THANKS for a great season!

Well, the 2008-09 season has drawn to a close. The season was marked with a lot of great accomplishments, including growth in our Mite, House, and Girls programs. All travel teams made their respective RMYHL playoffs, and the Squirts became the first DAYHA team (in fact, the first RMYHL team) to win a State Championship!

Thanks to all who made this season happen, including the Board, the coaches and managers, the players, and of course the parents. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better season next year, starting in September - which is not that far away! Look for more news as plans are unveiled through the summer. Be sure to register for email updates as we post to the blog, and sign up as a blog 'Follower' (see the box on this page).

See you all soon!

The Durango Youth Hockey program is nearing the end of one of its most successful seasons, with one team having already claimed the league title and teams at all age levels advancing to the regional finals of the Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League (RMYHL). Durango is the only RMYHL town to qualify for the regional finals at all age levels.

The Durango Squirts (ages 9-10) claimed their third straight RMYHL championship Sunday at the league tournament in Grand Junction. They will travel to the Edge Ice Arena in Littleton for the Colorado Amateur Hockey Association state playoff on March 14-15. Last year the Squirts placed second in the state in the Squirt C division.

The Squirts started their RMYHL tournament against Vernal on Saturday with an overwhelming 12-0 win. They went on to record victories against Telluride (6-1) and Crested Butte (10-2), and then beat Crested Butte again in the final by a score of 6-2. Derek Pansze scored hat tricks in each of the first three games with other scoring and assists coming from Devin Steffler, Max Martinez, Kele Steffler, Collin Thorburn, Eno Ulshafer, Sophia Quick, Jake Beekmann, Benji Mickel and Robby Grogan. Goalie Spencer Capdeville allowed only 5 goals all weekend with help from teammates Caleb Carpenter and Kyle Robinette. The Durango Squirts are coached by Gunter Steffler, Drew Kensinger, and John Robinette.

The Durango Peewees (ages 11-12) won their best-of-three series against Gunnison with two straight wins at home on Saturday to qualify for the regional finals and the Durango Bantams (ages 13-14) prevailed in their best-of-three series on the road against Crested Butte last weekend to advance. The Peewees and Bantams will both travel to Gunnison this weekend to compete for the league title and a chance to advance to the state finals.

The Peewees beat Gunnison by scores of 2-0 and 4-3 with goals from Riley Quigley, Cory Gillespie, Liam Millar, Rex Stowers, and Zeb Soignier and assists from Timmy Martin, Millar, Quigley, and Soignier. The Peewee goalie is Trystan Hale. Other team members are Will Downs, Drew Downs, Joshua Looman, Eric Walker, and Bradley Tarpley. The Durango Peewees are coached by Steve Martin, Paul Agneberg, and Jason Quigley.

The Bantams won their first game against Crested Butte by a score of 4-3 on an overtime goal by Danny Cummins and then lost the second game in a shootout after the game ended in a 2-2 tie. They went on to win the deciding game on Sunday by a score of 2-1 with the game winning goal coming from leading scorer Austin McMenimen. Assists were made by Gabe Tonnessen, Cooper Stowers, A.J. Alexander, McMenimen and Cummins. The Bantam offense was anchored by the Ponytail Line of Alison Millar, Sara Martin, and Tig Moore along with solid performances by forwards Nick Tarpley and Chad Brickey. Defenseman Mason Johnston, Stowers and Alexander kept Crested Butte at bay in front of stellar goaltending by Matthew Mandelski. The Durango Bantams are coached by Rob Gardziel.

The Durango Midgets (ages 15-18) entered the finals on February 21 seeded first after suffering only one loss during the regular season. After a disappointing first round overtime loss to Gunnison the Midgets battled back to the championship bracket where they lost the final game 2-1 to place second in the league. The Durango Midgets are coached by Steve Spriggs, Dave Farkas, and Chris Wood.

Dear Durango Youth Hockey Family and Friends:

By now I’m sure almost everyone knows that Dustin McGuinness, a 15-year old Midget player from Gunnison, suffered a head injury during playoff games at Chapman Hill last Saturday. Dustin remains in a coma at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction. There has been a tremendous outpouring of support and prayers for Dustin and his family from people in Durango and other hockey communities across the region.

An account has been set up at the Bank of the San Juans in Durango to accept donations for the McGuinness family. Please make checks payable to the “Dustin McGuinness Fund”. You may place your donations in the DAYHA mailbox at Chapman Hill or mail them to the bank at 144 E. 8th St., Durango, CO 81301.

Also, the McGuinness family is maintaining a blog where daily updates on Dustin’s condition are posted. See http://dmcguinness.livejournal.com/.

Please continue to keep Dustin in your thoughts and prayers.

Midgets Clinch First in RMYHL

Congratulations to the Durango Midgets, who finished the RMYHL regular season in first place overall. Read all about it in this Durango Herald Article.

Rather than repeat the article here, I thought it would be fun to pull some stats from the regular season, thanks to Pointstreak.

We finished the season with a 16-1-3 record. That's 2 more wins (and 2 less losses) than our nearest competitor. We were the only team to put together a 10 game winning streak. We had the best goals-against (23), but were only 5th in goals-for (86). This says something for our defense and goaltending.

That said, almost every player on our team scored this year - even 2 of our goalies. While Connor Coughlan lead the way with 31 goals and 15 assists, it wasn't enough to clinch the scoring title, which went to Robert Holleran of CB with 50 points. Goes to show that a balanced team wins more games.

Durango hasn't lost a game since December 14th, giving us the longest 'non-losing' record in the league.

Despite our 10-0 win last weekend, we are far from the team with the biggest winning margin in a game - Steamboat beat GV White 16-0 in a game.

We have the dubious honor of the 4th most Penalty Minutes in a game, with 32 minutes against Telluride. Connor Roach got exactly half of those minutes, placing him 6th in the league for most PIM in a game. I should point out that this is uncharacteristic of Connor or the team - we only had 190 penalty minutes in total, less than half of Grand Valley Maroon's numbers.

Milo Johnson has the 2nd longest point streak going, 11 games and counting.

Connor Coughlan is tied with 3 others for most goals in a game, with 5 against Kremmling.

Dane Bier is tied in 2nd for longest goalie win streak, with 5.

While these stats are for fun, they do show that we don't stand on the backs of a few individuals. We play a team game. And we take care of defense first. Let's stick to our game plan this weekend as we march towards a championship!

This Weekend - Hockey Weekend Across America

What could be better than an entire weekend dedicated to the greatest sport on ice, all across the USA? Be sure to check out all the planned events on the USAH website.

Durango will be doing its part, hosting the annual Presidents Cup Tournament. As well, here are some other ways that we can participate:

Friday, Feb. 13 - Wear Your Jersey Day

• Show your hockey spirit by wearing your favorite jersey from any level of hockey (youth, high school, college, etc.) to school. Let's see lots of Steamers Jerseys out there!

Saturday, Feb. 14 - Bring a Friend to the Rink Day

• What better way to introduce your friends to hockey than to have them come out to Chapman Hill and cheer on our home teams?

Sunday, Feb. 15 - Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes Day

• Honor your favorite coach, timekeeper, official, player, etc., through a special recognition event. Since they will all be at the rink for the tournament anyway, a simple 'thank you' will go a long way (cookies go even further!)

WAIT THERE'S MORE

Here are some great Contests where you can win cool hockey stuff, even cash!

For you Photo Bugs out there, USA Hockey is also putting together a photo gallery of shots from across the country during the weekend. So snap some shots around the rink, and submit them - its a great way to showcase Durango Hockey, as well as win great prizes!

Presidents Day Weekend is Almost Here!

Wow, we have an amazing lineup of teams this year - our biggest ever! Games begin early Saturday and continue through Monday. Squirts, Peewees and Bantams are all competing, and to make it even better we have the first round of the Midget playoffs taking place as well! For a full schedule, click here, or on the link under 'Schedules' in the upper right box.

Tell all your friend and family to come out and cheer on the home teams! Support local youth hockey - the greatest game on ice.

A Mite-y fun weekend

Congratulations to all the Mite teams that participated this past weekend in the 'Steamer Cup' at Chapman Hill. Teams from Telluride, Taos, Albuquerque and Flagstaff visited us and all had a great time. For the Herald article and video click here!