California Rubber Magazine - November 2019

VOLUME 13 13

ISSUE 3

THRIVING IN TAHOE

SHARKS HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE GROWING IN LEAPS, BOUNDS CORONA NATIVE HAMACHER TURNING IT ON AT NCAA D-I RIT

Now in its fourth season, Tahoe Prep Academy continues to mold players for life, hockey’s higher levels HOLIDAY SHOWDOWN DEC 27 - 30, 2019

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FROM THE EDITOR Loving all that we have to be thankful for, on and off the ice

I

t’s that time of year when we get all the holiday commercials, music and events coming at us in full force.

Yes, it’s a special time of year, for sure. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the time right after Halloween until Jan. 1 or so. It’s a time for family, to celebrate the seasons and to reflect on the path we’re on in this life.

With Thanksgiving approaching, we always like to broadcast what we are thankful for. For me, that is no doubt family.

My wife and I recently celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary and it’s amazing to see how fast time flies. Throw in three awesome kids, supMatt Mackinder portive families on both sides, four pets and jobs that are certainly worth getting up for in the morning, and, wow, we’ve done pretty well for ourselves.

This month and the other 11, be thankful for what you have and that if you’re reading this, you probably have a connection somehow to hockey. Be thankful for that, too.

Bring on the holidays!

The Los Angeles Kings set a new Guinness World Record for “Largest Laser Show” as part of the Oct. 17 Kings-Buffalo Sabres game at STAPLES Center.

The Kings’ Game Presentation Department used 642 lasers to achieve the record during the first intermission. The previous record was 342 lasers.

The historic laser presentation took place on the 20th anniversary of the first-ever event at STAPLES Center.

Congrats!

The San Diego Sabers Junior A Tier II team in the Western States Hockey League is looking for a broadcaster/play-by-play announcer for the 2019-20 season. All Sabers games are streamed live. This position is ideal for someone who is interested getting into sports broadcasting but is open to anyone who is genuinely interested being involved with the Sabers organization and has an interest in general broadcasting or announcing. All games are played at Iceplex Escondido.

For more information, contact Tomas Kapusta at 562-673-4235 or tomas@ sandiegosabershockey.com.

October proved to be a great month for California and Nevada players earning monthly honors in junior and college hockey.

Tustin native and Los Angeles Jr. Kings graduate Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips was named the WHL Goaltender of the Month for September and October.

Wolf compiled a 7-3-0-0 record, 1.75 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and two shutouts in 10 games as the Silvertips reclaimed the familiar spot of first place in the U.S. Division and Western Conference with a 9-3-0-0 record to begin the 2019-20 regular season.

Another Jr. Kings alum, Hermosa Beach native and Idaho Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl was chosen the ECHL Goaltender of the Month for October.

Sholl played five games in the opening month of the 2019-20 season, posting a 3-0-2 record with a 1.94 GAA and a .934 save percentage.

Vincent de Mey, yet another Jr. Kings product, earned the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Forward of the Month for October.

A sophomore at Northern Michigan University, the Los Angeles native scored at least one point in each of the Wildcats’ six October games. He tallied a goal in five of six games in October, earning WCHA Forward of the Week honors twice (Oct. 14 and 21).

Las Vegas native and Atlanta Capitals blueliner Gunner Moore joined in the fun, picking up North American 3 Hockey League Defenseman of the Month honors for October.

Opening the month with a six-game point streak, Moore failed to hit the scoresheet just once during the month. He bagged three multi-point games in his final five October outings. Moore also came up clutch for the Capitals, netting two game-winners on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13, and bagged his first two-goal game of the season on Oct. 13.

Contact Matt Mackinder at matt@rubberhockey.com 4

California Rubber Hockey Magazine

California Rubber Magazine is published by: Mackinder Media, LLC, P.O. Box 373 Goodrich, MI 48438, 10 times a year, once monthly September through May and once in the summer.

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OFF AND ROLLING

Matt Atkins speeds up the floor for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as the Mustangs faced off the 2019-20 season during October’s WCRHL kickoff tournament in San Jose. More inline coverage this issue on Pages 9 and 10. Photo/Troy Lim

ON THE COVER Tahoe Prep players gather recently at the Camp Richardson Historic Resort pier in beautiful South Lake Tahoe for a team photo. Photo/Ed J. Fritz

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Power Skaters

Three years in, the West Coast’s first hockey boarding school is booming at Tahoe Prep Academy “We are consistently playing top-ten teams, and we wouldn’t be playing teams like Boston Advantage if they didn’t believe in us,” Collins said. “To go from being hen taking on a big venture with a ton of moving parts and wading into un- a guest team in NAPHL to helping create our own prep league but then always charted territory by pioneering something completely new, it often can be playing a NAPHL elite team outside of our division, and now joining the ECEL, I difficult to manage expectations. definitely believe we have been accepted within the hockey community outside of Of course, the leaders behind the effort have lofty goals, but it isn’t always that California.” easy to see a clear road from idea to execution, and many intermediate steps need Fenn also credited social media for helping to spread the word about the pioto be checked off before ultimately reaching the end goal. neering program offered to every student at Tahoe Prep.

While the leadership team at Tahoe Prep Academy will never stop push“We have found student-athletes by doing the work and research, and ing forward and trying to achieve more every day, week, month and then presenting what we have to offer to their parents,” Fenn said. year, it’s safe to say that the progress made so far has lived up to “The word has spread relatively quickly about the great opportuniand even exceeded their expectations. ties here in Lake Tahoe for kids from the west and all over, really.”

Now in its fourth season, Tahoe Prep first opened its doors Both coaches said that each year since the first students in the fall of 2016 as the first hockey boarding school on the arrived on campus has been a learning experience for them West Coast and since then, the unique program has doubled as well. in size. The first academic school year and hockey season “We are constantly working on how we can develop a served 18 student-athletes and as the 2019-20 season bebetter student-athlete experience,” Fenn said. “We want our gins, the academy boasts both a prep and varsity team, with boys to compete against the best, because that is how they 38 young men enrolled in its program. Each and every one of grow and benefit when they are competing individually for them is improving day by day on the ice and is establishing the spots to advance. If they’ve competed against the best, they academic foundation they’ll need to prepare aren’t going to be intimidated at the showfor college. cases and camps.”

“From an expectation standpoint, we One standard measure of success always hoped it would grow like this, but for any athletic program is seeing its stuwhat has been especially gratifying is the dent-athletes advance to play at the next levacceptance of the program within the hockels. Nearly every player who enrolls at Tahoe ey community from other teams, leagues Prep has aspirations of playing junior hockand parents reaching out from around the ey, college hockey or both. With two graduworld,” said Leo Fenn, Tahoe Prep’s varsity ating classes in the books, Tahoe Prep has head coach. alumni playing in the North American HockIt certainly bears emphasizing that the ey League (NAHL), the National Collegiate student body this year hails not only from Development Conference (NCDC), the California, but many other states in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL), Western U.S. The academy also landed its the United States Premier Hockey League first international recruit this season with the (USPHL) and the North American 3 Hockey arrival of goalie Gian Buerer from SwitzerLeague (NA3HL). land.

Shane Gilbert, one of Tahoe Prep’s The timing for starting the academy three first graduates, is currently a forward for years ago was right, Fenn said, and that has the Ogden (Utah) Mustangs and through had a lot to do with its early success, but mid-November was among the top scorers that wouldn’t have made a difference within the WSHL with 11 goals and 22 assists out the dedication of the leadership team, for 33 points. coaches, trainers and academic support “Tahoe Prep set me up to know what I staff at Tahoe Prep. was getting into at the junior level,” Gilbert “California has done a phenomenal job said. “From the coaching and strength traindeveloping players over the last decade, but ing to being on the ice every single day, the there were no opportunities for students to academy is mapped out for what the junior stay on the West Coast for a prep experiexperience is like - probably even better.” ence,” Fenn explained. “We offer a distinct Going into the WSHL so prepared, he geographical advantage for West coast feels that he’s even more ready for his next players.” step.

The school’s teams compete in multiple “This year, I’m now on the path to a colleagues. The prep team plays in the North lege commitment,” he said. “I just want to American Prospects Hockey League (NA- Not only do Tahoe Prep’s players find chemistry on the ice, but bonding happens on a daily keep getting better. The key is once you get PHL) prep division and this year is trav- basis within the beautiful, friendly confines of Lake Tahoe. Photo/Ed J. Fritz all the skills, to simplify it. Once I decided to eling to the East Coast to face teams like Boston Advantage in the East Coast simplify my game and use my teammates around me, everything changed.”

Elite League (ECEL). The varsity team competes in both the Anaheim Ducks High So, with three full seasons behind them and hopefully many, many more ahead School Hockey League and the Sharks High School Hockey League. of them, what does the future look like for Tahoe Prep?

The students at Tahoe Prep are on a heavy travel schedule, but thanks to the Collins said he sees Tahoe Prep becoming a destination program and steppingacademy’s affiliation with South Tahoe High School, their focus on academics isn’t stone for student-athletes whose goal is to play college hockey. lacking in any way. A major selling point for many of the players who faced long comFenn added that with some great results in recruiting and plenty of interest in the mutes and unexcused school absences with their former teams is that Tahoe Prep’s program from players and their parents, he expects Tahoe to continue its expansion student-athletes take a number of their core classes online through an NCAA-ap- to more teams - and possibly add an additional sport, using the success of the proved program, and they study their electives in classrooms at South Tahoe High Tahoe Prep hockey program as a model for building it.

School.

“We think Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places in North America, and the Chris Collins, the head coach of the academy’s prep team, said he sees the community has really wrapped their hands around us,” Fenn said. “With that supschool’s progression among student-athletes and the hockey world as a result of port, the experience for our student-athletes is really unique and will just continue their successes on the ice. to improve.”

By Greg Ball

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PACIFIC RIDGE HOCKEY CLUB PRHC shows well in first NAPHL weekend event of ‘19-20 season

UNITING. INFORMING. INSPIRING. HOCKEY PLAYERS ACROSS CALIFORNIA

By Todd Cadieux

T

he Pacific Ridge Hockey Club (PRHC) went undefeated in their first visit to the Super Rinks in Blaine Minn. Participating in their first of three NAPHL Prep Division tournaments, the club faced four teams – EDP from Tampa, Fla., Fountain Valley School from Colorado Springs, IHA from Calgary, and Prairie Hockey Academy from Saskatoon.

Playing two games on Saturday, one on Sunday and one more on Monday morning, the boys got their feet underneath them, and simply shut down the competition with smooth defense led by seniors Daniel Parizek and Clayton Moore, followed up by shifty moves from Kento Mencel and stout toughness of Tyler Mazzella and Cole Sheridan. The other squads found it difficult to find any rhythm in the offensive zone.

There were a few breakdowns, but when the ‘D’ was not making it difficult for the other team to get shots, Patrick O’Donnell simply stonewalled them with some fantastic saves. O’Donnell walked away with an amazing .925 save percentage and three shutouts -- not a bad weekend of work.

Jace Phillips and Will Schneider provided the offense, serving up seven of the 19 goals for the weekend. Phillips was completely on fire with a team-leading five goals. Schneider followed Phillips with five points (two goals, three assists) with some impressive power forward moves. The rest of the forwards provided scoring across the board with every forward securing a point for the weekend.

While PRHC continues to play in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League in the D1 division, the Firebirds are excited to play in the NAPHL Prep Division this season. NAPHL has the perfect way to stick to their core values of balancing high-level exposure and competitive hockey with strong academics and the high-school experience.

PRHC looks forward to their next visit to Blaine in January for another round in the NAPHL Prep Division.

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Give Blood Play Hockey still setting records in 13th year

By Phillip Brents

T

he 2019 Give Blood Play Hockey charity inline hockey tournament celebrated its 13th anniversary Oct. 25-27 at The Rinks-Irvine Inline – again with record-breaking numbers.

“We will not have a final number on how much we raised (as of press time), but we are confident we will beat our donation total to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) from last year,” said tournament co-founder Mary Korus of the event that had raised $1,077,441 in its previous 12 years.

Pacific Premier Bank and Pathway Capital served as title sponsors of this year’s event. CHOC remains the primary beneficiary.

Numbers figured prominently in the event’s 13th edition.

Thirteen was the jersey number worn by Casey Strale, whose courageous battle against a rare form of cancer rallied the Southern California hockey community to his cause, particularly through the GBPH event.

His memory (#13Strong) was honored all weekend long.

The number 515, as in the number of pints of donated blood collected at this year’s event, was another one to celebrate, Korus said.

The 515 pints broke last year’s record of 497, bringing total blood donations to more than 4,000 pints.

“This is a huge accomplishment,” Korus said. “For the first time this year, we collected power red units –

allowing a single person to give two pints. It was pretty awesome.”

The procedure, which collects red blood cells and returns plasma and platelets to the donor, helped underscore this year’s blood drive theme of “Save the Humans.”

“Blood is a special thing; it can’t be made,” Korus said. “It can only be donated from other people. It is truly a way for humans to save humans. You never know when you will need blood.”

A total of 110 teams participated, ranging from 6U through adult, including pro and women’s divisions.

This year’s “some-

thing different” spotlighted the Give Blood Play Hockey Vets League.

Korus said the goal was to bring together key individuals who had been playing in Give Blood Play Hockey since the tournament’s inception in 2007. Four teams were created: Give, Blood, Play and Hockey.

Players flew in from several states, including Colorado, Texas and New York.

“Many of these players played in Give Blood Play Hockey in the first year as 13-year-olds while others coached those 13-year-olds,” Korus said. “It was a tribute to the players.”

Peter Quayle, Korus’s brother, led all 38 players (and the 6U Give Blood Play Hockey team) into the rink for a ceremonial puck drop.

Quayle took the microphone and spoke about the importance of the players to this event, noting that more than 10,000 players have played in Give Blood Play Hockey since its founding. He highlighted, in particular, the contribution made by referee Ryan Martin, who has donated 100 percent of his paycheck over the past two years back to Give Blood Play Hockey, a sum of more than $800 per year.

Martin refereed 46 games this year, including the Give Blood Play Hockey game.

Quayle also spoke of Strale in a touching tribute.

“Some people knew Casey as a friend, some knew him as a son, a brother, a teammate, but truly, he was a hockey player just like all of us, and he should be out here with all of us,” Quayle said. “We know he is here in spirit.”

Casey’s parents, Chris and Traci, dropped the ceremonial puck. Casey’s brother, Kyle, and Mark Greco, father of Give Blood Play Hockey poster child Niko Greco, took the faceoff.

Korus was proud to note that Niko, an 11-year-old leukemia survivor, participated for the first time as a player at this year’s event.

Casey’s Cup, an ironman ice hockey tournament honoring Casey’s memory and serving as a fundraiser for cancer research, is scheduled for April 11, 2020, at the Great Park Ice facility in Irvine.

Varela enjoying the best of both ice and roller hockey

By Phillip Brents

I

ce or roller?

It’s a question that begs an answer but Montebello’s Delfino Varela, who excels in both forms of hockey, admits it’s difficult to name a preference.

“That’s a tough question to answer,” explained Varela, a senior at UC Berkeley who plays on both the school’s ice and roller hockey teams.

“Roller hockey is a lot more open, a lot more offensive-oriented. Ice hockey brings a certain intensity you don’t have in roller hockey because it’s more physical.

There’s also a different atmosphere in ice hockey.”

This is his fourth year with the Golden Bears ice hockey team after competing for Damien High School in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League.

The Southern California native has established himself as a proven scorer after collecting 52 goals and 103 points in 57 ACHA games over the past three seasons at Cal. He’s logged nine points in eight games so far this season to lead the team in scoring.

He’s maximized his time with the school’s inline hockey team with 70 goals and 126 points in 35 games over the past three seasons.

The roller hockey numbers are particularly explosive.

The Bears rode those numbers to capture the Division III title at last season’s Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (WCRHL) regional championship tournament before going on to post a meteoric runner-up finish at April’s National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships in Rochester, N.Y. Varela racked up 24 goals and 45 points in 12 playoff games en route to earning the national championship Division III Playmaker Award.

“It was definitely a lot of fun,” Varela said. “Hopefully, everyone can get together again and this time we can get the job done.”

Getting everyone together has been a problem for the Bears as the ice and roller hockey seasons overlap.

For instance, while the Cal roller hockey team was participating in the WCRHL’s annual kickoff event Oct. 19-20 in San Jose, Varela and his ice hockey teammates were at the opposite end of the state competing in a two-

From left, UC Berkeley’s Delfino Varela, Darien Oliver, Devin Cox and Sean Butler all made the jump from the Golden Bears ice hockey team to compete in April’s National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships in Rochester, N.Y., recording a runner-up finish. Photo/Phillip Brents

game series against the host San Diego State Aztecs.

The Bears swept the weekend set, with Varela picking up three goals and two assists in the two games.

Meanwhile, Cal finished 0-4 at the roller tournament in San Jose. Club president Cal McCleery led the Bears with two goals and two assists.

“It’s definitely a little tough with both the ice and roller teams, especially because we will have a lot of con-

flicts this season unfortunately,” McCleery said.

Cal advanced to the PAC-8 championship game last February, placing runner-up to the University of Oregon.

After that, Varela and ice teammates Darien Oliver, Devin Cox and Sean Butler were able to strap on wheels.

The Bears took a skeleton roster of seven players to Rochester but finished runner-up to Endicott College by a 5-3 score in the national championship game.

Oliver joined Varela on the All-Tournament First Team. McCleery and teammate Conner Taherian were both Second Team selections.

All who made the trek to New York reflected positively on the experience.

“It was an amazing experience but we definitely needed a lot more depth,” Oliver admitted. “We didn’t have too many bodies out there; we did the best with what we had.”

Inline calendar The 2019-20 inline season gets underway Thanksgiving Weekend, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, with the annual Nor Cap Cup in San Jose.

The 2019 AAU Winter Nationals are scheduled for Dec. 20-22 at The Rinks-Corona Inline.

The 2020 NARCh Winternationals are slated for Jan. 17-20 at The Rinks-Huntington Beach. Divisions range from Cub (6U) through adult, including 30-andover, 40-and-over, and women’s divisions, plus the NARCh Pro division.

The NARCh East Coast Finals are scheduled for June 19-28 at Hertz Arena in Estero, Fla., followed by the NARCh West Coast Finals July 10-19 at The Rinks-Irvine Inline.

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Fresh Start WCRHL faces off new 2019-20 inline hockey season at San Jose’s Silver Creek Sportsplex allowed us to finish the weekend with just five goals against.”

Katzaroff, a sophomore, totaled nine goals and 11 points to lead the Mustangs in the season-opening tournament while Le topped the team with six assists to finish second in scoring.

Leacox posted a 1.20 goals-against average and .920 save percentage to top division goaltenders in both categories.

Cal Poly picked up a pair of key wins against Division II opponents: 13-2 over San Jose State and 4-3 in overtime on Chico State.

Katzaroff picked up seven points (six goals, one assist) in the win over San Jose State while Joe

club president Austin Trenner, a committed lineup.

The Vikings, who won the Junior College Division he Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League national championship in 2017 and finished runner-up in (WCRHL) faced off its 2019-20 season Oct. 2016, went 3-1 at the 2019-20 season opening event 19-20 at San Jose’s Silver Creek Sportsplex as 15 with 11 players on the roster, including four returners. teams participated in five divisions.

“I focused on bringing this team together with Among top storylines from the event: committed players after a disappointing season last Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Division II) defeated year where only five skaters attended the national Arizona State University (Division I) and CSU championships in Rochester, N.Y,” Trenner said.

Fullerton (Division I) en route to a 4-0 finish on the “The new players we added this season, including weekend.

Chase Edwards, who previously played professionally West Valley College (Junior College Division) in France, allows us to be more competitive. My goal for finished 3-1 on the weekend, defeating three Division this season is to return to the national championships III opponents and losing only to Arizona State and make a run for the cup.”

(Division I).

Edwards, who led the U.S. National Junior Men’s Inline Team to a gold medal at the 2018 Horse power World Championships in Italy, keyed the Vikings Cal Poly SLO racked up a commanding at the season-opening event with eight goals 21-5 goal differential in going 4-0. The and one assist. He is serving as team captain.

Mustangs’ prize victories were shutout Trenner followed in the scoring column with wins against the two Division I teams on its seven points, including a team co-leading five schedule: Arizona State and Fullerton. assists with Josh Viller, who finished third in Goaltender Nicholas Leacox, a former team scoring with six points. member of the United States National Junior Robbie Lulich (three goals, two assists) Men’s Inline Team who competed in two and Chad Payne (two goals, three assists) both world championship tournaments (2015 in finished with five points.

Argentina and 2016 in Italy), stopped all 15 Nolan Weger scored the game-winning shots he faced in a tense 1-0 victory against goal with only 10 seconds left in regulation to defending Division I regional champion ASU enable the Vikings to tip Division III power Cal and made 18 saves in the shutout win over Poly Pomona, 5-4.

Fullerton, last year’s Division II national Edwards took top star honors with three champion. goals and one assist in a 5-1 in over UC Berkeley It was a showcase performance. while West Valley goaltender Maxwell Rogers Nathan Katzaroff scored two goals in recorded his first shutout of the season in a the win over Fullerton while newcomer Derek 12-0 win over WCRHL newcomer University of Le, a member of the U.S. National Junior Nevada-Reno.

Men’s Inline Team that captured the silver The Vikings lost their final game of the medal at this summer’s World Roller Games weekend 12-2 to Division I ASU but received a in Barcelona, chipped in with two assists. better understanding of what it takes to get to Jack Pavek, assisted by John Leone From left, Chase Edwards, Austin Trenner and Chad Payne celebrate a goal for West the next level. and Sam Blakewell, scored the game- Valley College during October’s WCRHL kickoff event in San Jose. Photo/Nick Boyarsky/ASU Rogers wants this season to be special. winner against the Sun Devils.

Blakewell notched the OT winner over Chico State, “This is my third season playing for West Valley “Overall, we are very happy with our play so far assisted by Le. College and my last year of JC eligibility and I wanted and hope to continue this momentum throughout the to make sure this is my best year yet,” Rogers said. “As season,” Cal Poly club president Joe Blakewell said. Back on track a skater, I had to play in the net the opening weekend “The new additions to our roster – Ryan After recording a disappointing 5-15 season in 2018- since our team doesn’t have a regular goalie. The team McMullen and Derek Le – made an immediate 19, West Valley College enters its fifth consecutive season played well in front of me, but the ASU team was really impact with timely scoring. Strong team defense in the WCRHL with renewed optimism and, according to good.”

By Phillip Brents

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CSU Fullerton looking to excel in move up to Division I

A

fter winning the Division II title at April’s National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships in Rochester, N.Y., CSU Fullerton has moved up to the Division I level for the 201920 season.

The Titans rolled to a 1-2-1 finish at the Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League’s first regular-season event Oct. 19-20 in San Jose.

“I don’t think our record provides a strong indication of how we played,” head coach Matt Han said. “We had a slow start to the weekend and finished strong. The team was snapping the puck around and playing good roller. A couple small mistakes can really be the difference in these long college games.

“The record isn’t anything to hang our heads about as the season is long and the boys are fired up to compete at the Division I level.”

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

This season’s team is braced by a strong core of six returners: goaltender Ron Best, defensemen Troy Yano, Ethan Flores and Ruslan Patterson, and forwards Dylan Kammer and James Maloney.

At the 2019 nationals, Best earned division Most Valuable Goaltender honors while Yano was named division MVP. “Ronny Best is the backbone of our team,” Han said. “He plays out of his mind all year long and he always seems to find a way to step it up come time for playoffs. Our defensemen are pretty much pure roller dads. They have incredible hockey IQs, eat pucks for a living, shut it down

on the defensive side and absolutely wheel the offensive zone.

“Dylan Kammer is one of the best hockey players and hardest workers that I’ve played with and or coached. Maloney has a wicked release and is quite deceptive with the puck.

“The new guys are still getting familiar with the systems and we have to tune up some little things, but overall, I’d say we have a promising group of newcomers. I think this will be a fun year and I’m excited to make waves at regionals and nationals.”

- Phillip Brents

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s s -

TOYOTA SPORTS PERFORMANCE CENTER

Jr. Kings, Lions continue to prosper at 8U level

By Brian McDonough

K

eeping the cupboards stocked at the youngest levels is paramount to the sustainability and success of any youth hockey program, and the Los Angeles Jr. Kings hold that reality in high regard.

Year after year, the club, thanks in part to the highly-successful learn-to-skate and learn-to-play programs offered at El Segundo’s Toyota Sports Performance Center (TSPC) - home of the Jr. Kings and LA Lions girls program - works diligently assembling a strong 8U contingent built on a passionate coaching staff coupled with an equally enthusiastic core of players and families.

“It’s a vital component of not just our club but any youth hockey club, and one we take a lot of pride cultivating and strengthening,” said Jr. Kings general manager of hockey operations Nick Vachon. “Ultimately, a lot of these kids represent the future of our club, so we want to make sure we have them developing the basic skating and hockey skills and mindset in a healthy, age-appropriate environment, on and off the ice.”

This season, the Jr. Kings and Lions have six teams total skating in the 8U age group: three Jr. Kings teams at the A level and two Jr. Kings and one Lions team at B. Stephane Desjardins (A1), Kelly Stirzel (A2) and Derek Johnston (A3), along with Dimitri Voulelikas (B1) and Jeff Bain (B2), lead the Jr. Kings squads, while Bill Mendes heads up the Lions’ team (the Lions also have a 6U learn-to-play program that practices twice a week).

Bain and Voulelikas, both of whom grew up playing in the Jr. Kings program, have been mainstays amongst the organization’s 8U coaching contingent. They know firsthand the value of grooming the club’s youngest and agree the teaching experience is rewarding on a number of levels.

“First and foremost, the enthusiasm the kids bring to the rink can’t be beat,” said Bain, who also coaches the Jr. Kings’ 12U AA1 team. “They have so much energy and, when you have a group of kids eager to learn and learn what it means to be part of a team, it creates a special environment.”

“Skating and skill development are

extremely important, but maybe even more so is the kids’ willingness to learn and improve,” added Voulelikas, who also heads up the club’s 10U BB team. “A big part of that is keeping the drills challenging but fun while also instilling a sense of teamwork and respect for each other.”

All Jr. Kings and Lions 8U teams are afforded two fullsheet joint practices a week at TSPC and, outside of the Lions’ 6U group, also play season-long Southern California Amateur Hockey Association jamboree schedules.

The club also expanded its 8U tournament offerings this season. In addition to their annual Labor Day

Festival, Thanksgiving Extravaganza and Presidents’ Day Challenge, the Jr. Kings have included 8U within their Holiday Showdown (Dec. 27-30) along with introducing their 8U-exclusive Crazy 8 Jamboree over MLK Weekend (Jan. 18-20). In the spring, the club will again host its always highly-attended Carmen Starr Memorial Day Classic (May 22-25).

“They’re another way to get the kids on the ice and a good measuring stick, too, when it comes to seeing where our kids stack up against others in the same age group,” Desjardins said of the tournament experience. “It also allows them to translate what they’re learning in practice into a little more competitive environment.”

And it’s TSPC’s learn-to-skate and learnto-play programs, along with its in-house league, that help those young players get a firm grip on the basics before many find themselves donning a Jr. Kings sweater.

“A lot of the credit goes to our coaching staff, which does a great job developing these players,” said TSPC senior hockey director James Gasseau, who acknowledges the efforts of Troy Adams, Dominique Beaudoin, Kevin Caprioglio and Mikus Sprinovski. “We’re very grateful to have such a good group of experienced instructors.”

“Many of our older, higher-tiered teams receive a lot of well-deserved attention, but this is where it starts for a lot of our players,” Vachon said of the Jr. Kings’ 8U program. “It’s an underrated - but certainly not underappreciated - segment of our club.”

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

SAN JOSE JR. SHARKS

Representing School Colors

Sharks High School Hockey League trending in positive direction with increased talent, numbers

By Matt Mackinder

A

s the coordinator for the Sharks High School Hockey League, Shane Galaviz “pretty much does everything,” in his own words.

And he’s not complaining.

He’s loving every minute running the league since he took over the position a little more than three months ago.

Last season, he assisted the former coordinator, Amanda Long, with odds and ends. When Long took an administrative role with the

Minnesota State University NCAA Division I team over the summer, the position opened up and Galaviz jumped on it.

“I do everything from creating rosters, making sure they are all USA Hockey-compliant, scheduling, getting all the players registered and stat-taking, making sure all of that is current and up to date,” said Galaviz. “I worked 5-6 years in the Ducks league and then helped Amanda last year.

Now we’re here.”

This season, in addition to his league duties, Galaviz also coaches Valley Christian High School and helps with a handful of regional teams in the league.

Overall, the league now boasts 36 teams for the 2019-20 season with more than 700 total players registered.

“The league has grown a lot,” Galaviz said. “The D-I division, especially, has grown. We had eight teams last year and we have 10 teams this year. We’re also looking at adding three more for this coming season, so our D-I division is growing rather quickly.”

Galaviz added that the increase in player numbers are not a big deal, but rather are “a huge deal.”

“High school hockey, from the looks of it, the landscape, hockey in California is growing,” said Galaviz. “It’s a testament to change, and a great change. High school hockey is fun. Who doesn’t want to play for their school and represent their school and get their friends out to these games? These kids enjoy being part of a team that represents something

bigger than just any other club.

“The kids love it. They love representing their school and having their friends out to the games, not only supporting them, but supporting the team. They get to go to school and they get to be the big shot a little bit. You know, who doesn’t love that? That’s the reason they play.”

The league also has a development philosophy in place, and it’s one that Galaviz is excited to keep pushing moving forward.

“The development model for the league for the players is that we want them to develop overall skill, not necessarily to become the greatest individual player, but just to develop the main six hockey skills that USA Hockey preaches,” said Galaviz.

“The other big thing we want the players to get out of this is that we want them to become good people.

They represent their school, so we want them to be respectful and grow up, coming out of this league as respectful young men and women.

“That’s really what I love seeing out of these kids, that they grew as a person and not just as a hockey player.”

Galaviz mentioned that while the overall makeup of the league is co-ed in nature, there are a handful of girl-specific teams from girls-only schools.

Being all-inclusive is just one of the many aspects

of the league that Galaviz said makes it stand out not only in California, but across the country.

“I think what is appealing to our families and our kids is that we encourage the kids to have fun,” said Galaviz. “Yeah, we want to be competitive, but a lot of these kids have their competitive team and we want them to come in and enjoy their experience. We don’t want it to be a ‘dread practice’ experience. We don’t want them to come off a long weekend of busting their butts and think, ‘great, another game.’ We want them to have fun where they can still work hard and not have it be overly demanding. It should be another fun experience.”

In recent years, a large number of players from the league have advanced to play junior hockey and for ACHA schools. Galaviz said he expects more of that continuing after the 2019-20 season wraps up.

“Virtually every team has had a handful of players move on,” said Galaviz. “A couple names that stand out are Austin Billings and Cameron Andrade at LMU. We had Zac Podlesh go to Colorado State and a few others go play juniors in Texas. We’ve had a lot of advancement out of the league, and that’s good to see.”

Having seen where the league was and where it is now, Galaviz wants to see the league sustain itself well into the future.

“From where it’s been to where we are now, it’s changed drastically,” he said. “From when I first got here, the league was more of an in-house league.

The kids were mostly in-house players and these high school programs were barely getting going. Now, we’ve got staples in the program and I think the direction we want to go is that we want the teams we have currently to stick around, we want to add teams to every division and ideally, we want to just keep growing at this rate.

“If we keep growing at this rate, we’re going to have more teams very quickly, and that’s great. That means more of these kids get to represent their schools and they get to play a little more hockey. We want to be competitive with any other high school program in the country, not just here in California.”

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L.A. KINGS HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Kurtz, Gardner blazing trail as LAKHSHL female goalies

By Greg Ball

T

here is a pair of goalies thriving in the L.A. Kings High School Hockey League this season, and until they take off their masks, you wouldn’t know anything is different about them compared to all the other netminders in the league.

Elsa Kurtz of the East County Outlaws and Emma Gardner of the South Bay Stingrays are the only two female goalies in the league, and their presence among their male teammates is notable at an age level when girls often shift their focus to playing with their own gender due to disparities in size and strength that become more prevalent in high school.

Kurtz grew up in the hockey hotbed of Minnesota, playing the game since she was six years old.

When she relocated to California in the last year, she signed on to play for the Outlaws as well as the California Wave’s 18U AA boys team. She considered playing for the Anaheim Lady Ducks but felt that competing against boys would help her advance her skill development more quickly.

“I had the option to try out to play with the boys - fortunately I made it, and it has all worked out,” said Kurtz, a senior who attends a charter school in Simi Valley called Opportunities for Learning. “It’s great, because I’m on the ice multiple days a week - I get a lot of practice and game time in.”

Kurtz so far this season has split time between the

pipes with Ethan Murphy for the Outlaws, appearing in four of the team’s first 10 games and registering 78 saves. She recently committed to continue her hockey career at Grand Canyon University, an ACHA Division I program, after being recruited by a number of other schools.

“There were a lot of reasons for choosing GCU, but the biggest one was the potential of a young program,” Kurtz said. “Natalie Rossi was Coach of the Year, and

Emma Gardner

Elsa Kurtz

the campus is amazing.”

Until this year, Kurtz played on girls teams throughout her youth hockey career, typically playing one age level up. She said that playing with boys has challenged her every day, but she knows it’s a great way to get better fast.

“The biggest difference I have found is that girls pass a lot more and make crisper passes because they

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can’t check each other,” Kurtz said. “Boys use their size and strength to snap off much harder shots, so the game is much faster paced, which is fun for a goalie.”

Gardner is a 15-year-old sophomore who attends West Torrance High School. She started playing hockey about seven years ago, beginning in roller hockey, but not in goal. A friend of her dad’s introduced her to the net and gave her some used equipment, and she was instantly drawn to the pressure and responsibility that the position brings with it.

“I played with a girls program for a while, but I realized that if I wanted to keep going with hockey and get better, and reach my goals, I’d have to go back to playing with boys,” said Gardner. “I chose to go back and play high school hockey this year, and I’m also playing with the Bay Harbor Red Wings on their 16U team.”

Through mid-November, Gardner had played in six of the Stingrays’ seven games. She had registered 107 saves.

Gardner hopes to prove herself with the Kings league and the Red Wings this year and make the jump to hockey powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s in Minnesota next year with hopes that can serve as a springboard to playing college hockey in the eastern half of the country.

“I didn’t really know what to expect in my first year in the Kings league, but the coaches are great and include me in everything just like all the other players,” Gardner said. “It has been a great experience.”

TAHOE PREP ACADEMY

Prepping for the Future Tahoe Prep student-athletes thriving with academy’s focus on overall development

By Greg Ball

I

f it seems like the 2019-20 academic year and hockey season are already well under way, it may be because the prep and varsity teams at Tahoe Prep Academy look like polished professionals on the ice.

In reality, we’re less than a quarter of the way through the season, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, the meat of the season is on the horizon, and expectations are once again high at Tahoe Prep.

While game results are the most tangible measure of the program’s success, the coaches and players are making incremental gains each and every day, and with players getting on the ice nearly every day while also having access to top-notch off-ice conditioning and unique classroom and online learning, athletic and academic development is at the

Ben Palmersheim

Ian Bowman

forefront.

Here’s a look at five players already making an impact and making the most of their Tahoe Prep experience.

Ben Palmersheim Anyone who knows the basics of Southern California geography realizes that Palm Springs and Los Angeles are not exactly next door to each other. So the commute from his home in the Coachella Valley to the coast three or four days a week to practice and play with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings quickly wore Palmersheim down.

The 16-year-old junior traded in those five-hour round trips for a dormitory on the campus of Tahoe Prep, and can now channel more of his time and energy into hockey training with the prep team and his studies.

His day begins with hockey practice, and that was just what he was looking for when he decided to make the move to Tahoe Prep Academy.

“The idea of surrounding yourself and indulging in hockey with coaches and players and a team of people supporting me was very attractive,” Palmersheim said.

“As soon as I got up here, I was kind of starstruck. When I toured, there was snow on the ground, and it’s just so different from the desert that I’m used to. Now that I’m here, I would say it’s even

more than I expected. I’ve never had a coach that is so focused on making us better every single day, and there’s never any question on what their intentions are. Knowing that pushes you to do your best. It just doesn’t compare to anything in SoCal.” Palmersheim has started the season strong with four goals and two assists in the team’s North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) games, and two assists in the team’s first weekend in the East Coast Elite League (ECEL).

“Ben is very crafty and creative with a great ability to create offense,” said prep head coach Chris Collins. “He dominated in his 15U league with his accuracy and since coming to us, his speed has gone up as well as his point production.”

“You can definitely tell the difference in the size and speed playing in those leagues,” Palmersheim added. “That was another reason that drove me here

Zach Turner

– I wanted to separate myself from kids my own age.

I like it even though it’s a bigger challenge.”

Palmersheim also said his grades are also top notch, as he finished the first term with a straight-A report card.

“That part is key,” he said. “With all of our travel, we’re able to take our core classes online and electives face to face, and the teachers have been very supportive to make sure we don’t fall behind.”

Ian Bowman A friend of Palmersheim’s since elementary school, Bowman also made the move from the desert (he grew up in Palm Desert) to Tahoe this season.

A 17-year-old senior on the prep team, he most recently played for the California Wave’s 16U AA team, based from home in the Los Angeles suburbs.

The right winger is working toward gaining a spot on a junior team roster next year, with the ultimate goal of earning an NCAA Division I college scholarship.

“Between the daily practices, individual attention, and the leagues we play in, I felt this was the right step in my development,” Bowman said. “I feel that I’m a better player after just two months. I feel stronger due to the training at the Center for Excellence three times a week, and my hockey is improving.

Here, you have more individual focus. If the coaches see a weakness, they will pull you aside and work on

it. The practices are a good balance between individual and team skills.”

The transition to living in the dorms was also a little easier for both Bowman and Palmersheim due to their longstanding friendship. The two are now roommates in the Tahoe Prep dorm.

“You learn a little more independence,” Bowman said. “We have to do our own laundry and stuff, but it’s also a little like living in the giant hotel room filled with your best friends. One of the coolest things about our trips is the team bonding. Even just the layovers hanging out at airports, and we try to catch a couple junior team games each trip.”

Bowman said he is also enjoying the high competition level. He has posted three goals and five assists in NAPHL games and registered five points in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL) with Tahoe Prep’s varsity team.

Tyler Dunkel

Noah Csaky-Schwede

“Our schedule this year is rigorous,” he said.

“Playing better competition will ultimately make us better players, and with the better teams that we play, there are more scouts.”

“Ian has a really good sight for creating offense,” Collins said. “He applies what we work on almost instantaneously.”

Zach Turner Balancing hockey development, academic progress and life outside of those two isn’t easy, but Turner, a 16-year-old junior forward from Eagle, Colo., feels he has found just that at Tahoe Prep.

After leaving home last year to pursue his hockey dream and play for the Pursuit of Excellence Elite 15 in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL), he found that it wasn’t all that he had hoped for.

“I wanted to be closer to home, but also be able to get on the ice and work out every day,” Turner said of his decision to make the move to Tahoe. “Also, the academic support wasn’t as strong at my last school.

At Tahoe Prep, everyone involved with the program also cares about the students’ academic achievement.”

The academic focus at Tahoe Prep fits well with Turner’s college goals.

Continued on Page 24

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ANAHEIM DUCKS

Fowler, Great Park Ice host C4Kids Ball Hockey Bonanza

By THE RINKS Staff

E

ven under a blazing sun, Cam Fowler managed to keep his cool.

Sweat started to bead just beneath the bill of his Ducks hat, and the back of his gray T-shirt began to speckle as the ambient temperature rose above the 90-degree mark.

But no sort of heat was going to bring him down.

Not on this day.

Standing in the parking lot of Great Park Ice on a recent Saturday afternoon, Fowler and his wife, Jasmine, looked out at the sprawling scene – four street hockey rinks, 16 teams and upwards of 80-plus kids.

This was the inaugural C4Kids Ball Hockey Bonanza.

It started out as an idea, one that spawned from his days playing street hockey as a kid in Michigan.

“Really, once we started C4Kids, it was one of the first things I thought about,” Fowler said. “One of the best memories I have as a kid was playing in a local street hockey tournament. It was pretty informal, but it was very competitive and a lot of fun. I thought this would be a great way to get some kids around here involved and playing.”

All participants in the complimentary tournament received a C4Kids Ball Hockey Bonanza reversible jersey and commemorative C4Kids hockey stick.

In 2018, the Fowlers founded C4Kids, a program that provides youth with opportunities to learn, play and love hockey.

Giving back to the local community means a lot to the Fowlers, who have close ties to Orange County. Fowler

has spent his entire NHL career here after the Ducks selected him in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.

“For a long time now, Cam and I have been talking about getting more involved in the community,” Jasmine said. “The community does a lot for the Ducks, and they’ve welcomed us over the last couple of years. It means a lot for us to be able to give back.”

Trinity Murdock strapped on her shin guards and waited patiently for her first game on the blacktop. She was one of the participants in the C4Kids Ball Hockey Bonanza, and this was an all-new experience for her.

“I haven’t really done anything like this except for soccer, but that’s not really like hockey,” Trinity says.

“Hockey is really fun. It’s been very cool. I like it.”

“The Ducks came out to her school and offered the Learn to Play program,” added Trinity’s mother, Laura. “She started in May with Learn to Play, and then she went to the Little Ducks program. She’s been doing hockey initiation. The Ducks sent me a notice about this opportunity. She hasn’t had the chance to play a real game.

She’s loving it. She loves hockey.

“We need people like (Cam and Jasmine), otherwise these types of programs don’t exist. If they hadn’t done this, we wouldn’t be here today and Trinity wouldn’t have

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

this opportunity. It means a lot to me when players come out and show support for the sport. It’s opportunities the kids see.”

The Fowlers are thankful for the work put in behind the scenes and hope this can become an annual event.

“The setup, the amount of support and help we’ve had to do this, it’s not just Jasmine and I,” Fowler said.

“There are a lot of logistics and details that go into a tournament like this. We wanted it to be a good number of people. We settled on a specific number of players just to run a great tournament so that everyone had the chance to play at least three games.”

The winners of the tournament Team Ritchie (12U) and Team Lindholm (10U) - were recognized at an awards ceremony following the event with each player receiving a trophy and hat. They also received suite tickets to a Ducks regular-season home game this season, courtesy of C4Kids.

Jasmine knows how much this means to Cam by just looking at his face.

“This is like the best day of his life, are you kidding me?” she said with a laugh. “If only he could be out there playing with the kids. He’s the biggest fun spirit of all time. That’s what I love about him.”

ANAHEIM JR. DUCKS Finland coaches visit, impressed with Jr. Ducks, Lady Ducks teams

By Chris Bayee

I

t turns out the exchange rate with Finland is a positive one.

The Anaheim Jr. Ducks and Lady Ducks played host to two regional coaches from the Finland International Hockey Association (FIHA) and Ken Martel, USA Hockey’s technical director for the American Development Model, on Oct. 28-30.

USA Hockey and FIHA have engaged such coaching exchanges since 2014, Martel said. He reached out to Craig Johnson, the Jr. Ducks’ director of coaches, about the visit, which included longtime Finnish coaches Sami Nuutinen, a one-time Edmonton Oilers draft pick, Jukka Wallis, who has worked for FIHA for more than 20 years after getting a degree in coaching and working as a local hockey director.

Martel and the Fins met with Jr. Ducks and Lady Ducks coaches, as well as Rick Hutchinson, the director of hockey for THE RINKS. They observed practices and provided feedback.

“It was great having them here,” Johnson said. “Our coaches learned a lot.”

The Finns have won gold at the World Junior Championship three times since 2014 and the World Championship twice since 2011. Not bad for a country with roughly the same amount of hockey players as Michigan.

“They do true player development,” Martel said. “They’re so much more patient with their players. They’re one of the best hockey-playing countries in the world, and we share the same goal of growing the sport.

The visit to Orange County was an eye-opener for the Finns, Martel said.

“They noted some strengths because of the size of the club, and they saw some good players,” he said.

The visit was designed to give the Finns an idea of how a larger U.S. club operates.

“The Ducks are doing a really good job for the scale they have,” Martel said. “Rick Hutchinson does an unbelievable job with the in-house program. They were very impressed with the people leading each of the programs.”

JrDucks.com

Corona’s Hamacher making his point with NCAA D-I RIT

By Chris Bayee

J

ake Hamacher has a message for those who questioned how far he’d go in hockey.

“There’s a chip on my shoulder,” the Corona native said. “I feel like I have to prove people wrong. I’ve had a lot of people tell me I’m not good enough, not big enough (he’s 5-foot-8) or not fast enough. Every summer and every year, I keep pushing to try to prove those people wrong.”

So far, so good.

The former Wildcats and California Titans forward has become a key ingredient for the resurgent Rochester, N.Y.-based program that had points in seven of its first eight games. Not coincidentally, Hamacher has points in six of those games and was tied for the Tigers’ scoring lead one month into the NCAA season.

He’s part of a junior class at RIT that has progressively improved, longtime coach Wayne Wilson said.

“They all put in the work, and Jake was probably the leader of that pack,” Wilson said. “He worked really hard for his success. That’s fueled him. He’s hungry for more now, more of the spotlight.”

Hamacher enjoyed a breakout season as a sophomore, amassing the second-most goals (14) and third-most points (30) on a Tigers team that finished in the top third of the nation in goals. They were a goal away from playing for Atlantic Hockey’s NCAA tournament berth.

His work ethic and skill are just the beginning, however.

“His intelligence, or his hockey IQ, however you

want to term it – he’s a real intelligent player,” Wilson said. “He sees the whole ice. Some guys get stuck in their box, and they can only see 10 feet around themselves. He sees the big picture.

“When we’re on the power play, we’ve noticed that he can see the other side of the ice really well.

Jake Hamacher has proven to be an offensive catalyst at the NCAA Division I level with RIT. PhotoRIT Athletics

It doesn’t have to be right in front of him. And he’s creative, he’s got a creative touch to him. But he’s got good skills.”

And Hamacher’s hockey brain helps facilitate playing at a higher level.

“I think his head makes up for maybe a lack of size,” Wilson added. “He’s not overly quick for some-

one of his size. He skates well but he’s not a burner like a lot of small guys in college are. He gets around with his head. He knows how to play.”

If it sounds like Hamacher profiles as a coach’s son, that’s because he is a coach’s son. His father Brad, who grew up in Minnesota and played collegiately at Army West Point, is a longtime hockey coach, skill development specialist and advisor.

“He was always the assistant coach, but because he was a defenseman, he always coached the ‘D,’” Jake said. “We had some separation, which was nice, but he was hard on me off the ice. He knew what it takes. He wanted me to play my best.

“I’ve had a lot of great coaches. Eugene Kabanets when I was at the Wildcats, he was really influential in my development, my skill. Peter Torsson from the Titans, he really helped me with my mental game.”

Hamacher didn’t default to ice hockey growing up. He played soccer and tried roller hockey only because a good friend, Tyler Haskell, invited him.

Hamacher didn’t like it at first but stuck with it. When Haskell, who’s now a referee, jumped to ice hockey, Hamacher followed. That’s when the bug bit.

Add it up, and Wilson and his staff likely have a player who will play an even bigger role during his final two NCAA seasons than he already has.

“He’s got leadership material written all over him, so we’ll see what happens with that down the road,” said Wilson. “He’s got a good balance in his life of his hockey, his academics and his social life. He can be himself around the coaches. Some guys will get very quiet, but he interacts well with everyone.

“We’re very, very lucky to have to him.”

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HOCKEYSHOT

Pavel Barber’s Top 10 Hockey Training Tips: Part 2 of 2

By HockeyShot’s Stickhandling Specialist Pavel Barber 5. Use slow-motion video capture: I can’t overstate how important slow-motion video capture is. I would have killed to have this technology on my phone as a kid. Slow motion picks up on things that we often overlook when we look at video in real time. It is a great tool to offer awareness in areas where we are often moving very quickly, especially in skills where we are working on a very small detail in a skillset we’re trying to attain.

4. Redefine failure: “Failure” is an awful word. In school, an “F” means we flunked, and we need to go to summer school.

However, there is positive failure and negative failure. Positive failure is failure that we can learn from and build on. Where we listen, work hard, focus deeply and make a mistake, identify the area we made the mistake and address it. Then there is negative failure where we are either not listening or not focussed, and we make a mistake. The issue here is we don’t get much, if any, feedback if the focus and effort isn’t there.

A good way to look at positive failure is to redefine it in a way that contributes to development, such as saying,

“I didn’t fail nine times out of 10. I found nine ways that didn’t work.”

3. Get out of your comfort zone: The only way to get better is to take our current abilities and push past them. It’s very easy

to get caught staying in the comfort zone because it’s exactly that, comfortable! But comfort is the enemy when it comes to development.

Identify your current level and push just to the edge of what you can already do. We

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

don’t want to go too fast because we need to be able to process the information in order to get feedback from our failures and successes.

2. Focus: Be 100 percent in the present moment. This is a very difficult mental practice, but it is one of the greatest skill advantages you can give yourself.

If you’re on the ice for an hour, don’t allow your mind to wander off and think about homework or Fortnite or anything else. Be in the moment and get a full hour of training in. Not 45 minutes. Not 30 minutes. But 60 minutes of focused practice.

1. Listen: It may sound simple, but those who listen and pay attention to the small details will get better faster. When a coach is trying to help you, they can only do that if you’re listening to them.

Enjoy this article? Then be sure to visit HockeyShot.com for the latest tips, tricks and the best hockey training products on the market!

NEVADA REPORT

Jr. Wolf Pack working to grow game in Northern Nevada

By Matt Mackinder

N

ow in its sixth season as a youth hockey program, the Nevada Jr. Wolf Pack has grown exponentially since 2014.

A USA Hockey-sanctioned association, the Jr. Wolf Pack sticks firmly to the American Development Model (ADM), and the results speak for themselves.

“We have grown from just an idea to keep a bunch of kids from both inline hockey and ice hockey from the Reno, Sparks, Carson City area playing by doing a tournament high school team as California’s tournaments started offering high school divisions,” said Jr. Wolf Pack president Louie Trio. “We had 10 players from Northern Nevada playing 14U for travel ice teams from all over Northern California that also played with some inline players from Carson City in mixed inline and ice AAU tournaments that the parents were concerned as they entered high school would not still have the time to commit to the hour-and-a-half to three-hour drives twice a week to practices in Northern California, plus the weekend games in Northern California. That was during the 2014-15 season, and we started the Nevada Jr. Wolf Pack the next season playing in four high school JV tournaments with those original 12 players.”

This year, the Jr. Wolf Pack has a 14U tournament team, has kids playing in the San Jose Sharks High School League and is offering Learn to Play and player development programs to get more kids in the younger age groups on the ice.

“We expect to have around 65-75 players in our program this season,” said Trio.

And while it’s well-known that hockey works in Las Vegas, the Jr. Wolf Pack is showing that hockey is growing in the northern part of the state as well.

“I do think we ​ are showing there is a ton of interest for ice hockey in Northern Nevada, although that was never our inten-

tion,” Trio said. “We just wanted to give kids wanting to play a chance to play. One big difference between Vegas and Northern Nevada is that Vegas has multiple year-round indoor ice facilities. Northern Nevada has zero.

Reno/Sparks had an indoor rink for decades until the last one closed 15 years ago.”

Trio also noted that the Jr. Wolf Pack values player development over wins and losses.

“We are 100 percent behind the USA Hockey ADM and wholeheartedly believe that everyone needs to play the game to learn the game,” Trio said. “Having mostly the use of small outdoor seasonal rinks to practice on the small-area games philosophy and small-area station-based drills works right into what we have available to practice on for the most part.

“It is unusual for an ice hockey club to be in a position to grow themselves and grow the sport without a permanent ice rink to call home, but that also means we don’t have some of the pressures some clubs have by their home rink to book ice all the time. We have been free to build a club from the ground up, based on the theory that someday with all the big corporations and casino corporations in Reno/Sparks that somebody will see the value of an ice rink to the community as a whole and build a rink.”

Looking at where the program was and where it is now, Trio feels the future is bright for the Jr. Wolf Pack.

“I think we are in a position to absolutely explode as far as our numbers go,” said Trio. “This year is the first time one of the seasonal outdoor rinks is willing to sell us ice so we can do our own Learn to Play programs, which should help propel us into a situation of buying ice next year for more Learn to Play and some developmental house-type leagues, as well as expanding our tournament teams to include younger teams and teams at multiple levels. If a rink gets built in the next couple years, I think we are in a position to become a travel hockey club that competes either in Northern California or Southern Oregon.”

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Game On

In-state ACHA programs garner the spotlight at inaugural California Classic Showcase

By Phillip Brents

T

he inaugural California Classic Showcase, held Oct. 10-13 at The Rinks-Lakewood ICE in Lakewood and Harbor City’s Skating Edge Ice Arena, helped shine the spotlight on five men’s collegiate club programs within the Golden State.

The four-day event featured highly competitive play overall from the eight participating ACHA Division II teams.

The California roll call included Loyola Marymount University, CSU-Northridge, CSU-Fullerton and CSULong Beach from the West Coast Hockey Conference (WCHC) and San Diego State University from the PAC-8.

Out-of-state entrants included Colorado State University, the University of Colorado-Boulder and East Texas Baptist University.

The Texas visitors finished 3-0 in the final standings while San Diego State, LMU and Colorado State all wrapped up tournament play with 2-1 records. Northridge and Colorado posted 1-1-1 records while Fullerton and Long Beach both finished 0-3.

The ACHA is currently the highest competition level for collegiate men’s ice hockey teams in California.

“This was our first attempt at the Cali Classic Showcase where we try to get some top out-of-town teams to come to Los Angeles,” LMU general manager Tyler Goeckner-Zoeller explained. “It was four WCHC teams and four non-WCHC teams. The event turned out great, very competitive and showcased the strength of the California hockey scene with LMU, CSUN and SDSU all doing very well.

“A big focus for the west (region) recently has been to participate in showcases because the west is geographically so big, it helps bring lots of different teams to one locale and bridges the divides to get more areas playing against each other. This also significantly helps the rankings process. Overall, it was a big success and we look forward to it continuing next year.”

Best in the West San Diego State, LMU and Northridge finished with the best records among the five California teams entered in the field.

LMU defeated SDSU (4-2) and Colorado (6-4) before dropping its final game to Colorado State (5-2).

SDSU rebounded with wins over Fullerton (31) and Long Beach (9-3) to conclude the weekend while Northridge posted a 5-5 overtime tie with the Colorado Buffaloes before defeating Colorado State 4-3 on the final day of the tournament.

“We didn’t play our best (in the opener) and were upset,” SDSU head coach Phil Bateman said.

“The game looked similar with our win over Fullerton, then finally we had our jump versus Long Beach in a physical game that looked a lot like the Georgia games (4-1 and 11-4 wins by the Aztecs over the University of Georgia Sept. 27-28 in San Diego). The SDSU team is still a young team and inconsistency is still a part of their game despite the talent on the roster.”

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

Red and Black The SDSU-LMU series looks to develop into a genuine rivalry. This year’s two-game matchup ended in a standoff as the teams traded victories on home ice.

The Lions avenged their season opening 9-5 loss to the Aztecs on Sept. 13 in San Diego with the 4-2 win to face off the showcase tournament on Oct. 10. SDSU dominated the shot count 52-37 but LMU goaltender Jason Footlick made 50 saves to pace his team to the upset win.

The Lions received two goals from Brian Clem in the game and single goals from Justin Hertz and freshman Gabi Rodriguez, who scored his first collegiate goal.

S D S U dominated the shot count 4614 in its game against Fullerton despite winning a nail-biter.

Fullerton goaltender Gabe Zelico

made 43 saves to keep his team in the game while Artem Klein, Reece Breuckman and Blake Reed each scored goals for the Aztecs.

Derian Theberge, a Santa Clarita native who played youth hockey for the Valencia Jr. Flyers and L.A. Jr. Kings, led SDSU with two goals and one assist in the win over Long Beach while senior Devyn Taras and freshman Ian Stentz both collected one goal and two assists.

Klein contributed three assists while sophomore Elisha Reece scored two goals.

Theberge, Stentz, Klein and Reed have been consistent point-getters to face off the 2019-20 season for the Aztecs.

Theberge tops the early season SDSU scoring chart with 10 goals while Klein, an exchange student from Mannheim, Germany, tops the team with 15 assists and 22 points.

Stentz, a Minnesota transplant, ranks second in team scoring with 19 points while Reed, the 2019 Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League Offensive Player of the Year out of JSerra, has impressed with eight goals and 12 points in eight games.

Hear them roar LMU improved to 2-0 in the tournament after closing out its game against Colorado with three unanswered goals to erase a 4-3 lead by the Buffaloes. Clem, a former Jr. Duck, scored to tie the score, followed by teammate Alexander Swenson Lennox with the go-ahead goal and Robby McClellan to ice the victory as goaltender Grant Campbell stopped 19 of 23 pucks directed his way.

The Lions (4-3) were bidding for a three-game sweep after taking a 2-1 first period lead on Colorado State in their final tournament game but the Rams rallied with the final three goals of the game to win by three goals. Eric Anderson and Hertz scored for LMU. Through seven games, LMU’s leaderboard included Hertz with 10 points, Clem with nine points, and Chris Manzer and Austin Billings both with eight points.

Manzer, a former Jr. Shark, led the Lions with seven goals in seven games.

In five game appearances between the pipes, Footlick had posted a 3-2 record with a 3.60 GAA, one shutout and .885 save percentage.

Matador pride Northridge entered the showcase tournament with some prestigious credentials as three-time defending WCHC conference tournament champions. The Matadors earned the No. 10 seed at the 2019 ACHA Division II West Regionals in Tempe as the top team in California after posting a 20-6-1 regular season record.

Northridge defeated San Diego State in the 2017 conference final and topped Long Beach State in both 2018 and 2019.

The Matadors have yet to be defeated in regular season play in 2019-20 with a 5-0-1-1 record (five wins, one overtime loss and one overtime tie).

Northridge faced off the season with a pair of wins against UC Berkeley (6-3 and 4-3) on Sept. 20-21 at the Oakland Ice Center. The Bears finished as the runnerup in last season’s PAC-8 championship tournament in South Lake Tahoe.

The Matadors made one extra stop on their season opening Bay Area road trip by scoring an 11-1 win over Fresno State in an exhibition contest on Sept. 22.

Quentin Abaya, Geno Norriak and Eli Berengut each scored goals in the overtime loss to East Texas Baptist in the showcase opener while Norraik, a former Jr. King, led CSUN in the scoring column with two goals in the overtime tie against Colorado.

Northridge ended the tournament on a winning note as Abaya and Matthew Hoover each picked up a goal and assist while Matador goaltender Vincent Sepe faced 52 shots, turning aside 49.

Berengut, from Woodland Hills, recorded his 200th career point the weekend prior to the start of the California Classic Showcase. Through seven games, he led Northridge in team scoring with nine goals and 13 points. Four players were next in line each with nine points: Grayson Szumilas, Abaya, Norraik and Zach Carnes.

Sepe started the season 3-1 with a 3.34 GAA and .910 save percentage.

Photos/Phillip Brents

ST. MARY’S HIGH SCHOOL

St. Mary’s graduate Gunnoe gaining experience in EHL

By Matt Mackinder

A

lex Gunnoe is now the answer to a trivia question that will be talked about years from now.

The first St. Mary’s High School alumnus to play junior hockey, the 18-year-old Modesto native and 2019 St. Mary’s graduate has moved on for the 2019-20 season to skate for the New York Apple Core franchise in the Eastern Hockey League.

Almost two months into the season, Gunnoe is pretty elated with how the experience has gone to this point nearly 3,000 miles from home.

“For me, I feel like I have to adjust a lot playing with and against better players than I am used to,” Gunnoe said. “As for the team, we have a core group of guys, but we are having some trouble winning games.”

Through the end of October, Apple Core had gone 2-11-0, while Gunnoe had recorded a goal and an assist in 12 games from the New York back end.

“This year with Apple Core, there has been some struggles with our coach leaving and having to bring in a brand-new coach and having to see players leave, but the core group of guys is still here, and we hope to do as much as we can to win,” Gunnoe said. “It’s my first season of juniors and I just hope to gain experience to help me move on to play at the next level.”

Off the ice, Gunnoe said that situation has been a challenge at times as well.

“So far, it’s been pretty fun, but there are times where I miss being home with all my friends and family,” admitted Gunnoe.

Last season playing for the Rams in the program’s inaugural season, Gunnoe tallied 11 goals and 14 points along with 14 penalty minutes.

He said he’ll always hold the 2018-19 season near and dear to his heart.

“The memories that stand out the most for me about St. Mary’s are the times when we would travel out for the state to play and traveling with my teammates – like that was really fun for me,” Gunnoe said. “St. Mary’s prepared me for juniors because of the amount of practice you get. It’s pretty similar to the amount we get in juniors. The school obviously expects a lot from the students, but the teachers are good at helping to make sure you succeed. Having practice every day makes it a lot easier to work on the little things you need to get better at, so I think it made me a much better hockey player overall.

“The combination of hockey and academics make for a pretty busy schedule, but it really helped me with time

management.”

Gunnoe also said that seeing players move from California high school teams like St. Mary’s to junior hockey only means bigger things are in store for youth hockey in the Golden State.

“It shows that the hockey in California is growing and becoming better for players to move on,” noted Gunnoe.

Growing up in the Stockton area, Gunnoe said he became interested in hockey at a young age.

“I first got started playing because I went to a San Jose Sharks game,” said Gunnoe.

“I just loved playing so that’s what kept me hooked on continuing. I pretty much played all my hockey career in Stockton youth programs.”

Now a prominent graduate of St. Mary’s, Gunnoe is banking on more coming down the pike that move on to junior and college hockey. He also offered words of wisdom for current and future Rams players.

“My advice for them is to just make sure they are always working hard and buying in to what they are doing, whether it’s their schoolwork or hockey,” Gunnoe said.

SaintMarysHighSchool.org

FROM THE TRAINER’S ROOM Learn to be aware, recognize signs, symptoms of concussions O

ver the last 10-15 years, concussions have become a hot topic in youth and professional sports and for just cause.

The media is constantly showing violent hits in the NFL, NHL and other sports and the results of the hits are being shown more and more. Recent involvement by the NFL Players Association as well as many others, have sparked medical research and education into concussions and the long-term effects they may cause. This movement has sparked many changes in the Chris Phillips way concussions are handled and will greatly benefit an athlete’s health not only today, but in the future.

A concussion is a traumatic injury to the brain that alters mental status or causes other symptoms. When a concussion occurs, the brain typically is accelerated quickly and can make contact with the inside of the skull causing a bruise or can be twisted or stretched causing a dysfunction of normal brain activity. Many concussions are often overlooked because athletes think “they just got their bell rung” or “didn’t get knocked out” or “just have a headache.”

How do you know if you have a concussion? First, look for signs and symptoms of a concussion. The more common ones include appearing dazed or confused, headache, dizziness, balance difficulties, visual problems, such as blurriness or double vision, short- or long-term memory difficulties such as not remembering the play that just occurred, the score of the game or what they had for breakfast, drowsiness, just not feeling right, sensitivity to light or noise and difficulty concentrating.

If any of these signs or other symptoms occur following a collision, a concussion should be assumed, and the athlete should be held out of participation and referred to a qualified physician for proper diagnosis and management.

Chris Phillips is an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist with over 20 years’ experience in professional hockey, football and soccer. He is the owner of Compete Sports Performance and Rehab in Orange County.

CARubberHockey.com

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2019-20 CALIFORNIA/ CALIFORNIA/NEVADA NEVADA ALUMNI Email all additions, deletions and corrections to alumni@rubberhockey.com

CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY Sena Acolatse (Hayward) - Straubing Tigers (Germany) Taylor Aronson (Placentia) - Cologne Sharks (Germany) Lizzie Aveson (West Covina) - Adelaide Rush (Australia) Chase Balisy (Fullerton) - Straubing Tigers (Germany) Beau Bennett (Gardena) – Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) Henry Berger (Claremont) - Mentor Ice Breakers (FPHL) Jonathon Blum (Long Beach) - Farjestads BK Karlstad (Sweden) Arthur Brey (Yorba Linda) – Birmingham Bulls (SPHL) Stefan Brucato (Riverside) - Knoxville Ice Bears (SPHL) Matthew Caito (Coto de Caza) - KooKoo Kouvola (Finland) Mitch Callahan (Whittier) - Augsburg Panthers (Germany) Sasha Chmelevski (Huntington Beach) - San Jose Barracuda (AHL) Eric Comrie (Newport Beach) - Arizona Coyotes (NHL) Pheonix Copley – Hershey Bears (AHL) + Taylor Crunk (San Jacinto) - Rapid City Rush (ECHL) Collin Delia (Rancho Cucamonga) – Rockford IceHogs (AHL) Chase De Leo (La Mirada) - San Diego Gulls (AHL) Thatcher Demko (San Diego) – Vancouver Canucks (NHL) Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) - Langnau Tigers (Switzerland) Mitch Eliot (Orange County) - Utica Comets (AHL) Adam Erne – Detroit Red Wings (NHL) * Matthew Ford (West Hills) - Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) Paul Fregeau (Sylmar) - Peoria Rivermen (SPHL) Kyle Gonzalez (Chino Hills) - Danbury Hat Tricks (FPHL) Matt Graham (Rancho Cucamonga) - Port Huron Prowlers (FPHL) Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor) – Nashville Predators (NHL) Shane Harper (Valencia) - Orebro HK (Sweden) Josh Harris (Torrance) - Birmingham Bulls (SPHL) Robby Jackson (Alameda) - Tulsa Oilers (ECHL) Cory Kane (Irvine) - Kunlun Red Star (Russia) Leila Kilduff (San Jose) - Metropolitan Riveters (NWHL) Miles Koules (Los Angeles) - Bakersfield Condors (AHL) Brandon Kozun (Los Angeles) - Magnitogorsk Metallurg (Russia) Alex Krushelnyski (Los Angeles) - Indy Fuel (ECHL) Ryan Lasch (Lake Forest) - Frolunda HC (Sweden) Rachel Llanes (San Jose) - KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen (Russia) Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach) - Toledo Walleye (ECHL) Colin Long (Santa Ana) - Lustenau EHC (Italy) Evan Mackintosh (San Jose) - Delaware Thunder (FPHL) Merrick Madsen (Acton) - Rapid City Rush (ECHL) Alec Martinez (Santa Clara) – Los Angeles Kings (NHL) Stefan Matteau – Cleveland Monsters (AHL) !

Frankie McClendon (Oakland) - Carolina Thunderbirds (FPHL) Alec McCrea (El Cajon) - Toledo Walleye (ECHL) Brett Menton (Monrovia) - Delaware Thunder (FPHL) Kevan Miller (Santa Clarita) – Boston Bruins (NHL) Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks) – Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) Parker Moskal (San Diego) - Mentor Ice Breakers (FPHL) Tyler Moy (La Jolla) - Lausanne HC (Switzerland) Patrick Newell (Thousand Oaks) – Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) Bryce Nielsen (Laguna Hills) - Knoxville Ice Bears (SPHL) Matt Nieto (Long Beach) – Colorado Avalanche (NHL) Darren Nowick (Long Beach) - Vasterviks IK (Sweden) Andrew Oglevie (Fullerton) - Rochester Americans (AHL) Gustav Olofsson – Laval Rocket (AHL) !

Elena Orlando (San Jose) - Connecticut Whale (NWHL) Austin Ortega (Escondido) - Berlin Polar Bears (Germany) Zach Pochiro – Esbjerg EfB Ishockey (Denmark) % Kyle Quick (Los Angeles) - Battle Creek Rumble Bees (FPHL) Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach) - Frolunda HC (Sweden) Sean Reynolds (Covina) - Elmira Enforcers (FPHL) Jason Robertson (Arcadia) - Texas Stars (AHL) Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego) – Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) Bobby Ryan (El Segundo) – Ottawa Senators (NHL) Kerby Rychel (Torrance) - Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik (Russia) Scott Savage (San Clemente) - Maine Mariners (ECHL) Brantley Sherwood (San Anselmo) - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (SPHL) Tomas Sholl (Hermosa Beach) - Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) Nolan Stevens – San Antonio Rampage (AHL) % CJ Stretch (Irvine) - Budapest MAC (Slovakia) Matt Tennyson (Pleasanton) – New Jersey Devils (NHL) Keoni Texeira (Fontana) - Indy Fuel (ECHL) Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose) - Fayetteville Marksmen (SPHL) Mitch Wahl (Seal Beach) - Crimmitschau ETC (Germany) 22

California Rubber Hockey Magazine

Jacob Walters (San Diego) - Elmira Enforcers (FPHL) Evan Weinger (El Segundo) – San Jose Barracuda (AHL) Casey Wellman (Brentwood) - Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (Switzerland) Matt White (Whittier) - Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik (Russia) Brooke White-Lancette (Berkeley) - Minnesota Whitecaps (NWHL) Josh Wilkins – Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) % Alyssa Wohlfeiler (Saugus) - Boston Pride (NWHL) Justin Woods – Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) + Kailer Yamamoto – Bakersfield Condors (AHL) % Jason Zucker – Minnesota Wild (NHL) *

COLLEGE HOCKEY NCAA DIVISION I – MEN Elijiah Barriga (West Covina) - AIC (Atlantic Hockey) Nathan Burke – Minnesota (Big Ten) % Joey Cassetti (Pleasanton) - Merrimack (Hockey East) Devin Cooley (Los Gatos) - Denver (NCHC) Lawton Courtnall (Westlake Village) - Western Michigan (NCHC) Vincent de Mey (Los Angeles) - Northern Michigan (WCHA) Slava Demin (Cypress) - Denver (NCHC) Jake Durflinger (Walnut Creek) - Denver (NCHC) PJ Fletcher (Dana Point) - Quinnipiac (ECAC) Jack Gates (Oceanside) - Colorado College (NCHC) Andre Ghantous (Glendale) - Northern Michigan (WCHA) Cole Guttman (Northridge) - Denver (NCHC) Jake Hamacher (Corona) - RIT (Atlantic Hockey) Brendan Harris – Bemidji State University (WCHA) + Drew Helleson - Boston College (Hockey East) % Rory Herrman (Poway) - RPI (ECAC) Niko Hildenbrand (Vacaville) - Massachusetts (Hockey East) Ryan Johnson (Irvine) - Minnesota (Big Ten) Nate Kallen (San Diego) - Ferris State (WCHA) Patrick Khodorenko (Walnut Creek) - Michigan State (Big Ten) Trevin Kozlowski (Valencia) - Army (Atlantic Hockey) Jackson LaCombe - Minnesota (Big Ten) % Ben Lown (Newport Coast) - Miami (NCHC) Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills) - Denver (NCHC) Nolan McElhaney (Yorba Linda) – New Hampshire (Hockey East) Tyson McLellan (San Jose) - Denver (NCHC) Shane McMahan (Irvine) – Minnesota State (WCHA) Brannon McManus (Newport Beach) - Minnesota (Big Ten) Alec Mehr (Los Angeles) - Brown (ECAC) Erik Middendorf – Colorado College (NCHC) % Jacob Modry (El Segundo) - Merrimack (Hockey East) Sam Morton (Benicia) - Union (ECAC) Garrett Nieto (Yorba Linda) - Union (ECAC) Gavin Nieto (Yorba Linda) - Brown (ECAC) Matt O’Donnell (Fountain Valley) - Vermont (Hockey East) Jared Pike – AIC (Atlantic Hockey) % Dakota Raabe (Capistrano Beach) - Michigan (Big Ten) Nick Rivera (Pacific Palisades) - Minnesota State (WCHA) Tyler Rockwell (San Jose) - Michigan Tech (WCHA) Jake Rosenbaum (Trabuco Canyon) - Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) Ryan Ruck (Coto de Caza) - Colorado College (NCHC) Rourke Russell (Long Beach) - Miami (NCHC) Chad Sasaki (Cypress) - Colorado College (NCHC) Jake Slaker (San Diego) - Michigan (Big Ten) Ethan Somoza (Simi Valley) - Bemidji State (WCHA) Jack St. Ivany (Manhattan Beach) - Yale (ECAC) Brian Williams (San Diego) - Colorado College (NCHC) Cam York (Anaheim Hills) - Michigan (Big Ten) NCAA DIVISION I – WOMEN Cayla Barnes (Eastvale) - Boston College (Hockey East) Katherine Beaumier - Clarkson (ECAC) $ Bailey Bennett (Gardena) - Holy Cross (Hockey East) Brooke Bryant (Linden) - Minnesota State (WCHA) Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza) - New Hampshire (Hockey East) Anna Estes (Whittier) - Post (NEWHA) Kendra Farole (Irvine) - RPI (ECAC) Tanner Gates (Oceanside) - Colgate (ECAC) Kiersten Goode (La Habra) - Yale (ECAC) Katherine Hughes (La Canada) - Harvard (ECAC) Lily Humphrey (Huntington Beach) - Vermont (Hockey East) Bella Kang (Los Gatos) - Cornell (ECAC) Vivian Lu (Studio City) - Brown (ECAC) Lillian Marchant (Tustin) - Lindenwood (CHA)

Leah Marino (South Lake Tahoe) - Robert Morris (CHA) Gabby Monaco (La Verne) - St. Anselm (NEWHA) Keely Moy (San Diego) – Harvard (ECAC) Kalena Mueller (San Ramon) - Post (NEWHA) Claire Peterson (San Jose) - Connecticut (Hockey East) Dominique Petrie (Hermosa Beach) - Harvard (ECAC) Frankie Sanchez (Lake Elsinore) - Sacred Heart (NEWHA) Sammy Smigliani (La Jolla) - Colgate (ECAC) Tia Stoddard (La Mesa) - Clarkson (ECAC) Elissa Taylor (Pasadena) - LIU (NEWHA) Baylee Trani (Huntington Beach) - RIT (CHA) Ellie Zweber (Santa Barbara) - Cornell (ECAC) NCAA DIVISION II – MEN Khalil East (Los Angeles) - Assumption (Northeast-10) Niko Grollman (Laguna Niguel) - Post (Northeast-10) Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton) - Franklin Pierce (Northeast-10) NCAA DIVISION III – MEN Sam Anzai (Los Angeles) - UW-River Falls (WIAC) Aaron Aragon (Whittier) - University of New England (CCC) Quinton Baker (Santa Monica) - New England College (NEHC) Andrew Behshid (Los Angeles) - Lake Forest (NCHA) Max Blitz (Chino Hills) - Fredonia (SUNYAC) Guillaume Bose (San Jose) - Wentworth (CCC) Paul Boutoussov (Dana Point) - Salve Regina (CCC) Rock Boynton (Lomita) - MSOE (NCHA) Adam Canepa (Santa Cruz) - UW-River Falls (WIAC) Don Carter Jr. (Antioch) - Hamline (MIAC) Connor Chilton (Oak Park) - Aurora (NCHA) Jared Christy (Tustin) - University of New England (CCC) Carter Dahl (Fresno) - St. Mary’s (MIAC) Tanner Dalton (Bakersfield) - MSOE (NCHA) Dakota Delbridge (Tracy) - Concordia, Wis. (NCHA) Chase Dibari (Ladera Ranch) - Bethel (MIAC) Sean Dickson (Millbrae) - Utica (UCHC) Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe) - Utica (UCHC) Dante DiNapoli (Moss Beach) - Framingham State (MASCAC) Justin Dixson (Sunnyvale) - University of New England (CCC) Coby Downs (Montclair) - Norwich (NEHC) Zach Feldman (San Diego) - Lake Forest (NCHA) Tyler Forest (Simi Valley) - Becker (CCC) Cody Foster (Saugus) - Becker (CCC) Andrew Frojelin (San Jose) - Nazareth (UCHC) John Garrity (Dublin) - Suffolk (NEHC) Doc Gentzler (Manhattan Beach) - Brockport (SUNYAC) Alec Grollman (Laguna Niguel) - Bryn Athyn (Independent) Keenan Haase (Mission Viejo) - New England College (NEHC) Brian Hodges (Yorba Linda) - Stevenson (UCHC) Evan Johnson (Huntington Beach) - Williams (NESCAC) Carson Kelley (Portola Valley) - Geneseo (SUNYAC) Nick Klishko (San Diego) - Gustavus (MIAC) Jasper Korican-Barlay (Oakland) - Fredonia (SUNYAC) Austin Koss (Huntington Beach) - Augsburg (MIAC) Gregg Lee (Aliso Viejo) - Fredonia (SUNYAC) Tyler Levine (Laguna Beach) - Wesleyan (NESCAC) Sean Lincoln (Rancho Santa Margarita) - Brockport (SUNYAC) Drake Longaker (San Jose) - Plymouth State (MASCAC) William Ma (Anaheim) - Canton (Independent) Cameron Mack (Long Beach) - UMass Dartmouth (MASCAC) David Marabella (Clovis) - MSOE (NCHA) Aaron Murray (Chino) - Stevenson (UCHC) Nick Nast (Oxnard) - St. Mary’s (MIAC) Ryan Ng (Manhattan Beach) - Castleton (NEHC) Evan Nyhus (Dove Canyon) - Nichols (CCC) Danny O’Donnell (Ventura) - Aurora (NCHA) Kyle Orgel (El Segundo) - Plymouth State (MASCAC) Ryan Orgel (El Segundo) - UW-Stevens Point (WIAC) Adam Papayoanou (Valencia) - Southern Maine (NEHC) Ismael Ralsten (Huntington Beach) - Bryn Athyn (Independent) Josh Reinstein (Woodland Hills) - Worcester State (MASCAC) Kyle Rimbach (Encinitas) - St. Olaf (MIAC) Brendan Schulte (Fullerton) - Plattsburgh (SUNYAC) Nick Schultze (San Diego) - Tufts (NESCAC) Eetu Selanne (Coto de Caza) - Curry (CCC) Nicholas Short (Los Angeles) - UMass Dartmouth (MASCAC) Mark Shroyer (Fresno) - Castleton (NEHC)

Jack Sitzman (Redondo Beach) - Anna Maria (Independent) Cole Souto (Yorba Linda) - St. John’s (MIAC) Liam Stirtzinger (Simi Valley) - Aurora (NCHA) Alex Stoley (Manteca) - Concordia, Minn. (MIAC) Felix Takacsi-Nagy (Los Gatos) - Lebanon Valley (UCHC) Joseph Thielen (Huntington Beach) - Curry (CCC) Taylor Urch (Anaheim) - Lawrence (NCHA) Nick Wardstrom (Discovery Bay) - Suffolk (NEHC) Chad Watt (Riverside) - Stevenson (UCHC) Matt Wiesner (Newport Beach) - Babson (NEHC) Egan Wolford (San Jose) - Fitchburg State (MASCAC) Colin Woods (Yorba Linda) - Stevenson (UCHC) Eric Wright (Poway) - Suffolk (NEHC) Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach) - Utica (UCHC) NCAA DIVISION III – WOMEN Lexie Anderson (San Francisco) - Salve Regina (Colonial Hockey) Michelle Behshid (Saugus) - Bowdoin (NESCAC) Ivy Boric (Newport Beach) - Plattsburgh (NEWHL) Emily Burke (San Jose) - Potsdam (NEWHL) Colleen Castro (Redwood City) - Wesleyan (NESCAC) Angelina Cruzal (Campbell) - Buffalo State (NEWHL) Mary Deyell (Glendale) - King’s (UCHC) Katarina Diehr (Fullerton) - Johnson and Wales (NEHC) Sierra Donahue (San Jose) - Suffolk (NEHC) Isabella Fiedler (Redondo Beach) - Stevenson (UCHC) Marissa Gebauer (Mission Viejo) - Lake Forest (NCHA) Devyn Gilman (Yorba Linda) - Elmira (UCHC) Savannah Gutierrez (Huntington Beach) - Utica (UCHC) Erika Hansen (Vacaville) - Anna Maria (Independent) Bella Hanson – Elmira (UCHC) $ Jessica Jones (El Cajon) - St. Mary’s (MIAC) Kai-Lilly Karpman (Playa del Rey) - Trinity (NESCAC) Abby Kolek (San Marcos) - Finlandia (NCHA) Victoria Lahey (Fairfield) - Lebanon Valley (UCHC) Ashley Marchant (Orange County) - Chatham (UCHC) Hannah Marmorstein (Los Olivos) - St. Olaf (MIAC) Danielle Marquez (Long Beach) - Bowdoin (NESCAC) Maura McKeown (San Leandro) - Oswego (NEWHL) Kennedy Miedema (San Jose) - St. Catherine (MIAC) Madelyn Morgan (Riverside) - Becker (Colonial Hockey) Tate Murphy (Jamul) - Lebanon Valley (UCHC) Lilla Nease (Lake Forest) - Plattsburgh (NEWHL) Alicia Nickolenko (Encinitas) - Wesleyan (NESCAC) Cameron Payne (Rancho Cucamonga) - Becker (Colonial Hockey) Alethea Perez (Los Angeles) - Stevenson (UCHC) Cortney Reyes (Chino Hills) - New England College (NEHC) Lindsay Reyes (Chino Hills) - Cortland (NEWHL) Samantha Rodriguez (Corona) - Anna Maria (Independent) Cierra San Roman (Orange) - Colby (NESCAC) Kiley Searles (San Jose) - Suffolk (NEHC) Iman Shepard (San Marino) - Lake Forest (NCHA) Ally Stout (Stockton) - Cortland (NEWHL) Sarah Takahashi (Pleasanton) - Wesleyan (NESCAC) Julieana Tarantino (San Diego) - Lake Forest (NCHA) Morgan Tefft (Redwood City) - Norwich (NEHC) Amy Templeman (Rancho Santa Margarita) - Lebanon Valley (UCHC) Alexandria Tillemans (Bishop) - Endicott (Colonial Hockey) Tristen Tolan – Elmira (UCHC) $ Jordyn Tomaszewki (Daly City) - Aurora (NCHA) Marisa Trevino (San Jose) - Aurora (NCHA) Tara Turcotte (Huntington Beach) - New England College (NEHC) Kiara Vazquez (La Quinta) - Middlebury (NESCAC) Samantha White (Oceanside) - Potsdam (NEWHL) Olivia Wilburn (Stockton) - Cortland (NEWHL) CANADIAN UNIVERSITY Takato Cox (Redondo Beach) – Simon Fraser (BCIHL) Murphy Stratton (Los Angeles) – British Columbia (USports) Keanu Yamamoto – McGill (USports) %

JUNIOR HOCKEY Nicholas Abernathy (Etiwanda) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Brian Adams (San Ramon) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Joey Allegrini (Valencia) - Atlanta Capitals (NA3HL) Noah Altman (Los Angeles) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Armen Arabyan (Los Angeles) - Skipjacks Hockey Club (USPHL Premier)

Alan Austria-Garcia (Redwood City) - Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL Premier) Thomas Avila (Escalon) - Steele County Blades (USPHL Premier) Matthew Ayres (Calabasas) - Connecticut Jr. Rangers (USPHL Premier) Everett Bailey (Rialto) - Decatur Blaze (USPHL Premier) William Baird (Ontario) - San Diego Sabers (WSHL) Tristan Baker (Fresno) - Fresno Monsters (WSHL) Nareg Balian (Tustin) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Joseph Barnabee (Long Beach) - Potomac Patriots (USPHL Premier) Danny Barry (Sunnyvale) - Texas Brahmas (NA3HL) Cam Beltran (Nuevo) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Premier) Matthew Berezowski (Irvine) - Chippewa Steel (NAHL) Logan Berggren (Cypress) - Creston Valley Thunder Cats (KIJHL) Leon Biller (Valencia) – Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Grady Birk (San Diego) - La Ronge Ice Wolves (SJHL) Tyler Blanchard (San Jose) - Texas Brahmas (NA3HL) Michael Boutoussov (Dana Point) - South Shore Kings (USPHL NCDC) Parker Brakebill (Yorba Linda) - Wisconsin Lumberjacks (SIJHL) Barak Braslavski (San Jose) - Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL) Griffin Briquelet (Huntington Beach) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Brendan Brisson (Manhattan Beach) - Chicago Steel (USHL) Jacob Brockman (El Segundo) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Rhett Bruckner - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) % Ben Buium (Laguna Niguel) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Hunter Campbell – Calgary Hitmen (WHL) % Chris Cantillo (Los Angeles) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Anthony Capraro (Hacienda Heights) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL Premier) Kenneth Cavers (San Jose) - Connecticut Jr. Rangers (USPHL Premier) Kameron Chan (Valencia) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL Elite) Henry Chavez (San Jose) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Daniel Chladek (Anaheim) - Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL) Nicholas Chmelevski (Huntington Beach) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Jared Coday (Irvine) - St. Louis Jr. Blues (NA3HL) Nolan Conrad (Corona) - Thief River Falls Norskies (SIJHL) Halen Cookston (Santa Clarita) - Philadelphia Hockey Club (USPHL Premier) Jack Cooper (Camino Vista) - Texas Brahmas (NA3HL) Caleb Cordas (Newport Beach) - Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL NCDC) Jacob Cordas (Newport Beach) - Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL Premier) Clayton Cosentino (San Carlos) - Aberdeen Wings (NAHL) Evan Cronkhite (Aliso Viejo) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Premier) Riley Cryan (Escondido) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Jesse Cusick (La Puente) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Noah Dahlen (Lake Forest) - Pueblo Bulls (WSHL) Drew DeCarlo (Huntington Beach) - Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL) Lucas Demsar (South Lake Tahoe) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Brandon Derdiger (Los Angeles) - Springfield Pics (USPHL Premier) Quinn Deshler (Torrance) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Dylan Desilva (Boulder Creek) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Elite) Joe DiGiulio (San Diego) - Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL Premier) Wil Dillard (Bishop) - Gillette Wild (NA3HL) Kaigen Douglass (Mountain View) - Connecticut Chiefs (EHL) Devon Dunn (Los Angeles) - Gillette Wild (NA3HL) Ryan Elleraas (San Diego) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL Elite) Blake Emerson (Manhattan Beach) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Quinn Emerson (Manhattan Beach) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Arturo Escamilla (Rancho Cucamonga) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Isaac Espinosa (Lincoln) - Valley Jr. Warriors (EHL) Noah Etter (Sunnyvale) - Aberdeen Wings (NAHL) Mason Evans (Danville) - Texas RoadRunners (NA3HL) Bryan Fetz (Vacaville) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Bryson Fletcher (Rancho Santa Margarita) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Luc Fox (Valencia) - Charlotte Rush (USPHL Premier) Alexander Fraboulet (Anaheim) - PAL Jr. Islanders (USPHL Premier) James Gagan (Mission Viejo) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Premier) Hunter Garant (Valencia) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Dalton Garcia (San Jose) - Wisconsin Lumberjacks (SIJHL) Matthew Gerst (Los Altos) - Springfield Pics (USPHL Premier) Shane Gilbert (Huntington Beach) - Ogden Mustangs (WSHL) Jonah Gold (Rolling Hills Estates) – Connecticut Jr. Rangers (USPHL NCDC) Hayden Goldstein (Los Angeles) - Walpole Express (EHL) Michael Gomez (Visalia) - Valley Jr. Warriors (EHL) Bryan Gowin (Valencia) - Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (USPHL Premier) Alec Grace (Laguna Hills) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL Premier) Ryan Green (Huntington Beach) - Wisconsin Lumberjacks (SIJHL) Ben Greenlee (Temecula) - Boston Jr. Rangers (EHL) Josh Groll (San Diego) - Lincoln Stars (USHL) Alex Gunnoe (Modesto) - New York Apple Core (EHL) Dylan Gutierrez (Santa Ana) - New Jersey 87s (EHL) Cooper Haar (Huntington Beach) - Aberdeen Wings (NAHL) Keigo Hachisuka (San Diego) - Vernon Vipers (BCHL) Mason Hackel (Morgan Hill) - Railers Jr. Hockey Club (EHL) Dylan Hadfield (Westminster) - Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL) Jacob Hahn (Lake Forest) - Potomac Patriots (USPHL Premier)

Hunter Hansen (Vacaville) - Minnesota Blue Ox (USPHL Premier) Jackson Hansen (Vacaville) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Elite) Joseph Harguindeguy (La Habra) - Minot Minotauros (NAHL) Luke Heimann (Ventura) - New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (USPHL NCDC) Dylan Hernandez-Ramirez (Costa Mesa) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Elite) Taylor Hiatt (Fresno) - Fresno Monsters (WSHL) Daniel Hong (Valencia) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Aidan Hreschuk (Long Beach) - U.S. Under-17 Team (USHL) Peyton Hughes (Northridge) - L/A Nordiques (NA3HL) Jacob Iida (Yorba Linda) - New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL) Peter Jacobs (Carlsbad) - Austin Bruins (NAHL) Parker James (Westminster) - Dryden GM Ice Dogs (SIJHL) Austin Kane (Milpitas) - Twin City Thunder (USPHL Premier) Sean Kanervisto (San Diego) - North Okanagan Knights (KIJHL) Samuel Kapusta (Irvine) - San Diego Sabers (WSHL) Zakary Karpa (Newport Beach) - U.S. Under-18 Team (USHL) Huston Karpman (Manhattan Beach) - Aberdeen Wings (NAHL) Grant Kawamoto (San Jose) - Jersey Hitmen (USPHL Premier) Tanner Kelly (La Jolla) - Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) Connor Kemp (Placentia) - New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL) Nicholas Kent (Ladera Ranch) - Vernon Vipers (BCHL) Noah Kim (Fullerton) - Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) Tyler Kitchen (Bakersfield) - Pueblo Bulls (WSHL) John Klus (Santee) - New Ulm Steel (NA3HL) Simon Krbashyan (Fresno) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Jared Labadie (Huntington Beach) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Premier) Jordan Labbe (Pasadena) - Jersey Hitmen (USPHL Premier) Ethan Lahmon (Yorba Linda) - Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) Nicholas Lanza (Santa Clarita) - Charlestown Colonials (USPHL Elite) Erik Larsson (San Jose) - Boston Bandits (USPHL NCDC) Justin Lebouef (Canyon Country) - New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL) Tyler Leibl (Del Mar) - Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL) Michael Lempiainen (Corona) - New England Stars (NA3HL) Cobi Lennex (Valencia) – Fresno Monsters (WSHL) Ivan Lodnia (Anaheim) - Niagara IceDogs (OHL) Gabel Longshore (Davis) - New York Apple Core (EHL) Jesse Lycan (San Diego) - Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL) Peter Lychnikoff (Los Angeles) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL NCDC) Chris Maghakian (Santa Clarita) - West Sound Warriors (WSHL) Jake Maley (San Ramon) - Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (EHL) Daylon Mannon (Fresno) - La Ronge Ice Wolves (SJHL) Colton Marcy (Carlsbad) - Butte Cobras (NA3HL) Tate Martishius (Valencia) - San Diego Sabers (WSHL) Liam Massie (Claremont) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Cameron Maycock (Claremont) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Adam Mazurowski (Modesto) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Elite) Kyle McElhaney (Yorba Linda) – Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL Premier) Adam McGill (Rancho Santa Margarita) - South Shore Kings (USPHL Premier) Derek McGrew (Orange) - Southern Oregon Spartans (WSHL) Jake McGrew (Orange) - Spokane Chiefs (WHL) Mason McIntosh (Los Angeles) - Thief River Falls Norskies (SIJHL) Isaiah McKinney (Menlo Park) - New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (USPHL Premier) Hunter McKown (San Jose) - U.S. Under-18 Team (USHL) Tyler McNeil (Santa Clarita) – Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL) Aidan McPhee (Brea) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Ryan Meaney (Santa Clarita) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Aidan Metcalfe (Rancho Palos Verdes) - Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL) Cameron Miller (Anaheim) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Eric Moran (Artesia) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) John Mulvihill (San Juan Capistrano) - New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (USPHL NCDC) Ty Murchison (Corona) - U.S. Under-17 Team (USHL) Carson Murison (Half Moon Bay) - Bradford Bulls (GMHL) Kiel Nance (Bakersfield) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Cameron Neaylon (Newark) - Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (NOJHL) Tyler Nelson (Pleasanton) - Espanola Express (NOJHL) Ryan Newman (Bakersfield) - Charlotte Rush (USPHL Premier) Sean Nichols (Fontana) - Connecticut Chiefs (EHL) Jackson Niedermayer (Newport Beach) – Penticton Vees (BCHL) Harley Nyhuis (Rancho Mirage) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Liam Okanski (Villa Park) - Twin City Thunder (USPHL Premier) Michael Onda (Saugus) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Luke Ormsby - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) % Jerrett Overland - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) # Jonathan Panisa (Irvine) - Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) Sahil Panwar (Cerritos) - London Knights (OHL) Preston Park (Rancho Palos Verdes) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL NCDC) Cole Parker (San Diego) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Landon Pavlisin (Orange) - Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL) Dylan Peterson (Roseville) - U.S. Under-18 Team (USHL) Zachary Pires (Orange) - Ogden Mustangs (WSHL) Jake Pisarcik (Oak Park) - Atlanta Capitals (NA3HL) Dakota Pitts (Rancho Cucamonga) - Railers Jr. Hockey Club (EHL)

Adam Plager (Cypress) - Mid Cities Jr. Stars (NA3HL) Stewart Pond (San Diego) - Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL) Jayden Price (Dove Canyon) - Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL) Nicholas Privitera (Sun Valley) - Thunder Bay North Stars (SIJHL) Patrick Pugliese (Pasadena) - New Jersey Titans (NAHL) Seamus Radley (San Diego) - St. Louis Jr. Blues (NA3HL) Quentin Rahimi (Tracy) - Walpole Express (EHL Premier) Tristan Rand (Valencia) - New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL) Alexander Randall (San Diego) - Decatur Blaze (USPHL Premier) Nick Rashkovsky (Los Angeles) - Twin City Thunder (USPHL NCDC) Kurt Reger (Los Gatos) - Utica Jr. Comets (USPHL Premier) Alex Reyes (Anaheim Hills) - Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL Premier) Casey Rhodes (Huntington Beach) - Jersey Hitmen (USPHL NCDC) Luke Richesin (Clovis) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Mitchell Rickert (Santa Rosa) - Connecticut Chiefs (EHL) Nick Robertson (Arcadia) - Peterborough Petes (OHL) Hunter Rogers (Simi Valley) - Philadelphia Hockey Club (USPHL Premier) Kanyn Rogers (Luumsden) - Pueblo Bulls (WSHL) Cole Rorick (Anaheim) - San Diego Sabers (WSHL) Kaleb Ross (Visalia) - Pueblo Bulls (WSHL) Bryce Runyan (Riverside) - Texas Brahmas (NA3HL) Emmett Rupert (Santa Barbara) - Fresno Monsters (WSHL) Luc Salem (Santa Monica) - Topeka Pilots (NAHL) Miles Salzgeber (Sherman Oaks) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) James Sandberg (Thousand Oaks) - Jersey Hitmen (USPHL Elite) Hunter Sansbury (Lomita) - Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL) Henri Schreifels (Agoura Hills) - Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) Isaac Schuster (Westminster) - Westshore Wolves (VIJHL) Harrison Scott (San Jose) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Leevi Selanne (Coto de Caza) - Texas Brahmas (NA3HL) Jackson Seltenreich (San Jose) - Cold Lake Hornets (WSHL) Sohrab Shamloo (San Jose) - Rochester Monarchs (USPHL NCDC) Ian Shane (Manhattan Beach) - Chicago Steel (USHL) Tyler Shea (Stevenson Ranch) - Austin Bruins (NAHL) Phillip Shemyakin (Mission Viejo) - Charlotte Rush (USPHL Premier) Cody Sherman (San Diego) - Tri-City Storm (USHL) Tyler Shetland (Laguna Hills) - Wisconsin Lumberjacks (SIJHL) Mattias Sholl (Hermosa Beach) - Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL) Liam Smiley (San Diego) - Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL Elite) Connor Smith (Rancho Santa Margarita) - Neepawa Natives (MJHL) Cooper Smyl (Fairfield) - Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL) James Spaargaren (San Diego) - Rochester Monarchs (USPHL NCDC) James Stefan (Laguna Beach) - Portland Winterhawks (WHL) Riley Stern (Simi Valley) - Atlanta Capitals (NA3HL) Jered Stevenson (Stockton) - Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings (USPHL Premier) Chad Storey (South Lake Tahoe) - Steamboat Wranglers (WSHL) Jake Sumner (Alta Loma) - Willmar WarHawks (NA3HL) Logan Sutton (Huntington Beach) - Utica Jr. Comets (USPHL Premier) Kaelan Taylor (Oceanside) - Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) Dante Terramani (Monterey Park) - New Jersey 87s (EHL) Todd Thompson, Jr. (San Jose) - Dallas Snipers (WSHL) Nicholas Tivy (Ventura) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Nick Torres (Long Beach) - Great Falls Americans (NA3HL) Tanner Turcotte (Huntington Beach) - Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) Drake Usher (Upland) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Brent Valentine (Newport Beach) - East Coast Wizards (EHL) Justin Vickers (Murrieta) - New Jersey 87s (EHL) Greg Viehmeyer (Del Mar) - Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (USPHL Elite) David Vieten (Calabasas) - West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL) Drew Vieten (Calabasas) - West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL) Alex Villa (Anaheim) - Kerry Park Islanders (VIJHL) Hunter Voyles (Aliso Viejo) - Boston Bandits (USPHL Elite) Jack Walsh (Oceanside) - Connecticut Jr. Rangers (USPHL Premier) Tristan Warr (Valencia) - Valencia Flyers (WSHL) Brayden Watts (Bakersfield) - Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) Jakob Wepman (Studio City) - New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (USPHL NCDC) Dustin Wolf (Tustin) - Everett Silvertips (WHL) Coalson Wolford (San Jose) - Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL) Ethan Wolthers (Valencia) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Wyatt Wong (Glendale) - Rockets Hockey Club (USPHL Premier) Jackson Wozniak (Cypress) - Grand Prairie Storm (AJHL) Kurt Yano (Orange) - Lansing Wolves (USPHL Premier) Lucas Yovetich (Los Angeles) - London Nationals (GOJHL) Alan Yu (Baldwin Park) - Cochrane Crunch (NOJHL)

PREP SCHOOL Max Abramson (Pacific Palisades) – Bishop’s College School Blake Bishop (Temecula) - Tahoe Prep Academy Ian Bowman (Palm Desert) - Tahoe Prep Academy Alexander Boyko (Rocklin) – Tahoe Prep Academy Bobby Doukov (Seal Beach) - Tahoe Prep Academy Tyler Dunkel (Burbank) - Tahoe Prep Academy

Cameron Dunnigan (Bakersfield) – Tahoe Prep Academy Nikko Escobar (Ventura) – Tahoe Prep Academy Ezra Gale (Pomona) – Hoosac School Aidan Garcia (Burbank) – The Groton School Jacob Halliday (Valencia) – St. Paul’s Tyler Herr (Huntington Beach) – Culver Academy Grant Kaplan (Sherman Oaks) – Brooks School Leo Kaplan (Sherman Oaks) – Brooks School Tristan Lam (Arcadia) – Bishop’s College School Noah Leibl (Del Mar) – Shawnigan Lake School Drew Mazza (Mission Viejo) - Tahoe Prep Academy Seth McKenna (Moorpark) – Tilton School Zach Mojarro (Bishop) – The Gunnery Brian Morse (Fresno) – The Gunnery Josh Niedermayer (Newport Beach) – Okanagan Hockey Academy Jacob Nordorf (Gardena) – Tahoe Prep Academy Ellis O’Dowd (Santa Barbara) – Tahoe Prep Academy Ben Palmersheim (Palm Springs) - Tahoe Prep Academy Luke Peterson (Moorpark) – The Gunnery Quinn Proctor (South Lake Tahoe) – Tahoe Prep Academy Ross Roloson (Newport Beach) – Northern Alberta X-Treme Prep Chase Sechrist (Santa Rosa) – Tahoe Prep Academy Steven Soos (Pasadena) – The Winchendon School Simon Thue (San Jose) – Millbrook School Weston Turner (Granite Bay) - The Groton School Bradley Wang (Arcadia) – Choate Rosemary Hall

NEVADA PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY Michael McNicholas (Reno) - Maine Mariners (ECHL) Zach Pochiro (Las Vegas) – Esbjerg EfB Ishockey (Denmark) Joey Raats (Las Vegas) - Briancon (France) Bryce Reddick (Las Vegas) - Cardiff Devils (United Kingdom) Gage Quinney (Las Vegas) - Chicago Wolves (AHL) Joe Sullivan (Las Vegas) - Indy Fuel (ECHL) Derek Sutliffe (Las Vegas) - Evansville Thunderbolts (SPHL) Cory Ward (Las Vegas) - Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) Jason Zucker (Las Vegas) - Minnesota Wild (NHL)

COLLEGE HOCKEY NCAA DIVISION I – MEN Dominic Garcia (Las Vegas) - Arizona State (Independent) Brendan Harris (Henderson) - Bemidji State (WCHA) Graham McPhee (Las Vegas) - Boston College (Hockey East) NCAA DIVISION II – MEN Vito Carlo (Las Vegas) – Franklin Pierce (Northeast-10) NCAA DIVISION III – MEN Gage Roberts (Las Vegas) – Nazareth (UCHC)

JUNIOR HOCKEY Erik Atchison (Las Vegas) - Spokane Chiefs (WHL) Steven Avalone (Las Vegas) - Kindersley Klippers (SJHL) Hunter Barto (Las Vegas) - Minnesota Moose (USPHL Premier) Rhett Bruckner (Las Vegas) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Caleb Day (Las Vegas) - Cold Lake Hornets (WSHL) Brenden Fehlig (Las Vegas) - Texas RoadRunners (NA3HL) Luke Fundator (Las Vegas) - Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL) Ty Gartzke (Las Vegas) - Decatur Blaze (USPHL Premier) Bryce Gould (Las Vegas) - New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (USPHL Premier) Aidan McNabb (Las Vegas) - Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (USPHL Premier) Hunter Meyer (Las Vegas) - Northern Cyclones (USPHL Elite) Gunner Moore (Las Vegas) - Atlanta Capitals (NA3HL) Jackson Oleson (Stateline) - Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) Jerrett Overland (Las Vegas) - Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) Cody Printzen (Las Vegas) - Fresno Monsters (WSHL) Danny Ramos (Las Vegas) - Gillette Wild (NA3HL) Caesar Redoble (Las Vegas) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Anthony Rodriguez (Henderson) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Cameron Sylvester (Las Vegas) - Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL Elite) Blade Taylor (Las Vegas) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Joe Terrana (Las Vegas) - Las Vegas Thunderbirds (WSHL) Gabe Testa (Las Vegas) - South Muskoka Shield (GMHL) Matthew Valdez (Las Vegas) - Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (EHL)

% former Los Angeles Jr. King + former California Titan * former LA Select

! former San Jose Jr. Shark # former Anaheim Jr. Duck $ former Anaheim Lady Duck

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TAHOE PREP ACADEMY

Development continues to be top priority at Tahoe Prep Continued from Page 15 “I really want to play juniors, but more importantly, I want to earn a college scholarship,” he said.

“The day here is a bit longer, but that’s because of the focus on academics. I’m really enjoying the high school and all my teachers.”

After playing a 15U season in the CSSHL and a 16U season in the NAPHL, Turner said the competition the team is facing this year is comparable, but moving up to 18U has brought new lessons. Still, Turner has found success, notching three goals and two assists in the team’s eight NAPHL games.

Turner said he has confidence in the Tahoe Prep coaching staff.

“They really know what they’re talking about,” he said. “We’ve had a few tiny breakdowns, but we just need to apply what they’ve been teaching us.”

Collins had nothing but praise for Turner.

“Zach asked the right questions and really listens, and he has an amazing shot,” Collins said. “Watching him fall into more of a skill game has been really fun. He’s a tremendous worker on and off the ice, and he’s another academic leader.”

Tyler Dunkel Ever since Dunkel was a Bantam with the Burbank Bears, he had his eyes set on wearing a Tahoe Prep sweater. The 15-year-old sophomore center is

in his first season playing with Tahoe’s varsity squad this year and said the experience has exceeded even his lofty expectations.

“I wanted to have more experience, a better skill set, and play at a higher level, but my parents weren’t ready last year for me to live away from home,” Dunkel said, adding that coming to Tahoe for a hockey prep school and being closer to home was another benefit.

Transitioning to dorm life, a new school, and the competition of the ADHSHL has been a lot to take in for Dunkel.

“The first game was really hard,” he said. “I’m good at edge work, but I’m working on more balance and staying on the puck. The coaching here is very much one-on-one. They are great at working on what you need to improve on as a player. I feel more confident with the puck now. My goal this year is to be able to move up to the prep team.”

Noah Csaky-Schwede For Csaky-Schwede, returning to Tahoe Prep

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

for a second academic year and hockey season this fall felt very much like coming home. A junior goalie for the varsity team originally from Victoria, British Columbia, Csaky-Schwede said it’s also closer to his family now in Palo Alto.

“I feel like last year we did really well – the team bonded, and I made a lot of friends, and I’m looking to build on that this year,” he said. “I’ve already gone through that adjustment period of living away from home. Living with your team, you really bond with people. I’ve made some of my best friends here.”

Csaky-Schwede said he’s also advancing as a goalie through his individual time with Tahoe Prep’s goalie coach.

“I’m improving my skills playing the puck and how I move off the post,” he explained. “My ultimate goal is to play juniors in Canada, and I feel through my work at Tahoe Prep, I’ve got a pretty good plan to get there. Anyone who comes here and is really dedicated to becoming better at hockey will succeed just because of the way the schedule is organized.”

UNITED STATES PREMIER HOCKEY LEAGUE

USPHL makes grade with 1,200 grads on college rosters

By Joshua Boyd/USPHL.com

T

he United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL), with its unparalleled multi-tiered development model, continues to be the perfect starting point towards a college hockey career.

Research tracking the whereabouts of former USPHL players shows that there are more than 1,200 college hockey players who developed their on- and off-ice skills anywhere from the USPHL Midget full-season divisions up through the three-tiered USPHL junior hockey model.

Along with development towards a college hockey future, the USPHL is also known for its internal promotion of players, and several hundred have moved up within the Midget and junior leagues.

More than 275 former USPHL junior and Midget players are also currently playing professional hockey around the world, including John Marino (Pittsburgh Penguins/ South Shore Kings), Connor Clifton (Boston Bruins/ Jersey Hitmen) and Stanley Cup champion and St. Louis Blues forward Zach Sanford (Islanders Hockey Club.)

National Collegiate Development Conference: The top of the pyramid is the tuition-free National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), which has entered its third season and has already seen new college commitments for future seasons.

There are currently 143 former NCDC players on NCAA Division I and Division III rosters. Prior to the

2017 formation of the NCDC, the USPHL Premier Division was the league’s top tier. There are more than 230 alumni of the USPHL’s top junior division currently playing NCAA hockey.

Players also move on from the top level to the ACHA, giving the USPHL’s top tier more than 325 alumni currently playing at all levels of college hockey.

USPHL Elite: The vast majority of USPHL Elite players move on to the USPHL Premier, with a total of 251 players in the last two seasons advancing to the higher-level Tier III league.

Along with its junior development mission, there are several players who advance directly to college hockey.

The Northern Cyclones’ Matt Irwin, who finished among the top scorers in the USPHL Elite last season, has earned a spot on the Framingham State University roster in NCAA Division III hockey.

A total of 179 former USPHL Elite players (along with players from precursors to the USPHL Elite) are on ACHA rosters for this season.

USPHL Premier: Although the USPHL Premier may have a large footprint on the surface, divisional play and several showcases keeps travel light for the players and provides college scouts more showcase opportunities than in any other league to see the best Tier III talent.

USPHL Midget Divisions: The USPHL That is one of the main reasons 18U, 16U and 15U full-season diviwhy the USPHL Premier, in the last sions have developed a great reputatwo years alone, has produced 240 NCAA athletes – including Jacob Craig Pantano, a former South Shore Kings tion for not only hosting highly-ranked (2013-15), has been one of the top Tier I AAA teams, but also advancing Zab, who rode a strong year with netminder goalies in the Hockey East for nationally-ranked the Pittsburgh Vengeance to an Northeastern University early on in the college players to all corners of the junior, college and pro hockey world.

NCAA Division I roster spot with the hockey season. Photo/Northeastern Athletics The Midget divisions combined have seen 146 alumUniversity of Nebraska Omaha.

Another 210 players from the last two years of the ni that are currently playing NCAA Division I, while more USPHL Premier have moved on to the ACHA ranks, giv- than 200 are playing NCAA Division III hockey. A total ing the USPHL Premier a total of 450 college advance- of 85 former USPHL 18U players are now in the NCDC ments in just two seasons. No less than 40 individual and more than 200 former 16U players are in the NCDC, players have made the big jump the last two years to the Premier and Elite. Over 90 USPHL 15U alumni have NCDC within the USPHL. continued up through the junior divisions.

USPHL.com CARubberHockey.com

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ANDREW OGLEVIE Position: Forward, Rochester Americans (American Hockey League)

Hometown: Fullerton Youth Teams: Anaheim Jr. Ducks, Beach City Lightning, California Wave, LA Hockey Club/Selects Last Amateur Team: University of Notre Dame (Big Ten, NCAA D-I) California Rubber: Do you have a favorite California hockey memory?

Andrew Oglevie: Winning back-to-back national championships in 2008-09 with LA Hockey. Our (’95) team went to three straight championship games. Another one was the first time our group went to Canada to Silver Sticks in Whitby (Ontario) and got to skate on a frozen pond. We’d never been anywhere that had winter before.

CR: Do you have a favorite memory since?

AO: We went to back-to-back Frozen Fours at Notre Dame. I had the OT game-winner in the regional final (against UMass Lowell) in 2017.

CR: Did you have a favorite hockey team or player growing up?

AO: The Ducks. My all-time favorite player was Mark Messier because my mom’s from New York. My favorite growing up was Paul Kariya. He signed one of my sticks at KHS one time, an Easton Z bubble – my first graphite stick.

CR: Who are some of the influential people in your life?

AO: My parents (Norm and Maury) and my grandparents. My coach at Culver Military Academy, Jason Nightingale, because it was around the time colleges were starting to recruit and he helped me quite a bit. Mark Carlson at Cedar Rapids (USHL) as well.

CR: How close are you to finishing your degree?

AO: I’m going to finish it up this summer (Oglevie signed with the Buffalo Sabres after his junior season). For one, it’s Notre Dame, and it would be very dumb of me not to get my degree. My parents worked hard to get me that opportunity and provide me everything I had to that ended up getting my scholarship.

CR: When you’re back in California, do you have a favorite meal?

AO: There’s too many. You’ve got to go to In-N-Out. The Taqueria. They don’t have good Mexican food anywhere else. The Hat in Brea has really good pastrami sandwiches. Those three are my staples.

CR: What is the best hockey prank you’ve seen?

AO: I remember watching the playoffs one year and Corey Perry was in the middle between the Ducks’ and Kings’ benches. I think it was Jeff Carter who was drinking water and set his gloves on the boards. Perry dumped an entire water bottle into Carter’s gloves. They had to weigh five pounds.

Another staple is putting baby powder under a guy’s helmet.

CR: What have you learned through your hockey transitions?

AO: You learn how to treat your body right off the ice. Going to military school, to juniors and to college taught me how to get the recovery I need so I’m consistent every night. I mentioned Mark Carlson as an influence.

He taught me how to play a complete, 200-foot game. I always liked offense, but just that doesn’t get you too far. I’ve played a style of hockey he’s molded me into. Be willing to learn and listen to your coaches. Respect them, they’ve been around a long time and know what they’re doing, and they’ll help you get to where you want to go

Photo/Micheline Veluvolu/Rochester Americans

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California Rubber Hockey Magazine

CR: What is one thing people don’t realize about pro hockey?

AO: It’s a business. You show up every day, you’re expected to work. You’re traveling a lot. It’s more rigorous than college. It’s also a lot of fun. You’re with the guys all the time on the road. You have to stay consistent. You have to find ways to keep your body fresh and your mind sharp because you’re playing almost every other night for six months. It’s a grind, but you also have a ton of free time.

- Compiled by Chris Bayee

HOLIDAY SHOWDOWN DEC 27 - 30, 2019

18U AA | 16U AA | 14U AA 12U AA | 8U A & B

PRESIDENTS’ DAY CHALLENGE FEB 14 - 17, 2020

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