keeping
Alaska
off the scoreboard while being short handed much of the game. Kasey Womble had
an amazing defensive effort when he was caught 3 on 1, blocking a pass and then
retrieved it from the corner to clear the zone.
Alliance
overcame 26 minutes in penalties, and held the All-Stars to 1 for 9 on the man
advantage, while winning the shot battle 29 to 23.
For more information on the All-Stars, go to….
http://www.alaskaallstars.com/PeeweeMajor.htm
Comeback Stalls, Bantam National Championship Run Ends 6-4
Bulldogs Drop Semi-Final to #1 San Jose
The Alliance Bantam AA Bulldogs did
not have the same success playing a team for the second time as they have had
recently, as they played the Pacific District Champion San Jose Jr. Sharks for
the second time this season Saturday night. The Sharks took the Bulldogs as a
major threat to their National Championship hopes, and worked hard to keep those
hopes alive for a 6-4 win in the Semi-Finals of the USA Hockey National
Championships in South Burlington, Vermont.
Alliance lost
one of their top forwards, Jason Roemer, to a major knee injury in the 1st
period while the game was still tight at 1-1. The loss of one of their high
energy sources and seeing him taken off the ice on a stretcher was devastating
to the Bulldogs, and they slumped quickly to fall behind at the end of the period
3-1. They fell further behind in the 2nd at 6-2, but added 2 goals in the first
half of the 3rd to threaten making a game of it, but just ran out of steam and
into a Shark team that would not cave in.
For the 2nd time in the tournament,
the Bulldogs struck pay-dirt first, and again for the 2nd time, it would not be
a sign of good things to come for Alliance. One fan was noted as saying
Alliance should take the opening face-off and go score on themselves on purpose,
as they had won each game in the tournament in which they had given up the first
goal (3 times). Somehow, this “plan” did not get communicated to Bulldog Coach
Miles Newsome.
With the game scoreless early,
Alliance defenseman Jordan Hall held the zone at the blue-line along the
left-wing boards and dumped the puck back into the offensive corner where
forward Andrew Aragona was fore-checking very aggressively. Andrew got the puck
and avoided the Shark defense into the area behind the San Jose goal, and then
surprised the Shark goalie with a wrap-around to the 5-hole for a 1-0 lead at
only 2:10 of the 1st period. It would be a long time and a lot of bad things
would happen before the Bulldogs would light the lamp again.
The Sharks did not take long to
respond. Just over 3 minutes later, San Jose would tie the score on a goal by
John Kiely. The game then settled down until 8:42 of the period, when things
really turned south for the Bulldogs. As the puck was cleared from their own
end by San Jose, Roemer turned to leave the zone and was hit by a Shark player
knee on knee. After flying through the air, he landed at the blue-line and
remained there for more than 20 minutes, until he was escorted from the ice on a
gurney by Burlington EMTs, and with an air cast on his right leg.
San Jose would take their first lead
at the 11:00 mark when Adam Johnson, one of the top players in the tournament,
collected a rebound and put it in for a 2-1 edge for the Sharks. Alliance was
hoping to get out of the 1st period down only one goal, but it was not to be.
On a shot from the point that was going wide of the goal, San Jose forward
Christopher Gudmundson re-directed the puck into the net with the shaft of his
stick. With only 37 seconds left in the period, that just seemed to take the
wind out of the Alliance sails. The Bulldogs went to the first intermission
trailing 3-1.
The 2nd period started right where
the 1st left off, disastrous for Alliance. Less than a minute into the period, another rebound was left to be collected by a Shark forechecker, and it
was 4-1. Just over another minute later, another re-direction of a shot made
the score 5-1 just 2:05 into the 2nd period. It stayed a 4-goal margin for the
next 13 minutes until Alliance turned the puck over in the slot while on a power
play breakout, and the Shark short-handed goal made it 6-1. This is when the
character of this Alliance team began to show itself. They are called
“Bulldogs” for a reason. This team had never quit all year, and always played
hard, regardless of the score. This game would be no different.
Still on the power play, Chad Hudson
got the puck from Nolan Descoteaux behind the net and made a great pass that
Colin Haas one-timed to make the score 6-2 with just 22 seconds remaining in the
2nd period. This made the differential still a wide 4 goals, but with fresh
legs at the beginning of the 3rd, anything could happen. It appeared early in
the 3rd, that maybe “anything” might just happen.
Alliance defenseman Justin Novak
made a nice pass that Hudson used to get himself into scoring position, and
that’s a position he usually thrives in, and Chad trimmed the lead to 3 just
4:16 into the final frame. It would be just over 4 minutes later that Novak
again figured in the scoresheet, this time getting the goal, as he worked a
3-way give and go with Aragona and Drew Jenkins to make the score 6-4 Sharks
with just under 8 minutes remaining. With a little more than seven minutes to
go and down only 2 goals, it was looking like another barn burner for the kids
from Texas.
The miracle comeback would not
happen though, as the Bulldogs ran out of gas and time, and their season ended
with a 6-4 loss in the National Semi-Finals at the hands of the San Jose
Sharks. The Sharks would out-shoot the Bulldogs for the game at 20-14.
It was
a great run for a great team, and a season that no one would ever forget. To
help them remember, each Bulldog was introduced to the crowd as they received
their 3rd Place Bronze Medal at center ice from a USA Hockey official.
 Bantams
Light Up the Fire in 6-3 Quarter-Final Win
Alliance Offense Comes to Life, Bulldogs Advance to Semi-Finals
The Alliance Bantam AA Bulldogs have proven the more they play a
team during the year, the better the results.
Such was the case again Saturday morning, as they played the Southeast
District Champion Atlanta Fire for the second time this season.
Losing to the Fire 5-4 in September meant nothing, except that maybe they
would catch
Atlanta
taking them not as serious as they should.
No one will ever know for sure, but the Bulldogs certainly were
serious, as they jumped all over the Fire and cruised to a 6-3 win in the
Quarterfinals of the USA Hockey National Championships in
South Burlington,
Vermont.
The start was again same song, third
verse, as they spotted the Fire a 1-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game.
In each of three wins thus far at Nationals, the Bulldogs have given up
the first goal early in the 1st period.
In their only loss, they scored first against
Pittsburgh
. The Fire held to the one goal lead
throughout the first period, despite being outplayed and outshot by the Bulldogs
7 to 4.
Early in the 2nd,
Alliance
finally decided to show they were ready to play, and tied the scored on the
first of two goals by Nolan Descoteaux, with a feed from Robbie Price just 2:02
into the period. It would stay
at 1-1 until less than 6 minutes remained in the period.
That is when the game really heated up, with 4 goals being scored before
the end of the period.
Alliance
took their first lead when Jason Roemer got a pass from Colin Haas and
re-directed it past the Fire goalie. The
lead did not last long, as Atlanta tied the game again just over 2 minutes later
as a shot from the Atlanta point was deflected past goalie Brandon Bailey by a
Bulldog defenseman trying to glove hand the puck. The disappointing goal only temporarily dampened the
Alliance
mood, as the ’Dogs re-took the lead for good only 36 seconds later.
While on the power play, Chad Hudson passed the puck from behind the net
to Roemer in the high slot. Roemer
wrested a shot that was deflected by the shaft of Haas’ stick and past the
Atlanta
netminder for a 3-2 lead at 13:53 remaining.
Exactly 1 minute later,
Alliance
would get their first 2-goal lead of the tournament and go to the third period
with all the momentum.
Descoteaux was the man again, as he rushed up through neutral ice and got a
great head-man pass from Price just across the center line.
Nolan then beat the defense across the blueline for a breakaway and
buried the puck in the upper left corner for a 4-2 lead going into the second
intermission. The Bulldogs again
out-shot
Atlanta
, 9-7 in the 2nd period.
If the Fire was ever to get back in the game, it would need the next goal as the
3rd period began. The
Bulldogs knew this as well, and would have nothing of it.
Less than 2 minutes into the final period, the Haas, Hudson, Roemer line
did it again, with all 3 forwards having a part in the play, with Roemer again
getting the goal as the third man at the end of 2 great passes.
Atlanta got on the board again at the 4:42 mark
with a power play tally to bring it to 5-3, but the other hot forward line of
Descoteaux,
McKinney
, Price put on the finishing touch at 8:36.
Another rush into the zone produced two more beautiful passes from
Descoteaux and Price, with
McKinney
being the benefactor this time by getting the final goal to finish out the
scoring at 6-3.
Alliance
then spent the rest of the time denying the Fire any significant chances, and
cruised into the semi-finals. The
Fire out-shot
Alliance
11 to 8 in the 3rd, and the shots were 24-22 Bulldogs for the game,
even though the scoring chances were heavily in favor of the ‘Dogs. Based on their victory, the Bulldogs will advance to the semifinals
against San Jose
, the #1 seed from the National Conference.
The Sharks beat
Pittsburgh
6-1 in the other early quarterfinal game. See
information below about that matchup. The
winner will advance to the Championship Game on Sunday.
For more information on the Fire, go to….http://www.atlantafire.com/
Bantam Cardiac Kids Win
Again in OT, 6-5
Tying Goal in Final Seconds Leads to Winner in Overtime, Bulldogs Advance
to Quarter-Finals as #2 Seed
The Alliance Bantam AA Bulldogs once again snatched victory from the jaws of
defeat, and won their 2nd overtime game, against the Host Team CSB Hawks of
Vermont on Friday in their 3rd and final preliminary game at the USA Hockey
National Championships in South Burlington, Vermont.
Coming from behind no less than 4 times during regulation, including scoring the
tying goal with only 41 seconds remaining in the 3rd period, the Bulldogs rode
the performance of goalie Brandon Bailey and a 4-goal day from Chad Hudson to a
6-5 win and a spot among the final 8 best teams in the country.
Hudson scored once in the 2nd and twice in the 3rd period to get the hat trick,
but the 2 biggest goals came within a couple of minutes of each other at the end
of the 3rd period and just into overtime. Chad breathed life into the Alliance
faithful when with an empty net at the Bulldog end, and Alliance’s player of the
day on the bench (Bailey), he put a shot from the right face-off circle past the
CSB netminder to suddenly tie the game at 5-5 with only 41 seconds left. Hudson
the got his 4th and biggest goal of the game when just into the extra period, he
won a face-off in the left circle and went straight to the crease with the puck
all alone. Chad put a backhand through the five-hole and the celebration began.
Even though Hudson got the hat trick and game winner, the big hero for Alliance
had to be Bailey, who put on a goalie exhibition second to none other seen this
year or at the National Tournament. Facing almost 40 shots, many of the second
and third chance variety, Bailey had the Hawks shaking their heads and banging
their sticks as they went to the face-off circle for another draw in the Bulldog
zone. The Alliance defense has definitely had better days this season, as no
pairing line of forwards seemed able to stop the CSB attack. The only defense
in this game was Bailey.
It was looking bad early for the Bulldogs, as in the 1st period two defensive
turnovers in their own end quickly resulted in a 2-0 CSB lead. Alliance then
hung on for the rest of the period and allowed no more, while being outshot 10
to 5. It would be the 2nd period when the game would quickly heat up to what
would become a track meet by the 3rd period.
Early in the 2nd, Hudson gave the Bulldogs some hope when he skated from the
half-boards into the middle of the offensive zone just inside the blueline and
surprised the goalie with a quick slap shot that beat him high to the stick side
to trim the lead to 2-1. Later at 10:43 of the period while shorthanded, a
loose puck was bumped into the neutral zone by defenseman Adam Hartwick and
picked up by Travis McKinney for a breakaway. Travis took advantage of the
opportunity, and scored to tie the game at 2-2. At this point, it appeared that
just a slight hint of concern started to creep into the attitude of the Hawks.
CSB however, responded less than a minute later while on the power play with
another goal to re-take the lead at 3-2. With Bailey continuing to hold the
Hawks at bay the rest of the period, the Bulldogs had hope going into the second
intermission trailing by only one goal. The Hawks again outshot the Bulldogs in
the 2nd period, this time by an even wider margin at 15 to 4.
The Bulldogs were rewarded for their hope and hard work when early in the 3rd,
Hudson took the puck from a feed by Andrew Aragona into the CSB zone alone and
against two Hawk defenders. Knocked to the ice in the slot, Hudson still
managed to get off a sweeping shot of the rolling puck while flat on his
stomach. The puck somehow found its way past the CSB goalie and the race was
now officially on at 3-3 less than 3 minutes into the period.
For the second consecutive goal, Alliance held the score tied for less than a
minute again. The Bulldog defense faltered again and left Bailey to defend a
breakaway against one of the top Hawk forwards. The opportunity was converted
and CSB led again at 4-3. The lead would last for just over 4 minutes before
the Bulldog tenacity would rear its head again.
At just about halfway into the 3rd period, Drew Jenkins won a face-off back to
forward Jason Roemer on top of the right face-off circle. Jason ripped a hard
shot that found its way through traffic and past the goalie to tie the score
again at 4-4. As if the Alliance defense did not have its hands full enough of
Hawk forwards playing at even strength, they could not help themselves from
taking another ill-advised penalty for slashing at 8:59. The Bulldog penalty
killers almost got it done, but with just 20 seconds remaining in the man
advantage, CSB converted for its 2nd power play goal of the game and a 5-4 lead
with less than 6 minutes to play.
The next five minutes could be called somewhat “uneventful”, even though there
were two more penalties on the Bulldogs and one on the Hawks. The “uneventful”
became somewhat otherwise with about a minute to go when Alliance pulled Bailey
in favor of the extra attacker. That is when the Bulldogs magic showed again
with Hudson tying the score with 41 seconds left.
CSB once again held the shot advantage in the 3rd at 13 to 5, but the Bulldogs
got the only shot of the overtime period, and what a shot it was. Overall shots
ended up at 38-15 in favor of CSB, but advancement at the National Tournament is
based on score only, and that is one battle Alliance has been winning with
regularity recently.
Based on their victory and the results of other games of the day, the Bulldogs
will advance to the quarterfinals as the #2 seed from the National Conference.
They will face the #3 seed from the American Conference, the Atlanta Fire at
9:00 AM Saturday morning. See information below about that matchup. The winner
will advance to the semi-finals Saturday night.
For more information on the Hawks, go to…. http://www.csbhawks.com/
Bantam Special Teams
Falter in 3-2 Loss
Pittsburgh gets 2 Powerplay Goals, Game
Winning Shorthanded Goal
The Alliance Bantam AA Bulldogs were right where they wanted to be against
the Pittsburgh Predators of the Mid-American District on Thursday in their
second game at the USA Hockey National Championships in
South Burlington ,
Vermont
. With just over four minutes
remaining in regulation, the score tied at 2-2, and just starting a power play,
everything appeared to be falling into place again for the team from
Texas
.
With the score tied this late in the game, a goal would more
than likely seal a victory and a trip to the quarterfinals.
Just a few seconds later, though, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing
3-2 after a short-handed goal, and looking at a must win on Friday for that trip
to the quarters that looked very real just minutes earlier.
Their last chance to tie the score ended when
Alliance
was penalized while attempting to make a last minute comeback.
Bad penalties,
questionable judgment, and a lackluster effort all-around got
Alliance
into a situation where a single mistake would make the difference, and it did.
A battle for the puck during the power play at the
Pittsburgh
blueline got both
Alliance
defensemen occupied, and the result was a short-handed breakaway giving the
Predators their second 3-2 win in as many days.
The first period ended like it would be the Bulldogs’ day, as
even though they were outshot 14 to 6 during the period, they came away with a
1-0 lead. A shot by Jason
Roemer from the outside edge of the left circle after a face-off found its way
into the net by deflecting off a Predator player near the goal.
Pittsburgh
kept the Bulldogs pinned in their own zone for much of the period, but
Alliance
had their chances to make the lead even bigger than it was.
Chad Hudson set up Travis McKinney for two 2 on 1 scoring opportunities,
but the Predator goalie was up to the task and denied McKinney both times.
The tough-luck day for
McKinney
continued as later he finally beat the goalie, only to have his shot from the
high slot hit the post and deflect into the corner.
The second period is when the
Alliance
penalties finally cost them dearly. As
if allowing a power play goal just earlier in the period at 5:53 wasn’t enough
warning, they took another penalty later while already short-handed to go
down 2 men for more than 1:30 of 3 on 5. It
didn’t take long for the Predators to strike again on a rebound for their 2nd
power play goal at 7:08 of the period to take a 2-1 lead.
It appeared only 2 minutes later that the Bulldogs may not had used up
all of their opportunities yet, as a shot by Colin Haas found its way through
traffic in front and past the Pittsburgh net-minder to tie the score at 2-2.
The
Pittsburgh
team again won the shot battle in the period, 9 to 5.
The late 2nd period goal gave the Bulldogs the momentum
they thought they needed to push them past the Predators in the 3rd, right up
until the late and devastating short-handed goal by
Pittsburgh
. The Predators made it 3 for 3 in
the shot column during the 3rd period, out-shooting
Alliance
5 to 4, making their shot advantage for the game 28-15.
Pittsburgh
was 2 for 5 on the man advantage, and killed all 3
Alliance
power play chances.
On an interesting note, Eddie Olczyk, Head Coach of the NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins, had 2 sons playing for the Predators, and was seen
during the first intermission giving the Pittsburgh coaches tips on how to
handle the Bulldogs. In
another twist, Tom Kostopoulos, brother of Alliance Head of Coaches Chris Kostopoulos
, is one of Olczyk’s players for the NHL Penguins.
For more information on the
Predators, go to……..http://www.pittsburghpredators.com
Bantams Finish Comeback
in OT, Prevail 3-2
Bulldogs Overcome Alaska and 1st
Period 2-0 Deficit in Game #1
The Alliance Bantam AA Bulldogs finally realized that only shots on
net would allow for goals to be scored, and that it’s better late than never
to get some as they came from behind to win 3-2 in overtime against the Arctic
Lions of Fairbanks, Alaska on Wednesday in their first game at the USA Hockey
National Championships in
South Burlington ,
Vermont
.
Alliance forward Jason Roemer, in the low slot
on his knees, put a backhand shot past the Lion goalie just over 3 minutes into
the extra period to give the Bulldogs the win and 2 points in the standings.
The winning play was started with a shot from the point that was blocked
in front of the net by an
Alaska
defender. The rebound was there in
the slot and Roemer fought off another Lion to get to it.
Period 1 of the first USA Nationals game for the Bulldogs did not
go good, as they fell behind 2-0 after 16 minutes of play.
The first Lion goal was scored when the puck was misplayed at the Bulldog
blueline, which resulted in a quick and sudden mini-breakaway goal at 12:28.
Less than 2 minutes later it became a 2-goal lead for the Lions as they
converted on the power play by collecting a rebound in front and putting it past
Alliance goalie Brandon Bailey. It
would be the last time they would enjoy the feeling, as Bailey got stronger
throughout the game and finished with 12 saves, many on odd man rushes.
Alaska
out-shot the Bulldogs 6 to 2 in the 1st period.
They say the 3rd goal can be the most important goal in
a hockey game, and in this game, the cliché rang true as ever.
The
Alliance
comeback began early in the second period and on the power play.
With the Bulldogs controlling the puck in the offensive zone, Chad Hudson
passed to defenseman CJ Ludwig down along the half-boards.
Ludwig then sent a low shot into the slot that deflected off an
Alaska
defenseman’s skate past the goalie into the net.
The rest of the period was very defensive, with neither team allowing
many scoring chances, although the Lions again won the shot battle in the
period, 6 to 3.
It appeared early in the 3rd that the Bulldogs realized
that they were not shooting the puck enough, and they began to fire everything
they could at the Lion goalie. Problem
was, they had trouble getting them on net, and had many shots go wide or
high. The approach paid off however,
when just under 2 minutes into the period, Colin Haas got the game-tying goal on
the power play, again getting the assist from
Hudson
. The Lions then spent the rest of
the period trying to stave off the Bulldog attack.
Alliance
turned the tables in the shot column during the 3rd period,
out-shooting
Alaska
6 to 2.
After a 3-minute break at the end of regulation, the Bulldogs
continued on the attack into over-time, with Roemer ending the game and giving
the team from
Texas
a 1-0 record in their first USA Hockey National Championship.
Opening Ceremonies
The first day was a
full and busy one for the National Tournament Teams, as there were other
activities to attend in addition to everyone’s first game of the tournament.
One activity was the
special Opening Ceremonies at Cairns Arena, at 6:30 PM.
Each team was introduced to the crowd, and the Alliance Bantam AA
Bulldogs represented
Texas
well. With most players sporting
Texas Cowboy hats, the Bulldogs were the first team introduced to a rousing
ovation from the visiting teams and hometown crowd.
Captain Colin Haas was a participant in a ceremonial first puck
drop, and then the National Anthem was sung by popular local musician Tammy
Fletcher, who also got the crowd going with a spectacular rendition of “God
Bless
America
.”
Banquet/Peewee
On Thursday evening the team
attended a twelve team banquet hosted by the Livonia Knights. The speaker of the
evening was John Hines the National U18 coach. He gave an excellent speech about
how the boys and girls should focus on their academics and being responsible
kids above and beyond all else. That while they follow their dreams to play
hockey they need to remember that the other areas in their lives were at least
as important if not more so! He was leaving the banquet to attend the World
Championships in Bellarus. A good time was had by all and the dinner was
nutritionally balanced for the kids, almost as if Coach Vanover had sent his
food itinerary.
Easton
Skills Competition
Following the
Opening Ceremonies, each team sent one skater and one goalie to the Easton
Sports Skills Competition. It
featured a range of competition to test the skill of players from teams
participating in this year's tournament. Individual
skaters and goaltenders competed in four events at the tournament, including
Fastest Skater, Puck Relay, Catch & Shoot, and the Breakaway Challenge.
For a detailed description of each event, see Alliance Newsletter #2.
Representing
Alliance Bantams in the skating and shooting competition was forward Chad
Hudson, with Bulldog Brandon Bailey representing
Alliance
in the goalie competition. Both
Chad
and
Brandon
represented
Alliance
wonderfully, with
Brandon
winning the goalie competition for defending the catch &
shoot event, and also won the fastest goalie
competition,
in which he was faster than tow of the forwards entered into the competition.
In a closely and
heavily watched catch and shooting contest final, Brandon allowed only 1 goal in
5 tries to the eventual overall player champion, Chris Darnell of the Atlanta
Fire. Darnell had scored 4 goals in
the preliminary round against another one of the top goalies in the tournament.
The Road to the National Championships – How did
we get there?
The road to the USA Hockey National Championships began for the Alliance
Bulldogs way back in May of 2003 with spring clinics and tryouts. After a long,
hard, and successful 2002-2003 season, most players took time off in the summer
for doing other things and taking vacations. The new season began in August as
the teams began to get back together after the summer break, to get ready for
Labor Day Tournaments, and start the beginning of what would turn out to be a
great 2003-2004 season for all Alliance teams.
Each year the Alliance teams compete for the championships of the Texoma Travel
League in the Texas Amateur Hockey Association (TAHA). In addition, another
goal of Bulldog teams is to win the Texas State Championship, and with it the
chance to move onward. The State Tournament is put on by TAHA at the end of the
season to select teams at each age group to represent Texas at the Rocky
Mountain District Championships.
Teams from all over Texas apply for acceptance to the State Tournament and must
compete in “play-down” or qualifying games to be among the 4 teams selected to
play in the State Championships.
This year, all four eligible Alliance teams – U17 Midget Major, U16 Midget
Minor, U14 Bantam, and U12 PeeWee not only earned spots in the state tournament,
but each brought home the Texas State Championship in their respective age
bracket. As a result of these championships, each team earned the right to
represent Texas at the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) Championships in Boise,
Idaho, March 10th –14th.
At the RMD Championships, state champions from Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and one Host team competed
for the honor of representing the RMD at the USA Hockey National Championships.
Each Alliance team competed well at the RMD tournament. In all, Alliance teams
combined for 10 wins and 7 losses at the tournament. Alliance was the ONLY
association with 4 teams at the tournament, which was an item of discussion
among the fans and players from the other teams in the District. It also
certainly helped that at each Alliance game, there were many other Alliance
players and parents cheering on the Bulldog team playing at the time. The
PeeWee and Bantam teams both went 4 and 1, with each loss coming in a
preliminary round game, but both came back to avenge that loss by winning the
Rocky Mountain District Championship against the team that had beat them
previously.
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