Hockey Tab 2016

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Winter and the ice mean a lot to Havre Havre is growing hockey talent From the Fringe... George Ferguson Sports Editor

In these parts, winter comes early, winter comes often, and Old Man Winter likes to stick around. And with all that being true, winter sports are a big, big deal. It’s no wonder that Havre is a hockey town. After all, it seems like it’s frozen around here for six months out of the year. But the progress to Havre being a budding hockey hotbed has been a long one because it wasn’t always that way. Yes, it’s true, kids have been playing hockey in Havre for a long time, but as far as organized hockey goes, Havre had to grow into the game. There was a time when hockey games could be seen in Havre as they were originally meant to be seen. Anyone remember the old 5th Avenue outdoor hockey rink? Under just a couple of street lights, and for just a few months out of the year, hockey games were played outside,

on frozen water, right in the middle of town. Then, the Havre Ice Hawks started to take off as a club sport, and they needed to go indoors. For a time, the Ice Hawks had their home base at locations at the Great Northern Fairgrounds, but while they were skating up there, the Havre Ice Dome was taking shape, and when it was completed, hockey truly took off in this great, wintertime town. Fast forward to now, and hockey is really a big deal in Havre. It’s such a big deal that Havre Youth Hockey boasts a record number of teams, and a record number of youths, ranging from the age of 18, all the way down to ages 6 and under, playing the game. In other words, when you look at the number of youths playing organized hockey in Havre, you have to marvel at the growth of the sport in this community. Add to that the Glacier Nationals and an adult hockey league, and there’s no denying that hockey is now truly and forever one of Havre’s biggest and most popular sports. That is as it should be. After all, not only is Havre a winter town, but

New Ice Hawk's coach sees potential in many local skaters Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

it’s also just a stone’s throw away from the Canadian border, and we all know how they feel about their hockey in Canada. Yes, Havre has always been a town that centers around and is known for its winters. And yes, as long as there was frozen water, somewhere around this town, kids have been playing hockey for many generations.

Now, however, things are different. Now, Havre has a great hockey facility and a great hockey tradition. Of course, hockey isn't the only ice sport that’s taken a foothold in Havre either, the ice at the Havre Ice Dome also gets used for skating, as well as the ever-growing curling league, and curling tournaments that are played there. These days, Havre isn’t growing

Havre Daily News/File Photo The Havre Ice Dome is a busy place these days. When October comes, hockey, curling and skating become a right of passage around these parts. into hockey anymore. Now, Havre is one of Montana’s true hockey towns — and a true mecca for winter sports played on a frozen sheet of ice.

Three years ago, when the Glacier Nationals announced their move to Havre, there were a lot of reasons to be excited. For one, Havre is a town that loves hockey. But two, it seemed like a great chance not only to grow hockey, but the Havre Ice Hawks. The Ice Hawks have been a tradition in Havre for some time. And the youth hockey program is once again strong this year, with more than 60 kids out to play. Yet, when it comes to the high school team, there are just 14 players and wins are hard to come by, which is something new head coach Barry Brownlee is hoping will change. “I think the great thing about having junior hockey here, is that it can help the sport develop into something,” Brownlee said. “There are a lot of people that are passionate about hockey here, and if we could get some more support and some more fans, we could really build something.” Brownlee, who is Canadian born, has both played and coached in Canada. And he said he believes, just in his short time coaching the Ice Hawks high school team, that there are players good enough to play junior hockey, possibly even for a team like Glacier, if they work hard enough at it. “Right now, we have some kids that are working really hard and doing everything that I ask of them,” Brownlee said. “They work hard during practice and then after practice, I hold my own workouts, more advanced workouts and we have some kids coming to those, too. That’s the thing about hockey and especially playing junior hockey, you really have to want it and have a passion for it.” One of the players who Brown-

Havre Daily News/File Photo Havre's Ethan Roberts is not only playing high school hockey for the Havre Ice Hawks, but he's also playing on a Montana All-Star team. Roberts is just one example of how Havre's young hockey players are developing. And new Havre head coach Barry Brownlee is working hard to make sure player development in Havre continues. lee believes has a bright future in hockey, is Havre High sophomore Ethan Roberts. Roberts is already a member of Montana High-School All-Star team and even at his young age is the Ice Hawk’s most dynamic player. He has three goals in six games this season. “The thing about Ethan is he is very natural” Brownlee said. “He is a fast skater and he has just a good instinct for the game. But he is still very young. We have some seniors

on our team that could also play juniors, but with him being only a sophomore, he might have the most potential. It just depends how hard he wants to work at it, how hard all of them want to work at it.” Some of the seniors Brownlee mentioned as players he sees with potential going forward are Jeffrey Ralph, Nick Stump, Kyle Kirkpatrick and Trent Shettel. Former Ice Hawks Kade Friede and Brandon Huntington are already playing for the Nationals, too.

“I do a lot of stuff within scheduled practices,” Brownlee said. “But when we get ice time, we work on extra skills and those are the guys that show up every time and they are the ones that are pushing themselves the extra mile. You don’t have to be someone that gets points and scores to be a good hockey player, you can be the guy that sets everything up and help make that happen. It just takes the heart and the drive.” Brownlee also said, just having a

junior team in Havre can bring more people into the game, which he believes could help the Ice Hawks be more competitive long term, something he is hoping to see in the next few years. “I am hoping in the long run, all this stuff that is happening with hockey in Havre will continue,” Brownlee said. “And hopefully, we will eventually have a very competitive team with a large amount of players competing to get on that team.”

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Youth hockey continues to thrive Ice Hawks aiming high this season Nearly 70 youths, both boys and girls, are playing Havre Ice Hawks hockey this winter

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Havre Ice Hawks are alive and well as the youth hockey program once again has a strong number of kids out to play hockey this season. In all, there are four different teams representing Havre in youth hockey and they range from the Squirt age group, which is for ages 9-10, all the way to the high school level, which is 18 and under. Havre also has teams in the Pee Wee and Bantam age groups, which are 12U and 14U, respectively. In all, between the four teams, there are a total of 63 players on the ice, representing the Ice Hawks and the majority play below the high school age level. The Bantam team, which is coached by Nick Wood, includes Dexter Beck, Joseph Bender, Kaine Black, Tavish McLean, Conner Moomey, Rhoda Peterson, Theron Peterson, Talia Ralph, Trennis Riley, Bridger Staples, Jocelyn Staples, Colby Tilleman and Grace Ymzon. The Bantam team will play its state tournament March 10-12 in Glasgow. The Pee Wee Ice Hawks, coached by Chase Hanson, has 17 players on the team. They are as follows: Olivia Albrecht, Marki Benjamin, Ciaran Courtnage, Michael Emge, Dever Everingham, Jacob Herring, Clara Holland, Grant Karns, Sophie Kirkpatrick, Jersi Morse, Stephen Preputin, Jared Rosgaard, Justin Rosgaard, Bryce Shettel, Stephon Top Sky, Makaylen Top Sky and Rhett Wertheimer. The Pee Wee State tournament will take place March 3-5 in Missoula. Last but not least is the Squirt team that is coached by Brett Patrick. Their roster features Sylas Belcourt, Levi Benjamin, Oliver

Benjamin, Austin Boycem Paisley Branden, Gus Chase, Jerek Dees, David Emge, Decker Hanson, Frances Hanson, Heather Herring, Ronin Olsen, Koby Preputin, Tanya Ralph, Trayden Riley, Ro-

gan Sayers, Callen Stoner, London Toldness and Gray Toldness. The Squirts will play their state tournament Feb. 24-27 on the road in Mile City.

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team is the pinnacle for youth hockey players in Havre. But, Havre Youth Hockey has teams for boys and girls of all ages every winter, and this season more than 60 kids are playing on Ice Hawks teams.

The Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team just started their season recently and although they have yet to find the win column, their head coach feels that winning will come and it’s only a matter of time. For Havre and Barry Brownlee, the new head coach, the season has not started ideally. The Ice Hawks are 0-6 overall, but when you look at the schedule you can understand why. The Ice Hawks, who are generally in the B division of the Montana Amateur Hockey Association, have played all teams from the A level, starting with Helena, then continuing with Butte and Missoula. The Ice Hawks opened the season losing 11-2 and 7-3 to Helena. But in Butte, they were much more competitive dropping one game 6-5. The other they lost 7-0. Also against Missoula, it was the same story. The Ice Hawks lost one of the games 8-0, but in the other, lost 8-3 and became the first team to score at least three goals on Missoula this season. “I am really proud of everything the kids have done so far,” Brownlee said. “They have worked really hard and even though we haven’t won, we have gotten better and better. We played an exciting game against Missoula. We did something against them, no other team has done yet, so we are proud of that.” Brownlee said that while he thinks his team will have a chance to play in the A state tournament at the end of the year, which will require beating both some A and B teams, they are harder to beat due to sheer numbers. “I have 14 players and they all work really hard,” Brownlee said. “But Hockey is a fast-paced game. You are supposed to play and then get a break, but these guys are lucky if they get a break and when they do, they have to go right back out there. So that can

Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson Havre veteran Jeff Ralph handles the puck during a high school hockey game earlier this month at the Havre Ice Dome. The Ice Hawks have a new head coach this season in Canadian-born Barry Brownlee.

make a difference over time. But against Missoula, we played really good hockey. The kids were battling hard and still blocking shots down in the end. And the crowd we had was really cheering them on, I wish we could get more people out because I think that support would really help us.” The Ice Hawks have had a balanced effort when it comes to scoring goals as Ethan Roberts, Clifford Lenhardt, Nick Stump, Cole Hanson, Bay Merker, Jeffrey

Ralph and August Eacker have all scored for Havre. Lenhardt, Hanson and Roberts have all scored twice. Kenzee Peterson had also done an admirable job in net for the Ice Hawks. The rest of the roster includes Donovan McLain, Bryce Denton, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Noah Kirsch and Trent Shettel. “I know that we haven’t won any games yet, but I think that

we are getting close,” Brownlee said. “The kids are competing and they are getting better. They are are doing things in games that we are doing in practice. It’s just hard to compete against these bigger programs, but hopefully, we can get to the point, where we have a lot of kids trying out and playing on our

team. And with the way things are going, I think we are either going to be in the A tournament or end up being one of the better B teams.” The High School A tournament will be in Whitefish, while the B state tournament will be in Havre. Both state tournaments will be March 3-5.

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Nationals fighting hard to compete Glacier Nationals 2016-17 Active Roster in the NA3HL Frontier Division 2 5 7 9 11 12 13 23 15 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 27 3 20 14 1 30 33

Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The Glacier Nationals are just about midway through their 2016-17 season in the North American Tier 3 Hockey League and despite ending their long losing streak, wins have still been hard to come by. The Nationals, who started the season with seven consecutive losses, that after going on a long losing streak to end last season, finally got back into the winner’s circle on Oct. 8, when Glacier knocked off Bozeman 6-3. In the Nationals next outing Oct. 14, they lost to Helena in overtime, which is good enough to earn a point. But since then, the Nationals have struggled. There have been some personnel changes, with different players being activated and deactivated. As a result, Glacier has struggled to find consistency. Yet the Nationals still have a solid core of players that have stayed with the team through thick and thin and that group starts with Gavin Cline, who is the team’s overall point leader with 15 points. He currently has eight goals and seven assists. Lindros Beard has been another consistent contributor for the Nationals, he has four goals and six assists, while Zach Houck, a defenseman, has one goal and nine assists. One reason for optimism though in the future for the Nationals is the youth on the roster, as a total of seven rookies have played for the Nationals this season. One of them, Kevin Bird, has been on the team for just 16 games, but is tied for fourth in goals scored with three. He also has three assists. Jeremiah Clark is another recent addition to the team, as is Kade Friede, who did play on the team at the end of the last season. Clark, who won two games as a goalie for the Missoula Jr. Bruins, has started out 0-2 with the Nationals, but along with Brendan Schultz

and Will Langstaff, the Nationals have a competitive group it can choose from between the pipes. With just three points in the Frontier standings, it will be hard for the Nationals to make a run at the playoffs. They would need to finish in the top four of the final division standings and with fourthplace Missoula 32 points clear and fifth-place Bozeman 27 points clear,

it’s hard to see that happening. But, the Nationals did play three competitive games at the recent NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota. Glacier went 0-3. But, they had a chance to win their first two games against Lockport Express and Maine, before being beaten handily by the East Coast Minutemen. However, even if the Frontier Di-

Havre Daily News/Collin Thompson Above: Glacier's Dillon Lindholm moves the puck during a recent NA3HL Frontier Division game against the Great Falls Americans at the Havre Ice Dome. The Nationals are in their third year of their move to bring junior hockey to Havre. And though they've struggled to win games in the tough, Frontier, they have continued to build the program.

vision playoffs aren’t within reach. The Nationals still have plenty to play for. For starters, they will want to put an end to their losing streak, and, two, players still have more than half the season to get noticed by either college or higher-level junior college programs. That, according to GM Butch Kowalka has always been the most important goal.

“Winning is nice,” Kowalka said. “And we do want to be more competitive, but I think we have done a good job of placing some of our kids and hopefully we can continue to do that.” The Nationals, who are 1-26-1 on the season, have 19 games remaining, all within the Frontier Division. They will play 10 at home and nine on the road after the break.

Cody Johnson Wyatt Mattfeldt Logan Kraft Brandon Huntington Brendan Echelbarger Adam Van Akin Josh Kirk Kade Friede Kelby McLain Gavin Cline Lindros Beard Matt Baerg Jake Reuben Hayden Moistner Austin Moser Hunter Dababneh Dillon Londholm Kevin Bird Riggs Zeidler Zach Houck Dennis Berdniks Will Langstaff Jeremiah Clark Brendan Schultz

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Sept. 16, 1996 Wayford, ND Apr. 16 1998 Glasgow, MT Dec 03, 1996 Devils Lake, ND Sep 04, 1996 Havre, MT Aug 25, 1999 Grand Rapids, MI Feb. 17, 1998 St. George, UT Oct. 13 1998 Gilbert, AZ Jan 26, 1999 Chinook, MT Jul 25, 1996 Great Falls, MT Apr. 4, 1997 Mattawin, MI Jan 18, 1998 Salt Lake City, UT Jul. 17, 1998 Lethbridge, Alb. Mar 25, 1996 Waconia, MN Mar. 29, 1998 Anchorage, AK Mar 26, 1996 Devils Lake, ND Dec. 31, 2000 Cave Creek, AZ Nov. 8, 1996 Westminster, CO Mar. 30, 2000 Peoria, AZ Apr. 10, 1996 Centerville, UT Aug. 6, 1997 Douglas, WY Nov. 22, 1999 Riga, Lat. Oct. 1, 1996 Dickerson, MD May 7, 1998 Eagle River, AK Mar. 30, 1996 Waldheim, Sask.