Roughriders defeat Thunderbirds U15 AAA 6-1

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughriders squared off against in state rivals the Colorado Thunderbirds U15 AAA this morning at the Promenade beating them 6-1 in their first matchup of the season. The Roughriders got straight to work scoring the first goal at 6:00 into the 1st period. Hunter Clark fired a shot onto net and a melee ensued ended with Braiden Miller putting in a Bobby Valdez shot.

The Roughriders continued to move the puck well and were rewarded with more points. At 13:16 of the first period, Lucas Blomquist squeezed the puck past Hayden Hawkey with assists going to Felix Jarry and Thomas Jarman which ended up being the game winner. Almost 15 seconds later Yannick Crete hoped on the scoring bandwagon with tic-tac-toe passing from Michael Buononcontri and Lucas Blomquist.

The Roughriders only netted one goal in the second when Max Ross took a Thomas Jarman pass and beat the goalie on the short side.

After just 1:40 into the final frame, Collin Biebel's shot eluded Hawkey and put the Rougriders up 5-0. The Tbirds weren't ready to go away just yet and after working hard they were rewarded with a Matt Meier goal. The puck kicked off the back boards in an unusual manner and fell right on the stick of Meier.

Hunter Clark tallied the final goal at the 9:05 mark on Felix Jarry's third assist of the game.

The Roughriders outshot the Thunderbirds 35-22. Joakim Jutras and Evan McCarthy shared duties in net for the Roughriders.

Official Gamesheet

Roughriders Rank 16th Nationally after Big Weekend in Chicago

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team moved up to 16th in the country after a big weekend in Chicago. The team went 7-0 and are on a 9 game win streak. The team takes on the Thunderbird U15 AAA team this weekend at the Promenade Ice Center at 11am on Sunday morning.


MyHockeyRankings.com

Rocky Mountain Roughriders WIN Chicago Nike Bauer Invitational Tournament!!

Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 AAA Champions

Orland Park, IL - The Rocky Mountain Roughriders entered the Championship game with a perfect 6-0 record. The Tampa Bay Alliance also qualified by going 6-0 in the tournament.

The opening faceoff brought a brisk tempo to the game and entertained fans, family and scouts with back and forth play. Each team shared possession time throughout the first period, until finally at the 12:44 mark of the first period, Michael Buonincontri got the Roughriders on the board first. The teams skated fairly evenly for the next 1/2 period with the Roughriders outworking the Alliance. The Roughrider attack was relentless, however, and by the middle of the second period the Alliance were running on fumes.

Hunter Clark Celebrates an important goal

At 6:11 of the second period, Hunter Clark buried a pass from Bobby Valdez to give the Roughriders a 2-0 tilt in the match. Buonincontri got back into the action when he rifled a shot passed the Alliance goal tender after getting a dirty pass from Adam Durkee. Lucas Blomquist nearly bent his stick in half on a slapshot from the point that went top shelf up where grandma hides the peanut butter!

The Roughrider scoring machine caught fire again midway through the third when Braiden Miller threaded the puck through a narrow gap on a shot from just above the goaline. That line wasn't quite through yet as Miller and Valdez worked the puck over to Clark who tallied his second goal in as many periods to put the Roughriders up 6-0.

Joakim Jutras pitched another shutout stopping every shot he faced. He played well behind a solid defensive core. The Roughrider blueliners were solid from the opening faceoff to the final whistle!

The Roughriders finished the weekend 7-0, outscoring their opponents 41-4 and took away the Nike Bauer Invitational Tournament Cup. Joakim Jutras was awarded the tournament goalie MVP and Yannick Crete was awarded the MVP for forwards.




Official Gamesheet

Rocky Mountain Roughriders Advance to Semi-Finals at Chicago Nike Bauer 2010

Max Ross and Yannick Crete Celebrate

Darien, IL - The Rocky Mountain Roughriders advanced to the semi-final round at the 2010 Chicago Nike Bauer Invitational tournament by beating the New Jersey Freeze 3-0.  Next on the radar were the Indianapolis Jr. Ice. The Jr. Ice were undefeated coming into the matchup and had outscored their opponents 21-6 in the seeding round. Drew Doyon and Joe Chitwood tallied up the bulk of the scoring for the Jr. Ice and John Paris, Jr. was keen on keeping those two guys off the scoreboard.

The Roughriders struck first when Yannick Crete slid the puck past Alex Zion. Crete was assisted by Adam Durkee and Michael Buonincontri to take the early 1-0 lead at 2:00 of the first period. Exactly 34 seconds later Drew Doyon squeezed the puck past Joakim Jutras nullifying the Roughriders lead.

At 9:37 in the first, Adam Durkee nabbed a pass from Yannick Crete buried the puck and grabbed the lead back from the Jr. Ice. The Roughriders showed a lot of patience and discipline playing in the shortened playoff format. Both teams managed to stay out of the penalty box for the entire match.

Joey Marchese poured the heat onto the Jr. Ice when his linemate RJ Salvato fed him a pass in front of the net to put the Roughriders up 3-1. Six seconds later Durkee nabbed another goal putting the Roughriders up by 3.

The Jr. Ice weren't going to go away quietly and in fact had played a really great game, but were unable to put the points on the board when it counted. At 11:15 of the second, Cory Day pulled the Jr. Ice a goal closer to narrow the gap to 4-2.

With just over a minute left to play in the game, the Jr. Ice pulled their goalie to get the extra attacker on the ice. The extra attacker was able to help get a few final shots on goal, however a turnover in the neutral zone found the puck on Joey Marchese's stick and he was able to carry it into the empty net to seal the win for the Roughriders.

The Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 AAA team advances to the Championship game to take on the winner of the Tampa Bay Alliance and Hatfield Ice Dogs.  The Tampa Bay Alliance ended up winning that game 2-1 in an Overtime shootout.


Official Gamesheet

Rocky Mountain Roughriders Enter Playoffs at Chicago Nike Bauer 2010

Lance Pennington and Joakim Jutras Protect the Net

Darien, IL - Early Sunday morning the Rocky Mountain Roughriders started playoff play when they faced the New Jersey Freeze on the Darien Sportsplex Wales arena. The Freeze entered the playoff match undefeated in the tournament just as the Roughriders.

The NJ Freeze were a well disciplined, strong skating hockey club but were unable to match the pace of the Roughriders. The playoff system was a bit unusual in that the quarter-final and semi-final rounds were played as two 15-minute halfs. Having 406 teams in a tournament equates to some strange ice times and some unique scheduling situations.

Since the games were so short, each team had to be diligent in getting the puck in the net and not taking any penalties. The Roughriders were successful on both counts. Yannick Crete continued his scoring streak when he put the Roughriders on the board first at 7:10 of the first period with an assist from Lance Pennington.  The first period ended with the Roughriders leading 1-0.

At the 6:31 mark of the second period, Yannick Crete once again struck gold with a fantastic rebound shot from Michael Bouincontri.

With time expiring in the game, Adam Durkee sealed the win with a world class shot snipe from just outside the hash marks from a nice feed from Austin Shick.

Joakim Jutras recorded another tournament shutout turning away every Freeze shot he faced. The Roughriders advanced to the semi-final round to face the Indianapolis Jr. Ice.


Official Gamesheet

Next Game: Semi-Finals - Roughriders vs. Indianapolis Jr. Ice

Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 get past Atlanta Fire 3-2

Thomas Jarman tests the flex of the Bauer TotalOne

Darien, IL - In the second game in just a few hours, the Rocky Mountain Roughriders hit the ice to face the fresh Atlanta Fire. The Roughriders faced their toughest competition of the tournament with the relentless attack from the Fire. The Roughriders maintained control for a majority of the game, however fatigue and a departure from the 1-2-2 forecheck system left them scrambling for the last 5 minutes of the third period.

RJ Salvato got things on track for the Roughriders after a scoreless first period when he undressed the goalie with a couple dirty dangles and left the puck in the back of the net with assists from Gruber and Guymon. At 3:17 of the second period, Adam Durkee threaded the needle from the bottom of the circles to give the Roughriders a 2-0 lead.

Michael Buonincontri capped the Roughriders scoring at the 10:24 mark of the 3rd. The Atlanta took the reigns for the next 7 minutes scoring 2 goals and making an otherwise comfortable game into a real battle for the win.

With the win the Roughriders go undefeated in round robin play and advance to the playoff bracket.


Official Gamesheet

Next Game: Roughriders vs. New Jersey Freeze

Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 defeat Mercer Chiefs 4-1

Yannick Crete Takes the Faceoff

Darien, IL - The Rocky Mountain Roughriders continued their quest for the tournament champions on Saturday morning when they stepped on the ice to face the Mercer Chiefs. The Mercer Chiefs came out with one mission and that was to beat the Roughriders. After a scoreless first period George Gruber VII broke the tie when he made no mistake putting the puck in the back of the twine at 7:39 of the second period. Felix Jarry found redemption at 10:59 of the second after he picked up Thomas Jarman's rebound to beat Hayden Richards on the short side.

The Chiefs tried to mount a short-lived comeback in the third when Matt Liebers snuck the puck past Jutras for the first goal against the netminder this tournament. Bouincontri and Crete rounded out the scoring to end the game 4-1.


Official Gamesheet

Next Game: Rougriders vs. Atlanta Fire

NAPHL Showcase San Jose: Roughriders 7 Detroit Falcons 5

San Jose, CA - In what can only be described as perhaps the wildest last minute of hockey in the NAPHL Showcase, the Rocky Mountain Roughriders beat the Detroit Falcons 7-5. The Falcons entered the game with a NAPHL record of 4-2-1 while the Roughriders came in at 5-3-1.

The game had all the billings of a great rivalry. The last time the two teams met was back in September when the Roughriders came out on top 6-2.

Joey Marchese buries one of his Hat Trick Goals.

The Roughriders jumped out to a good lead early with 3 goals in the first period. Yannick Crete got the scoring started at 4:49 of the first with a power play goal on a feed from Lucas Blomquist. Joseph Marchese got on the board with another power play goal at 11:03 of the first setup by Robert "RJ" Salvato.  Marchese netted the third goal of the game at 13:04 of the first.

The second period settled down into a defensive battle with the Falcons getting the only goal of the period with a shot from Austin Romzek sneaking past Joakim Jutras.  The second period buzzer sounded with the Roughriders up 3-1.

The third period  started with the Falcons closing the gap to 3-2 with a goal from Tommy Marchin at 3:22 of the period. The Roughriders responded when Yannik Crete redirected a Keegan McCarthy slapshot to the Roughriders back on top 4-2. Bryan Lubin brought the Falcons back to within one on a power play goal at 11:22.

The Roughriders weren't going to be denied in this contest and Yannick Crete made sure of it getting his second goal of the game on an awesome setup by Joseph Marchese. Joseph Marchese wasn't done yet as he finished the Hat Trick for the Roughriders at 16:01 of the third giving the team a 6-3 lead and essentially squashing any chance of a comeback for the Falcons with only 59 seconds left in the game.

This is AAA hockey and the Falcons aren't going to rollover easily. The Falcons line up for the faceoff and quickly get their goaltender off the ice for the extra attacker, however before Drew Galasso can even make it to the bench, Brandon Delekta gets the puck in the net to bring the Falcons within two. Immediately off the ensuing faceoff the Falcons get the puck into the Roughriders zone and net another goal trimming the lead to one at 6-5.  The Falcons win another faceoff at center ice and once again get into the Roughriders zone and setup to get the extra attacker. Felix Jarry pokes the puck free and Robert "RJ" Salvato takes the puck down and burries it in the empty net insuring the win for the Roughriders.

The Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 team currently sits in 6th place in the NAPHL standings as they prepare to square off with the Pittsburgh Viper Stars tomorrow morning.


Official Gamesheet

Up Next: Roughriders vs. Pittsburgh Viper Stars

Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 Squash Rampage 5-0

Westminister, CO - On a dreary fall day friends and family gathered at the Promenade Ice Center for the second game in a weekend series versus the Colorado Rampage. Thomas Jarman #88, after breaking two sticks in 5 minutes in last nights game, came prepared with the all-new Bauer Total One hockey stick and came out swinging. On a blistering slapshot from the point, Jarman rifled the puck past the Rampage's Jacob Bryant the put the Roughriders on the board first at the 14:37 mark of the first period with a power play goal.

The second period was littered with penalties again, but unlike Saturday's game, on Sunday the Roughrider's power play was really working well as they went 3 for 7 on the man advantage. Joey Marchese netted the second power play goal at 2:55 of the second period putting the Roughriders up 2-0. Michael Buonincontri lit the lamp on a great individual effort at 7:09 of the second. Yannik Crete tallied the 3rd power play goal of the evening at 12:37 of the third period as Mitchell Snyder sat in the box for the Rampage for crosschecking infraction.

The Roughriders have struggled this season putting in a full game. Several times this season the boys have had the other team down but have never put them out. Tonight the Roughriders skated from opening whistle to the final buzzer. Yannik Crete put the final exclamation point on the game as he buried a pass from Thomas Jarman with 1 second on the clock.

Joakim Jutras was impressive again getting a shutout stopping all 24 shots and improving his season save percentage to .952.


Official Gamesheet

Next up: Roughriders vs. Thunderbirds U15. Sunday Oct. 17, Promenade Blue rink @ 3:15pm