Rogers Bantam AA
Season Recap
The 2019-20 Rogers Royals Bantam AA team was special in many ways. With most of the team being second year players, it was their final year of youth hockey for many of the players, most who have been together for 8+ years.
Through a love of the game, hard work and dedicated families, this group of kids has made tremendous strides throughout Squirts, made multiple trips to Region Tournaments as Peewees and qualified for their first State Tournament last year.
The expectations were high again this season despite making the jump to Bantam AA, and the journey was not without its uncertainty and challenges. Isaac Fondrick took over as head coach this year and quickly earned everyone's respect with his ambition and dedication. The Royals jumped out of the gate and quickly began racking up wins against strong program, but like they often do, injuries and illness tested the team's resolve throughout the season. On New Year’s Day, the Royals took home the trophy in the Edina Invitational which gave them a huge boost of confidence and earned them respect and notoriety from other top teams.
The road to state was no easy journey though. In the District 10 Tournament, the Royals entered as the #1 seed but dropped their opening game. Their competition came to play and was simply better that day. The Royals persevered though, won the rest of their District playoffs games to finish third and earn a berth in Regions.
In an eerie Déjà vu moment, the Royals once again were bested in their opening game of the Region Tournament. Coach Fondrick and the team circled the wagons and came together once again, this time roaring back with back to back wins to make it to Championship Sunday. They needed two wins on Sunday to make it to state. In their first game of the day, the Royals faced superb goaltending and found themselves trailing 0-1 with only 2:00 remaining, despite out-shooting their competition 41-12. The Royals scored on a power play goal to take it to overtime and scored again in overtime to advance to the Consolation Championship. The Royals once again found themselves trailing 0-1 with only minutes remaining in the competition. The Royals kept up the pressure and eventually scored back-to-back goals in the final minutes to win 2-1 and punch their ticket to State.
Without knowing at the time it would be their final game of the season, I don’t think anyone could argue it was a great way to end it all for this group of players and their families.
The Rogers Royals finished their season 14-0-1 in District play with an overall record of 43-10-3.