The Jackson Hole Beavers were unstoppable last weekend during the six-team Sun Valley U18/AA Midget Invitational Tournament on Sun Valley ice.
Jackson Hole went 4-0 and outscored opponents 18-1 en route to the championship of the three-day weekend tournament. Jackson Hole blanked the Salt Lake City Renegades 4-0 in Sunday's title contest.
Hosting the meet was the Sun Valley Midget high school hockey team, which held its "Senior Salute" for 11 seniors before Friday's first game.
Midget senior-class players honored Friday were Matt Alloway, Travis Amick, Aleksandr Baron, Brandon Brocklebank, Kyle Cole, Jeff Conover, Carl Jablonski, Blake King, Max Kwok, Regan O'Reilly and Danny Ward.
Sun Valley didn't fare well in the round-robin portion of the meet, falling 5-4 to Idaho Falls Friday and dropping 5-0 and 8-1 decisions to Jackson Hole and Ogden (Utah) Golden Spike Wildcats Saturday.
But the Midgets, playing their first games of the 2006-07 season for coaches Andrew Hebert, John Stevens and Brad Dredge, regrouped Sunday and downed Idaho Falls 4-2 in the fifth-place consolation contest.
A pair of third-period goals by Jeff Conover helped Sun Valley rally from a 2-1 deficit and beat Idaho Falls. Morgan Pike added a third-period goal and Danny Ward also scored. Assists went to Travis Amick (2), Matt Alloway, Carl Jablonski and Brandon Brocklebank.
Senior goalkeeper Regan O'Reilly had his best game of the weekend in the consolation.
In Friday's opener against Idaho Falls, the Suns blasted their way back from a 2-0 deficit with second-period goals by Max Kwok (Alloway) and Amick (Blake King) and then grabbed a 3-2 lead after two on Alloway's unassisted tally.
But Idaho Falls fought back for 3-3 and 4-4 ties, then netted the winner with 54 seconds remaining in regulation—Ben Bowden scoring the decider. Pat McMahon also scored for Sun Valley, from Alloway.
Jackson Hole behind goalie Kyle Spalding's 24 saves blanked Sun Valley 5-0 Saturday morning, and the local Midgets fell to Ogden later.
Ogden won the third-place game 6-3 over Boise's Junior Steelheads and Jackson Hole took the title 4-0 over Salt Lake.
Salt Lake City and Ogden tied for second place in the round robin but the Renegades won the tiebreaker and championship game berth with a 3-1 win over Ogden Friday.
Other scores in the 12-game tournament: Jackson 5-0 over Boise; Salt Lake 4-3 over Idaho Falls; Ogden 3-2 over Boise; Jackson 4-1 over Salt Lake City; Boise over Idaho Falls.
Supplying last weekend's snacks were Atkinsons' and its distributors, Bald Mountain Pizza, Barbara's Party Rentals, KB's and Perry's Restaurant.
The Sun Valley Midgets split up this weekend, one group traveling to Butte, Montana and the other to Idaho Falls.
The other big home tournament for the Sun Valley Midgets is the State High School Championship March 2-4.
See more photos of the tournament in next week's Local Life.
Kicking off last weekend?s Midget high school hockey tournament at Sun Valley Skating Center was Friday?s ?Senior Salute? honoring the Sun Valley players and parents. Posting for a happy team shot are the seniors, back by their parents, from left, alternate captain Matt Alloway (parents Kate & Frank), Travis Amick (Barbara and Mark), Aleksandr Baron (Angela), Brandon Brocklebank (Kelly Ek), Kyle Cole (Patrice & Mark), alternate captain Jeff Conover (Debbie & Brad), Carl Jablonski (Ann & John), goalie Regan O?Reilly (Kristen & Phil), alternate captain Max Kwok (Aline & Stanley), Blake King (Shannon & Brad) and captain Danny Ward (Cindy & Ken).
Photo by Willy Cook
