Blog
Condors get by with a little H.E.L.P. from their friends
November 8th, 2016The California Condors celebrate their tenth anniversary this month, and the fact that the hockey program for youth and adults with developmental disabilities has thrived for a full decade is a testament to the hard work and dedication of countless individuals. But as the leadership of the program – started at the Valley Ice Center…
Hairy weekend at The Rinks all part of Movember support
November 7th, 2016Often times as a reader, one may find themselves thinking about the words on the page or otherwise adding additional commentary to what is being read. Staying in line with the natural tendency to engage and be thoughtful about literature, here is a question. How many of you know a male? OK, now that may…
Talented Heat trio stays together from Mites to Midgets
November 4th, 2016There’s something special going on with the California Heat in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles, and it has been a decade in the making. The Heat’s 16U AA team has three players on its roster than have been with the program for 10 seasons, and the trio has developed a chemistry over the years…
Concussion education continues as top priority for CAHA
November 4th, 2016Concussions continue to be one of the most important issues facing the California Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). While concussion protocol has been in place within CAHA since 2012, the organization continues to grow and refine its strategy on dealing with concussions in the hopes of mitigating the effects of head injuries among minor hockey players….
Poway’s Herrman making the grade as first-year player in USHL
November 3rd, 2016If you’re a kid growing up playing ice hockey in California, the lure of playing in a top-level junior program remains strong. Tougher, faster, stronger: it appears to be the route taken by many players to major college programs and even the National Hockey League. Poway’s Rory Herrman has taken that path, and appears to…
Walnut Creek’s Durflinger makes NCAA plans with Denver
November 2nd, 2016“You blankety blank, blank, blank!” “Why, I ought to clobber you!” Jake Durflinger has just about heard it all during his four seasons of junior hockey, most of the past two with the Bloomington Thunder of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Through it all, the forward from Walnut Creek has done whatever it has…
Tahoe Hockey Academy ‘ecstatic’ to get season started
October 31st, 2016After months and months of planning, the doors finally opened at Tahoe Hockey Academy last month, and things finally started to seem real when the academy played its first games in late September. Donning its purple and white uniforms for the first time, the team traveled to Winnipeg the last weekend in September and opened…
Motivated Hamacher eyeing success in USHL rookie season
October 28th, 2016Jacob Hamacher’s stock continues to rise. The 19-year-old winger had a breakout season last year in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and that success has translated to the Corona native making the jump this season to one of the premier franchises in the United States Hockey League (USHL), the Dubuque Fighting Saints….
Second-year LA Lions solidifying their footing in local girls hockey scene
October 27th, 2016They say timing is everything. When it came to architecting the newly minted LA Lions girls hockey program, that cliché couldn’t ring truer. Bring together a Los Angeles Kings employee who played NCAA Division I girls hockey – Megan Rivera – and a passionate mother of an equally-passionate hockey-playing daughter – Becki Winckler – along…
From the floor to STAPLES Center, Royals find success
October 26th, 2016It was déjà vu for the Santa Barbara Royals on Sept. 24: a shutout win versus the Kern County Knights. While this one was not at the STAPLES Center — the home of the Los Angeles Kings, who administer the 10-team Los Angeles Kings High School Hockey League (LAKHSHL) — Santa Barbara’s 5–0 regular-season home…