From 20-22 February 2014 both Vikings BLACK and Vikings RED traveled to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to participate in the 21st annual Armed Forces Alpine Classic. The event was hosted by the KMC Eagles at the Olympia-Eissportzentrum, home of the 1935 Winter Olympics. In total, 14 military teams from around Europe participated in the three-day tournament.
Vikings RED was perhaps the surprise of the tournament, winning two big games and nearly advancing to the quarter-finals. Robert Painter and Bryan Harris scored timely goals throughout the tournament and both Kyle Houtz and Ken Schoonover provided solid goaltending.
Vikings BLACK went into the tournament with high expectations. Those expectations were initially met, but were dampened a bit when traitorous Steve May, Jr. and his Baden Bruins beat the BLACK 2-1 in round robin play. Nonetheless, the BLACK earned a top seed in knock-out play and eventually met the KMC Eagles in the semifinals. Up until this game, the Vikings had never beaten the top Eagles team, who had not lost in the tournament for more than five years. However, the Vikings handily defeated the Eagles 5-1 and advanced to play the Bayern Rangers in the final.
The Vikings were down in the final 3-2 to eventually fought back and took the lead 4-3. Unfortunately, with about 1:30 to play a defensive breakdown resulted in a breakaway for the Rangers and they converted to tie the score and send the game to a shoot-out. In classic Viking fashion, the shoot-out was an absolute disaster and, well, you get the point. NEXT YEAR!
All in all it was a great weekend of hockey, adult beverages, and camaraderie.
GVG!
