Chugiak High players Sam Linder, Shane Topf and Seth Kollman played key roles in the Junior Avalanche 18A hockey team's win of the 38th annual Mile High Thanksgiving tournament, held Nov. 26-29 in Littleton, Colo.

The team finished the tournament, 4-1-2, but advanced into the championship game, meeting up with Arvada, Colo., in Sunday's finale. The two teams had played to 1-1 stalemate on Saturday.

The game was close throughout, tied 1-1 at the end of the first period, 2-2 at the end of the second, and 4-4 after three.

The two squads then went scoreless through two overtime periods, causing the title to be decided in a shootout.

Kollman, a Chugiak senior, stopped eight of 10 shootout attempts, as the Avalanche collected the 5-4 win, and was one of the top goalies for the tournament, with three wins.

Linder had a good tournament as well, finishing tied for seven in scoring, among the 10 teams gathered for the event, with four goals, four assists.

Linder scored twice in the team's 9-2 win over the Kamloops Lions Saturday, and had two assists in the team's crossover game with Arapahoe early Sunday - a 4-3 win that put the Junior Avalanche into the title game.

Shane Topf finished the seven-game stand with one goal and five assists, including a pair of helpers in the squad's victory over Kamloops Saturday.

The Junior Avalanche fielded a meager lineup numerically with only 13 skaters, along with two goalies, while Arvada had a full bench with 18 skaters, two goalies, for the title game.

The team's complete tournament results included a win and two ties Friday, a 1-1 split Saturday, and two victories Sunday.

Boxscores are available through pointstreak.com.

The team returned to Alaska late Monday night. Coaches Jamie Smith and Rodney Wild were not available for comment.

--David Morse, for the Star