COLORADO RESULTS ON THE WAY TO RALEIGH!

Several of the teams that competed in the next-to-last 2Hot4Ice regional qualifying tournament of the season, May 22-24 in Lakewood, Colo., exhibited the same fighting spirit as the gallant men and women we remembered and honored on Memorial Day for their ultimate sacrifice during our nation's wars.
 
Obviously, the 2Hot4Ice competitors faced no mortal danger on the Rocky Mountain Roller Hockey rink. But to prevail at inline roller hockey's highest level, you've got to grind and persevere. There's no retreating.
 
No team at the Lakewood event epitomized the never-give-up attitude that the 2Hot4Ice series encourages more than the 16U Valken Colorado Kodiaks 94s and 18U ThinAir 92s.
 
The Kodiaks 94s could have easily packed it in after dropping two of their first three games. But they pressed on in support of the 16U division's top goalie, Jason Colbourne, to beat the Rock Rebels 6-3 in a semifinal match and the Valken Colorado Kodiaks Black 4-1 in the Bronze division championship game.
 
The Thin Air 92s didn't lose in Lakewood but their road to the 18U division title was no cakewalk. The 92s opened the tournament with a 2-0 victory over the RMR Raptors, followed by a 3-2 trimming of the Legacy Kodiaks and a 2-2 tie with the Valken Kodiaks.
 
The Thin Air 92s and Kodiaks squared off again in the division finale, with the 92s prevailing 6-5 in overtime behind top dishman Dyland Hassell and top goalie Luke Lindsay-Brisbin. The Kodiaks' Devin Mize earned the Deebs Young Award.
 
The Northern Colorado Hot Shots AA had a challenging go of it, as well. After dropping their first two 14U Silver division contests, the Hot Shots rebounded to edge the RMR Raptors 5-4 to reach the semifinals, where they beat the Crash Test Dummies 5-2.
 
With the division's Deebs Young Award winner Zack Musso leading the way, the Hot Shots stopped the 95 Mission Wolverines 4-1 to take home the 14U Silver hardware.
 
8U division
 
The Valken Colorado Kodiaks became the first of five unbeaten and untied Lakewood division champions when they KO'd the Mission Wolverines 9-1 in the division finale.
 
With Lucas and Dominic Sandoval earning the division's top dishman and Deebs Young honors, the Kodiaks reeled off victories over the Wolverines, RMR Underdogs and OD's Daredevils to reach the title game.
 
The division's other individual honoree was the Underdogs' L.J. Newell, who was cited as the top goalie.
 
10U division
 
With three of their skaters sweeping the division's individual honors, the Valken Colorado Kodiaks gave their organization the second of its four division championships in Lakewood by winning all four of their games. The Kodiaks rounded out their perfect run with a 7-3 defeat of the Mission Wolverines.
 
The Kodiaks' Jonah Glem, Isiaah Avila and Nathan Prall were the division's top dishman, top goalie and Deebs Young honoree, respectively.
 
12U division
 
The 96 Mission Wolverines won the first of that club's two Lakewood crowns when they bested sister team 97 Mission Wolverines 10-3 in the division finale behind Deebs Young Award winner Joey Dolce.
 
The other individual standouts were the 97 Mission Wolverines' Austin Resseguie and Jordan Hampleton, who were named the top dishman and top goalie, respectively.
 
14U Gold division
 
The Valken Colorado Kodiaks Black won all five of their games including a 4-3 overtime semifinal triumph over the Littleton Assault and a 5-2 victory over the RMR Raptors in the their division title matchup.
 
Aaron Green of the Assault was judged the division's top goalie.
 
16U Gold division
 
The 93 Colorado Mission Wolverines also went 5-0-0 in Lakewood, winning 3-2 over the Thin Air 92s and 4-2 over the Colorado Dynamite and the division's top dishman, C.J. Bateman, to reach the title game, where they prevailed 4-2 over the 92 Mission Wolverines.
 
16U Silver division
 
The Thin Air 92s encountered turbulence only once in their climb to the division championship. The 92s opened with a pair of victories, lost a heartbreaker to the 93 Mission Wolverines 3-2, then closed with 3-2 and 6-0 wins over the RMR Dragons and the Monument Lake Monsters, respectively.
 
The division's Deebs Young Award was presented to the Monsters' Kyle Lachner.
 
Adult division
 
The Colorado Chiefs won their first three games comfortably, then fell 2-1 to the RMR Shadow to set up a showdown between the same two teams in the divisional final.
 
This time the Chiefs were victorious, eking out a 4-3 win behind the division's top goalie, Scott Cargile, and it's Deebs Young recipient, Skylar McKnight. The RMR Shadows' James Courim was the top dishman.
 
Every one of the teams that competed so mightily in the Rocky Mountain state qualified for 2Hot4Ice's premier event, 2009 Nationals, June 24-28 at the Dreamsports Center in Apex, N.C.
 
But first, there's one more regional qualifier: June 5-7 at the Bladerunners Inline Complex in Pittsburgh.