PeeWee B

PeeWee B

PeeWee B

Monroe Avalanche Pee Wee B State Tournament Team (missing Brady Smith)

2013-14 PeeWee B Team

WAHA Region 4 Pee Wee 3B Champions

Photo Courtesy of Hillside Studio

Monroe Pee Wee B - 3rd Place at Avalanche Classic

2013-14 PeeWee B Schedule (** Updated 1/6/2014)

State Tournament Bracket

Head Coach: Josh Smith

Team Rep: Greta Rath

Recent PeeWee B News

Avalanche Pee Wee B Complete Their Season At State

By Greta Rath 03/16/2014, 8:45pm CDT

The Monroe Pee Wee B team travelled to Amery, WI this past weekend and represented one of the top eight Pee Wee 3B Hockey teams around Wisconsin for their State Tournament. Rhinelander, River Falls, Waupun, Blackhawk, Oshkosh, Beaver Dam, Amery, and our very own Monroe Avalanche.

The first game for Monroe was Saturday morning at 8am against Rhinelander. Rhinelander came ready to play and dominated the first and second period launching 24 shots on net but it was Avalanche Goaltender Heath Bear's stellar performance that kept Monroe in the game and only allowed one goal and saving at least five breakaways to keep Rhinelander at bay. In the third period, Rhinelander finally found the back of the net at the nine minute mark which gave them a solid 2-0 lead. But the Avalanche fought back hard and were able to connect on a goal from some smooth passing in front of the net. Bryce Montgomery found Rebekah Rath, who centered it to Ryan Molitor who one timed it by the Rhinelander Goalie to bring the Avalanche within one with six minutes to go in the game. Energy filled the bench and Monroe was back in it. Unfortunately, Rhinelander was able to control the puck the last four minutes of the game to run out the clock and won the game 2-1. Goaltender Bear recorded 33 saves on the game. (Rhinelander eventually took 3rd at State)

With that loss, the Avalanche dropped into the Consolation bracket and their next opponent was River Falls Saturday afternoon in hopes to move on to the Consolation Championship game on Sunday. This was another close game for the Avalanche that ended in a heartbreaking loss 3-1. It was the slow start in the first period that hurt the Avalanche as they gave up two goals in the first, with one of them being a power play goal for River Falls. In the second period, the Avalanche team we all know showed up and took control of the game from that point forward. The Avalanche cut the lead to one goal with two minutes to go in the second period with an unassisted, breakaway goal by Colton O'Connor. With the score 2-1 heading into the third period Monroe's momentum had River Falls back on their heels. However, Monroe was running out of time quickly and pulled their goalie with 1 minute to go to try and tie the game. With the puck being shot around the River Falls net, nothing wanted to drop in for the Avalanche and when River Falls gained control of the puck they launched it down the ice and it slowly trickled into the empty net to give River Falls the win 3-1. "We had the puck in their zone the last two minutes of the game. Shots were being launched at the goalie, the puck was in front of the net just sitting there at times and we just weren't able to connect and put it in. We needed one more minute to pull it off." commented Monroe Assistant Coach Greta Rath. Avalanche Goaltender Bear had 18 saves on the game. (River Falls went on to win the State Consolation Championship)

The final game of the State Tournament was between Oshkosh and Monroe Sunday morning at 8am for 7th & 8th place. Monroe was down a player as one of their defenseman became ill and was not able to play. So....the lineups were changed a few minutes before the start of the game for the Avalanche. From the drop of the puck, the game was pretty evenly matched throughout. Oshkosh scored first but the Avalanche responded with a goal from Riley Jones, assisted by Ryan Molitor ending the first period 1-1. The second period, Oshkosh put three unlikely goals by Avalanche Goaltender Heath Bear to take a 4-1 lead heading into the third period. Being behind by three goals in the third was not unusual for the Avalanche and their fans knew their team would not give up and they didn't. In the third, Avalanche Colton O'Connor started the firestorm by picking up a loose puck and took it in and launched it past the Oshkosh Goalie to make it 4-2 with seven minutes to go. Then less than two minutes later, Jones and Molitor found each other again in front of the net with Jones slapping in a rebound from Molitor to bring the Avalanche within one goal with more than 5 minutes to go in the game. The Defensemen for the Avalanche (Kendall Wild, Alex Henry, Kaiden Klitzke, Rebekah Rath & Bryce Montgomery) kept the puck in the zone and allowed no shots on net in the third period for Oshkosh. But the Avalanche, with time running out and pulling their goalie to give them a man advantage and coming up against a hot goalie to shoot on, they were not able to find the back of the net to bring the game into overtime. An empty netter was scored by Oshkosh with 18 seconds to go in the game and the game ended 5-3. Avalanche Goaltender Bear recorded 10 saves on the game.

"While it always hurts to lose on the road, at least we did so at the State Tournament with the best in the division. Unfortunately, even though we played some of our best games ever, between bad luck and good competition, we just weren't able to pull through. Our team came farther than I think even they thought they could this year and I am very proud of what they have accomplished." commented Head Coach Josh Smith about the weekend.

The Monroe Avalanche Pee Wee B team ended their season 9-22-3. Thanks for a great season Avalanche!

Pee Wee B Regular Season Over, On To State

By Greta Rath 03/09/2014, 6:30pm CDT

The regular season ended for the Monroe Pee Wee B Team this past weekend on Sunday, March 9th with a tough loss between two equally matched, competitive teams. The Avalanche traveled to Dodgeville to take on the Dodgeville Ice Wolves for the third time this season. Both the Avalanche and the Ice Wolves will be representing Region 4 at their respective Pee Wee State Tournaments this coming weekend so Sunday's game was fun, competitive, and a great battle between the two teams in preparation for their upcoming State Tournaments.

The Avalanche opened the scoring just four minutes into the game with an awesome clearing pass from Riley Jones to Ryan Molitor who took it in and fired a shot on net and Bryce Montgomery was there for the rebound and tipped it in to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. Tough play continued throughout the first period but the Ice Wolves answered four minutes later to tie the game up (1-1). As the first period was coming to an end, with less than a minute to go, the Ice Wolves got a break away and scored on Bear to take a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. The second period started off with the Avalanche asleep at the wheel as the Ice Wolves snuck one by Bear just 30 seconds into the second period to give them a 3-1 lead. Competitive play continued but no other scoring occurred in the second. The Avalanche were fired up in the third period and fought back hard. Colton O'Connor stole a pass at center ice and took it in for a break away with teammate Riley Jones following in hard down the left hand side. O'Connor launched a shot that ricocheted off the post but Jones was there for the rebound and rifled it past the Ice Wolves goalie bringing the Avalanche within one (3-2) with more than 10 minutes to go in the third. Life seemed to be back in their stride but the Ice Wolves did not lose their cool and within a minute of the Avalanche goal they answered with one of their own that trickled by Bear in net to make it 4-2 with nine minutes to go in the game. The Avalanche were not able to string anything together to bring them back into the game and the game ended 4-2. "We definitely did not play our best game today but our kids continue to show improvement in many areas. We used this game as preparation for State as we know the Ice Wolves would be a great competitive game, and it was. I just wish we would have shown them what we really are capable of. I am hoping our "bad" game is now out of our system and we come ready to play this coming Saturday at State." commented Head Coach Josh Smith of the Avalanche. Goaltender Bear recorded 33 saves on the game.

The Pee Wee B Monroe Avalanche team will be competing for the State Title at the Division 3B Pee Wee Tournament this coming weekend in Amery, WI March 15th & 16th. Wish them the Best of Luck. GO AVALANCHE!

Pee Wee B Split On The Weekend

By Greta Rath 03/03/2014, 6:00am CST

In this past weekend play, the Monroe Avalanche Pee Wee B Team split their two games, beating Beloit B at home 2-1 on Saturday and then dropping to Janesville B team 2-1 in Janesville on Sunday afternoon. During the home game on Saturday, The Beloit Blades opened the scoring first, two minutes into the game. No other scoring occurred until the third period, when Riley Jones lit the lamp from a pass from Defenseman Alex Henry tying the game up at the ten minute mark of the third. The Avalanche were able to break the tie with their final goal by Colton O'Connor off a pass from Ty O'Connor with five minutes to go in the game. The Avalanche held on for the win with Goaltender Heath Bear recording 15 saves on the game.

In game two against Janesville Sunday afternoon it was a rough game from start to finish with fourteen penalties called in the game. To start the scoring off, Janesville snuck one by Goaltender Heath Bear five minutes into the game. Bear recorded 16 of his 29 saves of the game in the first period alone. The second period started off with a bang for Janesville as they scored just 55 seconds in, taking a 2-0 lead. However, the Avalanche decided to finally wake up and launched more than half of their shots in the second period and finally put one in. Recording the goal for the Avalanche was Ryan Molitor who put in a rebound from Kaiden Klitzke’s rifle of a shot making the score 2-1 with seven minutes to go in the 2nd period. The Avalanche dominated the remainder of the second period but were just not able to convert. The third period remained scoreless and although the Avalanche pulled their goalie in the remaining minute of the game, they were not able to tie the game up. Avalanche Goaltender Heath Bear recorded 29 saves on the game. The Monroe Pee Wee B team will end their regular season next Sunday, March 9th in Dodgeville at 10:15am.

Pee Wee B Take Third

By Greta Rath 02/23/2014, 5:45pm CST

Pee Wee B Take Third (Tournament Recap)

Game 1 vs. Stoughton

Monroe Avalanche Pee Wee B team played the opening game of the Avalanche Classic yesterday evening against the Stoughton Vikings. The score remained scoreless after two periods of play but in the third period, it was Monroe Avalanche that dominated the puck. Avalanche finally connected on a goal half way through the period with a clearing pass from Avalanche player Rebekah Rath who found Ryan Molitor up the ice who then took it in and hit Bryce Montgomery in front of the net ...and put the puck top shelf! Molitor and Rath recorded assists on the play and the Avalanche were up 1-0 with half a period to go. It wasn't more than 90 seconds later that Avalanche Colton O'Connor picked up a loose puck in the defensive end and took it all the way and launched it past the Stoughton Goaltender to give Monroe a solid 2-0 lead with 7 minutes to go. The Avalanche did not let up and they continued to attack. Stoughton had a hard time getting the puck passed the Defensive line of Monroe; Kendall Wild, Brady Smith, Kaiden Klitkze and Alex Henry. "This was by far the best game our defense has played. They took their time, kept their heads up, and made some fantastic plays." commented Coach Josh Smith. Monroe won the game 2-0. Goaltender Heath Bear recorded his 3rd shut out of the season and had 14 saves on the game. The Monroe Pee Wee B team will take on Dubuque B at 5:00pm THIS EVENING in the Semi-Final game of the Avalanche Classic! Come on down to SLICE ARENA and show them your support! Great food, great raffle baskets and silent auction items to bid on, and great hockey to WATCH! GO AVALANCHE!

Game 2 vs. Dubuque B

Both of these teams have played each other already twice during the regular season so the Avalanche knew going into this game it was going to be tough. Unfortunately it was a 1^st period breakdown that allowed Dubuque to coast the rest of the game as they scored 4 unaswered goals in the first period. The second period, the Avalanche fought back hard and only allowed 1 goal the whole period. It was finally in the third period that the Avalanche got on the board with a goal by Ryan Molitor assisted by teammate Colton O’Connor. Dubuque eventually scored one more goal ending the game 6-1, with 4 of those goals coming in the first period. Avalanche Goaltender Heath Bear recorded 35 saves on the game. Monroe will play for third place against Sun Prairie on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00pm.

Game 3 vs. Sun Prairie B ~ 3^rd Place Game

The Avalanche Pee Wee B team took on Sun Prairie B in the Third Place game at SLICE arena Sunday afternoon. The game was pretty even the first 8 minutes of the first period and then the Avalanche turned it on scoring three goals over a five minute period. First goal came off a pass from the blue line from Defenseman Alex Henry who found Riley Jones. Jones put it on net and Colton O’Connor was there for the rebound and put the Avalanche on the board first. Then goal number two came from another awesome pass from Defenseman Kendall Wild who found O’Connor in front of the net who shot, and again a rebound put in from Ty O’Connor this time to put the Avalanche up 2-0. The last goal of the first period came from a huge shot from Riley Jones at the blue line and found the “five hole” of the Sun Prairie Goalie and the Avalanche ended the first period up 3-0. The second period, Sun Prairie came out firing but Avalanche Goaltender held the goal line allowing nothing by. The third period had solid back and forth play until Defenseman Kaiden Klitzke picked up a loose puck and during a line change by Sun Prairie, caught them off guard and Sun Prairie tripped Klitzke to avoid a shot on net. However, Klitzke was awarded a penalty shot instead of taking the penalty. Klitzke made it count and scored the goal giving the Monroe a 4-0 lead with 3 minutes to go in the game. The Avalanche would go on and score one more goal by Colton O’Connor who found the back of the net on a break away pass from Klitzke ending the game 5-0 and Goaltender Heath Bear earning his second shut out of the tournament. Bear recorded 24 saves in the game. Pee Wee B will take on Beloit B on Saturday at HOME at 10:30am and Janesville B in Janesville on Sunday at 11:20am this coming weekend.

Second Period Surge Not Enough

By Greta Rath 02/18/2014, 8:15am CST

On Sunday February 16th, the Monroe Avalanche Pee Wee B team took to the ice against the Wildcats of Waunakee during a league game at SLICE Arena. The first period seemed to be like a warm-up period for both teams as not much action occurred until the last 4 minutes of the period, when the Wildcats decided to wake up and scored three unanswered goals making it 3-0 by the end of the first period. With the clearing of the ice, Avalanche Coaches were able to correct the little things their Avalanche players were failing to do during that minor three minute break down and at the start of the 2nd period, it was Monroe that took it to the Wildcats and scored two unanswered goals to bring the Avalanche within one. The first goal was scored by Ryan Molitor who found the back of the net off a rebound from Colton O'Connor. O'Connor was recorded with the assist. The second goal came forty-five seconds later from a fired up bench, with Rebekah Rath slapping in a shot off a rebound from Bryce Montgomery. Montgomery was recorded with the assist and the Avalanche were back in the game. Unfortunately, the Wildcats answered that goal with one of their own less than a minute later, bringing the score back to a two goal deficit. With the momentum still on their side, Monroe controlled the puck most of the 2nd period only allowing the Wildcats four shots on net but with less than 1 minute to go in the second, the Wildcats put an end to the spark the Avalanche had and snuck a goal in by Avalanche Goaltender Heath Bear ending the second period 5-2. In the third period, Monroe did not sit idly by as they were able to connect on a power play goal with some sweet passing from Kendall Wild and Rath who eventually found Montgomery who was sitting in front of the net and lit the lamp to bring the Avalanche back within two. The Avalanche had their chances in front of the net throughout the remaining portion of the third, but nothing connected. The Wildcats eventually scored on a break away going up 6-3 with less than 8 minutes to go and making it a deficit that would be too much for the Avalanche to overcome. The Wildcats scored one more goal with 1 second to go, ending the game 7-3. "All of us coaches agree that this game was much closer than the score lets on. If that first period never had happened or should we say the last 3 minutes happened, the game would have been tied going into the third period....but we lost focus for only three minutes of play and that was the difference of the game," commented Assistant Coach Greta Rath. Bear recorded 25 saves on the game. Pee Wee B's next game is this Friday night (Feb. 21st) against Stoughton B at 5:30pm at SLICE arena. They will kick off the opening game of their Home Tournament at SLICE Arena this coming weekend. Come on out and cheer on your Avalanche Youth Hockey Players this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 21st - 23rd) and join in the fun!