stallions2004

Carey, Without any disrespect to you or any of the defensemen in the tourney, the most complete defenseman in the tourney was #44 of Pro-Hockey. My own son being one of the top defenseman in the 2004's and having played along side #76 witnessing him score 3 huge gosls to win us games and also playing against Pro-Hockey this spring with the Bulldogs, I would have to without a doubt that #44 is the top defenseman in my eyes followed by #76. Again taking nothing away from anyone, I see it as I see it.

With Boston beating Minesota today, it's all but official now that the Bulldogs, Boston, & Ice Storm officially move on to the Saturday playoff round. There is still an outside chance that the ice Storm finish first in the division but they would need to win their game in regulation & the Bulldogs would need to lose their game in regulation. Congratulation the the entire Ice Storm team for finally turning things around this year. You've got to give credit where credit is due and their entire staff deserves credit from the manager, to the coaches, to the parents, & last but definitely not least the players that were chosen. You guys proved many people wrong including myself. Felicitation!!! Now that you've attained your goal of making it to Saturday, why not simply go win it all. Bonne chance mes amies!!!!

Pierre je suis d'accord avec toi. I thought the Bulldogs dictated most of the game and controlled puck posession 70% of the game. My son having played with the Bulldogs for one tourney this year I know that their biggest weakness is on defense where they have 1 player that simply has no business being there and another 2 that are very shaky. The Ice Storm scored 2 of their goals on 2 on 1 breaks that were caused by the same defenseman getting caught at the offensive blue line with extremely bad judgement. Take away those two goals I thought the Ice Storm had maybe 5-7 decent scoring chances. My opinion & interpretation of course.

I agree. They seem to be for sure working more together then in previous years and putting their egoes aside. They are definitely looking for solutions rather then simply pointing fingers or complaining about what is not working. Good on them.

Daniel, honestly the biggest adjustment they made was playing a dump and chase system. After their losses at the CCM 2003D2 tourney, I know Mr. Swan & also Mr. Luneau (both of whom witnessed the power of a dump & chase system with the Stallions) voiced their opinion to me and hopefully had given their input to the coaching staff as that system beat both the Bulldogs & Jr Bruins Brick in a previous tourney (with not our best team). Changing their way of playing seems to be paying dividends & I've noticed the difference as there is less turnovers in the neutral zone. Good on them for listening to what has been successful instead of re-inventing the wheel.

What a game.... Bulldogs comeback to beat the Ice Storm 4-3 in 2OT. The Bulldogs tied the game with about a minute left on the power play. The IS played a very good collective game and almost pulled it off. Hats off to both teams, best of luck with rest of the games in the tourney. I'm not sure if it's the top 3 or top 4 that advance but I think both teams have a very good chance of advancing to the next round. Bulldogs I believe are already in if it's top 3 but the IS must win at least one more I believe if it's top 3.

Remember it's very tough playing your 2nd game of the day vs a fresh team.... especially vs a fresh Brick team where there are never any easy games. I thought the Bulldogs showed lots of character in the OT comeback win. Not easy, but Boston has also proven they can beat anyone.

Bulldogs win 4-3 vs Boston in OT. Bulldogs tied the game very late with their goalie pulled. Nice to see 2 Stallions in on the game winner in OT. Also a good effort for the Bulldogs as it was their 2nd game of the day and Boston's first. I cannot wait to see the result of the Bulldogs vs IS game tomorrow as that could determine who finishes in first place potentionally. Good luck to both teams!!!

Big win from IS. Very tight game with not many scoring chances. They'll have a big one tomorrow vs Bulldogs.

I saw the last period of the IS vs Minesota game last night and my first thought was that Minesota was playing very individually. From just checking the Bulldogs vs Minesota score today (10-1 in favor of the Bulldogs) all I got to say is WOW..... It looks as though the IS has a very good chance of passing and being part of the top 4 in their division. One thing I will say about the 2004's from Quebec is that they know how to play more collectively than previous years. Hopefully the IS coaching staff doesn't mess things up like in previous years. Go IS go!!!

Karol, absolument une belle finale chaudement dispute et felicitation au Nordiques 2004 pour leur belle victoire en finale. La vitesse de votre equipe nous on surpris et on aurait du mieux preparer mais comme qu'on dit, ca joue sur la glace et vous aviez meriter la victoire et le Championat aucun doute. Juste pour vous dire que cette groupe des Stallions 2004 etait bien un mix des Stallions Gold D1 et donc 4 joueurs des Stallions Elite (2 avants, un defenseur, et le gardien) alors le calibre de la finale etait tres eleve a mon avis. Cette equipe des Stallions sera en effet (plus ou moin 3-5 joueurs) l'equipe d'Atome BB a Laval-Nord cette annee et je crois qu'on devrait etre tres competitif. Bonne fin de saison AAA a tous et bon repos avant de commencer le hockey de Ville : )

Just want to congratulate both teams for entering the Meltdown and playing a year up in the 2005D2's. Although both teams did not make it to Sunday, I thought they both fared extremely well. The Ice Rebels finished with a 2-2 record while the Stallions finished with a 1-2-1 record, the tie coming against the team that finished in first place in their division. Congrats once again for not being afraid to challenge the kids and to the kids for competiting against bigger & stronger competition.

Well said Mike.... Asta la vista!

Mike, I'm sure the coach of the CCM All-Stars wouldn't be too pleased that you are posting up on a public Blog that you just beat his team 9-0 after they did you a favor to play your Brick team. I personally would just let the results from the games at the Brick tournament in Edmonton do the talking. Go Ice Storm Brick Go!!!

I assumed (but you know what happens when you assume) for the Vikings it was that but I was more curious about why TBT wasn't present at the Meltdown. How many Brick players did they have on their team (I'm only aware of 1 for sure & maybe 2 with the goalie I think)? As for our team we were in a very similar situation as the Vikings up until they allowed us to replace the Brick players with any other 2004 that wasn't playing in the tournament. We luckily found 3 replacements (1 defenseman from the Vikings, 1 forward from the Gouvs that played in the 2003D2, & 1 forward that played 2004D2 up until this tourney).

Alex, no disrespect to you or TBT but why were both teams not present at the biggest tourney of the AAA spring season? Is the only reason because of the Brick players missing from your teams? It would have been nice to see all the good teams that won previous tournaments or made finals & semi finals present at the Meltdown. I know that the Rebels were also missing a very good player due to the Brick but they showed their competitiveness and depth by playing anyhow. It's unforetunate if that is the main reason. It also unforetunate as the Ice Storm Brick only had practices scheduled this weekend. The Ice Storm Brick team could also have entered this tournament as well considering that they were looking for games to play and asked the loser of both semi-finalists to play them on Sunday afternoon.

I'd like to first thank all the competition that was present at this years Meltdown. Unlike the comment above, we respect the competition & were pleasantly surprised by the level of competition present this weekend. With the top players present from Halifax, Ottawa, & New Hampshire the competition was intense & fierce. Even the Jr CH had arguably one of the top 2004 players from Ontario playing with them and made enourmous progression throughout the AAA season. It's always easy to hate when you're jealous instead of showing class and respect. That being said, I'd like to congratulate the Stallions Elite for an impressive 2014 AAA season; 1- Toronto Invitational Champs (beating Toronto Bulldogs Brick & Jr Bruins Brick). 2- Laval Challenge 2003D2 Champs. 3- CCM Super Challenge 2003D1 Finalists (playing all tourney with 6-4 & losing only 1 game all tourney in the finals to Cascade who had three former Brick players). 4- Montreal Meltdown Back to Back Champs 2004D1 (playing with 4 missing regular players due to the Brick). I'd like to thank all the parents for their support and commitment to excellence. Without the parents, there is no Stallions Elite and they made a great season even greater with tons of memories to last a life time. Merci/Thank you.

Ray & Lucic, wow what a tournament for both Stallions teams. I was extremely impressed with the progression of the Stallions Gold who could of easily been there Sunday morning with a bit of luck on their side. With 3 ties (CCM All-stars, Rebels, & Flames) at the toughest tourney in Quebec, they competed like true warriors and their progression from beginning of the season to the end is a direct reflection of their training, coaching staff, & most importantly the loyal parents that stuck with the team and were willing to roll up their sleeves and teach their kids that you need to earn everything to be competitive instead of taking the easy route of simply jumping ship to other so called "better" teams. Your loyalty and trust in the Stallions organization shows a lot about your true characters and you're all teaching your kids very important life lessons. Once again congratulations on a great year!!!

I agree 100%..... I think many people feel that every tournament should be an open tournament just like in Toronto. The AAA season changes week to week so it would be nice to allow kids to play with & with whom they want and also to adjust their teams accordingly from week to week. I believe that if we opened up the tourneys that you might also have less teams playing up a category to find competition. Further, it would also be extremely easy to manage and the only thing that would maybe need to be managed are the older kids playing in a lower category. Just my 2 cents....

Maybe I should of directed the question more to Alexandre as he mentioned that he hoped "que ce soit une équipe du Québec qui remporte les grands honneurs".... Mike, ce n'est pas une question piege mais plus une question de savoir ton opinion.

Mike, question for you... if they do come down and win the tourney, would you consider them a Quebec team or not?

alexandre, you forgot the Ice storm.... GO ICE STORM GO..... I'm not sure who CCM All-stars, HBC Attack, Rushforth Selects, or the Halifax Hockey Group are but I think the odds are good that a Quebec team pulls it off. I heard rumors that the Jr CH are flying in a complete line from the Regional Express team that won last week in Toronto (including the Elite player with the goggles). Should be interesting competition regardless and may the best team win..... Bonne chance a tousssss comme DJ Rob dis toujours!!!!! :) :)

One thing I want to get off my chest & some might not all agree with me but it's my personal opinion; In Quebec everyone makes such a huge deal about centers playing the wing and making excuses about why an assembled team of supposed to be All-Stars lose is because they all played center on their own team and now they play wing. Personally you've got to be kidding me..... The only time where centers & wingers play their position is on a face-off & on breakouts/defensive zone coverage in the defensive zone. In the offensive zone at this age it should be F1, F2, F3 and forwards need to read and react to the situation and once the puck is going the other way they ALL need to backcheck. I understand the concept of comfortability of playing a certain position but an elite player should be able to play all forward positions in the offensive zone & understand spacing/triangle concepts as well as knowing when to double team (doublage) etc. I myself love the fact that my son can play all 5 positions on the ice..... not all of them great or at the best of his abilities, but he isn't a deer in head lights when he plays a new position.

Armada, honestly I do not see the purpose of that type of exhibition game. I myself do not have the same philosophy of the guys that run & choose the Brick Team but I have turned the page and have absolutely no regrets. It's time to now support them and see if they have made the necessary changes from their previous experiences they hopefully learned from. Doing this type of exhibition game will only question the choices & decisions they have made and hinder their chances to be successful in Edmonton. Let's all support them the best we can and wish them the best chance of success possible in Edmonton. The time to critique them will come after the Brick tournament has been played. We now have a very good framework of the Stallions Elites results this past spring and their philosophy of how the team should/would/could have been put together, now it's time to sit back and watch the Ice Storm Brick do their thing. I wish the entire Ice Storm Brick team the best of luck in Edmonton in their quest to bring home the Gold, Silver or Bronze.

Why wait until June 20th? Are you saying you still don't know what you have as a team after about 3-4 practice & 1 exhibition game?