Blog
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…
Jr. Sharks add NHL vet Zettler to stable of youth coaches
October 25th, 2016The wealth of knowledge the San Jose Jr. Sharks continue to add to their coaching staff just keeps growing. Rob Zettler is the newest Jr. Sharks coach with pro experience to jump into coaching at the youth level, as the ex-NHL defenseman – who was part of the inaugural San Jose Sharks team of 1991-92…
Pacific Palisades’ Rivera named WCHA Rookie of the Week
October 24th, 2016Minnesota State University freshman forward Nicholas Rivera was tabbed WCHA Rookie of the Week on Monday after the Mavericks played to a split on the road in Alaska last weekend. Rivera tied for the NCAA lead among freshmen with four points, scoring a pair of goals with two assists as No. 9 Minnesota State split…