Alex Tourney Write-up (sorry I'm so late!)

Squirt A Red Alexandria Tournament

St Cloud Squirt A Red went 1-2 on the weekend, not taking home any trophies, but certainly enjoying some good, competitive hockey against some non-district teams and avoiding frostbite during the coldest weekend of the season. The kids lost a double-overtime, shoot-out thriller to Minnetonka, 3-2 (2-1) on Saturday afternoon, lost another contest to Mankato Purple, 6-4 on Saturday night and salvaged a win over Monticello, 3-2 on Sunday morning. In between the games, the crew spent some quality play time at the lovely Arrowwood Resort with a team potluck and some some waterpark action.

Game 1 vs. Minnetonka

St Cloud Red’s first game of the tournament pitted them against the Minnetonka Skippers from District 6. As has become the norm, our boys appeared to be about a head shorter than their opponent, although the Skippers did have a couple guys “our size.” The 1st period started with a couple flurries each way as both teams appeared ready to play. Logan Neu and Joey Mendel nearly connected on a 2 on 1 in the first two minutes. Minnetonka then responded with a 3 on 2 of their own, with Jake making a nice save. After the first several minutes, however, each team tightened-up their defensive games, with great back checking by the forwards and solid play from the “Ministry of Defense”, Mssr’s Tommy Auger, Jesse Mendel, Logan “L.T.” Traut, Grady Ewing, and Skyler Rieland. Their normal cohort, Mitch Schulzetenberg had been moved up to right wing for a game to complete the 3 forward lines. The 1st period wound down as a very even affair and ended in a scoreless tie. Shots for the period were 8-8.

The 2nd period began with a flurry and before we could set our new hot chocolate down, Minnetonka had broken out on top with a “crash the net” goal on a rebound in the first minute of play. 1-0, Minnetonka. St Cloud Red continued to battle though and Jake came up with a couple huge saves to keep the game close. Midway through the period, Red went on the power play and with seconds remaining on the man-advantage, Alec Adelmann picked off an attempted dump-out high in the zone. He worked the puck over to Jesse Mendel at the left point. Jesse spied an opening, faked a shot and walked around the defender to the net. He beat another defender at the bottom of the circle and stuffed the puck by the Minnetonka netminder low, stick-side to knot the score, 1-1. Minnetonka responded with more intense play and several chances, but the period ended tied. Shots for the 2nd were 12-7, in favor of Minnetonka.

In the 3rd period, both teams came out with added intensity, working for the go ahead goal. Each goalie came up huge in the first four minutes. With 9:06 remaining in the 3rd, Red forged ahead with a mismatched line. Late in his shift, with his linemates off on a change, Harry Stanius joined the rush with Joey Mendel. Joey cruised up the left wing through neutral with the puck, gaining the zone and looked to cut to the net or shoot. From the top of the left circle, he found Harry crashing the net and threw him a perfect pass to the wide side, which Harry redirected into the open right side of the cage, giving St Cloud its first lead of the game, 2-1. Rather than going into a defensive shell, Red actually picked up their pace and began trying to extend the margin. Mitch Schulzetenberg and Tanner Schmidt nearly connected on a play down low and Logan Neu narrowly missed on a shot from the left circle. As regulation ran down near the 6 minute mark, Minnetonka began to turn it up a notch, with their D taking more chances pinching and sending the extra man to the net. Jake made all the saves, controlled the rebounds and the trusty “D” kept the shot lanes clear. Late in the period, Skyler Rieland pulled down a Skipper forward to prevent a wide open chance, putting Minnetonka on the power play with 2:46 left in regulation. Minnetonka promptly called a time out to set their strategy. They opted not to immediately pull their goalie. Their 5 on 4 power play proved formidable enough, though, as they generated several shots in the first minute of the man-advantage, yet no equalizer. On a face off in the St Cloud zone with 1:15 left in regulation, the Tonka goalie came out and the extra attacker set up in the zone. Right off the draw the Skippers controlled the puck, getting a shot off from the point. St Cloud narrowly missed clearing the zone up the middle and the puck was dumped back into the right corner. From there, the Tonka forward bull-rushed the puck to the goal mouth, with Tommy Auger tying him up on the way. The Tonka player shoveled a low shot through a mass of humanity in front of the net and the puck found it’s way through Jakes pads and into the goal with just 52.5 seconds remaining in regulation. As Hall & Oates once lamented, “so close, yet so far away…” Regulation ended 2-2. Shots for the period were 13-9, in favor of Minnetonka. On to overtime!!

The 1st five-minute extra session began with a St Cloud rush right off the draw, with Logan Raygor racing the puck up the left wing into the zone and getting a wicked wrister off from 15 feet. The Tonka net minder managed to get his left shoulder on the shot, deflecting it just-wide. With 3:31 left, Mitch was called for a trip, setting the Skippers up on the power play. Minnetonka set up in the zone, but the first PK unit of Braden Altena, Trevor Cornelius, Grady Ewing & Logan Traut kept all the shots to the outside and/or blocked them before they got to the net. Midway through the kill, the next PK forwards, Logan Neu & Joey Mendel nearly ended it, chipping the puck out to neutral and then turning it into a 2 on 1, with Logan sending a sizzler just outside the left post off a pass from Joey. Unfortunately, the puck was turned around immediately by the Skippers and on the ensuing rush, a hustling Logan pulled down the Tonka forward just over the blue line to break up a scoring chance at 2:27. This made it a 5 on 3 penalty kill for 46 seconds and left our kids on the PK for almost the rest of the O.T. session. The kids set up in their defensive triangle, and killed the remaining 5 on 3, with Jake making a nice stop with the left pad and freezing the puck with seconds left in the two-man advantage. St Cloud won the ensuing draw and were able to clear the zone, killing the remaining time and once they got back to a 4 on 5 penalty kill, never let Minnetonka get set back up in the zone. The first O.T. ended with Minnetonka leading the shot count 3-1 and the kids moved on to the 4 on 4 overtime format. Even with the extra open ice, tight checking seemed to rule the period, with neither team letting the other get an open shot. The 2nd O.T. session was a relatively uneventful, yet stressful, affair with only 2 shots on goal, both by Minnetonka.

The last of the tournament overtime procedures was the “Shootout.” Tonka iced the game in this session, scoring on two of their three chances. Jesse Mendel was the lone St Cloud scorer, connecting on a nice deke, finishing with a backhander by the Skipper goalie. Minnetonka prevailed by the complicated score of 3-2 (2 O.T.)/ Shoot out 2-1. Our favorite kids from St Cloud played a hard-nosed game, narrowly missing being able to pull it out in regulation and then a couple more times in O.T. Despite the disappointment, the parents had to be proud how the boys played through almost 4 periods of hockey, never letting down. At this point it was time to check into Arrowwood, eat a meal and prepare for Mankato-Purple.

Game 2 vs. Mankato-Purple

The kids got the opportunity to play another new team from a southern Minnesota association, from District 4, in Game 2 which also provided another first for the year. Mankato is another association that fields 2 Squirt A Teams, similar to St Cloud. The difference in this case was that Mankato sorts their A teams into an “A1” and an “A2” level. Mankato-Purple was their association’s “A1” team and sported a gawdy 21-3-1 record on the year, entering the tournament. St Cloud Red seemed undeterred early, however, trading chances with Mankato. The Mav’s started with a flurry with a couple quick shots and then Logan Neu broke loose on a breakaway, catching a Jesse Mendel pass at neutral but, unfortunately, having the puck go off his stick just as he was about to make a move on the Maverick goalie. Mankato struck first, just 4:21 into the game, forcing a turnover at the St Cloud blueline and then finding an unattended forward behind the D. Jake stopped the first shot, but had the rebound pounded by him to put the Mavericks up 1-0. The game took on a rather fast and loose mood, with each team showing off it’s speedy transition game, but not always getting back to play D. Mankato then extended the lead with 4:05 left in the 1st frame, controlling the puck down low, behind the net and then finding a wide-open forward on the doorstep who hit a nifty shot up over Jake’s shoulder. Score 2-0, Mankato. As the period wound down, the game took a Rod Serling-like turn into the twilight zone for about a minute, where the puck became a hot potato in the St Cloud end for everyone but the Mavericks. Mankato scored 2 goals in a 17 second span, the first of which was scored off a scrum in front of the net, where the kids had several opportunities to clear the puck, but fanned on each attempt. On the ensuing face off, St Cloud appeared to win the draw, but only Mankato appeared interested in grabbing the puck. They brought the puck into the Husky zone, untouched, as the kids observed, made a couple passes and put another shot over Jake’s shoulder to put Mankato up 4-0 with 30 seconds left in the period. St Cloud, mercifully, managed to run-out the remaining 30 seconds without further damage, but now stared at a daunting 4-0 deficit. Mankato won the shots on goal battle 13-11 in the frame, which better-reflected the period as a whole.

Being fairly certain there were no “mulligan” or “do-over” provisions in the tournament rules, the kids set about to getting their game back in-order in the 2nd period. And that they did, shaking off the cob webs and playing more like they had against Minnetonka, earlier in the day. With the Mankato parent section apparently used to being and staying well-ahead, a Maverick hockey mom was heard to cheer, “Come-on Mankato! Dominate!!!” Each team had their feet moving right away, with race-horse hockey being the style of play. St Cloud finally got on the board 4:39 into the 2nd, when Trevor Cornelius rocketed a shot into the upper right corner, beating the Maverick goalie glove side. Not quite done, off of the next face-off, Braden Altena won the draw over to Trevor again, who raced the puck into the zone and scored once more just 17 seconds later, to make things interesting once again, at 4-2. The goal revved Mankato up as well and the speed/transition game commenced again. Jesse Mendel made a great defensive play, racing back to break up a 2 on 0 scoring chance. With just under 7 minutes left in the frame Joey Mendel and Alec Adelemann nearly connected on a nice 2 on 1 break of their own. Joey was robbed again 30 seconds later, when he picked up a loose puck to the left of the cage, curled to the slot and let a screaming wrister go, ticketed for the left corner. The Maverick netminder made a great glove save on it, however, maintaining the 2 goal margin for Mankato. The period ended with Mankato still ahead 4-2. Shots for the period were 11-9, St Cloud.

The 3rd period began with St Cloud Red still on the hunt, but with Mankato playing a more defensive scheme, chipping the puck out of their zone, rather than their up-tempo transition game shown in the first two periods. The strategy appeared to work as St Cloud Red started taking more chances and Mankato caught them in transition 4:21 into the period on a 2 on 1and subsequent rebound goal to extend the lead to 5-2. The goal momentarily took the wind out of the sails of the St Cloud kids and Mankato began tipping the ice toward the St Cloud end. But roughly two minutes after the Maverick’s goal, while battling to get the puck out of their own end, Logan Raygor chipped the puck out to neutral ice. Sniffing an opportunity, Tanner Schmidt raced for the loose puck, getting there at about the same time as the Maverick defenseman. Tanner battled with the bigger kid, working the puck forward and pulled away with another defender in hot pursuit. Just as he was about to let the shot go, the defender got to him with his stick and tried to tie him up. Tanner got the shot off that initially looked like it was stopped by the goalie, but the puck squirted through his pads and had just enough momentum to cross the goal line into the net and to close the gap to 5-3. Red continued to press for the all important next goal and narrowly missed when Mattson Courrier was stoned by the Mankato netminder with 5:26 left in regulation. As the time wound down, Tommy Auger got a good look from the point and let a rocket go from the middle of the ice. Braden Altena picked up the rebound and found Logan Neu to the left of the cage with a pass. Logan took the pass, waited and then ripped the biscuit into the twine to make it 5-4 with 3:35 left, to keep hope alive and also to make the parents’ hearts beat a little faster. The full court press continued, but with every tick off the clock, the pressure mounted. Mankato caught the defense pinching and set off on a breakaway alone on the St Cloud goal. Jake Berger made a pad save with his left leg and kicked the puck into the corner with 2:40 left. But in the ensuing scramble to get the puck out of the zone, the Mavericks picked off another clearing attempt and got another shot by Jake to re-extend the lead to 6-4, Mav’s with 2:23 left. The kids battled to the end, pulling Jake for an extra attacker. Harry Stanius appeared to score St Cloud’s 5th goal with 1:30 left, partially fanning on a rebound at the right of the cage with the goalie down on the left side of the crease. On the second swipe at the puck the Mankato goalie was able to just get his stick over to make the stop. The ref indicated the puck did not cross the goal line completely and was no goal, much to Harry’s chagrin. St Cloud managed a couple more minor opportunities, but the game ended 6-4 Mankato. The kids battled hard, fighting back from the 4-0 deficit and out-shooting the vaunted Mankato-Purple team 12-6 in the 3rd period and 34-28 for the game. For the day, the kids played two pretty good games of hockey, with only a few instances of let-down, yet had nothing to show for it in the way of victories. On the bright side, they had played two top-notch teams and had availed themselves well with their hard-nosed, never-say-die attitude. The kids cut-loose from the rink into the minus 40 degree wind chills like any squirt hockey team would and headed straight for the water park at the hotel for some late-night down time.

Game #3 vs. Monticello

Sunday morning came a bit early with a 9:15am game time. St Cloud Red faced off with the Stars from Monticello in what the kids referred to as “The Johnnie Bowl.” No affiliation with SJU was intended. The game began with each team looking a little sluggish. The teams traded power plays in the first four minutes without creating many quality chances in either effort. With 6 minutes remaining, the best chance of the game came when Braden Altena picked off a pass in the slot in the Monticello end but was tied –up just before he could pull the trigger. On the penalty kill, with Skyler off for interference, Braden just missed tallying a shorty, with the Star goalie making a nice save on his deke at the 2:28 mark of the 1st period. With time running down, Trevor Cornelius finally broke the spell with a resounding “clink!!” Off a face off in the Monticello zone, Braden pulled the puck back to Trevor, who initially looked like he would take it low, pulled the puck back to the side-boards and launched a missile through traffic toward the net. The puck rattled off the inside of the right post and into the net, putting Red up 1-0 with 1:35 remaining and getting the parents up out of their seats. The goal appeared to awaken Monticello as well, as they responded with a goal of their own off a rebound with 32.3 seconds remaining. The period ended 1-1. Shots for the period were 7-5, St Cloud.

The 2nd frame started what appeared to be a trend, with Harry Stanius going to the box for a cross check at 12:57. The PK unit did a nice job of limiting Monticello’s chances, but as their reward, Logan Traut was called for a hook at 10:39, giving our kids some more practice playing 4 on 5. The extra short-handed practice appeared to help as Trevor Cornelius buried the rebound of a shot from a well-rested Harry, completing a nice 2 on 1 opportunity at the 10:05 mark. Just 29 seconds later, Trevor connected on another shorty off a nice feed from Jesse Mendel, who brought the puck up the length of the ice and found Mr. Cornelius busting up the slot. Trevor’s 3rd goal of the game put Red up 3-1. Monticello cranked up their game at that point but the St Cloud kids tightened up their own defensive game to keep the nets sealed. Grady Ewing made the defensive play of the game with about 5 minutes remaining. Coming off the bench on a change, Grady turned what looked like a 2 on 0 into a 2 on 1 at the blue line. As the Monticello forwards cruised-in, he partially deflected a crossing-pass, but didn’t get enough of the puck to slow the rush, looking like the right winger would blow by him for an open shot. He turned, recovered his speed and was able to step in front of the winger’s shot, blocking it with his shin pads and then had the presence of mind to turn and dump the puck out of the danger zone. The rest of the 2nd period was relatively uneventful, other than another trip to the box for St Cloud at the 4:26 mark, with Harry being called for a high stick. The period ended 3-1, St Cloud. The shot tally was 8-6, in favor of Monticello.

In the 3rd period, the Stars came out with a purpose and applied pressure right off the opening draw. Jake kept a lid on the net for the first several minutes of the onslaught, and St Cloud broke out on an opportunity of their own with Braden Altena narrowly missing extending the lead at the 11:33 mark. Trevor C. rushed the puck up the left wing, crossing the blue line and then pulled-up at the top of the circle, on the side boards. Braden crashed the net, perfectly redirecting Trevor’s shot/pass at the goal mouth. The Star netminder made the save of the game on the redirect, smothering the rebound. Monticello continued their pressure and St Cloud took another penalty, this time Logan Raygor for a hook, to keep the PK unit well-oiled. It began to look like all the practice was really paying off, as the penalty killers carried play, not only keeping the puck out of the St Cloud zone, but carrying play in the Monticello end for about a 30 second stretch. Just as playing the rest of the game 4 on 5 intentionally was being considered, Jesse got caught pinching low, and the Stars broke out on a 4 on 1. With Tommy Auger the only D back, just trying to slow the rush, Monticello converted on a nice shot from the slot into the upper left corner, beating Jake high, glove-side and cutting the lead to 3-2. The goal came with 6:10 remaining. St Cloud Red tightened up their defensive game from that point, keeping a forward high and two “D” back. As Monticello worked for the equalizer Logan Traut and Skyler Rieland provided terrific coverage in front of the St Cloud net. Mitch Schulzetenberg did not show up in the score sheet in this game, but played a very strong game rushing the puck, making good decisions and was also strong on the defensive side. St Cloud survived a couple more penalties in the last 5 minutes as well as having Monticello pull their goalie for an extra attacker. The game ended with a 3-2 victory for St Cloud Red. Shots for the period were 8-7, in favor of Monticello. Monticello actually won the shot battle for the game, 21-20.

The Alexandria Tournament yielded no hardware, but the kids played 3 good, competitive games of hockey against teams from 3 different districts. They played the types of games which make each one of them better hockey players. As the last tournament of the year, it was fun as a parent to sit back and appreciate how much each of the kids has grown as a player and as a person. It’s been enjoyable to watch new friendships form over the course of the season and observe how the kids support each other, especially in times of adversity. Special thanks have to go out to coaches Eric Altena, Vaughn Cornelius, Mike Ewing & Ron Traut for helping to instill these qualities in the team. Your time and talents put into the development of each of the kids that make up St Cloud Squirt A Red have paid dividends that each boy will take forward with him.

Thank you to all of you!!

Great job, St Cloud Squirt A Red!!!!

A sad day for a coach.....

The season is over. Our guys did their best and they should be proud for all we have accomplished this season. What an awesome group of kids and parents!!! I can only hope that all the teams I coach in the future will be this fun to be with.....

Well, we still have HEP testing Monday the 24th, 7-9:15 pm at the MAc and we intend to get an hour of ice to have a littrle parent/player scrimmage.... er, uhm, grudge match... :D


And of course our year end party.... A must have with so many great people and kids... Details coming soon.

Well.... The weekend recap... Nice job!!!

Our final finish in the Alex Tournament not so hot... but the experience to be there and have a 2 over time shoot out........... How many times will that happen in our lives???? Not many, I am sure.. Regardless we held out for the win against Monticello. Now all we have to do is be ready for Coon Rapids... one game at a time... right??? Go Red... We can do it...

Alex Potluck

I know Libby talked to some about the potluck Saturday night at East Bethel. I am putting this on here in case some of you did not hear about it. For those staying in Alex this weekend, we plan on doing a potluck dinner Saturday night at the hotel instead of going out or ordering pizza. As for what time, I guess that depends on what time we play (either 7:00pm or 8:45pm). Libby is in charge of putting this together, so talk to her if you have questions or e-mail her at aauger39@q.com. More of just a note so everyone is aware of the plan.

Thanks!! Andy

Wow! What an awesome comback!!

I can see our confidence growing and the kids amazing abilities really shining lately. Earlier in the season a 3-1 deficit meant we had better odds losing... Not anything wrong, just a matter of being ready... Anyway, now... now, we have the skill, the desire and the emotion "on our sleeves" to make those come backs...

Pass from Braden to Joey to Trevor.... He shoots, he scores!!!!!!!! ... with 18 seconds remaining to tie the game!!! Wow... I love the fact the team seems to be functioning well... Parents should be so proud of these boys... they are heading in the right direction.... and hopefully, at the right time!!! Let's keep it going red!!! Nice job!!

Great Fergus Tourney folks!!

It is such a thrill to see the team succeed! I like the level of play we have going and our desire to win is there. A heart attack victory on Sunday morning in overtime... Wow!! We ran into several tough conditions on Saturday night... long time between games, a very competent Thief River Falls team and our lack of energy, but, we still fought hard... came back Sunday and kicked some but against the Fergus Otters... Way to go boys!! No let's see if we can carry our intensity, physical play and speed to the remaining two district games, the Alex tourney and the playoffs!!!

Great work RED!!!

I like the intensity boys....

A few rough games against some of the tougher District opponents.... Well, in spite of the losses.... the kids did play better overall.. By far one of the best games of the season was our loss to Coon Rapids. A great physical game with our kids doing some of the best back checking work we have seen. Not to mention the offensive potentials...

I am very proud of our boys. They are really starting to work the way all of the coaches are hoping to see...


I am really looking forward to this weekends tournament in Fergus... Go RED!!!

WOW! What a great tourney!

Way to Go Guys!!!!!!! Way to finish the tournament with a sweep and commanding victories. Wins with 7-0 over LDC, 11-1 over Austin and 5-0 win over PNLS. Our shots, defense, and of course the stellar goal tending by Berger enabled our team to put the puck in the net with authority!!! We have our game recorded shot total for the season 51 shots on PNLS!!!! Nice job boys!! All I can say is our hard work is paying off!

Lets keep it going for the latter part of the season....

Nice job boys. !

Player Profile

#2 Tanner Schmit
School: SPPM
Grade: 4th
Shoots: Right
Family Members: Matt, Sherri, Nick & Brady
Favorite Sport: Hockey
Favorite School Subject: Social Studies
Favorite Team(s): SCSU, UND, Wild & Penguins
Favorite Athlete(s): Sydney Crosby
Favorite Food(s): Taco in a bag
Favorite Restaurant: Famous Daves
Pets: Dog & Cat
Hobbies: Hockey & Drawing

Man, What a great Game!!!!

Wow, our guys are getting used to playing intensely. I like it. Each game we are seeing more and more assertion of their individual abilities... Go tot love that as a coach... :D
Last nights game was amazingly exciting for all, I am sure. What a great way to end our "in association rivalry". Nice win boys... let's show the folks in Paynesville exactly what St. Cloud can do this weekend.... Keep up the great work!!