12U girls team wins gold in Lake Placid

Playing in a historic city, the Minnesota Miners 12U girls hockey team made some history of their own recently.

The squad, made up of Rock Ridge hockey players, played in the boys’ Pee Wee event at the CanAm Challenge Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., and won gold.

“It was a pretty neat thing to happen,’’ said Jeff Hunt, who organized the trip, along with Brandon Wudinich.

In the fifth year of making the trip, 2024 was the first time the Miners took an all-girls team, Hunt said. Three other teams also represented the Miners. That included a high-school age team, a Bantam boys team and a boys Pee Wee team. In total, a total of 45 players made the trip from March 28-31.

The high school team came home third, the Bantam boys were second and the Pee Wee boys were fifth. Overall, 48 teams played in the event.

“It’s a pretty unique thing,’’ Hunt said.

“It was so fun to watch,’’ said head coach Tim Christenson, who “let them play their game.’’ That included winning the little battles and playing smart.

The girls “stood up to the boys,’’ Hunt added, even though there wasn’t any hitting at their age.

According to Christenson, the girls won their first game 5-1, tied the second 1-1, tied the third 4-4 and won the title game 6-0.

How did the girls make it happen?

“These girls don’t give up,’’ the coach said. Even if they got down by a goal, they didn’t get down on themselves or think they were going to lose. “Their heads are always in it. They never give up.’’

The girls also had 200 parents and fans from the State of Hockey cheering them on.

The coach didn’t exactly expect a championship when the girls team entered the boys tournament. They had to do that, he said, because the girls tourney at Lake Placid was during the regular season.

He knew “that could be a little tough’’ and the girls prepped by taking on the Miners Pee Wee boys team twice.

“I know they really enjoyed doing that’’ and showed it by playing tougher.

“They don’t back down,’’ Christenson said. “They just play their own game.’’

The girls all knew the game of hockey with a full season under their belts and Christenson had the best seat in the house on the team bench. “It’s a complete privilege to watch these girls play the game of hockey.’’

Hunt agreed, saying it was “by far the most memorable experience’’ in the times he has been to Lake Placid, which played host to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that won gold.

The coaches and organizers made sure the girls knew the historical significance of Lake Placid and the U.S. team that won gold. It became even clearer at the team dinner before the trip. Pizza was eaten, jerseys were handed out and “Miracle’’ movie was watched so they could “just kind of see the significance behind it,’’ said Christenson, who is also the Girls Youth Hockey Director for Rock Ridge.

Outside of the games, they also got to practice in Lake Placid along with all of the younger brothers and sisters that went along.

“We really try to make it a whole family experience,’’ Hunt said.

In addition, the girls got to watch tryouts for the U.S. Women’s National Team and later met some of them and got autographs. Later at the girls’ championship game, some of the women even stopped by to watch.

“Nothing but positive things came out of it,’’ Christenson said of the trip.

Other notable events had the girls winning the relay race at the skills competition.

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Hundreds of donors (including many local residents) helped make the trip possible by helping to raise more than $55,000.

The Minnesota Miners have already begun fundraising for next year. A golf scramble fundraiser will be held June 9 at the Virginia Golf Course. Anyone wanting to sign up can contact Wudinich at 218-780-4238.