The Demons traveled a long way and, ultimately, proved they’ve come even further.
The last two weekends, the Durango High School hockey team traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then to El Paso, Texas, for the New Mexico Interscholastic Ice Hockey League Championships.
Durango competed against 10 other teams from New Mexico and Texas and, as the No. 6 seed in the tournament, went further than all but one team – all the way to El Paso, Texas, and the title game, where it lost to El Paso’s Franklin High School, 9-1, Saturday in the composite championship. It was the final game of the season for the Demons.
Franklin also handed DHS its other loss in the double-elimination tournament, 7-3 the previous weekend in Albuquerque. But the Demons, who won their opener that first weekend before losing to Franklin in their second game, bounced back to win their next three games in Albuquerque to earn a trip to El Paso last weekend for a chance at the title.
In Albuquerque, DHS defeated hometown La Cueva High School, the No. 8 seed, 7-2, before falling to top-seeded Franklin. But DHS followed with a 4-1 victory over No. 7 Taos (New Mexico) High School and then eliminated La Cueva 5-3 to setup a matchup with No. 4 Coronado High School of El Paso for a trip to El Paso and a spot in the final.
The two teams skated to a 4-4 tie in regulation, and were still tied after overtime, setting up a best-of-five shootout, which DHS won, 3-2. DHS goalie Kole Shugars stopped three of the five Thunderbird shots and teammates Benji Mickel, Brad Tarpley and Phillip Hubenette tallied on their shootout tries to send the Demons to El Paso.
But in Texas on Saturday, the top-seeded Cougars were too much for DHS, with Matt Palamar scoring the Demons’ lone goal.
At Albuquerque, Mickel recorded the second-most points of the weekend with 12 on seven goals and five assists. For DHS, Max Cantor added four goals and three assists, Landen Sill four goals and two assists (including a hat trick in the first game against La Cueva), Hubenette two goals and two assists and Palamar three goals and an assist. Wesley Killinen, Tarpley, Jake Beekman and Sam Kid added a goal apiece for the Demons.
In goal, Shugars had an 89 percent save percentage, facing 145 shots and making 129 saves. Also for DHS, Collin Thornburn had a 95 percent save percentage, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
