The Durango Devils club hockey team had its best regular season in the program’s history. The team finished the season 14-2 and earned the top seed in last weekend’s New Mexico Interscholastic Ice Hockey League playoffs. After three wins in four games, Durango earned its third consecutive trip to the league championship game and are set to play Cibola for the crown at 4 p.m. Saturday in Albuquerque.
The Devils were rewarded for their extraordinary efforts with a slew of individual honors after the impressive season.
Durango High School junior Landen Sill has been a scoring machine this season. He led the league by a wide margin with 28 goals during the regular season, while the next closest player only had 21. Sill led the league with six game-winning goals. He was second in the league with 37 points and tied teammate Gus Kidd for most hat tricks with four.
“My team has done everything to help me get this award,” Sill said. “They’ve set me up all season and put me in position to score. The seniors are my mentors and I couldn’t have done this without their help.”
Just as Sill was the clear-cut MVP, Grogan was a sure thing to win this award. The DHS senior was far and away the top goalie in the league throughout the regular season. He led all netminders with four shutouts and has already registered two more in the playoffs. His 1.69 goals against average was nearly a full goal better than the next competitor.
“It’s nice to get the award, but the guys deserve some credit too,” Grogan said. “They’ve saved me a bunch of times, and I’ve saved them, too. We’re just a good all-around defensive unit.”
Ulshafer leads a blue line unit that played a big role in Grogan’s success between the pipes. With eight goals and 10 assists, the Animas High School senior is truly a two-way defenseman, and his leadership on the team is equally as valuable as his numbers.
“We’ve become such a good defensive team and I think the award is more of a team thing,” Ulshafer said. “All that matters to me, though, is leaving the program with one more win. We’ve all been playing hockey together for so long and the program hasn’t won a title in a long time. We want to bring it back.”
Kensinger has been coaching most of the Devils since they were in elementary school. His unique talent as a strategic coach and a motivator pushed the Devils to their best regular season in the program’s history. He’s been a fixture in the Durango hockey community for 12 years and the players clearly think the world of him.“If anyone deserves credit for what we’ve done as a group, it’s Coach Drew,” Ulshafer added. “He’s stuck with us for so long and watched us progress from kids into what we are now. He’s like a tough older brother to us.”
Kensinger has been coaching most of the Devils since they were in elementary school. His unique talent as a strategic coach and a motivator pushed the Devils to their best regular season in the program’s history. He’s been a fixture in the Durango hockey community for 12 years and the players clearly think the world of him.“If anyone deserves credit for what we’ve done as a group, it’s Coach Drew,” Ulshafer added. “He’s stuck with us for so long and watched us progress from kids into what we are now. He’s like a tough older brother to us.”Jake Beekman, Joe Lawton and Sam Kidd were also honored with all-star recognition.
Beekman took a season off last year and came back his senior year because he missed his friends and the game so much. The Animas High senior scored eight goals as a Devils left wing and he’s focused on finishing his career by beating Cibola in Saturday’s title game.
“This is my last game, and it’s the last game for a lot of us,” Beekman said. “We’re going to treat it like that and leave everything out there on the ice.”
Lawton is a junior at Durango High School. He plays right wing and center for Durango. His value doesn’t always show up in on the stat sheet, but his penalty-killing tenacity and leadership are critical to the Devils’ success.
“I think part of the reason why I got picked as an all-star is my hustle on the ice,” he said. “It really shows on the penalty kill and I’m able to disrupt the opponents and gain puck possession for our team.”
Like Ulshafer, Kidd is one of the Devils’ top defensemen and will be playing in his final game Saturday against Cibola. Kidd, like Lawton, is a fundamentally sound player that uses hustle, intelligence and positioning to make the most of his talents. He’s been instrumental to the team’s success on the power play. After losing 2-1 last game to the Cougars, Kidd knows he and his the blue line mates need to tighten it up.
“We play stingy defense and we’ve been playing together for so long,” Kidd said. “We had some trouble clearing the zone against Cibola. We had trouble breaking the puck out and that starts with the defense. Win or lose, I’m so glad I’ve had the chance to play with these guys for the better part of a decade. But, I want that trophy.”
Cibola won the NMIIHL playoff tournament last weekend to clinch home ice in Saturday’s big game, and the Devils will have to be at their best to knock off the defending champions.
“We need to come out strong in the first period and understand that we have to play the systems they’ve been taught,” Kensinger said. “If we can do that and outwork them, we’ve got a good shot.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
