Ice Dawgs U19 Girls Start Cold; Squirts Sweep

The Ice Dawgs U19 girls opened up their season with a pair of games against Bismark, one of North Dakota's best teams, on Saturday. It was a quick turnaround for the Ice Dawgs since they have only been practicing for less than a month – Bismark on the other hand had been on the ice for several months.

The results showed the disparity in practice time as Bismark bested the Ice Dawgs in both contests 7-0. Still, it was a start in the right direction according to Head Coach JR Rasmussan.

"The girls did what they could with the limited practice they've had," said Rasmussan. "There were some good things we can take away from the games."

One of them was valuable ice team for their inexperienced team.

"We've got a younger team, we lost some pretty good leadership last year. It will take some time to get the younger girls where they need to be as far as the mental part of the game," said Rasmussan.

That will only happen with time on the ice.

The team's next chance will be in Bozeman on Nov. 31, where the Ice Dawgs will compete in a jamboree with some of the best teams in the state over a three-day period. Missoula, Bozeman, Whitefish, Kalispell and Miles City are all expected to skate. The jamboree will serve as the Ice Dawgs' one competition in the Montana 19-and-under league before the state tournament in 2013.

The two games against Bismark was part of their play in the North Dakota 19-and-under league. The Ice Dawgs will continue play in the North Dakota league in December.

The U19 girls' team was not the only Glasgow Ice Dawgs program to drop the puck on their season as the squirts hit the ice over the weekend, too.

The squirts had four games – one on Friday, two Saturday and one Sunday – and won all four by a combined score of 35-10. They beat Butte 10-3 on Friday, the Helena Bighorns 9-3 on Saturday morning, Helena again 7-0 on Saturday night and capped the weekend off with a 9-4 win over Butte on Sunday. It was a great start for the young squad.

Butte and Helena faced each other twice as well with Butte coming out on top both times. 8-5 and 6-2.