The Juneau Capitals 10-and-under team took the 23rd President’s Day Invitational Hockey Tournament with six smashing wins last weekend.
The Capitals wins generally came by wide margins, said team manager Jamie Troxel.
“This is the first time they’ve all competed with each other. For a lot of these kids it was their first tournament ever,” Troxel said in a phone interview. “Each game got more and more exciting. We couldn’t believe how well these kids came together as a team.”
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Fourteen teams competed in the 10U category, including the the Capitals and a second team from the team’s players.
“It was so exciting. It was my first tournament as well,” Troxel said. “The energy with us parents, with the crowd, as we were watching our players- you could see the fire in their eyes.”
The tournament was the first time the team had played together, with no travel last year, Troxel said. Goalie Max Hayes delivered a standout performance, particularly in the 7-1 final match against another undefeated Anchorage Hockey Association team, Troxel said.
“He stopped an amazing amount of goals,” Troxel said. “He probably stopped 30 out of 31 shots.”
Troxel’s own son Andrew also brought the noise, scoring six out of seven of the goals in the final match, she said. All six matches were heavy wins for the Capitals.
“Seven seemed to be our lucky number,” Troxel said. “Out of the six games we won most by 7-1 or 2 except for one we won 10-2.”
The team will head to Homer for the state championship in March, Troxel said.
“We’ve got all the Anchorage and Fairbanks coaches looking out for us after winning Presidents Day,” Troxel said. “They really worked hard as a team. We had really good defense.”
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.
