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14 teams to square off in annual girls hockey tournament

Ben Ingersoll

Adele Dombrowski Memorial tournament

Steamboat teams' schedule

Friday

U12: Steamboat vs. Summit, 12 to 1 p.m.

U14: Steamboat vs. Aspen, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

U19: Steamboat vs. Aspen, 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.

U12: Steamboat vs. Front Range Blue, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.

U19: Steamboat vs. Front Range, 8:45 to 9:45 p.m.

Saturday

U14: Steamboat vs. CO Jr. Eagles, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

U12: Steamboat vs. Front Range Blue, 12:45 to 1:45 p.m.

U14: Steamboat vs. Summit, 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.

U19: Steamboat vs. Front Range, 10 to 11 p.m.

Sunday

U12: No. 5 vs. No. 6, 6:30 to 7:30 a.m.

U12: No. 4 vs. No. 3, 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.

U14: No. 3 vs. No. 4, 9 to 10 a.m.

U19: No. 3 vs. No. 4, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

U12: No. 1 vs. No. 2, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

U14: No. 1 vs. No. 2, 1 to 2:15 p.m.

U19: No. 1 vs. No. 2, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.

— This year’s annual Adele Dombrowski Memorial girls hockey tournament comes on the heels of two other local youth tournaments hosted at Howelsen Ice Arena, and the player turnout is expected to be as large as ever.

Fourteen teams from across Colorado spanning three classes — U12, U14 and U19 — will square off in the three-day tournament starting Friday afternoon. It is the third tournament Steamboat has hosted at home this season.

Several parent-volunteer commitments and hours spent scheduling the tournament later, the girls are set to take the ice for the tournament’s ninth straight year.



“This year, all three of our home tournaments were full capacity,” Steamboat Springs Youth Hockey Organization administrative assistant Julie Brownell said. “This is as much ice time as we can do. It’s full capacity, and we are running 28 games in three days.”

Steamboat will field a team in each of the three divisions. The U12 class has the most teams with six, including representatives from Aspen, the Front Range and an Aspen-Summit-Vail combination squad, to name a few. The U14 and U19 divisions each have four teams apiece.



Friday and Saturday are dedicated to pool play, with the first game taking place between the Steamboat and Summit U12 teams at noon Friday. But Sunday is when the tournament really ramps up, when seeding takes place and the bracket begins determining the best teams.

“It’s the big playoff day,” Brownell said.

Howelsen Ice Arena will be packed, and it will be filled from sunrise well into the night.

The final game Friday will take place from 10 to 11 p.m. between Aspen and the Front Range U19 teams. On Saturday, the puck will drop at 6:30 a.m. between Aspen and the Front Range’s U12 unit, and play isn’t expected to wrap up until the Front Range takes on Steamboat’s U19 team at 10 p.m.

It’s a weekend packed with hockey, but Brownell said it’s a way for the Steamboat program to face off against quality competition and build some relationships across Colorado’s girls hockey system in the process.

“I think it’s an opportunity for them to compete against teams they don’t normally play,” Brownell said. “Our girls are in the Mountain States Girls Hockey League, and some of these teams coming are put together strictly for tournaments.”

The tournament serves as a big fundraiser for youth hockey in Steamboat, but its namesake is in honor of Adele Dombrowski, a prep hockey and tennis enthusiast who died eight years ago at age 17.

To reach Ben Ingersoll, call 970-871-4204, email bingersoll@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @BenMIngersoll


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