Congratulations to the McKinney Lightning Midget Major team for going undefeated in the Winter Classic Midget Major Silver Division.
 

The Lightning started the tournament off playing the Stars Selects--Aucoin AA Midget Minor team.  Drake Grier gave the Lightning an early lead, but the Stars tied it up in the 2nd.  A minute and a half later though, Ryan Pikl scored the eventual game winner.  Drake Grier added a shorthanded goal midway through the 3rd period. Josh Eddy got the win, stopping 26 of 27 shots.
 

On Saturday, the Lightning started off playing a good Arapahoe Warriors team.  Michael Sax scored two goals, but the teams were tied after two periods.  Ryan Pikl scored the game winner midway through the third period. Clayton Boone stopped 21 of 23 shots.

Later that day, the Lightning defeated the South Texas Elite. Jorden Runeberg and Ty Holt each scored two goals. Ryan Pikl and Lance Ratley also scored. Josh Eddy got the shutout, stopping all nine shots he faced.
 

In the final preliminary game on Monday morning, the Lightning knew they were already in the Championship Game, while their opponent--the Stars Selects Page--needed to win to secure a spot.  The Lightning won 3 to 0 with a goal by Michael Sax and two by Alex Miller. Clayton Boone got the shutout, stopping 24 shots.
 

In the Championship Game, the Lightning faced a fresh Stars Select--Aucoin team that had not played earlier in the morning. The Lightning scored first on a penalty shot by Michael Sax, but watched the Stars-Aucoin team go up 4 to 1 midway through the 2nd period. Harris Rabinowitz scored in the 2nd and then Ryan Pikl and Brandon Siler scored in the 3rd to tie the game.  The Stars went up one more time, but Siler tied it again sending the game to overtime and then a shootout.  In the shootout, Siler and Rabinowitz scored and Clayton Boone turned away four of the five shots he faced.

Congratulations Lightning.

The McKinney Ice Hockey Club delivered holiday cheer to over 60 residents of the McKinney Housing Authority for the third December. Working with the MHA, the club provided basic necessities--toilet paper, soap, toothbrushes and toothpastes, etc.--and a few extra items to residents in all four of the Housing Authority's properties. 
 

From Midgets to Squirts, the club's teams came together to adopt 10 or more families per team. The teams then delivered the baskets as a team, getting an opportunity to understand the tough financial situation that many of the residents face and experiencing how good it feels to give to others in need.

Below are some pictures of the baskets being delivered.

The McKinney Lightning saw two of their four teams competing in the Fall Roundup make it to the Championship Game.  Bantam A won an amazing come from behind victory in a shootout to secure the first place trophy and banner in the Bantam Silver Division for the Lightning.

The Lightning Squirt team also fought its way to the Championship Game.  The squirts started strong with a 4 to 1 victory over the Missouri Jr. Mavs.  The team then struggled in an afternoon game against Alliance. The Lightning were leading by one four minutes into the third, but Alliance tied the game up sending it to a ten round shootout that the Lightning lost.  The squirts bounced back with an 8 to 0 win over the Americans the next day. 

Knowing that they needed a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the Championship Games, the Lightning ran into ref infested waters while playing the Ice Jets and lost a very frustrating game. Thankfully Alliance lost giving the Lightning a rematch with the Ice Jets. The two teams were tied at 1 after one period and tied at 2 after two periods in a very competitive game.  The Ice Jets took a one goal lead with 4 minutes left. The Lightning pressed hard but missed by inches a couple times before the Jets scored an empty net goal with one second left.  Still, the players, fans and coaches were very proud of a hard fought second place finish and the trophy that was won.

PeeWee A came up short the first game of the tournament before blowing out their next three opponents 7 to 2, 8 to 1, and 8 to 0.  Unfortunately the first loss could not be overcome and the team ended up in third place after losing a tiebreaker with the eventual tournament champion.

Bantam B had a tougher road to travel since its division didn't make and it was forced to play A teams in two of its games. Despite that hurdle, the team fought hard throughout the tournament.