HAHA Squirt Hockey: Welcome
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Welcome to the Huntsville Amateur Hockey Association's Travel Squirt team page. This site will inform as well as document the Chargers squirt hockey experience for the 2007-2008 season. For this season, squirt hockey is defined as any child with birth dates in 1997 and 1998. The site will contain schedules for practices and games, points of contact as well as other information to keep everyone informed and prepared for the hockey season. If you have any questions you can contact Coach Shane Prestegard at prestegard@comcast.net Go Chargers!!
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Monday, March 17
In the last tournament of the 2007-2008 Huntsville Chargers Squirt travel season, the team went back to Nashville for the 17th Annual Country and Western Showdown. The tournament was scheduled to be the toughest test the team would have all year, as they were placed in the AA division with teams from Indianapolis, Nashville, and Atlanta. The first test was against the Indianapolis Racers. This match-up proved to be a defensive battle. The Chargers had 18 shots on goal however none reached the back of the net. Final score 1-0 Racers. The next match was against the Southern Ice Storm. Earlier in the season, the Storm appeared to have an upper hand on the Chargers, however this match-up was much closer than any previous game. The Storm scored first in the opening session the the Chargers never quit and knotted the score at 1-1 when Logan Knox scored on an assist from Mason Babbidge. The Storm came back and scored again in the second period to have the score 2-1 after 2 periods. Early in the 3rd period, Davis Dodd intercepted the puck at center ice and with some fancy stick handling pierced through two defenseman to tie the score at 2-2 at 9:27 remaining. As the period was winding down, the Storm pulled off another miracle and snuck a goal in with 1:50 remaining to win 3-2. The last game of the tournament and of the season was against the Duluth Jr. Thrashers gold team. This was the same team that the Chargers played the week prior in a scrimmage with other Duluth Thrashers filling in for missing Chargers. In those games, it was evident the Chargers really needed their entire team playing to be competitive with the gold Jr. Thrashers team. As the game went progressed, the pentalty killing expertise of both teams was getting quite the challenge. The Chargers had to kill off a 5 on 3 for 4 straight minutes and multiple 5 vs. 4 opportunities for the Thrashers. The first goal was scored by Logan Knox with an assist by Logan Robinson and Griffin Butler. The Chargers held that lead through 2 periods until the Thrashers scored a goal with 7:21 remaining in the game. When the Thrashers were whistled for a slash at 3:27 in the game, the coaches sent in the power-play lineup to try and capture the win. At 1:59 remaining, Austin Blicharz had a beautiful saucer shot to the front of the net where captain Matt “Hollywood” Goodman redirected the puck which caromed off the left post and into the net for the winning goal. The win captured the spirit of the team and the season as one of the best ever in the young lives of these players. The memories and friendships made from this season will be with these players forever.
Monday, March 17
On March 1-2, 2008, teams from throughout the Southeast converged upon Huntsville AL to pursue the coveted Southern Youth Travel Hockey League inaugural tournament squirt silver championship trophy. The top six teams were chosen according to their season performance. The rankings were: 1) Huntsville Chargers, 2) Atlanta Fire, 3) Nashville Ice Tigers, 4) Pelham Panthers, 5) Duluth Junior Thrashers, and 6) Memphis Blues.
The Huntsville Chargers, the regular season champions, first faced off against their toughest foe of the season, the Nashville Ice Tigers. It was a physical game with the Chargers coming out on top 2-1. Logan Knox scored the first goal with an assist by Davis Dodd. The second goal was scored by Alex Strachan with assists by Logan Robinson and Griffin Butler. The Chargers out-shot the Ice Tigers 30-12. Nathan Weinland got the win with 11 saves.
The second game in pool play was against the Duluth Jr. Thrashers. It was a one-sided game with the Chargers throttling the Thrashers 7-2. Griffin Butler led the team with 2 goals. Other goals were scored by Strachan, Knox, Travis Brain, and Dodd. Assisting in the goals were Matt Goodman, Cole Prestegard, Austin Blicharz, Zach Bennett, Brain, Dodd, and Robinson. The chargers had 29 shots on goal and Mac Fairbanks earned the win with 8 saves on 10 attempts.
In the semi-final game, the Chargers faced the feisty Panthers of Pelham. The Panthers came out to fight but the Chargers put them back in their place, defeating them 3-2. Bennett scored the opening goal with an assist from Goodman. Robinson scored the second goal with an assist from Presty, and Lucas Seibel scored the final and game winning goal with assists from Bennett and Brain. Fairbanks again earned the win as net-minder with 17 saves. Charger had 25 shots on goal.
In the finals, the Chargers again faced off against the Nashville Ice Tigers. This time the Chargers didn’t leave any doubt who was better, defeating the Ice Tigers 3-0 and earning the coveted Southern Youth Travel Hockey League trophy. Mason Babbidge led the team with 2 goals with assists from Presty and Bennett. Ben Noel also had a super goal, slapping a one-timer off the face-off win by Robinson on a powerplay to earn the prettiest goal award. After the celebration and awarding of the hardware, coach Prestegard reminded the kids how proud he was of their accomplishment. He spoke of how one day the kids could take their kids to the rink and show them the banner from the 2007-2008 season and say that was a great season! Congrats to all the players for a super undefeated SYTHL season.