Blog
Wildcats’ first girls team off to promising start
December 24th, 2015Ali Woodford and Madison Detwiler didn’t know it at the time, but an off-hand conversation they had while putting on their hockey pads last season may have had a major impact on girls hockey in San Diego. Now members of the Wildcats Hockey Club’s first-ever girls team, the two high schoolers were playing for boys…
Yorba Linda’s Nieto wins weekly NAHL award
December 23rd, 2015Gavin Nieto, a goaltender for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, was named the North American Hockey League (NAHL) Midwest Division Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 20. Nieto, a 19-year-old from Yorba Linda, started and won both games in a two-game road sweep of the New Jersey Titans, allowing just one goal in…
AHL’s Condors, Heat ready for outdoor game
December 19th, 2015The American Hockey League’s (AHL) Bakersfield Condors and Stockton Heat are set to make history when they pair up in an outdoor game on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Raley Field in Sacramento (the game was postponed from Dec. 18). The Pacific Division contest will be just the eighth outdoor game in AHL history and, more…
San Diego’s Williams decides on UMass-Amherst
December 18th, 2015San Diego native Brian Williams has committed to attend and play his Division I hockey at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst following his junior career. “It feels amazing to commit; a dream come true,” said Williams, a former LA Select and San Diego Jr. Gull. “I chose the University of Massachusetts-Amherst because it’s amazing, both athletically and…
Flames program rises out of Jr. Wranglers’ ashes
December 17th, 2015For more than a decade, Las Vegas residents enjoyed the excitement of hosting a team in the ECHL, and a side benefit to the presence of the Wranglers in Sin City was the organization’s positive impact on youth hockey. Alas, when the pro Wranglers folded last spring, so too did the Jr. Wranglers. A dedicated…
Cassetti, McManus, Barnes to represent U.S.
December 15th, 2015Two players with California youth hockey ties – forwards Joey Cassetti and Brannon McManus – were named to the U.S. National Under-17 Team that will compete in the upcoming Under-17 Four Nations Tournament, which will run from Dec. 16-20 in Slovakia. Cassetti, a former San Jose Jr. Shark from Pleasanton, is skating this season with…
McCrea, Pankowski cop weekly NCAA awards
December 9th, 2015Two California natives – El Cajon’s Alec McCrea and Laguna Hills’ Annie Pankowski – picked up weekly awards in their respective NCAA Division I conferences for the week ending Dec. 7. McCrea, a freshman defenseman with Cornell University, was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week after leading all league freshmen in scoring while also…
Renovations give Lakewood rink a needed facelift
December 4th, 2015Though hockey in Southern California had been around for a number of years prior to his arrival, it can be argued that Wayne Gretzky’s trade to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 was when it truly established itself locally. Since that time, California has added two NHL franchises in the San Jose Sharks and the Mighty Ducks…
Jr. Duck’s coach Johnson represents U.S. in Germany
December 4th, 2015Not long after his playing career ended in 2008, Craig Johnson got into coaching youth hockey, in part because of his sons’ interest in playing. Now the Anaheim Jr. Ducks’ director of coaches as well as the head coach of the program’s Bantam AAA1 team, Johnson’s coaching journey took him on another path earlier this…
Pair of local sharpshooters lighting up SJHL
December 4th, 2015One is a three-year veteran of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), while the other is only 20-odd games into his junior career, but Igor Leonenko and Coby Downs have more in common than both hailing from California. Both are giving goalies north of the border fits. The Battlefords North Stars were off to a…