CB Blizzard dominates to bring back state hockey title

Rout Front Range opponents in Pee Wee Frozen Four

When one thinks of a ski town hockey team heading to the big show, the state Frozen Four tournament, it’s a crapshoot to say the least.
Typically, you expect them to get a big lesson in what level of hockey is being played outside their ski town bubble and return home with two bruising losses and a “learning experience.”

Maybe, and I mean maybe, they eke out a thrilling win in their first game to reach the finals only to meet their maker and get it handed to them in the championship.
Or, they rally off the first round win and carry momentum into the finals and pull off a win of Miracle on Ice proportions.
But, for the Crested Butte Blizzard to head to Denver for the Frozen Four Pee Wee state tournament and dominate seems unthinkable—until now.
The coaching staff of Steve Curtiss, Todd Carroll, Randy Barrett and John Collins and the team had a goal in mind at the start of the season. In the end they reached it and then some.
“Our goal was to beat Durango, win the Rocky Mountain Hockey league and go to state,” explains Curtiss. “Winning state was icing on the cake.”
The Blizzard put together a regular season record of 18-4 and defeated Durango in the league finals for the Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League title and earned a spot in the state tournament, held Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20 in Denver.
The coaching staff did their homework heading into the big weekend in Denver and things were actually looking pretty good for the Blizzard squad.
“We did some research on those teams and we knew we had a chance,” says Curtiss.
They took the ice on Saturday against Arapahoe, and the Blizzard defense and first line led the way to the 3-0 Blizzard win.
The Blizzard opened the scoring in the first period when Patrick Seifert scored in the eighth minute off an assist from Ben Barrett.
The Blizzard then capitalized on two power plays in the second period to build a 3-0 lead.
Barrett netted both power play goals with Seifert providing the assists, and Crested Butte was sitting on a three-goal lead with one period left to play.
Blizzard net minder Cameron Curtiss and the Blizzard defense did the rest of the work to preserve the win, with Curtiss finishing the shutout with 12 saves.
“We felt pretty comfortable by the third period,” says Curtiss. “Our defense really just shut down their offense and our back check was awesome in that game.”
The win sent the Blizzard to the Pee Wee state championship game on Sunday to face the DU Pee Wee Gold. Curtiss admits anxiety was a bit high.
“I was definitely more nervous going into this game,” says Curtiss. “DU won their league tournament and I knew they were hot coming into the end of the season.”
The Blizzard looked to quash some nerves early when Barrett scored off an assist from Jordan Nichols six seconds into the game.
DU woke up and responded scoring back-to-back goals in a span of 90 seconds to take a 2-1 lead.
But before DU could start steamrolling, Cameron pulled off a couple of big saves; he finished the night with 22 saves total, and the Blizzard tied it up 2-2 when Gage Meredith assisted on Barrett’s second goal of the game.
The Blizzard took a 3-2 lead early in the second period when Jace Engelstad scored a power play goal but DU closed the period with a strike and the two teams were notched in a 3-3 tie heading into the third and final period.
At this point, Curtiss believes conditioning made the difference. While DU had a fast squad led by two impressive scorers, the Blizzard took control of the game in the final 15 minutes.
“I told them that this is where all of those ‘suicides’ they did start to pay off,” says Curtiss.
After six minutes of scoreless hockey, the Blizzard erupted.
Aston Mabry assisted Engelstad on his second goal of the game. Jack Collins and Barrett connected 28 seconds later for a 5-3 Blizzard lead and Barrett finished DU off for good with two more goals—he had five in the game—as the Blizzard skated to a 7-3 win and the 2011 Pee Wee hockey state title.
“All of a sudden the ice broke and the flood gates opened,” says Curtiss. “The whole team pulled together in that third period. We’ve got some great skaters on this team and the team worked great together all weekend.”