The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program begins spring league play tomorrow. It will be an opportunity for the coaching staff to take a look at some different line combinations and defensive pairings ahead of fall practices and to see where some of the new student athletes are at. The Rockville Ice Arena High School Spring League is a great way for the student athletes not participating in another high school spring sport to continue to work on their game and develop their individual skills in a competitive team environment. Upper Montgomery has nine new student athletes joining the program for the spring 2022 season.
For the first time in program history Upper Montgomery will have two teams competing; Team Green and Team White. The teams are relatively evenly split with varsity and junior varsity student athletes playing on both teams. All levels of talent AAA / AA through house / rec play together and the age ranges are high school seniors through next year’s rising 9th graders. The league is structured as a way for the student athletes to have fun in a safe environment as there is absolutely no checking allowed during the spring season.
The Upper Montgomery Lightning are proud to recognize and honor the 18 Lightning student athletes who will be awarded the Maryland Student Hockey League Academic Achievement Award at the team’s end of season party in early May. These 18 student athletes exemplify what it is to be a student athlete, excellence in the classroom and high character. The award is given to a student athlete competing in high school ice hockey who has a weighted grade point average of 3.50 or higher during the first semester of each season. Five student athletes—Andrew Botti, James Botti, Nathan Cassel, Henry Honacki, and Olivia Robbins earned straight A’s. Congratulations to all on your excellent academic performance!
Congratulations also go out to the Churchill Bulldogs of Montgomery Hockey Conference for winning their 10th state championship with a 3-2 double overtime victory over Oakdale in a memorable state final. Depending upon which team a spectator was rooting for, it was either a thrilling victory or a crushing defeat. Churchill forced overtime with a six on five pulled goalie goal with just 13.1 seconds remaining in the third period. For Churchill fans, it was a brilliant faceoff play that led to the tying goal. For Oakdale, it will forever be viewed as an absolutely catastrophic failure in defensive coverage seconds away from an upset victory in the state championship game. Also, a shout out to the Blair Blazers for winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference division two championship with a 6-5 victory over the Whitman Vikings.