The Affton American Squirt hockey team last month won first place in the 11-and-under division of the huge 25th annual Presidents' Tournament in Colorado Springs, CO.

The tournament is considered to be the largest youth hockey competition in the U.S. Over 200 teams participated. Teams used five different venues, including the rink at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Young Saint Louis.com featured a profile on the Affton American team in December, 2001. To read the earlier story, just click here.

The Affton team was undefeated in its 8-team division. Other in the AA division included two teams each from Colorado and California and a team each from Illinois, Indiana and Florida.

Affton won its first round game from the Florida team, 3-2. In the second round, the Americans blasted one of the Colorado teams, 7-1. The third game against a California team ended in a 5-5 tie. But, that tie enabled Affton to lead its division and move into the semi-finals.

In the semi-final game, Affton won, 3-2, from the Paramount Panthers from California.

In the final, Affton prevailed over the Chicago Mission team, 3-1.

Affton placed third in its division in this tournament a year ago. This year, they moved up to capture the championship.

As of March 1, the Affton team's season record is 30-13-5. The trip to Colorado marked the longest distance traveled by the team this year. However, they regularly travel out-of-state since they are in a league which has teams from several Midwest states.