Congratulations to the McKinney North Stars 16u AA team. The team defeated DJHA in a championship series for the second time this year to win the 16u AA DSTHL Playoff Championship to add to their Tier II State Championship. 

We are so proud of these young men and their coaches. Going into the season DJHA was the top team on paper by a significant margin with McKinney, the Warriors  and the Houston Wild trying to determine who would finish second.

The team started out with a mixed Labor Day tournament, but with a 2-1 win over DJHA, which folks doubted would happen again because we surprised them in a meaningless tournament game. The early season had some good wins, but also saw the team lose to the Warriors 5 to 1 in its second game of the season and then lose in OT to HCD after being up 2 nothing. The team in its next league game against DJHA came back from 2 nothing in the third period to tie it before losing in a shootout. The team hit a snag in December when it lost to Austin in two shootouts in Austin, which made making the playoffs look much more challenging. The team bounced back in January though with a 5-nothing win over HCD and a 4-nothing win over Austin. It then won two crucial games against the Warriors in January, but finished league play with a 5 nothing loss to DJHA.

Through it all, this team stuck together, grew as a team, grew significantly as individual hockey players, and never stopped believing in themselves.

They fought back in the State Championship to win the game with 6 seconds left after DJHA tied the championship game with 46 seconds left.

In the DSTHL championship series yesterday, the team fought a tough DJHA team looking for a win after State's and put everything they had into the first game.  Despite getting outshot 31 to 17, the team won the first game 2 nothing, with both goals being scored by Stefan Kruger—the last one being Stefan’s third empty net goal in the last month. Great to see Ryan Hooks get the shutout since he missed the celebrations at the State Championship when he had the flu. This was a hard fought game with McKinney winning the battles in the corner, behind the net and along the boards.

In game two, the team started out flat and saw DJHA take a 3 nothing lead. The team picked it up in the second though and played with their usual level of intensity, but lost game two 4 to 1.

This took the series to a final sudden-death third game. From the puck drop to the winning goal 5:27 later, McKinney never stopped attacking and found a way to have all the momentum.  Four shots on goal were recorded in the final mini-game and all of them were by McKinney. 

From a faceoff in its own zone, the team got the puck up the ice to the captain, Nate Albers, who tapped the puck up the boards and beat the DJHA player on him. At the bottom of the circle—almost the same spot he shot the State Championship winning goal with 6.8 seconds left—Nate shot the puck and it somehow slipped by the goalie, setting off pandemonium.

It was a great win and a fabulous season. This team came together from the beginning, stuck together as a team, avoided drama and doubts, focused on playing hockey and did some remarkable things on the ice.  It will be a season they, as well as their families, will always remember fondly.

Now to step up for more tough competition at Nationals.