The Huntsville Otter Peewees travelled to Lake Placid, New York over March Break to participate in a Canada versus USA hockey challenge called The American Cup.

All games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena, the site of the 1980 Olympic games. This former Olympic site is named after the coach of the unheralded 1980 USA Olympic hockey team that defeated the Russians in an historic game called the Miracle on Ice.   

Pictures of the historic game decorate the arena reminding players and spectators of the special event that took place there some 28 years ago. A museum filled with memorabilia from the USA hockey victory along with other artifacts from the 1980 Olympics is located inside the arena. Three ice surfaces are housed in the site, including the ice surface used for the 1932 Olympics, when the games were also held at Lake Placid.

The Otters played four matches in three days against teams from New York and Vermont. The Otters’ first opponent in the qualifying round was St. Albans, Vermont.    

The Otters were not the least bit intimidated by their surroundings and scored early and often with a final score of 8-2. Goal scorers for the Otters were Noah Stevens and Casey Groomes each with two, Kyle Heyblom, Brodie Rogers, Matt Janke and Brodie Muckler.  

The Otters’ second game was played against North Country, New York. Despite being tired from their earlier match that day, the Otters played sound defensive hockey and came away with a 3-0 victory. Goalscorers for the Otters were Stevens with two and David Stillwell with one.   

The Otters’ third-round opponent was the host Lake Placid squad. Tempers flared at times during the game but the Otters kept their composure and scored on their powerplay opportunities.  

Goal scorers for the Otters were Matt Loader, Heyblom, Brodie Rodgers, Scott Arlidge, Muckler and Stevens.  

The championship game was played March 11 against the home squad from Lake Placid. Emotions were running high at the start of the game but the Otters remained patient and were rewarded when Daniel Lang opened the scoring at the two-minute mark of the first period.

Groomes staked the Otters to a 2-0 lead and the score remained that way until the end of the first period. Nick Degazio sniped a nice wrist shot past a startled Lake Placid goalie at the three-minute mark of the second period to give the Otters a commanding lead.   

Lake Placid fought back with an early second period goal, but Muckler’s wrap-around goal restored the three-goal lead and the Otters never looked back.Another goal by Groomes followed up by two more from Arlidge resulted in a decisive 7-1 Otters’ victory and the championship gold medal.  

High marks go out to Garrett Markle and Linden Roy, who shared the goaltending duties and who each earned two victories. Forwards Stillwell, Muckler, Arlidge, Groomes, Tom Litchfield, Janke, Stevens, Rogers, Zach Jackson and Heyblom not only contributed on the score sheet but played sound defensive hockey.  

Defencemen Justin House, Lang, Degazio and Loader handed their opponents some heavy body checks and jumped into the play on offence in a timely way.  

Assistant coach Bill Muckler Jr. praised his players after the victory. “They are an unselfish group of players who work hard and always pass the puck to the open man,” he said.