The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Earns trip to state tournament
Crested Butte’s PeeWee A team traveled to Aspen over the weekend to play in the CDYHL League Playoffs. Friday afternoon, the Blizzard was sent to the losers bracket with a 3-1 loss handed to them by the Glenwood Grizzlies.
Saturday was a day of rebuilding, with a 6-2 win over Steamboat and a retribution game against Glenwood to see who would take on the Aspen Leafs for the championship banner. Crested Butte showed up strong Saturday afternoon with a decisive 4-1 win over the Grizzlies, granting themselves a berth in Sunday’s championship game.
The Blizzard faced off against the Leafs Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Crested Butte had beaten them and tied in regular season play. After three hard-fought periods of play, the game was tied 2-2. But the game couldn’t end in a tie, because a league champion had to be crowned and the outcome would also dictate seeding in next weekend’s state tournament.
So into overtime they went.
The first 10-minute OT ended in the same score. The second OT ended again in a 2-2 tie. The third and fourth overtimes could not produce a victor, despite both teams having to kill two penalties each. It was decided the game would come down to a shootout.
Crested Butte’s first two shooters, Luke Collins and Graham Barrett, each buried their shot only to be answered by two Aspen players. Crested Butte’s third shot missed but so did Aspen’s. Chris Myers sent the fourth Crested Butte shot into the back of the net, as did Aspen’s fourth skater. Each team then went down their line of players until Aspen’s tenth skater was finally able to seal Aspen’s win, 3-2.
Shaughn Rourke played a stellar game as Crested Butte’s goal tender, staving off 46 out of 48 shots on goal.
Eighty-two minutes of hockey that spanned two and a half hours on the ice. It was an unbelievable testament to the game of hockey and to the heart of those 13 Crested Butte players who played with such passion, class and poise to the bitter end. Crested Butte came out of that battle as the CDYHL runner-up but cemented a bid to the state tournament this Saturday, March 15 at the Edge Arena in Denver. It truly was an unforgettable experience for everyone there—the players, the coaches and the parents/fans. Good luck, PeeWees, at State!
