Squirts Claim Championship with Heart

The most important game in a tournament weekend isn't always the championship game. Sometimes you have to slay the beast before you slay the dragon.

After defeating each opponent in their first three games of the tournament, the Glasgow Ice Dawg Squirts fought the beast – otherwise known as the Missoula Bruins – and won. They moved on to play the Havre Ice Hawks for the title on Sunday afternoon, and snagged the well-deserved victory.

They had some other business to take care of first, and take care of it they did. Displaying incredible teamwork the Squirts went undefeated in the tournament. Each player had a hand in the success, with tough offense, great defensive plays, a quick goalie, and sheer determination.

Game 1

The Squirts started their long trek to the state championship with a game against the Great Falls Americans on Friday.

Great Falls scored the first goal of the game, sending one in past Kolten Hansen early in the first period. Glasgow answered back three minutes later with an unassisted goal from Tatum Hansen.

Hansen's goal would spark a scoring streak, with the Ice Dawgs scoring five more goals before Great Falls could answer back.

Trevor Dulaney scored a short-handed goal with an assist from Lex Fairclough, followed by a score on a power play with an assist from #46. Finishing out the first period, Hansen hit the back of the net one more time assisted by Tristan Powell to bring the score to 4-1.

The scoring streak for Glasgow would continue into the second period with T. Hansen sealing up a hat trick for the game with an unassisted goal, followed by Peyton Smith sending one in between the pipes on a power play with an assist from Emma Whitmer.

Great Falls would finally be able to get one past Glasgow's goalie later in the second period, but the Ice Dawgs answered back quickly with a score from Connor Koski off an assist from T. Hansen.

The Americans would muster up enough energy to score one last time before the game was over, but Glasgow came away on top with a score of 7-4. K. Hansen recorded 12 saves in the contest.

Game 2

In the second game of the day for the Squirts, they faced off against the Flathead Flames. It was another good match-up, but the Ice Dawgs outscored their opponent and came away with a 6-4 win.

The Flames scored against Glasgow late in the first period, but the Ice Dawgs couldn't let the period end without making a statement. With two very late scores at the end of the period – one unassisted from Dulaney and another with Joshua Llewellyn helping T. Hansen, Glasgow pulled into the lead.

Flathead came out in the second and sent another puck past K. Hansen before T. Hansen answered back with another unassisted score. Those would be the only goals recorded in the second period.

The third period would be more back-and-forth between the well-matched teams with the Flames scoring one, followed by two more from Glasgow, with T. Hansen and Dulaney each scoring unassisted.

With one more attempt to narrow the margin, Flathead sent one into the net with less than four minutes left in the game. Determined not to let the Flames have the last word, T. Hansen finished the game with his fourth goal.

It was a relatively clean game for penalties with only four total infractions called by the referees. K. Hansen recorded 25 saves.

Game 3

Glasgow was able to get some rest and relaxation in before hitting the ice again, with their next game against Butte on Saturday afternoon. Not that they would need it – the Ice Dawgs schooled the Copper City Kings with a 14-1 win.

Recording goals/assists in the game for Glasgow were: Dulaney/unassisted, Zevin Kummerfeldt/unassisted, Dulaney/Peyton Smith, T. Hansen/unassisted, Whitmer/Koski/Dulaney, Dulaney/unassisted, T. Hansen/Fairclough/Mason Hunter, Llewellyn/Koski/Dulaney, Aiden Price/T. Hansen, T. Hansen/Koski, T. Hansen/unassisted, T. Hansen/unassisted, Hunter/T. Hansen, and Kummerfeldt/Price. The game was an easy one for K. Hansen as well. He faced four shots on goal and stopped three.

Game 4

Game four was a definite do or die for the Ice Dawgs, with a double overtime score eventually sealing the win and securing their spot in the championship game against Havre.

The Ice Dawgs managed to send the puck between the pipes for the first two goals of the game, with Peyton Smith knocking one in with some help from Dulaney and T. Hansen scoring with assists from Price and Llewellyn. Missoula scored the last goal of the period with just under six minutes left in the period and brought the score to 2-1.

In the second period, the Bruins caught up to Glasgow with a short-handed goal to tie the game 2-2.

The Ice Dawgs were able to come back with an unassisted goal from Dulaney to end the second just ahead of the Bruins 3-2.

The third period would prove to be the turning point for Glasgow, but it wouldn't be easy. After a score from Missoula, the game was again tied. The Ice Dawgs needed to score another goal to win and advance to the next game.

Glasgow found themselves in a pickle when Missoula sent a puck into the net and took the lead 4-3.

At that point, according to head coach Kent Hubbard, the Squirts were feeling defeated as they faced a loss after a hard-fought tourney. The only thing they could do was pull themselves up by the boot-straps and give it their all. And they did. With just 13 seconds left in the third period, Mason Hunter lit up the scoreboard sending one in between the pipes with a short-handed goal and tying the game.

The Ice Dawgs and the Bruins battled it out defensively in the first overtime of the game, but neither team could overcome the will of the other and the game remained tied.

The second overtime was another nail-biter with both teams determined to be the victor. Pushing through the weariness and fighting a determined opponent, the squirts would finally seal the win with a goal from Price assisted by Dulaney at the end of the second overtime. K. Hansen faced seven shots on goal and recorded three saves.

Game 5 – Championship Game

The final game of the weekend for the Ice Dawgs started less than four hours after the grueling game against Missoula. Glasgow hit the ice ready to play, nonetheless. With the earlier double overtime win, the Ice Dawgs were hungry for more competition.

T. Hansen started the game with two unassisted goals in the first period. Havre answered with a goal with just seven minutes remaining.

Showing their determination, Glasgow took the puck into the Ice Hawks' territory and Dulaney knocked one in with an assist from Price, followed by a late first period unassisted goal from T. Hansen.

The Ice Hawks weren't about to let the Ice Dawgs gain a comfortable lead and finished the first period scoring with just 30 seconds left on the clock. The first period ended with Glasgow up 4-2.

Havre would tighten the score with a goal in the second period, but it wouldn't last, as Glasgow would put another point on the board with an unassisted goal from T. Hansen.

Moving into the third period, the Ice Dawgs had the lead. Just to keep things interesting, Havre sent one into the back of the net to tie the score at 5-5.

Less than a minute later, T. Hansen would score the final goal of the game, unassisted. K. Hansen would record 15 saves in the game. When the buzzer sounded, the Glasgow Ice Dawg Squirts became the 2016 MAHA State Champions.

Coach Hubbard was impressed by the passion his Squirts showed throughout the tournament and noted that he had never seen them work as hard as they did this last weekend. "They showed a lot of heart," he said. "They gave it their all, never gave up, and came out on top."

Yes, they did.