Roughriders Finish NAPHL Tournament 3-1

Lucas Blomquist celebrates after scoring for the Roughriders

Troy, MI - Hockey is a mysterious game. Playoff hockey is particularly mysterious. In a weekend where it was necessary to play practically perfect hockey the Rocky Mountain Roughriders U16 did just that. Then how can it be that the Roughriders did not advance to the Championship game? Several days later I am still scratching my head looking for the same answer.

In Game 1 the Roughriders faced the Indianapolis Jr. Ice as mention in the previous blog entry and were in command of the game the entire time, winning the game by a margin of 6-2.

In Game 2 the Roughriders faced the Pikes Peak Miners and fought hard the entire game only to be forced into a shootout at the end of regulation. The Roughriders won this game by winning the shootout to put their season record against the Miners to 7-0-1.

Then came Game 3 and the mysteries of hockey. The Roughriders faced the California Titans in game three and played amazing. The Roughriders were passing well, shooting well, staying out of penalty trouble. They were forechecking, backchecking, and doing everything a quality hockey team should be doing. The trouble was, they ran into a hot goaltender. A hot goaltender can steal a game from a better team, especially during playoffs, derailing a quality team's shot at a championship. This is exactly what happened against the California Titans. The Roughriders outshot the Titans by a margin of 37-25. The Roughriders did everything that they needed to do win the game, except they weren't able to overcome a hot goaltender and ended up losing 2-1.

Now with a record of 3-1, the Roughriders should have enough points to qualify for the semi-finals, however, since they went to a shootout with the Miners, the Miners were able to earn one point while the Roughriders earned two. The extra point that the Miners earned from the shootout was enough to vault them into the semi-finals and leaving the Roughriders to play in the consolation game even though the Roughriders remain undefeated by the Miners the entire season. Mysterious, isn't it!

The Miners went on to beat the California Titans in the finals to earn the NAPHL Championship. The irony that the Roughriders were undefeated against the Miners all year, yet the Miners win the Championship is what makes hockey playoffs so exciting to watch.

Pointstreak Tournament Coverage

Roughriders get passed Miners in OT Shootout for second win!

Thomas Jarman celebrates with Crete and Miller

Troy, MI - In the second game of the NAPHL playoffs the Rocky Mountain Roughriders found themselves squaring off against the Pikes Peaks Miners for the 10th time this season. After this meeting the Roughriders are 7-0-1.

Just 20 seconds into the game, Colin Staub found the puck floating free in front of the Roughriders net and got things rolling for the Miners when he snuck the puck past the netminder. A little stunned, the Roughriders needed to regroup. Eight minutes ticked off the clock before the Roughriders could answer, but answer they did. Taking the call was Robert Salvato. Salvato and Crete worked the puck between each other to move the goalie out of position and Salvato threw the puck over the goaltender's left shoulder to get the Roughriders on the board and tie the game at 1-1.

At 15:12 of the first period, Adam Durkee put the Roughriders up 2-1 when he literally sniped the shot into the net over the goalie's shoulder from a terribly low angle. The two teams traded scoring chances throughout the rest of the first period but no more scoring, however the Miners managed to accrued 5 penalties while the Roughriders managed 2 penalties.

The second period picked up pretty much where the first left off with a lot of intensity. The prior weekend saw the Miners lose their opportunity to advance to the District Playoffs in Dallas so finishing well at the NAPHL Playoffs is very important to them and was evident in the way they were playing. A fast and physical game was being delivered on both sides of the ice.

Pikes Peak Miners went on the powerplay at 4:58 of the second period after a slashing call on Michael Buonincontri. Colin Staub converted the powerplay into a goal and tied the game at 2 goals a piece. George Gruber was assessed a hooking call at 11:43 of the second period and Alec Butcher had no trouble converting the powerplay into a goal at 12:11 of the second. Clearly, the Roughriders needed to stay out of the penalty box.

The Roughriders found a little salvation when Michael Buonincontri buried a Yannik Crete pass to tie the game back at 3 goals a piece. As time was ticking away in the third period the Roughriders placed a flurry of shots on goaltender Danny Kowalski who absolutely stood on his head. Kowalski must have had his lucky horseshoe in his breezers and even pucks that were destined for the back of the net somehow were kept out of the net sending the game into an overtime shootout.

The NAPHL rules don't allow for overtime play, instead the teams head straight into a 5-man shootout. None of the first 5 shooters on either team were able to get the puck passed the keeper, however the ice was pretty chewed up and most shooters were unable to get the puck to settle on their stick to get a quality shot off. Thomas Jarman was finally able to get the puck in the back of the net and sew up 2-points for the Roughriders.

The Roughriders gear up to take on the California Titans tomorrow at 12noon.


Official Gamesheet

SHOOTOUT
Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U	Pikes Peak Miners 16U
SHOOTER SCORE Robert Salvato NO Joseph Marchese NO Braiden Miller NO Michael Buonincontri NO Yannik Crete NO Thomas Jarman YES	SCORE SHOOTER NO Alec Butcher NO Robson Cramer NO Justin Tutag NO Colin Staub NO Jake Gerson NO Anthony Olguin
TOTALS:    1	0

Roughriders Open NAPHL Tournament with 6-2 Victory over Indianapolis

George Gruber drives the puck to the net

Troy, MI - In an unusual sunny winter day in the Motor City, the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team opened the NAPHL Tournament with a 6-2 victory over conference rivals Indianapolis Jr. Ice. The Jr. Ice struck first when Drew Doyon grabbed a turnover in the Roughriders zone and grabbed the lead.

 The Roughriders struck back at 12:30 of the first period behind a Michael Buoincontri shot that snuck passed Patrick Lawson for the first power play goal of the game. The Roughriders had a good spark in this game. The forwards had a lot of spring in their step and were able to put more than a couple of pucks in the net.

The Roughriders doubled up the Jr. Ice at 5:30 of the second period when Yannik Crete broke free into open ice and put the puck over the left shoulder of the Ice goaltender to extend the lead to 3-1.

 The Indianapolis Jr. Ice found themselves on their heels in the 2nd period as they took 5 penalties and the Roughriders were assessed two infractions. The Roughriders rounded out their scoring with goals from Lucas Blomquist and Braiden Miller. The official scoresheet from Pointstreak is not exactly accurate, but is referenced below.

Official Gamesheet

SCORING SUMMARY

Period 1

Indiana Jr Ice 16U - Drew Doyon (James Kirchgraber) 5:49 Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Michael Buonincontri (Yannik Crete, Robert Salvato) 12:30

Period 2

Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Michael Buonincontri (powerplay) (Joseph Marchese, Robert Valdez) 5:10 Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Michael Buonincontri (Austin Shick, Robert Salvato) 9:41 Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Michael Buonincontri (powerplay) (Robert Salvato) 13:56

Period 3

Indiana Jr Ice 16U - Jason Tackett (unassisted) 8:05 Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Hunter Clark (Joseph Marchese, Nathan Guymon) 15:21 Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U - Braiden Miller (unassisted) 15:29

Roughriders Advance to Tier 1 District Playoffs

Adam Durkee gets the Rampage Goalie moving

Colorado Springs, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team went 1-2-0 in the Colorado Tier 1 State Playoffs over the weekend in Colorado Springs. The Roughriders beat the Rampage on Thursday night 4-2 and then lost a close game to the Thunderbird U16 team 3-1 and lost to the Rampage on Saturday night 2-0. All the games were incredibly close and actually could have gone to either team at any time. The close level of competition at the Tournament is a testament that quality hockey has arrived in Colorado and is here to stay.

On Saturday night the Roughriders took on the Colorado Rampage in a game that would decide who would play in the State Championship game. Both teams hit the ice with a purpose...advance to the Championship. I can hardly remember a better played game on both sides of the ice. Each team battled hard and played with heart. The Rampage managed to score the first goal late in the 3rd period after the puck deflected off of a Roughrider player and over the right shoulder of Jutras who had been playing a stellar game in net. With 1:37 left in the game, head coach John Paris, Jr. pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker. The puck was turned over at the blue line and the Rampage were able to bang home an empty netter to seal the game at 2-0 and advance to the Championship.

The Roughriders finished the State Playoffs in 3rd position, securing a place in the District Playoffs in Dallas in two weeks.

The Roughriders head off to Detroit on Thursday to wrap up NAPHL play at the NAPHL Tournament.


Official Gamesheet

Roughriders Open State Playoffs with a Win!

RJ Salvato Scores as Keegan McCarthy supports the blue line

Colorado Springs, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team traveled to Colorado Springs to begin the Colorado Tier 1 State Playoffs. The first game pitted the Roughriders against the local Colorado Rampage U16 team. In their last meeting the Rampage bested the Roughriders by a score of 5-3.

The Roughriders struck first in this matchup when Robert RJ Salvato buried a pass from Yannik Crete. Salvato put the puck between the pipes just 55 seconds into the contest to give the Roughriders an early 1-0 lead. At 5:42 of the first period Thomas Jarman kept his scoring streak alive when he took a pass from Hunter Clark, spread the sauce and hid the biscuit where grandma hides the cookies...top shelf! The Roughriders didn't play as if they had a 2-0 lead and poured the coals on to the Rampage. Forechecking, backchecking, body checking, the Roughriders were taking care of business in the first. With time ticking away in the first period, Lucas Blomquist buried a slapshot from the point to cap off a great first period.

The Rampage found a little life early in the second period when Mitchell Snyder found paydirt, chipping the Roughrider's lead down to 3-1. The second period was more balanced with each team having several scoring opportunities. The second period came to a close with neither team scoring.

Both teams return to action after the icemake with a huge desire to win. Some may call the third period scrappy, but it was really just two teams battling for the right and honor to represent the state of Colorado at the district tournament in Dallas, Texas next month. However, it was the Roughriders that struck first in the third period when Michael Buonincontri did some dirty dancing in front of the net and deked his away around goaltender Darrin Robinson giving the Roughriders a 4-1 advantage. Less than a minute later, Zachary Geiger narrowed the gap to 2 goals when he snuck a rebound past Joakim Jutras. The remainder of the 3rd period had the teams swapping scoring chances, but time ran out on the Rampage and the match ended with the Roughriders on top with a final score of 4-2.

Joakim Jutras faced 34 shots and stopped 32 while Darrin Robinson faced 32 shots and stopped 28.

The Roughriders play on Friday and will face the winner of the Thunderbirds U16 v. Pikes Peak Miners game.


Official Gamesheet

Roughriders battle through slump at home

Roughrider U16AAA Braiden Miller attacks the Tbirds zone

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team finds themselves in the midst of a pre-playoff slump. In a three game stretch over the prior weekend the Roughriders went 0-2-1 against local competition.

On Thursday evening the Roughriders traveled to Monument, Colorado to take on the Colorado Rampage U16 team. The Rampage were ranked 37th in the country while the Roughriders were ranked 11th. Rankings, however, had little to do with the game as the Roughriders were flat throughout the contest and the Rampage played with enthusiasm and a purpose. The Roughriders lead after the first period 1-0, however the Roughriders fell asleep at the wheel and allowed 5 goals in the second while only scoring 1. The Roughriders headed into the locker room for the ice make trailing 5-2. The third period was scoreless as the Rampage were content to trap the puck and shutdown any scoring chances for the Roughriders. The Roughriders drove out of Monument somewhat demoralized and looking for a way to rebound.


Official Gamesheet

Saturday afternoon brought the Roughriders to Big Bear Ice Arena to take on the U16 Thunderbirds. A huge rivalry has built between these two teams this year with the Roughriders leading the series 2-1-1. The game opened up much the way the Rampage game had ended with the Roughriders struggling to find some common ice to skate on. A group of 6 individuals don't exactly make a team. The Roughriders gave up 3 goals in the first period alone. In the second period the Thunderbirds pounded in 2 more goals to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Midway through the second period the Roughriders found their game. As if somebody had flipped a switch, the team magically started working as a unit. The Roughriders banged their first goal in at 8:36 of the second to chip away at the 5 goal lead. Suddenly, at 5-1, the Roughriders caught fire.


Just two minutes later Austin Shick followed up with the second goal for the Roughriders and the rally continued. The boys suddenly remembered what it took to win games...teamwork. Things were clicking and going the Roughrider's way.  Yannik Crete hopped on the scoring train at 14:00 of the second period on a pass from Michael Buonincontri closing the gap to 5-3.

As the third period kicked off the Roughrider's picked up right where they left off...chipping away at a 5 goal deficit. At 3:06 of the third period, Braiden Miller brought the Roughriders to within one goal when he found himself all alone in front of Chase Horton and found some unprotected twine. At 7:00 of the third period, Thomas Jarman completed the unbelievable comeback when he buried a Braiden Miller pass to even the game at 5 goals a piece. The Roughrider's had completed the biggest comeback of the season after spotting he Thunderbirds a 5 goal head start.

The second and third period were some of the best hockey the Roughrider's have played all season.


Official Gamesheet

Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16AAA Season Statistics

Roughriders Hoist Cup in Richmond, British Columbia

Westminister, CO - As of today, the Rocky Mountain Roughriders are 41-8-2 in combined play which includes league play in both NAPHL and CAHA and also including Tournaments. Mark Twain once said there are three kinds of people in the world "liers, damned liers and statisticians". I hope we don't make any convenient statistics in this post, but there are some really interesting facts that are uncovered here.

The Roughrider U16 AAA team is a very disciplined team. In both CAHA and NAPHL play, the Roughriders are the least penalized team.

Lowest Team Penalty minutes -

in CAHA Tier 1 Play - 110 minutes / 11 games  (10 minutes / game)

in NAPHL League Play - 220 minutes / 20 games (11 minutes / game)

They were also the second least penalized team in the Richmond International Midget Tournament in which they took the Championship.

2nd lowest at Richmond International Midget Tourney (of 28 teams)

64 minutes / 7 games  (9 minutes/game)

When the Roughriders play good defense, they WIN! They currently have the 4th lowest Goals Against Average in the country.

Top 50 Ranked U16AAA Goals Against Avg (1/19/2011)
Team	GA  / Game	National Ranking
Honey Baked	1.29	3
LA Selects	1.61	4
New Jersey Avalance	1.62	6
RoughRiders	1.75	11	4th lowest GA Avg in the country

The Roughriders have scored more goals in the third period this year.

Goals For Period 1:     67 (29.78%)
Goals For Period 2:     78 (34.67%)
Goals For Period 3:     80 (35.56%)

Average Goals Per Game: 4.41

Goals Against Period 1:  20 (22.47%)
Goals Against Period 2:  33 (37.08%)
Goals Against Period 3:  36 (40.45%)

Average Goals Against Per Game: 1.75

Stats are just that, a bunch of numbers. However these numbers do show an overall trend with the Roughriders. When they manage the puck defensively and move the puck up to their forwards, the other teams have a difficult time stopping them.

A special thanks to Lance Guymon for culling and compiling the statistics referenced in this post!

Roughriders Finish 4-1 in Troy, Michigan NAPHL Showcase and advance to Playoffs!

Troy, MI - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA team headed to Troy, Michigan to play in the final regular season NAPHL Showcase. The Roughrider U16 team was fighting for a spot in the NAPHL Playoffs and had several different scenarios that could play out to gain that playoff spot. The most obvious scenario would be to win all 5 games to secure that spot, however, after losing the first game to the first place Omaha AAA team the rest of the weekend was basically a 'must win' situation.

Friday:

The Roughriders dropped a close game to Omaha on Friday, January 14th. The Roughriders had a tough time getting traction against Omaha and have all season. For some unknown reason the Omaha matchup gives the Roughriders a rough time. Omaha got on the board first and carried the lead into the second period on a Jordan Boucher-Gould goal. Michael Buonincontri and Adam Durkee both netted goals in the second period to give the Roughriders a short-lived lead.

Late in the second period Omaha struck twice in a row themselves snatching the lead back at 13:56 of the second period. Omaha would score the final goal at 14:28 of the third period sealing a 4-2 victory.

The Roughriders opened the Showcase with a loss, however this only served to motivate the team to a higher level of performance.


Saturday:
Saturday, January 15, 2011 the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 AAA showed up to play the Indianpolis Jr. Ice. The Roughriders had won the previous two matchups with the Jr. Ice and Saturday was to be no different as the Roughriders won 6-3.

The first period began with the Jr. Ice striking first. Stephen Pack got the first goal of the game at 3:21 of the first period. The momentum swung back heavily for the Roughriders when Max Ross cranked in a shot from Thomas Jarman to knot the game at one goal a piece.

The second period was all Roughriders as Braiden Miller netted back to back goals to give the Roughriders the lead on passes from RJ Salvato and Lucas Blomquist. At 14:40 of the second period, Lucas Blomquist netted a goal of his own with assists going to Robert Valdez and Nathan Guymon securing a 4-1 lead.

The Roughriders finished off with two more goals, one each from George Gruber VII and  RJ Salvato to finish out with a 6-3 win and improve to 1-1 in the Showcase.

Sunday:

The Roughriders faced two opponents on Sunday, luckily the game times were spaced pretty far apart to allow the team some time to rest between matches and secure two more victories. The battle for a playoff spot was heating up by Sunday morning as roughly 6 teams were all vying for a playoff spot.

First up on Sunday morning was the Pikes Peak Miners. The Roughriders have won all 4 prior meetings this season. The Miners were out for a victory and were playing hard. Yannick Crete opened up the scoring when he took and Adam Durkee pass in the high slot and beat Danny Kowalski on the short side for a 1-0 lead. The game was marked with physical play on both sides of the ice, however the Miners were called for 3 penalties in the first while the Roughriders only had 2.

Both teams battled hard during the second period. The ice make halfway through the second period as is common in NAPHL play, gave the Roughriders a 1-0 lead going into the locker room. The Roughriders came out after the ice make and scored a go-ahead goal at 15:40 in the second period. Michael Buonincontri snuck the puck in the net to expand the lead to 2-0.

The third period was perhaps one of the most well played and physical periods of hockey of the Showcase. The Miners closed the gap at 12:49 of the third when Alec Butcher began a short-lived rally for the Miners. The game came to an end with the Roughriders on top by a score of 2-1. There were some extra-curricular activities in the hand shake line and two Miners were assessed 2 minute minor penalties after the game.

...to be continued

Roughriders Finish Weekend with Lackluster Performance going 1-1-1

Westminister, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughider U16 AAA team finished a 3 game home stand with a loss, a win, and a tie. On Friday evening at the Promenade Ice Center blue sheet, the Roughriders took on in-state rivals Colorado Thunderbirds U16. The Roughriders led the series 2-0-1 going into the game and had a lot of momentum coming off a solid tournament win in Vancouver.

Apparently somebody had forgotten to tell the Thunderbirds that the Roughriders were hot. The Thunderbirds dictated the play throughout much of the game and the Roughriders struggled to get any momentum going. Tyler Spratte got things going for the Tbirds at 8:43 of the first period giving them the early 1-0 lead. Just 3 minutes later Michael Buonincontri brought things back to even when he found the puck sitting on the doorstep and put it in the net. The Tbirds get the next three goals straight and continue to reek havoc on the Roughrider's systems. The Roughriders defense struggled to get control in the zone and breaking the puck out to the forwards was problematic.

At 6:52 of the third period, Adam Durkee breathed a little life back into the Roughriders when he took a Lance Pennington pass and scored short-handed. The comeback was too little too late as the Tbirds closed out the third period and won the game 5-2.

Shots on goal were 44-14 in favor of the Thunderbirds.


Official Gamesheet

On Saturday afternoon the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 team suited up to take on the Roughrider U15 AAA team once again at Promenade Ice Center. The Roughrider U15 team came out of the gate fired up. They had to set the tone of the game if they were to have any chance at beating the U16 team. The previous meeting was a good, face paced game with the U16's winning 5-2.

The matchup on Saturday was a fast, hard hitting game with both teams working tenaciously to set the tempo. The U15 team was able to compete very well for the first period, but the depth of the U16 roster ultimately was too much for them. 8 different players for the Roughriders scored on their way to a 9-0 victory.

Evan McCarthy got another shutout as he stopped all 8 shots he faced. The U16 team outshot the U15 team 44-8.

Official Gamesheet

Sunday afternoon wrapped up the 3-game homestand when the Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 team took on the Colorado Rampage. If you were paying attention earlier you know this game ended in a tie. The interesting part is what happened to get the game to a tie.

From the opening faceoff you knew this game was worth the price of admission. There was so much energy in the arena it was unbelievable. Both teams knew how important this game was and both teams aimed to win it.

The Rampage struck first when Matt McNichols snuck a rebound passed the Roughriders at 16:16 of the first period. The Rampage are a very physical team and don't layoff any checks. If you are within 4 feet of the puck, you are going to get hit. This physical play, however, is very demanding and will wear a team out.

The Rampage had to back off the physical play for a bit after Alejandro Ochoa went into the backboards off balance and broke his arm. The Roughriders took advantage of the reduced pressure and put in back to back goal to take a 2-1 lead. Thomas Jarman buried a Yannick Crete pass at 4:41 of the second period and then Collin Biebel took a feed from Braiden Miller at 7:38 of the second period.

The Roughriders seemed in control of the game and a sure victory until late into the third period. With just 1:28 remaining in the third period, the Roughriders took an untimely penalty. With the faceoff just outside the Roughriders zone, the Rampage won the faceoff and pulled their goalie for a 6 on 4, extra attacker, powerplay. With 15 seconds remaining in the third period, the Rampage scored to tie the game at 2 goals a piece. The remaining 15 seconds ticked away as the Rampage were able to mount a comeback and tie the game.

The Roughriders outshot the Rampage 27-21.

Official Gamesheet

The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16 team heads out for Detroit (Troy, MI) for their final NAPHL Showcase.

Roughriders garner respect from Canadian locals

Westminister, CO - The Roughriders U16 spent 7 days in Vancouver, Canada at the 30th Annual Richmond International Midget Hockey Tournament. The players left a lasting, positive impression on the local residents and hockey players. The Roughriders are a group of respectful young men led by a head coach that is not only passionate about hockey and developing hockey skills, but is also intent in developing quality young men.

James Klassen of British Columbia felt the same way and was kind enough to send a letter to the team.

Hello.

I just wanted to send you an email with congratulations for your Championship at the AAA tournament held last week in Richmond, BC. My son's team was one of your "victims" and we as parents enjoyed watching the players on your team execute some great hockey plays and high-speed decision making. After playing your team in the first game, my son suggested that you would likely take home top spot. He was right.

I realize that travelling such a distance to attend a tournament comes at great cost for all concerned and we hope that our province was welcoming to your team and were good hosts. Our team just had to travel over an hour to get to the games and the cost was much less for us. My son was excited to play teams from elsewhere having played high-level hockey in BC for many years, besides teams from Seattle and region, this was his first opportunity to play teams from Colorado and California (he even scored a goal from his point position in our victory over Tri-Valley).

Anyway. Thanks again for putting the effort into teaching your players so well and for bringing them to the tournament. Congratulations to you; to the players; and to the parents.

Sincerely,

James Klassen, hockey parent from Mission, BC

The Roughriders are at home this weekend for a 3 game homestand.

RoughRiders U16

Colorado Thunderbirds U16

Fri, Jan 07

5:15 pm

RoughRiders U15

RoughRiders U16

Sat, Jan 08

3:45 pm

RoughRiders U16

Colorado Rampage U16

Sun, Jan 09

3:45 pm