Postcards From Europe: April 28

The Jr. Colorado Avalanche had a busy day on the ice on Saturday, as the team played three crucial games at the Nordic Hockey Trophy tournament in Finland.
The first match of the day was the third and final game of pool play for the team, and the Jr. Avs won 6-1 against Haukut (Finland). Forward Noah Grolnic scored two goals and added an assist, and defenseman A.J. Scarafoni added two helpers on shots from the points.
"We worked as a team the entire game and made some nice plays," said A.J. Scarafoni.

Overall, five different Jr. Avalanche players found the back of the net in the contest.
"We had a strong forecheck and we had confidence going into the game that we were going to beat them," said Noah.

This was the second time the Avalanche Pee-Wee Team beat Haukat (translates to Hawks in English), with its first win coming in the squad's second exhibition game of the trip. Once again, goaltender Kaleb Bartholomew had a strong performance, as he only allowed one goal in each tournament outing that he has started over the weekend.
The Jr. Avs were then reseeded for the playoff brackets of the Nordic Hockey Trophy tournament and drew the Future Stars Hockey Academy (Sweden) for their first playoff, round-robin style game. Colorado came up short against the Future Stars, losing 3-2 and hit a post with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
Forward George Poirier and defenseman Daniel Andreen scored in the game, while both goaltenders, Derek Wood and Bartholomew, clocked in at the crease.

"We could have worked on using our defense more in the offensive zone," A.J. Scarafoni said. "Also, the other team was fast and moved the puck up the ice quickly."
In a must-win situation for the team to have a chance to advance to the medal rounds, the Jr. Avs played their best game of their Euro tour. They defeated the highly-remarked Haki Blue 7-1. Haki is a select team from the Finland youth organization Harjun Kiekko.
"Every person on the team contributed," said Noah. "We had amazing passing, and everybody just wanted to be there for each other."
Noah Grolnic tallied five points (two goals and three assists), while linemate George Poirier added two goals and two assists. Forward A.J. Ulrich also found the back of the net twice and defenseman Tsavo Cole scored his first goal of the tournament with a blast from the point in the second frame.
The peewees play two more playoffs games on Sunday, with the first one deciding placement for the final matchup.