Tuesday, January 20, 2009

2009 Mark Whyte Memorial Champs

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Cardiac Kids strike again

So another hockey weekend has ended. The Mustangs played in the 2009 Mark Whyte Memorial Tournament in Las Vegas. It was a fun weekend. Stayed at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino, which had lots of stuff to keep the kids and parents entertained. The kids bowled, the parents gambled. Everyone hung out in Fridays to watch the Cardinals rock the Eagles. Go Cards!!!

Somewhere in-between all that there were some hockey games played. First game was a 1-0 loss to Colorado Hockey Club. Tough game, one quick goal at the end sealed the deal. Next up was Greeley. The Mustangs made short work of that game, winning 10-3. Kyle even had 2 in that one! Saturday night was a late one, as we had a late start on Sunday. The kids stayed up bowling and hanging out until midnight. The parents, a bit later :-)

Sunday's first game wasn't until 3:15pm, but the Mustangs came out to win, beating the Pasadena Maple Leafs 7-1, Kyle had another goal. Then we had a bit of a wait for the last game at 8:45pm. Would the kids be too tired to make it? Nah. The coach asked them to lay off a bit as we were already guaranteed a spot in the finals with our previous win. Even though the kids played at about half-speed, they still beat Mission Arizona 4-1. Only one to go.

Monday morning came far too early with a game start of 9am. The Colorado Hockey Club came out strong with a 1-0 lead in the first. 2-0 at the end of the second. With 11:30 to go in the final game, we scored, however the goal was waved off because the net was off. I think that turned the tide for our kids. They were mad and scored again 30 seconds later. And again. And again. Now we're up 3-2 in a matter of minutes and they're parents have been silenced. With 1:46 to go Colorado pulled their goalie. Josh K redeemed himself from a previous tourney and actually got the empty net goal this time. Now we're up 4-2. Goalie back in. We score once more to seal the deal with a 5-2 win. Unbelievable.

In the 3 years we've played on this team, plus and minus a few players, we have made it to 10 championship games in tourneys and won them all. Not easily - we've had shootouts and overtimes to survive - but we've won them all. There have been tourneys we haven't gotten there, but it seems if we can get there, the kids can make it happen. You have to give all the credit to the kids and the coaches for persevering.

Way to go Mustangs. That's banner #3 for this season.