Global would like to congratulate the Helena Bighorns on their National Championship

Written by The Independent Record | Posted: Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3:00 pm
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Among the 70 teams that play Tier III junior hockey in the United States, the Helena Bighorns have no peers.

In a performance as dominating as any they put on all season, the Bighorns overwhelmed the El Paso Rhinos 5-1 on Tuesday afternoon to win the USA Hockey Tier III Junior A national championship. It is the first national title in the franchise's 10-year history.
Helena scored on its very first shift of the game, when Ryan Parkhouse slammed home a rebound over the head of a fallen goaltender. The Bighorns attacked relentlessly, building a 42-22 edge in shots, with the game more one-sided than the final score would indicate.
Parkhouse got his second goal of the game on a power play barely 11 minutes into the contest. Helena's own Michael Sullivan added a pair of goals and four-year team member Nolan Grauer got his first of the tournament. Helena won 65 of the 68 games it played this season, setting numerous team and NorPac league records along the way.

The game carried none of drama of the prior two days when the Bighorns first lost, then defeated Walpole (Mass.) to advance to the title game. El Paso of the Western States League, had been the surprise of the tournament, getting 44 saves from goaltender Tyler Caspar in a semifinal win over favored Idaho.

And while Caspar helped keep the score somewhat respectable Tuesday, the clock struck midnight early for the Rhinos. El Paso had one small sliver of hope when a shot by Frankie Poscillico beat Helena netminder Taylor D'Agostino up high to cut the Bighorns lead to 2-1 in the dying seconds of the first period.
But the Bighorns had worked too hard and come too far to let a title slip away. Helena began the second period with a furious offensive assault, culiminated by Sullivan's goal that Caspar had appeared to stop but failed to control, only to watch the puck dribble across the line to make the score 3-1.

Grauer tapped in a picture perfect pass from Kevin Clark to make it 4-1 later in the period and Sullivan redirected a Bryan Fiol shot early in the third for the final goal of the day.
The Bighorns are scheduled to arrive back in Helena by bus sometime Wednesday morning.