Bantam Beasts Take Title!

The Valley Event Center has another championship banner to hang in the rafters. The 2017 MAHA State Bantam Tournament was held in Glasgow March 10-12, and the Ice Dawgs captured the first ever Bantam championship for Hi-Line Youth Hockey.

Glasgow finished the weekend undefeated, beating teams from Helena, Butte, Great Falls and Havre, then defeating Havre for a second time in the Sunday afternoon chipper.

The weekend was full of energy and hardcore hockey, with 20 games in the books by the end of the tournament. In addition to the games, the tournament featured a rubber ducky toss, a gift basket raffle, 50-50 drawing and more. The opening ceremonies held Friday evening included the presentation of the flags by a local boy scout troop and the national anthem was performed by the GHS Swing Choir.

Glasgow 14, Helena 3

Glasgow's first game was held Friday morning as they faced the Helena Bighorns to start off the tournament. Making a statement and setting the tone for the entire weekend, the Ice Dawgs scored three consecutive, unanswered goals in under one minute.

Ike Braaten, assisted by Kaden Kummerfeldt, scored the first goal before any time could tick off on the play clock, followed by an unassisted goal from Michael Uphues 26 seconds later. With assists going to Kummerfeldt and Gage Siefert, Braaten completed the scoring trifecta 51 seconds into the contest.

Following two more goals by Braaten, one unassisted and the other from Koby Regalado, Helena was able to hit the back of the net on a power play and light up their side of the scoreboard. The period came to an end with the Ice Dawgs on top 5-1, and Braaten with a hat trick.

Braaten opened up the second period with a goal assisted by Kummerfeldt and Regalado, followed by an unassisted goal from Nik Burke. Uphues scored a pair of goals with Burke and Tori Pehlke getting the assist for one, and Burke assisting with the second.

Breaking up the Ice Dawgs scoring streak, Helena took advantage of another power play to add another point to their score.

Extending their lead even further, Glasgow hit the back of the net three more times: Braaten off Regalado, Uphues off Trevor Johnson for a hat trick, and Braaten off Regalado. At the end of the second period, the Ice Dawgs had a commanding 12-2 lead.

In the final period, Braaten scored his eighth and ninth goals of the game, one unassisted and one from Bailey Hansen and Siefert. The Bighorns scored one more goal before the game came to an end, and Glasgow recorded their first win 14-3.

In comparison to the rest of the tournament, penalties were few and minor. Serving two minutes were: Burke, elbowing; Kummerfeldt, high-sticking; Uphues, interference; Braaten interference; Johnson, hooking; Kummerfeldt, interference; and Braaten, interference.

Glasgow finished with 36 shots on goal, and Helena had 19. Brayden Hansen, who served as netminder for the Ice Dawgs all five games of the tournament, recorded 36 saves.

Glasgow 15, Butte 4

The Ice Dawgs' second game of the day began fairly tame, but became chippy halfway through the second period. In the end, Glasgow had 10 infractions to Butte's two, including a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

Braaten continued his outstanding scoring streak in the tournament, scoring seven times in the contest. The action began with a Braaten goal five-and-a-half minutes into the first period assisted by Regalado, followed by a short-handed Braaten goal assisted by Kristian Price and a reply from Butte as they scored for the first time.

In the final minute of the period, scoring was back-and-forth with Glasgow and Butte trading goals. Braaten scored an unassisted, short-handed goal, which was followed by a power-play goal from the Copper City Kings. Johnson brought the period to an end with a goal assisted by Braaten.

The second period of the game was all Ice Dawgs. With eight unanswered goals, Glasgow extended their lead to 12-2. Scoring back-to-back unassisted goals were Uphues and Johnson, followed less than a minute later by an unassisted goal by Braaten. Also scoring: Johnson off Bailey Hansen, Uphues from Siefert, Braaten from Siefert, Braaten from Regalado, and Uphues unassisted for his second hat trick of the weekend.

The Kings were able to pull themselves together long enough to score a few more times in the final period. Taking advantage of a power play, they added a point to their score with a power-play goal nearly nine minutes into the period.

Johnson responded with an assist from Braaten to record a hat trick for himself. Following an unassisted goal by the Kings, Price found the back of the net with an assist from Bailey Hansen, then returned the favor with an assist to Braaten to finish the contest. The Ice Dawgs claimed the win 15-4.

Serving two-minute penalties for Glasgow were: Bailey Hansen, tripping; Regalado, interference; Price, elbowing; Kummerfeldt, roughing; Burke, charging (plus a 10-minute misconduct); Price, too many men; Johnson, slashing; Price, interference; and Uphues, interference.

The Ice Dawgs finished with 37 shots on goal and Butte had 28. Brayden Hansen finished the game with 24 saves.

Glasgow 10, Havre 2

For their third game of the tournament, the Ice Dawgs faced the Havre Ice Hawks in a Saturday morning contest. Braaten was again a key player in the outcome of the game as he scored seven of the team's ten points.

With an assist from Ian Peterson, Braaten lit up the scoreboard with the first goal of the game just minutes into the first period, then hit one between the pipes unassisted for a second Ice Dawg point. To close the period, Uphues scored with the assist going to Johnson.

Glasgow was on top 3-0 going into the second period. Extending that lead, Uphues hit the back of the net with an assist from Braaten, followed by an unassisted goal by Braaten. The Ice Hawks were finally able to penetrate Glasgow's defensive wall and lit up their side of the scoreboard nearly halfway through the period. To finish the period, the Ice Hawks and the Ice Dawgs continued to trade goals with Burke hitting the back of the net from Regalado, Havre scoring a power play goal, then Braaten scoring unassisted. As the teams headed to the locker room, the scoreboard read Glasgow 7, Havre 2.

Returning to the ice, Glasgow didn't show any mercy and continued where they left off. By the end of the game, Braaten had another natural hat trick with Price getting the assist for one.

For penalties, it was another build up to a chippy end for both teams. The officials, however, were quick to shut down the testosterone before things fell apart.

The first two periods of the game produced minimal infractions with Kummerfeldt earning two separate minor penalties for Glasgow: tripping and elbowing.

The third period went haywire at the 9.5 minute mark with Uphues getting tangled up in the corner with Dexter Beck of Havre. The confrontation earned both players a 10-minute misconduct penalty on top of the two-minute minors that started it all. Beck earned his discipline for charging while Uphues was called for checking from behind. In addition, another Ice Hawk was in the mix and earned a minor penalty for roughing. By the time it was all sorted out, there were five skaters in the box serving time. And two of them would stay there for the remainder of the contest. Before the game came to an end, Price got one more dinger in and sat two minutes for roughing. Thirty-eight total penalty minutes were handed out in the game.

Glasgow out-shot the Ice Hawks 45-17, and Brayden Hansen finished in the net with 15 saves.

Glasgow 6, Great Falls 2

Glasgow had their most challenging game of the weekend when they took on the Great Falls Americans Saturday night. Kummerfeldt was quick to start things off, scoring just 14 seconds into the game with the assist going to Braaten and Price. Price followed that goal when he sent one in between the pipes about six minutes later, assisted by Braaten. The Americans were able to respond later in the period, scoring on a power play. At the end of the first period, Glasgow held the lead by just one point, 2-1.

A repeat of the first goal of the game began the second period with Kummerfeldt scoring from Braaten and Price. Looking to prevent a scoring streak by the Ice Dawgs, Great Falls responded within seconds with another point for their team. Following the goal from Great Falls, the game stalled and neither team would add to their score for the rest of the period.When the competitors made their way to the locker rooms, Glasgow was on top by a point, 3-2.

With clean ice and renewed determination, the Ice Dawgs returned to the game for the final period and finished what they started.

Uphues capitalized on a power play left over from the second period, scoring from Price 43 seconds after the face-off. Contributing to the score for the first time in the contest, Braaten capped things off for Glasgow with two consecutive, unassisted goals. The closest game for the Ice Dawgs came to an end as they defeated Great Falls 6-2.

Although the Americans had plenty of penalty minutes, Glasgow earned just four minor infractions in the contest: Uphues, roughing; Uphues, roughing; Price, slashing; and Price, roughing.

The Ice Dawgs recorded an impressive 57 shots on goal, while Great Falls had just 15. In the net, Brayden Hansen finished with 13 saves.

Glasgow 11, Havre 5 (Championship game)

With four wins under their belt, the Ice Dawgs crossed sticks with the Ice Hawks for the second time of the weekend in the championship game on Sunday.

Once again, Braaten was a huge contributor as he exploded offensively in the first period scoring five consecutive unanswered goals – assisted by Kummerfeldt, Price, Bailey Hansen, and another from Price on a short-handed play. The first period came to an end with Glasgow on top 5-0.

Havre began the second period with their first goal of the game, but Braaten soon answered with an unassisted goal on a power play. The Ice Hawks had another successful shot at the net on a power play of their own, shortening the gap in the score, but that shot was soon answered by a score from Price, who was assisted by Burke and Peterson.

Both teams spent the final period taking advantage of power plays, with Glasgow scoring three of their four goals on power plays (Braaten, unassisted; Kummerfeldt from Regalado and Braaten; Braaten from Kummerfeldt; and Braaten from Price), and Havre scoring two of their three goals on power plays.

After the last burst of scoring, Glasgow's Ice Dawgs claimed the win and the state title over the Ice Hawks 11-5.

The game was another busy one for the penalty box with a total of 14 penalties. The Ice Dawgs earned all minor, two-minute penalties: Burke, cross-checking; Peterson, tripping; Kummerfeldt, interference; Peterson, too many men; Regalado, holding; Burke, high-sticking; Price, interference; and Price, roughing.

The Ice Hawks earned fewer penalties, but theirs were punctuated in the third period by a 10-minute misconduct penalty from repeat offender Beck for head contact. For the second game of the tournament, he would finish out the game watching from the penalty box.

Glasgow out-shot Havre with 37 shots on goal compared to Havre's 18. For his final game of the tournament, Brayden Hansen stopped 13 of the Ice Hawk's attempts.

It was a banner weekend for the Ice Dawgs, who put on an impressive display of hockey for the community. With Braaten leading the way, each and every player contributed to the team's success. Glasgow set a grueling pace in each game and fought for each and every goal. They played like champions.