Aaron Jones, Nederland.   The Nederland Youth Hockey Association hosted a weekend of heated youth hockey action at The RINK this past Friday and Saturday, taking advantage of excellent ice conditions to enjoy the wonders of outdoor hockey at 8,200 feet.

On a chilly early Friday evening, the Nederland squirt/peewee hockey team hosted the Boulder YMCA squirt girls team for an exciting game of hockey that came down to the final shift.  The Nederland team struck first in the first period, when #24 Ricky Fortunato accepted a beautiful pass from #52 Oskar Nunemacher and buried the puck past the Boulder goaltender for a wildly cheered Nederland goal.

The rest of the first period featured stellar defense and some great goaltending, with Nederland carrying the 1-0 lead into the second period.

The change in direction on the ice in the second period kick-started the Boulder YMCA’s offense, with #12 Ellie Jain scoring an unassisted goal on a break-away to tie the game at 1-1.  A few minutes later, some excellent passing by #64 Riley Braun and #9 Rowan Nasty of the YMCA team led to #19 Seneca Urban scoring their second goal of the game.

The intensity only ratcheted up in the third period, with Nederland pushing the action on the offensive zone and the Boulder YMCA team hitting the goal post twice.  In the end, a last second attempt by #55, Jake Miller, of Nederland was gobbled up by the Boulder goaltender and the game ended with a 2-1 win by the YMCA team.

The two teams then competed in a captivating shoot-out, with Nederland’s #55 Jake Miller, #24 Ricky Fortunato, and #48 Wyatt Munson all scoring spectacular shoot-out goals, while Nederland’s goaltender #1, Anders “The Wall” Henrikson, blanked the YMCA’s lineup the first time through…a fitting end to a great night of hockey.

On Saturday afternoon, the NYHA mites hosted an eight-team hockey jamboree.  Arvada Hockey Club brought three teams as did Hyland Hills Hockey Club.  Nederland called up a handful of their younger “mighty-mite” skaters and split them amongst their mites to form two teams.  After almost four hours of hockey both Nederland teams had played three games-- each finishing with a record of 2-1.

The ice was split into three rinks and six teams shared the ice each session. There were about 60 players out there at any given moment and what may have looked like chaos was actually just a heck of a lot of fun.

The wind started whipping by the second round of games and the Ned kids used it as an advantage.  While many of the visiting players tried to make sense of the elements, the Ned kids whizzed up and down the ice, scoring goals and celebrating with sticks and hands raised in triumph.  Jack Porter, Jake Miller, Mateo Beauvineau, Griffin Jones, Miller Jones, Casson Rosenblum,  Quill Homsher, and Gray Schlosser all scored at least one goal.  Ricky Fortunato and Charlie Davies donned the goalie pads and masks, and stopped puck after puck all afternoon.

The mites plan to host another hockey jamboree on Saturday February 20. Come check it out!

You can enjoy burgers and dogs prepared by the NHS Student Council and stay warm next to the fire pit.   The warm weather could put a damper on things, but the kids and are hoping for another cold spell to move back in.  If so, come out and enjoy some fun and exciting “little kid” hockey the way it was supposed to be played…outside.