Crested Butte Storm retains Southwest Cup title in overtime

Seal the deal in overtime

While not quite as heavily attended as in the past, the men’s Southwest Cup tournament continues, with four teams squaring off last weekend for a shot at the coveted Chalice trophy.
The Chalice is an ice bucket modified accordingly by the late local artist Andy Bamberg. It has a special place in the minds and souls of local men’s hockey players, especially the Storm players.
They’ve hoisted it in celebration and seen it leave town in disappointment over the past years. But this year the Chalice will remain in the north end of the Gunnison Valley, as the Crested Butte Storm won the Southwest Cup title in overtime on Sunday, March 9.
This year’s Storm team was a mix of old and new, with a couple of veteran core players, including Mike Potts, who came up from Denver to stand between the pipes, numerous Storm acquisitions during the early 2000s and a handful of players called up to fill some positions left by Storm players turned coaches who were away at youth hockey games over the weekend.
“We kind of had a different squad,” says seasoned Storm player Paul O’Connor. “But it just goes to show how deep the field of talent is here.”
It was a shaky start for the Storm Saturday morning as the new crew was trying to figure each other out and find the right mix against a potent Blue Mesa Mackinaw team. Rumors swirled that Mackinaw had brought in several hot-shots from Denver and Wisconsin for the tournament, but they rose to the rumors to hand the Storm a 5-3 loss.
The Storm recovered that evening to hand their long- time ski-town rival the Telluride Lizard Heads a 6-1 crushing. The win cemented the lines for the Storm for the remainder of the tourney and put them back on course to defend their title.
They continued on their quest to retain the Chalice early Sunday morning. Battling a blistering sunrise that nearly blinded players from both teams and caused numerous on ice collisions, the Storm rolled to a 7-2 win over Durango, paced by a hat trick by Storm leading scorer Mike Lauerman.
The win earned the Storm a spot in the championship and due to a result in the Telluride/ Mackinaw game later that morning, the Durango earned a shot at redemption against the Storm in the finals.
This time Durango was prepared, with their goalie as solid as ever and Durango challenging the Storm on every possession. The Storm dominated play for most of the first period but struggled to find the back of the net.
Durango killed off two Storm penalties and handcuffed the Storm’s attack with savvy poke checks and their defense clogging the slot. The two teams entered the third period deadlocked in a scoreless draw.
The Storm finally broke the seal with five minutes left as Travis Branson circled around the high slot and found Lauerman with a pass through traffic and Lauerman punched it through. Durango responded less than a minute later and the two teams headed into overtime.
The Storm continued to dominate play in overtime and had two golden opportunities to win the game early—only to have their shots fly wide of the net.
Durango returned the favor with a couple of rushes, but the Storm defense was there to turn Durango away and push the puck back up ice.
The Storm finally converted on transition as Tom Collins carried the puck out wide, drawing the Durango defense. Steve Kay saw an opening on the weak side and skated in off the blue line to take a pass from Collins and slip the puck through the five-hole for the 2-1 Storm win and the Southwest Cup title.
“We played well—we just had to work hard for the goals,” says O’Connor.
The Chalice will now remain at the Eldo for another year.