PALMER LAKE – There is something about outdoor hockey and the freezing cold that can really bring a community out in full force. The cold temperatures and lessons from last year’s event provided quite the stage for the 2023 Palmer Lake Outdoor Classic.
A foundation event sanctioned under CHSAA, the games featuring Chaparral, Cheyenne Mountain, Lewis-Palmer and Pine Creek didn’t technically count in the standings, but they certainly counted in the minds of the kids skating, passing and scoring on the surface of Palmer Lake, which sits just northwest of the town of Monument.
Chaparral edged Cheyenne Mountain, the defending Class 4A state champion, 4-3 before taking down L-P 5-4 after winning a shootout.
The two wins put the label of event champions on the Wolverines, which is just one of several reasons why the journey down south was worth the trip.
“This brought back some memories,” Chap forward Luke McCall said. “My family is from Saskatchewan and we used to play pond hockey when it was minus 40.”