The St. Paul Capitals will not go down in history as the flashiest PeeWee team in Minnesota. Besides their fancy red breezers, this is a rag tag bunch of 2 to 3 tool hockey players who work really hard and play really well together. They also possess the best player in the state, Matthew Gleason. Matthew has every tool you could ever imagine, but his best tool is his ability to see his teammates and distribute the puck. He plays the game as if the other players are in slow motion. On Sunday he had 3G/2A and finished the Founder's Cup with 11G/5A to lead all scorers. That is just snap shot of what he brings to the table.

The Caps got off to a fast start scoring three goals in the first six minutes to take a 3-0 lead over Orono. Facing a three goal deficit, Spartan Coach Woody Rash took a timely timeout to calm his troops. After the timeout, the Caps momentum was equalized by a much more aggressive Orono team to finish the period. Lucas Jorgenson scored on a pretty move for Orono and at the end of one it was 3-1 St. Paul.

The second period mirrored the first, more Caps and less Spartans. Three goals in eight minutes and the Caps got the game into running time with a 6-1 lead. Jorgenson scored again late in the period to cut the lead to 6-2 and they got the clock to stop running. Headed into the second period break Orono had a glimmer of hope heading into the third period.

In the third, hope turned from fantasy to reality for Orono. They began to play their game winning puck battles and sustaining pressure on the shorthanded Capitals. Spencer Lewin drove a hard slapshot off the glove of St. Paul Goalie Carsten Lardy's glove a minute into the period to make it 6-3. Then three minutes later, Mason Thedens tipped in a Jorgenson slapper to make it 6-4 with plenty of time left. A minute later, Riley Paul fired a rocket that beat Lardy to make it 6-5 with nine minutes to go! The game see-sawed back and forth for five minutes with both teams battling for the important next goal. With three minutes to go, Orono completed the comeback when Jack Rigley tied the score when he cleaned up a rebound in front after Lardy made a great save on a point blank shot by Jorgenson. One word comes to mind...Wow! After being the subject of two big comebacks in the tournament (Eveleth Friday and Warroad Saturday), Orono comes back to tie it in the third. 

The teams would battle to the finish. Late in the third, Gleason was dragged down on a breakaway giving the Capitals a power play with 40 seconds to go in the game. On Saturday, Gleason scored on a last second goal to beat Alexandria. On Sunday, the Caps almost did it again. This time, with one second left, Orono Goalie Carson Limesand made the save of the tournament when he robbed Jack Nei as he slid across the crease and snatched a victorious puck out of the air to keep the score 6-6.

In the overtime, neither team was able to solve the mental and physical toughness of the Goaltenders. Combined for the game, Lardy (28) and Limesand (46) made 74 saves in the game. They faced more rubber than the Indianapolis Speedway. So, after eight grueling games in three days beating the likes of Duluth East AA, Warroad and Alexandria...these two teams would decide the Founder's Cup title in a shootout. The offensive advantage in the shootout favored neither team. Despite giving up 12 goals, Lardy and Limesand stood tall. Stopping four out of the first five shooters, two each in Sudden Death. The sixth shooter for St. Paul was unlikely hero Tommy Brandt. Instead of fancy moves like the previous four unsuccessful shooters for St. Paul, Brandt elected to simply shoot it. And shoot it he did. He beat Limesand on his blocker side for the eventual game winning goal.

What an incredible finish to an incredible tournament. Twenty Four teams from all over Minnesota battled in 52 games. YHH crowned the seventh seeded St. Paul Capitals champion on Sunday in Hibbing at the historic Memorial Arena.