Bantam Bedlam

Hi-Line Youth Hockey played host for the MAHA State Bantam Tournament at the Valley Event Center, March 13-15, despite the fears over the COVID 19 pandemic. The Glasgow Ice Dawgs made the weekend worth the risk, placing third in the tournament and putting on a show for fans.

Glasgow vs. Bozeman

Glasgow first hit the ice against the Bozeman Ice Dogs Friday morning in the tournament's pool play. The Ice Dawgs dropped the game, 3-2, playing a step behind the Ice Dogs. Bozeman took a 2-0 lead in the first period and added a goal in the second to take a 3-0 advantage into the third period.

The Dawgs attempted a comeback in the final period, putting up two goals to bring them within striking distance, but Bozeman goalie Joe Johnson turned away 11 of Glasgow's 13 attempts. Tristan Powell put the Dawgs on the scoreboard with 11:09 left in the game. Trevor Dulaney cut Bozeman's lead to one with an assist from Tatum Hansen with 3:05 on the clock, but the Ice Dogs held on to that lead for the win.

Glasgow goalie Kolten Hansen turned away 20 of 23 shots in the game as the offense notched 34 shots on net. Mason Hunter was the Dawgs' star in the penalty box, serving two minutes for roughing and a 2-and-10 for checking from behind and misconduct, with Joshua Llewellyn serving the two minutes.

Glasgow vs. Great Falls

Late that evening the Ice Dawgs laced up their skates again to face off against the Great Falls Americans. Apparently smarting from their loss, the Dawgs hit the ice reenergized, taking a 7-2 victory over the Americans.

Lexten Fairclough netted the first goal 3:24 into play. Hunter was sent to the box with 8:41 left in the period for interference, but T. Hansen broke away with the puck to score short-handed. Glasgow outshot Great Falls 7 to 4 in the opening period.

The Dawgs outshot the Americans 11-7 in the second but goalies K. Hansen and Dalton Courcy (Americans) held off all attempts until late in the period. T. Hansen took the Dawgs to a 3-0 lead with 2:15 left on the clock. Dulaney added another with help from Hunter 14 seconds later. With 43 seconds left before intermission, Great Falls' Jase Troyer denied K. Hansen a shutout, putting the Americans on the board.

Troyer cut Glasgow's lead in half in the third, finding his way past K. Hansen with 5:56 left to play. However, Glasgow was not content with their 4-2 lead. T. Hansen slammed the puck past Courcy for a hat trick with 4:14 left in the game. Peyton Smith took the Dawgs to a 6-2 lead less than 30 seconds later and Powell scored a power-play goal with an assist from Zevin Kummerfeldt with 35 seconds left on the clock.

K. Hansen faced only 16 shots on his net and Courcy faced 27 Glasgow attempts on Great Falls' end of the ice.

Glasgow vs. Miles City

Saturday afternoon Glasgow faced off against the Miles City Generals and notched another decisive victory. The Ice Dawgs outshot the Generals 26 to 20 in their 7-3 win.

Glasgow took control of the game early, netting five goals in the first period on 13 attempts on goal. T. Hansen kicked off the Dawgs' scoring streak on a Dulaney assist. He returned the favor on Dulaney's goal. Powell also assisted on the insurance goal. Glasgow took it to a three-goal lead on a T. Hansen power-play goal, with help from Dulaney.

Showing off Datssyukian-level play, T. Hansen would net a hat trick with 3:13 left in the period, adding a fourth, and Glasgow's fifth, with 52 seconds remaining on the clock.

Miles City would score two goals, including a power-play goal due to a Powell roughing penalty, in the second on six attempts on K. Hansen's net. General Chalee Ridenour turned away Glasgow's 10 shots in the second period.

Glasgow would register only three shots on goal in the third period, but made good use of those attempts, scoring on two of them. Fairclough netted a goal just over halfway through the final period. Miles City scored a goal with 4:20 left in the game before T. Hansen teamed up with Dulaney again to net Glasgow's seventh goal with 1:10 remaining.

The Ice Dawgs rang up 30 penalty minutes on seven infractions. Fairclough was called for interference in the first. In the second Powell took a seat for roughing. Kummerfeldt served a 2-and-20 for boarding and misconduct and Bishop also served a 2-and-10 for head contact and misconduct. Kummerfeldt was called for roughing at the buzzer and served two minutes to start the third period.

Glasgow vs. Flathead

The win against Miles City put Glasgow in the cross over game against the Flathead Fusion Saturday night battling for a shot at the championship game. Unfortunately for the boys in red and black, they lost to the Fusion, and were unable to defend their state title.

Flathead scored first, but T. Hansen, with help from Fairclough, would tie the game at 7:37. Flathead put up two more goals before the buzzer, outshooting the Dawgs 19-4. The Fusion would continue to outshoot the Dawgs in the second period and put up two more goals while denying all of Glasgow's attempts.

K. Hansen would stand on his head for much of the third period, turning away 17 of 18 shots fired at his net. On the other end of the ice, the Dawgs would put up two more goals for a final score of 6-3 with the Fusion moving on to the championship game, which they would win over Bozeman, 3-1, on Sunday.

Fairclough, assist Dulaney, and T. Hansen put up Glasgow's final two goals of the game. The Dawgs racked up 18 minutes on five infractions. Kummerfeldt served time for holding in the first and Dulaney sat for slashing in the second. In the third Smith was called for holding and T. Hansen was sent to the sin bin for a 2-and-10 on a boarding and misconduct call.

Consolation Game: Glasgow vs. Missoula

Sunday morning, the Ice Dawgs faced off against the Missoula Bruins in what may have been the most exciting and action-packed game of the tournament. Glasgow would take the third place trophy in a 5-1 win over Missoula in a game that ended abruptly.

Smith started the action for the Dawgs (and later would go on to finish it) with a goal 3:39 into the first with an assist from Powell. T. Hansen deked his way to a short-handed goal with nine seconds left on a Smith tripping penalty to give the Dawgs a 2-0 lead. Glasgow would take that lead into the second as K. Hansen turned away six shots on his net.

The action would heat up in the second period with both teams racking up penalty minutes. After expressing displeasure over officiating, Missoula took a bench unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a coaching game misconduct infraction for Beau Fournier, complete with ejection. A boarding and misconduct call for Missoula added another 2-and-10 to their penalty minutes.

On Glasgow's side of the penalties, Koski was called for tripping, Fairclough for roughing and Koski for tripping again. Special teams for both sides came through on defense, with the only goal of the second coming even-handed from Dulaney, assisted by T. Hansen. The Dawgs put up 12 shots and K. Hansen faced 10 attempts in the second.

The third period action continued to heat up. Fairclough netted a goal at 11:28 to give Glasgow a 4-0 lead. With 7:44 left in the game, he was sent to the sin bin for tripping. Mason Hunter joined him at 6:54 on a roughing call. Despite Missoula's man-advantage, T. Hansen scored a short-handed goal, putting Glasgow up 5-0. With 5:39 left in the game, Bruin Eliza Quackenbush, assist Eve Omura, ended K. Hansen's shutout on a power-play goal.

With 1:31 left in the game, Fairclough tangled up with Quackenbush, sending her into the boards behind the Dawgs' net and earning him a tripping call. However, before he could make it to the box, Bruins Caleb Johnson and Nich Umile sought to avenge their teammate. Chirping quickly turned into a full-on melee with officials attempting to break up the fight, with Smith, Kummerfeldt and Fairclough not backing down.

After several minutes of old-fashioned hockey, officials regained control of the ice, amid jeers from the crowd. Players skated to the sin bin to take their seats as officials and tournament personnel attempted to work out the penalty situation. The remaining Missoula coach asked for the clock to run out, declining to return his players to the rink after they instigated the fracas. With the clock reset and showing zeroes for time left, Glasgow was declared the third-place winner.

When it was all said and done, Missoula incurred 50 minutes on 11 calls in the game and Glasgow 69 minutes on 14 infractions. Smith and Kummerfeldt each received 5-and-10s for fighting and game misconducts. In addition to his tripping call, Fairclough received a 5-and-10 for fighting and game misconduct and a line on the scoresheet reading "5 penalties 1 game" for a second game misconduct call.

And so the Bantams ended their season with a bang, taking third in the Treasure State League Tournament, and getting a jump start on their high school hockey careers.