Highland Park Giants Hockey Team Wins Silver Cup

From HP Giants:The Highland Park Giants Grey JV squad won their division championship in electrifying fashion Thursday night with a 3-2 OT win over the Lane Tech Chiefs. The Grey team capped off a strong season winning the Wright Angle tournament in Madison, runner-up in the President’s Day tournament, finished 3rd in regular season standings and then won all their playoff games to earn their place in the championship game.

Originally started on Sunday afternoon in Rolling Meadows, power problems caused dimmed lighting on half the ice and no functioning scoreboard. As a result, the puck dropped over an hour late. The Giants started without much energy either as they gave up a goal on a hard shot from the Chiefs leading scorer in the first minute of the game. Early in the second period, league leading scorer freshman center Pierce Romo tied it up with assists from sophomore forward Sam Schlussel and freshman defenseman Jack Forman. Lane Tech countered that with a quick goal of their own to retake the lead 2-1. Then, with 4:02 left in the second period, the power went out at the rink plunging the championship into darkness and suspending the game.

Play resumed Thursday night and the Giants were shining bright. Just two minutes in to the restarted game, Sam Schlussel powered past three Chiefs to put a lightning bolt in to tie the game at 2. The final period settled into a draw, as the stingy defense sparked by freshman goalie Shai Lichtenfeld flipped the switch and shut down the Chiefs.

To no one’s surprise, the season long grudge match between the Giants and Lane Tech headed to a 4-on-4 sudden death overtime. After two minutes of overtime play, freshman defenseman Langston Knapp zapped a tape-to-tape pass to sophomore center Jack Broderick who lit the lamp with a laser beam over the outstretched glove of the Lane Tech goalie, leading to an explosion of sticks and gloves in the air and the HP Grey team celebration.

Coach Brian Kelly summed it up best: “It will be something I’ll never forget. From the tournament win in Madison to the climatic end, the season was truly amazing. They took their share of lumps that’s for sure but, they worked through them as a team. That’s what they were, a team, it showed in the locker room, on the ice and even out to dinner.”