Coach Angelo Ricci and his 16-and-under Colorado Thunderbirds hockey team would have preferred to win last month’s USA Hockey Tier 1 national title with leading scorer Quentin Shore on the ice.
Doing it without the injured star forward, however, has made the Thunderbirds the overwhelming selection as the The Denver Post’s Youth Excellence in Sports winner for April.
The Thunderbirds, one of four Triple-A hockey organizations in Colorado, captured the state’s first Tier 1 national championship April 11 in Woodridge, Ill. They went 6-0 at nationals without Shore, who suffered a wrist injury in practice before the team left.
Shore, who has committed to play for the U.S. national development program U17 team next season, is the younger brother of University of Denver freshman center Drew Shore and incoming Pioneers forward Nick Shore. Quentin Shore led the team in goals (41), assists (54) and points (95). The Thunderbirds were 67-9-9 in their eight-month season.
“It was a big blow,” Ricci, a former DU star forward, said of Shore’s injury. “Other guys stepped up, and it was real special to see.”
The Thunderbirds opened the nationals with a 4-3 overtime victory over the North Jersey Avalanche, then breezed through their final five games, including a 5-1 blowout of North Jersey in the title game.
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Previous Colorado teams have won Single-A or Double-A national crowns, but never at the elite level of Triple-A (Tier 1).
“It’s special to know we’re the first ones,” said Thunderbirds co-captain and defenseman Josiah Didier, a junior at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch. “It will always be that way. No one can ever change it.”
Didier shared captain duties with center Landon Smith, a sophomore at Arapahoe High and one of 11 Thunderbirds who funneled to the Aurora-based organization from the Littleton Hockey Association.
The championship came 21 years after Ricci helped the Chicago Young Americans win the midget Triple-A national title before midgets were split into U16 (midget-minor) and U18 (midget-major) classifications.
“I knew how special it was, and I really wanted our guys to experience the same thing, and at the same time make Colorado history,” Ricci said. “For me as a coach, I was happy to see what we stressed all year — hard work, accountability, discipline, sacrifice and all the little things you talk about all the time — pay off in the end after all the kids bought in.
“They will carry this around for the rest of their lives.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Colorado Thunderbirds
Defensemen
Brennan Bohnsack
Matias Cleland
Josiah Didier
John Dora
Eric Killam
Kyle Robison
Forwards
Evan Anderson
Dylan Bozeman
Matt Cope
Ansel Duesenberg
Christian Heil
Brad Hawkinson
Austin Ortega
Josh Racek
Quentin Shore
Landon Smith
Gavin Stoick
Jerad Tafoya
Goalies
Sam Mallory
Payam Sami
Coaches
Angelo Ricci
Scott Smith
Brian TenEyck
Justin Waldron
Larry Cleland
Ryan Herzog
Know a top athlete?
Youth Excellence in Sports honors those 17 or younger who have excelled in any athletic endeavor unaffiliated with the Colorado High School Activities Association. To submit your choice for the top individual or team achievement that occurred during May, visit for an online form or fax a brief description of the achievement to 303-866-9004 (Attention: “Youth Excellence”).
