Braiden Miller to anchor 2011-2012 Season

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team today announced the appointment of its newest captain, Braiden Miller. The only returning player to the U16 team, was appointed the captain spot by Coach John Paris, Jr.

Miller played in 66 games last season and tallied 18 goals and 10 assists for 28 points including 10 penalty minutes and 2 power-play goals. Miller is a 5'10", 155lb forward who spent most of his time on the left wing last season and is looking to transition to center this season.

Braiden Miller started the season on the 4th line and saw limited ice-time early on. Miller worked very hard all season and battled his way to the second line and made his way on to the power-play. Miller said he is looking forward to the responsibility and opportunity to build upon an outstanding first season.

Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 Gearing up for 2011-2012 Season

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team is gearing up for next season. If you are a 1995 or 1996 player that is willing to commit himself to becoming a great hockey player, willing to commit himself to put in the effort necessary to develop, and willing to practice the mental discipline it takes to succeed, then you are welcome to come join the Roughriders.

The Roughrider U16 AAA team will once again be led by John Paris, Jr. If you are not familiar with coach Paris and The Paris Way, please feel free to learn more at his website here. Coach Paris led the Rocky Mountain Roughriders during their inaugural season to a very impressive 54-15-4 record including Tournament championships at the Nike Bauer Invitational, Colorado College Showcase Tournament, and the Richmond Classic in Vancouver, BC.

If you are interested in becoming a Roughrider, please contact Coach Paris.

If you have already spoken to Coach Paris about a spot on his roster, please remember that this spot is yours to lose and only through hard work, dedication and focus through the off-season will you be able to maintain this position.

Blog2Print Allows Published copy of Entire blog

If you are interested in having an entire book that chronicles the Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 AAA inaugural season, now there is an option! There is a website located at Blog2Print that will take the entire blog and print it to either a hardbound or softbound book. The price is reasonable at about $40 for the hardbound copy.

Team and Individual Pictures

Westminister, CO - Last week the team got together for team and individual pictures. Order forms should be hitting our Inboxes early next week. Here are two shots to give you an example of how the shots turned out.

Individual Picture

Team Picture

Roughriders take close game against Dallas Ice Jets, advance to semi-finals

Farmers Branch, TX - The Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16AAA played perhaps one of their best games of the year in the 4-1 victory over the Dallas Ice Jets. The game was battled hard on both ends of the ice. Each team had many opportunities and was terribly exciting to watch.

Please check back for complete game summary.

Game Summary

RJ Salvato gets the Roughriders on the scoreboard!

On a bright an early Saturday morning just off of the 635 expressway in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 team got ready to play the Dallas Ice Jets. The two teams met at the wonderful Dr. Pepper Stars Center to play for a spot in the Rocky Mountain District semi-finals. The winner would advance and the loser would go home.

The Roughriders hit the ice determined to stay in the tournament. This was evident when Max Ross was called for the first infraction of the game. An Ice Jet player skated through the goal crease after the whistle blew and Ross took exception to the disrespect and promptly tossed the Ice Jet on his can. Ross's enthusiasm landed him in the penalty box, however it set a tone for the rest of the game that this was the Roughrider's ice and if anybody else wanted to play on it, they would have to earn that right.

At 12:30 of the first period Robert 'RJ' Salvato found the way to paydirt and buried the puck giving the Roughriders a 1-0 advantage. The Roughriders continued to dictate the pace of play through the first period and into the second period. At 9:54 of the second period, however, the Roughriders gave up a powerplay goal to Jason Cotton.

Michael Buonincontri responded with a brilliant goal from a brilliant pass from Adam Durkee. The textbook goal was setup by Adam Durkee when he fed the puck to Buonincontri at the last possible moment at the back door of the crease. The Roughriders were on fire from that point on. Yannick Crete and Adam Durkee netted insurance goals in the third period to seal the win and a chance to play in the semi-finals later on Saturday evening.

This had to be one of the most well played and enjoyable games to watch of the entire season. Action back and forth all game long. So fun!

The final shots on goal were 54-25 in favor of the Roughriders, however that seems a bit generous. Joakim Jutras got the start in net and played very sound between the pipes.


Official Gamesheet

Roughriders drop close game to Thunderbirds, 1-1 in Tournament

Farmers Branch, TX - This will be a brief update on the game, further updates will follow. In a very close game on Friday afternoon, the Roughriders drop a close and well played game to the Colorado Thunderbirds. The game ended 4-1, but was closely battled all the way through.

Thomas Jarman leads the Roughrider attack

The Rocky Mountain Roughriders have faced off against the Colorado Thunderbirds exactly 6 times this season with a 2-2-2 record. This game would tilt the scales one way or the other. Both teams were about as even as could possibly be. Whoever showed and made the least mistakes was going home with the win.

The Thunderbirds started out taking two back to back penalties, the first at 1:49 of the first period when Ben Hull was called for interference and then Griffin Foulk was called for roughing at 3:16 of the first, however the roughing was called as a matching minor as Hunter Clark was called for hooking also at 3:16 of the first. The Roughriders were unable to convert on the powerplay.

At 11:37 of the first period, Brad Donokowski beat Joakim Jutras on a nasty rebound giving the Thunderbirds the 1-goal lead. As a side note, and I try to be very objective and unbiased when watching the game, the officiating was down right horrible no matter which team you were rooting for. Penalties were called for plays that looked fine, penalties were not called for clear infractions...it was just mind blowing.

At 12:39 of the first period things went a little south for the Roughriders. Lance Pennington was involved in an altercation along the boards and was caught retaliating for a missed called and got called for a roughing. As Pennington was defending his case with the official he was nailed with an unsportsmanlike penalty resulting in a 4-minute double minor. The Roughriders managed to kill off the penalty.

The Roughriders skated into the second period and got things back under control. The Roughriders were leading the play and putting up more shots than the Thunderbirds. At 1:20 of the second period Nate Guymon was called for cross-checking and managed to get a 4:00 double minor. The Thunderbirds were able to convert on the power play when Jacob Slavin grabbed a 2-0 lead for the Thunderbirds at 2:50 of the second period.

At 5:46 of the second period the Roughriders found themselves on the powerplay courtesy of a Gustav Olofsson trip. Robert 'RJ' Salvato razzled and dazzled his way across the blueline, dangled a few Tbirds and beat the netminder for the opening score for the Roughriders trimming the Thunderbirds lead back to one.

The rest of the game was a back and forth battle with each team swapping scoring chances. The Thunderbirds earned one more goal late in the third period and then grabbed an empty net goal with time expiring in the third to win the tilt 4-1. However the score is not entirely indicative of the tough, close game that we watched on the ice.

The Roughriders outshot the Thunderbirds 24-19 and played a great game. In the end too many penalties and too many missed scoring chances kept the Roughriders from victory.


Official Gamesheet

Roughriders win Game 1 at Rocky Mountain District Tournament 4-0

Hunter Clark drives hard to the net

Farmers Branch, TX - In the first game of the Rocky Mountain District Tournament, the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 team won Game, 1 with a strong showing, 4-0. The Roughriders jump out to a 1-0 showing in the A bracket. The tournament is broken into two brackets, an A pool and a B pool. The Roughriders are in the B pool along with the Thunderbirds, NW Regulators, and Dallas Ice Jets. In the A pool their are the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes, Texas Alliance, Dallas Stars Elite, and Colorado Rampage.

The Roughriders began play in the first period with a strong forecheck and solid control of the play. The Regulators took a penalty at 8:28 of the first period putting the Roughriders on the power play. The Roughriders converted on the power play at 10:10 of the first period when Braiden 'the kid' Miller put away the rebound on Thomas Jarman and Lance Heislers assist, which would prove to be the game winning goal as the Roughriders were able to keep the Regulators scoreless on sound defense and excellent netminding from Joakim Jutras who stopped all 13 shots. The official scoresheet called the shots in favor of the Roughriders 20-13, however I am pretty sure there were a few more shots on both sides of the ice.

The Roughriders continued strong puck possession and were rewarded with another goal at 16:59 of the first when Hunter Clark buried a Joey Marchese pass giving the Roughriders a 2-0 advantage. The Roughriders carried the 2-0 lead into the first buzzer.


The Roughriders came out in the second period playing solid hockey. At 7:46 of the second period Nate Guymon sent in a ripping shot from the point low and on the ice. Braiden Miller tipped the puck up and over the goaltender's shoulder stretching the Roughrider's lead to 3-0. The second period ended with the Roughriders maintaining their 3-0 lead.

The third period began and both teams played very defensively with very few opportunities on either side of the ice. With 1:16 left in the game, the NW Regulators pulled their goalie to get the extra attacker on the ice. Colin Biebel and Michael Buonincontri battled for the puck and managed to get control of it. Biebel sprinted across center ice and after getting over the blue line sent the puck flying towards the empty net. With just 0.6 seconds left on the clock the Roughriders sealed the victory with a 4-0 shutout as Biebel buried the empty net goal.

Next up the Roughriders vs. Colorado Thunderbirds


Official Gamesheet