Several Newtown hockey players helped area teams to strong finishes in postseason action in early March.Paltauf Tough In GoalWestern Connecticut Wins TitleWizards On Ice

Twelve year old goaltender Markus Paltauf, of Newtown, helped backstop his Westchester Express U12 Pee Wee Tier 1 AAA Elite hockey team to a runner-up finish in the New York State Tier One Championships in Buffalo, NY.

The Western Connecticut Youth Hockey Organization Squirt (9-and-10-year-olds) team took home a state championship, with the support of five Newtown skaters.

Newtown residents James Celentano and Kevin Barrett, sixth graders at Reed Intermediate School, helped the Wonderland Wizards Pee Wee hockey team win the Connecticut Hockey Conference (CHC) tier 3 state title on March 5.

As part of a two-player goalie tandem Paltauf was stellar in net. Although the Express came one victory short of their goal; they finished a very respectable second among eight teams that qualified for the New York State tournament.

The Express had already played 62 games since early September and posted a regular-season record of 32-23-7, playing against many of the top-ten teams in the country. In the state tourney they went 3-2-0 to finish 35-25-7 culminating an extensive 67 game season which should give them a final top 25 ranking in the country for age group and level.

Although Paltauf was not scheduled to play in the first of their three qualifying-round games, he came in relief after the first period of the game with the team already 4-0 and finished with 15 saves in a tough 7-1 loss to the Rochester Americans.

Later the same day, Paltauf collected 22 saves versus the Seneca Wings on the way to a much-needed 6-2 victory. In game three, the team needed a win against the Syracuse Nationals to move on, and the Express pulled it off with a 3-0 shutout.

This set up a rematch of sorts in the semifinals against the 14th-ranked team in the country, the Long Island Gulls, to whom the Express had just lost two short weeks ago to in an overtime thriller for the Long Island League Championship.

This game, however, would be different. Even with the early 6 am start time, Paltauf came ready to play and made 33 saves in a 5-3 win as his Express team was outshot 36-18 by the Gulls. The win earned the Express a ticket to the finals to play in another rematch, this time against the Rochester Americans.

After the first two periods the Express trailed 6-2 and Paltauf came into the game in relief and made 15 saves in the third period. There was no scoring in the final stanza and Rochester won the game 6-2.

Paltauf finished the season-ending tournament playing in nine of the 15 periods of hockey, compiling an impressive overall .909 save percentage and a low 2.37 goals against average. Throughout the tournament games he accounted for 82 of the 119 saves registered.

The Western Connecticut Youth Hockey Organization Squirt (9 and 10 year olds) team took home a state championship, with the support of five Newtown skaters, this past weekend.

Western took on top Squirt teams from around the state, going 4-0-1 in tournament play and defeated Northwestern 5-2 in the championship game. The competition had to get past the Newtown defensive duo of Gordon Bennett and Tim Whitlock before having an opportunity to face goaltender Reilly Nydell.   Nydell was solid in net during all five games, recording one shutout and finishing with a state tournament goals against average of 1.6.

John Kenny and Camryn Gouveia both centered lines for Western and each played a significant role in the 22 goals scored by Western in the tournament play.

Two of the assistant coaches for the team are Newtown residents Kris Kenny and Mark Bennett.

This has been one of the most successful seasons in Western Connecticut Youth Hockey team history with the 2015-16 Squirts completing the five-game season with three tournament wins, 13 shutouts, 291 goals, and a final record of 37-11-8.

The Wizards went 6-0 in the CHC tournament, beating teams from across Connecticut. By winning the state title, the Wizards advanced to the Northeast Regional tournament held in Hallowell, Maine. The Wizards won their way to the Regional finals, where their season came to an end with a hard-fought loss to White Plains, N.Y. on March 12. The Wizards finished the season with an overall record of 45-8-3.