The Colorado Thunderbirds are champions of the prestigious Bauer World Invite.  The Tbirds went 2-0-1 in the round robin pool play and 6-0-1 overall outscoring their opponents 28-5 in the seven games.  It all started in the Sweet 16 round by defeating the defending champs the Yale Lions Prep Team from Abbotsford, BC by the score of 6-0.  This game really seemed to give the team a ton of confidence heading into the quarterfinals.  The Thunderbirds currently have a record of 27-1-1.  

 

Next up was a chance to avenge the team's only loss so far this season against the North Jersey Avalanche.  They beat the Tbirds on October 11 in New Jersey by the score 4-3 in a shootout.  The Avalanche are an extremely fast and skilled team.  The Tbirds played really well and won 2-0.  

 

In the semi-final match up, the Tbirds faced a big, heavy, strong team in the Omaha Elite AAA team.  They gave the Tbirds fits for a while as they played a very disciplined and smart game.  It took a while for the Tbirds to figure out how to play against them to ensure success.  Omaha took the lead with six minutes left on a beautiful goal.  Tbirds banged in the equalizer on a scramble in front of the net with three minutes left in regulation.  It was a dirty, hard working goal by Cole Quisenberry to tie the game 1-1.  The Tbirds got the win with under a minute left in the first 4 on 4 overtime on a shot by defenseman Will Brown.  

 

It was now time for a showdown in the finals against another hard to play against, big, strong, heavy, talented hockey club in Little Caesars.  LC has a strong, distinguished and very proud hockey tradition over the years.  The Thunderbirds played a very disciplined hockey game and won by the score of 5-2.  The coaching staff was so pleased with how the players responded to making the necessary adjustments during the game to have success.  The Tbirds received terrific goaltending and strong play from the defensive core.  An area that the coaching staff was so pleased with was the ability and “want” from the forwards to track back hard and help out the defense and goalie.  It was a total team effort especially since two very good players, Baker Shore, the team's leading scorer, and Bryan Lockner, first year forward, were out of the line up with injuries.