The Calumet Ice Kings 10 Tier 2 travel hockey team celebrates with the trophy after winning the state championship Sunday at the Calumet Colosseum. (Photo provided)

CALUMET — The Calumet Ice Kings 10U Tier 2 travel hockey team may have backed into the state tournament by way of hosting, but at the end of the day Sunday, they were the last team standing as state champions. They finished pool play second in their pool, before knocking off the Copper Country Junior Hockey Association’s Junior Huskies in the semifinals. They followed that up with a 1-0 win over the Metro Jets to claim the biggest prize at the Calumet Colosseum.

“Yeah, I’m still in kind of disbelief,” Ice Kings coach Rob Bohlsen said. “As the teams were coming up, and we’re looking at my hockey rankings, we could tell that it was kind of whoever showed up that weekend had a very good chance. Being nine and 10 year olds, you just never know what you’re going to get on any given day. Some days they’re playing their hearts out, and then some days, who knows where they are.”

Calumet did not win the district championship, so that left them hungry as they entered pool play.

“We did not win the district, which was our goal,” Bohlsen said. “We know we were hosting. We knew we were going to be involved in the tournament, but it was still our goal. Sadly, we had come down with some illness during districts, and that did limit our game. But, being the second seed behind Houghton, we had matched up with them pretty well all year long.”

The Ice Kings opened their tournament play by defeating the Downriver Otters, 6-3, Friday afternoon. They followed that up with a 6-1 loss to the Jets Saturday morning, setting up an interesting final game.

Saturday evening, they found themselves in a 1-1 tie with the Birmingham Rangers. The Rangers needed to beat the Ice Kings to make the semifinals, so they pulled their goalie, which gave Calumet a chance to deposit a goal into the empty net and earn another chance at the Junior Huskies.

“We found a way to win some tight games,” said Bohlsen. “We played on Friday, and we played really well. We beat the Downriver Otters 6-3. Then we came out Saturday kind of flat. Saturday morning, we didn’t have our best game. We actually lost 6-1 to the Metro Jets, which, in hindsight, was probably a good thing for us, because I think they came out on Sunday when we faced them again with the mentality of they’re going to have not a very hard game.

“Then we played the Rangers and in pool play. The Rangers needed to win to make it to Sunday. So, we were in a 1-1 game with them, and they had to pull their goalie in hopes of scoring to advance to Sunday. We capitalized on their pulled goalie, and made the game 2-1.

Meanwhile, the Junior Huskies opened with a 5-3 win over the Saginaw Spirit Friday afternoon and then battled to a 3-3 tie with the Traverse City North Stars in a game that Copper Country led 3-1 heading into the third period.

The Junior Huskies then rolled to a 7-0 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins to earn their trip to the semifinals Sunday morning.

The Ice Kings and Junior Huskies played a pair of game the weekend before the state tournament, and Bohlsen’s team won the first of the two games. While it was just one of the two games, that win meant a ton to Calumet in terms of confidence.

“That was a crucial win for us,” Bohlsen said. “It gave our squad confidence, because we beat them in the beginning of the year, and then there was a time where we just weren’t able to get the upper hand on them. I think we lost three in a row to them.”

That confidence showed through Sunday morning. Calumet earned a 3-2 win in a game where they had a 2-0 lead only to see the Junior Huskies even things in the third before the hosts scored a power play goal late to win.

“I tell you what, they came out and they played like no other,” said Bohlsen. “We kind of noticed that to take their mind off of the little things, and just to get them to play good hard hockey, there are little tricks that you can use.”

Then, Sunday afternoon, the Ice Kings scored in the final minute of the first period, and then held onto that lead for the final two periods to claim the state title. After the tournament was over, the team was honored with a parade.

“We did our parade and I’m pretty sure the individual who took all the boys in their van probably still has ringing ears, because he had said they didn’t stop screaming from the minute getting into the van to the minute that van stopped,” Bohlsen said. “I told them, ‘When you’re my age, you’re going to be able to come into the Colosseum, you’re going to look up in the rafters, and you’re going to see this banner hanging. It is something that you’re going to remember your whole life, that day, that feeling.’

“It is something special for these boys to always remember, but it is a special group of players there, for sure. I think they played above their age level. It just goes to show, when you have players that love the game, and are able to step it up to the next level, then good things can happen.”

Bohlsen was also blown away by the support he saw in the stands throughout the tournament, but especially on Sunday.

“The local support we received for that final game,” he said, “it was amazing. The people that came and watched, from all over the Copper Country, it was really, really surreal to see for a 10U squirt game.”