The Colorado Thunderbird 16U American Team brought home their 3rd championship of the season this past Monday at the MN Gone Wild Tournament held in Blaine, Minnesota defeating the Falcon Hockey Club in a 2-0 shut out by goalie Jonah Giem.  The team went an impressive 7-0 on the weekend with wins in round robin play against Compete Hockey Academy (2-0), Chicago Blues (3-2), Allen Americans (3-1), Arizona Bobcats (3-0) and the West Coast Renegades (4-3).  The Tbirds earned the 1st place seed heading into the semi-finals to face the 4th seeded San Jose Jr. Sharks. 

Though challenged by a number of injuries that shortened the bench, the Tbirds dug deep and pulled off a 3-2 victory to send them to the championship game.  With only a couple of hours between games, the Tbirds needed to find a way to battle fatigue and sore legs if they were to bring home the gold.  Through determination, resilience and strong character, 16U team shut down the Falcons in one of their most complete games of the season.  Both goalies posted a shut out during the tournament and came up huge in their other showings earning them both MVP of the tournament.  The perseverance these boys demonstrated in the face of adversity was extraordinary proving that the dictionary is the only place that success comes before work.  The 16U American team will head back to Blaine, MN next month for the T1EHL playoffs in hopes of bringing home the title.   Go Tbirds!!!