Courtesy Photo | LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Current and former members of the Massachusetts National Guard went...... read more read more
Massachusetts National Guard Redleg Hockey Team wins Armed Services Hockey Tournament in Vegas
Story by Laura Berry, Massachusetts National Guard Public Affairs
Photos courtesy of Armed Services Hockey
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Current and former members of the Massachusetts National Guard went to the 2022 Las Vegas Armed Services Hockey Tournament with the Massachusetts National Guard Redleg Hockey Team and won the Division Two Championship, Nov. 10-13, 2022.
The Redlegs have been playing in the tournament for 19 years, and they have not lost since 2016.
According to their website, the Armed Services Hockey Association (ASHA) provides world-class international ice hockey tournaments for military and veteran athletes to escape the rigors of military and post-military life.
The tournament is made up of two rounds of two games and the Championship Round.
“Everyone registers and they put their own level of play,” said Redleg Team Captain Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Chambers, Massachusetts National Guard. “Then they put you in a pool based on those responses. In years past, some people would try to go down to a lower level and just try to win the championship. Now what they do is they play two games, and with goal differential, and they even count penalties now, they re-seed you for two more games – Friday night and Saturday morning. Then based on that, if you’re the top two teams in the division you play each other for the final.”
“The first two games were pretty competitive,” said Chambers. “We usually get seeded in the right area. They know our team by now.”
The first game was on Thursday at 1:10p.m. The Redlegs played the Sodak Storm.
“We had a little scuffle in front of the net,” said Chambers. “We have some younger players, 20-year-old privates out there that kind of got mucked up. There were no punches thrown but I just kind of had to throw a few people off. I had to let them know if you’re gonna mess with my guys you gotta answer the bell. I got ejected. We ended up winning in a shoot-out, 6-5.”
The second game of Round One was on Friday at 1:00p.m. against the Wardiques. The Redlegs lost by one, 10-4.
They did not let that get them down because they won 5-3 later in the day at 9:20 p.m. against Bad Company. This was the first game of Round Two.
Second game of Round Two, was on Saturday against the Minotaurs, but you would have never known they played two games the day before, because they won 6-1. This secured their seat in the Championship Round.
The Championship game was against the Hill Falcons bright and early on Sunday morning at 6:40am. They won the 2022 Las Vegas Armed Services Hockey Championship for Division Two, 7-5.
There is also a Redleg Two Team which is run by Command Sgt. Maj. John Helbert which he started about six years ago.
Redleg Two made it all the way to the finals in Division Three, but they lost in overtime.
“Typically, Division One has Division One players that played divisional college hockey in the military whether they went to West Point -- like Lt. Col. (Tim) Murphy who has come out with us a couple of times. It’s mostly Air Force Academy guys that come out like Hill Air Force Base, Nellis Air Force Base – a lot of Air Force presence there.”
“They do a mid-year tournament now, they just spun that up a few years ago. Two years ago, we went to Nashville, last year we went to Austin. But the Nashville tournament, there’s the all-Army team – they came out and just rolled everybody.”
“The Redleg hockey team was founded in 1983 by, probably then at the time, Lt. Sterling McLeod. Just a couple of guys from the 101 FA just started playing and skating together, the 102 FA, a couple of MPs. Then 19 years ago, they found this tournament out in Vegas. It was a brand-new organization called Armed Services Hockey. They started having the tournament out there. They had the jerseys with the Vinny (St. Vincents) logo on it and the dice and all that stuff, which has evolved into a camouflage jersey, but we are going back to a retro jersey next year. Sterling McLeod handed it off to Patrick Burke. then he handed it off to at the time Staff Sgt. Chris Cobb, now Chief Cobb.”
Cobb then handed the team over to Chambers, who is now the Team Captain. His wife Shannon is the General Manager.
“Before I took the team over, my aunt Barbara died and she loved going to Vegas, so I brought some of her ashes to Vegas and then we won,” said Chambers. “When we got home, I looked, and she was in my hockey bag. I forgot to spread the ashes. The next year we went, we won again. I said, I’m not spreading her ashes, we haven’t lost! Who’s the Patron Saint of the Artillery? St. Barbara!”
The team has not lost in six years and some people think it is crazy, but Chambers brings Aunt Barbara to the tournament every year now.
To get more information about the MAARNG Redleg Hockey Team message them on Instagram @redleg_hockey.
To learn more about this tournament, visit ArmedServiceshockey.org.
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| Date Taken: | 01.06.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.06.2023 13:15 |
| Story ID: | 436356 |
| Location: | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 250 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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