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Green Mountain Glades Squirts Capture League Championship

photo by Photos Provided Winning a championship and representing Vermont is all in a day's work for these young athletes. Team member Carson Barnes feels at home on the ice and calls it as " natural". The Valley Voice salutes all young athletes and congratulates the whole team!

Tuesday March 24, 2015

The 2004 Green Mountain Glades Squirt Major team has captured the Boston Hockey League Championship! The Glades is an elite AAA program comprised of the top players in the state for their respective birth year. Competing in the BHL allows our players to play against some of the best programs in New England. The Glades organization has a tremendous sense of state pride being the only Vermont AAA team and competing in a league where other states have multiple teams that represent them. The Squirt Major age group is the youngest age group in the organization so it was the first season of AAA hockey for the 2004 team. To win the league championship on top of having a very successful season overall, is a tremendous accomplishment being their first year together. The team also has a first year coach Brett Leonard who was the former captain of the UVM Men's Hockey Team.
    "It has been a privilege to coach this tremendous group of kids,” remarked Head Coach Leonard. “It was a pleasure coming to the rink and teaching them the game I am so passionate about. This team dedicated themselves from day 1 on skill development and teamwork. The team had their ups and downs like every team usually does, but their dedication to constantly improving allowed them to have a lot of success throughout the year. Watching them this weekend it was apparent how much each player improved individually from the start of the year. Being their first year playing together and their young age, it is difficult to consistently get kids to understand and truly dedicate themselves to playing as a collective group and not just individuals. The most rewarding part of winning the championship was it was only possible because they came together as a team, played as a collective unit on the ice, and bonded off the ice at a much higher level than ever before. We still have a few weeks left in the season as we prepare for the Tier 1 New England Regionals at the end of the month. The team is looking forward to our final challenge of the season playing against the best teams in our region and some of the best teams in the country. No matter the outcome, I couldn't have asked for a better group of kids to work with in my first full season of coaching"
    Team member and Addison County resident Carson Barnes loves to hockey and shared that besides a love of skating, it feels natural for him to be out on the ice. “There are a lot of skills that make you a good player,” shared Carson. “Some include butterfly slides, T-pushes, shuffles and the ability to track the puck during the game. I love it all!” Like his teammates, Carson plays to win, but spoke about being a good loser is as much a part of the sport as the skills and the team work. It comes down to both skill and teamwork for Carson and he shared that the best hockey advice he ever got came from Rich Celia a goalie coach who told him, “ If you control the puck, you control the game.”
    At the championship game Carson and his team not only took home the win but had a great deal of pride in representing the state of Vermont at the New England level of competition. A cheer for the Green Mountain team that is small in stature, but packed in power and pride! The readers will follow your path with interest!

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