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College ice hockey:
SDSU Aztecs are hot on ice

Posted Dec. 14, 2007
While an air of mystery still surrounds the abrupt demise of the San Diego Gulls following the 2005-06 ECHL season, there is no mystery whatsoever about the 2007-08 San Diego State University ice hockey team. The Aztecs entered the winter break 16-0 and are favored not only to contend once again for this year’s Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association crown but to fare well at the season-ending American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III national club championship tournament March 12-15 in Rochester, Minn.

In fact, the current SDSU team is being hailed as the best-ever in the program’s 30-year history.

“When we won the PCHA last season, I was told it was only the second time in 30 years that SDSU had won it,” Aztecs head coach David Hough said. “Last season was the first time SDSU went to nationals. The ACHA gave us a bid. This year’s team is the best PCHA team I’ve seen and I’ve been involved either as a player or a coach in the PCHA for the last 10 years.”

A native of Massachusetts, Hough, 30, moved to Ventura and attended junior high and high school in the Golden State. He played ice hockey for the Thousand Oaks Thunder before attending UC-Davis. He played on the UC-Davis team four years, winning a PCHA title his first season there.

SDSU finished 12th out of 16 teams at last season’s ACHA national tournament, finishing 1-3, as a rash of untimely injuries limited the club’s performance at the showcase event. This year, the focus is on improving that showing.

The ACHA tournament includes teams from four regions, with the top two teams from the PCHA generally assured bids. The Aztecs finished the fall semester ranked second in the Pacific Region behind the University of Northern Colorado (18-0-0). SDSU faces off at third-ranked Northern Arizona (11-2-1) in mid-January in a key top 10 rankings match-up.

Northern Arizona was the early season pick to win the ACHA nationals.

Hough said his team remains hungry.

“We have the attitude that we haven’t captured anything yet," said Hough, whose team owns an impressive 6-0 record against Division II PCHA squads this season and has beaten opponents by 10 or more goals four times this season. "The next thing is the focus. The real focus is to stay on track and develop as a team.”

Certainly, the team’s success last season helped in recruiting this season. Besides a holdover in talent, the club also was able to attract top Midget AA and AAA players to its roster.

“The No. 1 thing about this team is that we had a lot of talent already returning and we added some Midget AA and AAA players to it,” Hough said. “We have a strong core of defensemen. They’re fast and move the puck very well. The team chemistry is tremendous. These guys enjoy playing together. They do things together. They live together. They party together.”

The Aztecs, united in their goal to excel in the upcoming regional and national competition, certainly made a statement with their 13-0 victory against UNLV, a Division II opponent, in front of a standing-room only crowd Dec. 7 at the Kroc Center. The game drew an estimated 400 fans and was as loud and boisterous from the fan standpoint as any college basketball game.

“We have been getting a lot of bodies out here. The word is slowly spreading,” Hough said with a smile.

The Aztecs are enjoying their most successful season in school history with what Hough refers to as a roster comprised “90 percent of Californians.” SDSU boasts one player from Minnesota (forward Patrick Appel), one from North Dakota (defenseman Lane Smith) and one from Pennsylvania (defensman Robert Vertullo). The remainder of the players on team's rather sizable 31-man roster hail from the Golden State. They include forwards Adam York (Davis), Kevin Kostick (San Clemente), Eric Fruen (Santa Clara), Jeff Vicencio (Alameda), Mickey Greco (Sun Valley), Doug Lee (San Ramon), Mikel Stevens and Joey Barrera (both Pleasanton), Roland Breitenstein (Hawthorne), Bobby Finley (Torrance), Ben Nicoll (Lake Forest), Adam Mark (Santa Rosa), Kyle Levesque (Chino Hills), Kolin Ozonian (Laguna Beach), defensemen Aaron Puentes (Rohnert Park), Jonathan Gibbs (El Segundo), Mitch Venosta (Morgan Hill) and goaltenders Mike Rijavec (Moraga), Corey Jackson (Yorba Linda) and Scott Pollard (Carpinteria).

Jackson was named the PCHA Defensive Player of the Year last season as the Aztecs finished 13-2-1 in the PCHA standings and 17-9-1 overall, including playoffs.

San Diego County products include forwards Nigel Schroeder, Alec Nadelle, Anthony Sansone, defensmen Tommy Neer Lance Peterson, Alejandro Asti-Nieto, Robert Stenberg and goaltender Jacob Kalmonson

Nadelle ranked second in team scoring last season with 34 points while tying for the team lead with 18 goals.

“Hockey in California is really strong now,” Hough said. “The level of play is very impressive. You’re seeing more and more native Californians making it to the NHL level. These kids do play roller hockey but also skate on ice. They’re not just playing roller hockey but playing both roller and ice hockey.”

Kolin Ozonian (96) is welcomed to the SDSU bench after scoring a goal in Dec. 7 game against UNLV.

Neer is one of those dual roller/ice players. A 2002 graduate of Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, Neer has already reached the pinnacle in roller hockey by helping guide Team Mission Syndicate to the championship of last summer’s NARCh Pro Finals. He started playing ice hockey at 15 -- “I liked hitting and passing, It’s great fun, It’s a blast!” he said -- and won a regional title as a member of the Gulls AAA Midget team.

He helped the Aztecs capture last year’s PCHA crown but broke his foot in the process. He hobbled through two victories against NAU in Flagstaff that sealed SDSU’s title showing but was unable to play at nationals because of the injury.

One of his personal goals is to perform well at this year’s national tournament. As one of the team’s senior leaders, he is putting a lot of responsibility on himself.

“It’s about teamwork. It’s about respect. You try to keep the guys motivated,” said Neer, who is a graphic design major at SDSU.

The 5-8, 155-pound Neer considers speed and passing as his top attributes. At one point this season, Neer led the team in both points and penalty minutes. “I’m well rounded on my feet,” he said.

The Aztecs topped UNLV by scores of 6-5 and 3-2 in Nevada to start the season and in Neer's words, have "picked up our pace since the start of the season."

Ozonian, who grew up playing hockey for the Junior Ducks, Riverside Jets and Ontario Senators, leading those teams to SCAHA and CAHA titles, paced SDSU with three goals and on assist in the 13-0 rout of the Rebels while Finley scored twice, Nicoll had three assists and Kalmonson stopped all 31 shots he faced.

Nicoll led the Aztecs in scoring through 15 games with 12 goals and 18 assists; Neer was second with 11 goals and 16 assists in 14 games.

Rijavec (2.34 GAA) and Kalmonson (2.40 GAA) were the team's leaders between the pipes.

The Aztecs topped Division II CSU Long Beach by scores of 5-4 and 6-2 to sweep a two-game series in Lakewood Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Smith scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the third period of the Nov. 30 contest, while Ozonian recorded a hat trick in the latter game.

Vicencio, assisted by Smith and Finley, supplied the overtime game-winner in a 7-6 victory against UNLV Dec. 8 at Escondido's Iceoplex Arena.

SDSU's resiliency remains its defining attribute this season with the ability to win both close games as well as blowouts.

"We’re not a one period team. We’re a three period team,” Neer said.

The Aztecs' storybook season thus far has a lot of history yet to be written in the second half of the 2007-08 campaign. It might possibly include a national championship.

From East County to UC Irvine:
Father-son hockey duo has Anteaters on the rise

Posted Jan. 14, 2008
Father (coach) and son (player) tandems in hockey are not uncommon. For the UC Irvine Anteaters, it has proven a winning combination – one with a surprising East County connection.

Norm Timmins coached teams in the Junior Gulls ice hockey organization for 12 years while watching his son Spike diligently climb the age-group ladder. For those familiar with roller hockey, Spike Timmins’ name stands out in the annals of Monte Vista High School.

But it is ice hockey — not roller hockey — in which the Timmins’ clan has excelled.

“It’s fun. I enjoy it,” said Norm Timmins of the unique opportunity to coach his son at the college level. “It's a challenge at times. I have to keep neutral as a coach and make sure I don’t show my son any undue favoritism. He has to be just another player on the bench as far as I am concerned.”

The elder Timmins played ice hockey at the University of North Dakota, which counts Ed Belfour among the Fighting Sioux alumni who have gone on to play in the NHL. The commute between San Diego and Irvine can be tricky at times but all the wear on the rubber seems to be worth it after the Anteaters toppled the SDSU Aztecs from the ranks of the unbeaten via last Friday’s 5-2 victory at the Kroc Center.

The younger Timmins did not pick up a point in the contest but he was the center of attention for several former Junior Gulls teammates now skating for the Aztecs.

“We hadn't beaten them all four years I’ve been here,” Spike Timmins said. “Because they were undefeated – that made it even better. We have a lot of seniors on our team. They're heading off. It was nice to beat a team like SDSU. It was nice to beat them in San Diego where I grew up. I don't think I've had more people to watch me play in one game than this one.”

A chemistry major at UC Irvine, the 2003 Monte Vista grad grew up playing alongside current SDSU goaltender Jacob Kalmonson and defensemen Robert Stenberg and Tommy Neer (Granite Hills High School).

Timmins and Neer got into a friendly shoving match at the end of the first period.

UC Irvine entered the game ranked 11th among teams in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association. The win against the second-ranked Aztecs pushed the Anteaters' record to 7-5. SDSU had entered the winter break with a perfect 16-0-0 record.

“We just got flat out beat,” SDSU coach David Hough said. “They finished their shots. Their defensive clearing was excellent. When we did get through their defense, their goaltender was excellent.”

“The boys played well,” Norm Timmins said. “This was only the third game all season that we’ve been able to roll over three lines. We've had a lot of injuries. We try to play with speed and quickness. Let me say that SDSU has a great team. It was definitely great to beat them.”

UC Irvine never trailed in the PCHA South Division match-up as Richard Melnyk got the game's jump goal just 1:14 into the contest. SDSU's Lance Peterson tied the game 6:33 into the game but the visitors went up by a goal, 2-1, when Steve Tonita beat Kalmonson for the lone goal of the middle period.

Ben Nicolls’ goal to start the third period tied the game but the Anteaters closed out the contest with three unanswered goals – one each by Daniel Samec, Melnyk and Jeremy Mau.

Melnyk finished the game with two goals for UC Irvine while Mau had a goal and assist.

Bucky Khalap stopped 41 of 43 SDSU shots between the pipes for the Anteaters; Kalmonson had 36 saves as the Aztecs finished with a narrow 43-41 edge in shots.

The younger Timmins, whose seemingly boundless energy may be his greatest attribute, is not your everyday ice hockey player. And that suits the senior left wing just fine.

“I definitely like to hit and get assists,” he said. “I’m happy if I get an assist rather than a goal. It’s a little bit different from what anyone else might say.”

He retains good memories of his days playing roller hockey at Monte Vista. “We had a really good roller hockey team. We were stronger than most of the other teams,” he said, serving up memories with a smile. “Hockey isn’t a sport at most places out here. To have a hockey team at our school was awesome.”

The top six teams in the PCHA rankings qualify for the upcoming Pacific region playoffs Feb. 22-24 in Bakersfield. The top two ranked teams are guaranteed a berth in the American Collegiate Hockey Association nationals March 12-15 in Minnesota. Teams ranked third through 10th in the PCHA will compete in a regional tournament Feb. 15-16 in Bakersfield, with the top two teams advancing to the ACHA nationals as the third- and fourth-ranked teams from the PCHA.

Both father and son said the goal now for the Anteaters is to reach the playoffs

“We’d like to get to the playoffs and go to nationals,” Spike Timmins said. “We started out slow but are playing well now. We'd like to get to nationals. It's a far reach, but ...”

Meanwhile, the action only seems to be heating up on the ice for SDSU. The Aztecs face off a critical two-game road trip to third-ranked Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff Jan. 18-19 before returning home to host Fresno State on Jan. 25. SDSU then faces off a two-game set against fourth-ranked CSU Northridge, playing at CSU Northridge on Jan. 26 before playing host in the home-and-away series on Feb. 1.

Hough said the Jan. 11 loss to UC Irvine might be good for his team in the long run. “I think this is the best thing that could happen,” the Aztec helmsman said. “We'd been getting a lot of love from the press and our fans lately, so the egos go up. This just demonstrates how much hard work we still have ahead of us.”

SDSU Aztecs finish second at ACHA Division III nationals
Posted March 25, 2008
The San Diego State University men's ice hockey team completed an unforgettable season by placing second in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III national championship tournament March 12-15 in Rochester, Minn. Some faces may have worn frowns during the official team photo ceremony following the Aztecs' 7-2 loss to California University of Pennsylvania, but that did not diminish in the least what the two-time PCHA champions managed to accomplish this season.

What the 2007-08 edition of the SDSU Aztecs accomplished obviously will set the standard for future teams.

SDSU finished 12th last season in the ACHA nationals – the school's first trip there. The Aztecs followed that history-making journey by securing their second consecutive trip to the Division III finals after finishing regular season play ranked second in the Pacific Region.

The Aztecs finished with just one loss in 24 regular season games, going 23-1, and tacked on two more victories in sweeping through the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association championship playoffs. SDSU finished 3-1 at the national championships to cap a superlative 28-2 season.

Despite early scoring chances, the Aztecs couldn't find the net often enough in the ACHA Division III national championship game played March 15.

Feisty five-foot-nine, 165-pound senior defenseman Tommy Neer was named to the All-Tournament First Team while goaltender Jacob Kalmonson, forward Ben Nicoll and center Kolin Ozonian were honored on the Second Team for SDSU.

The Aztecs earned a berth in the final match by defeating the University of Central Florida, 7-0, in the semifinal round of the 16-team tournament. Kalmonson recorded 30 saves to record the shutout while Anthony Sansone led the offense with two goals and Mikel Stevens had a goal and an assist.

Earlier tournament victories came against Tennessee (5-3) and Hope University (6-1).

Despite the runner-up finish, the Aztecs recorded one of the most amazing seasons in school or regional history under head coach David Hough and assistants Benjamin Jack and Rick Miller. The Aztecs put together a winning formula and the coaching staff could see the team was headed in the right direction.

“These guys have great team chemistry,” said Hough earlier in the season. “They really get along well and play in support of each other on the ice.”

UC Irvine provided the only blemish on the locals' season record in a game played Jan. 11 while many of the Aztecs were still on semester break and the team hadn't practiced for several days.

Following the 5-2 loss, Hough emphasized that it was “exactly what the team needed to show the guys that they can't just show up for a game. They have to come ready to play against every team."

The 5-2 defeat left the Aztecs at 16-1 and SDSU finished its season without another loss against a collegiate opponent until the ACHA championship final.

The Aztecs opened the Division III national championship tournament with a 5-3 upset victory against third-seeded Tennessee and did not led the opportunity to do some significant damage from there on slip from their grasp.

Ozonian scored on a short-handed breakaway to give SDSU an early lead on Hope in its second game. The Aztecs carried the momentum through the rest of the first period, finishing the period with a 3-0 lead. Ozonian scored another short-handed goal in the third period and Alec Nadelle and Lance Peterson scored in the closing minutes to cap the 6-1 win to advance to the Division III Final Four.

The top two teams from each of the four regions received automatic entry into the ACHA nationals, filling out eight of the 16 berths. The remaining eight berths were filled by the top two finishers in each of four regional qualifying tournaments.

SDSU (ranked No. 2) and Northern Colorado (ranked No. 1) qualified as the top two seeded teams from the Pacific Region. The next eight ranked teams competed in the Pacific regional in mid-February in Oakland to determine the region's No. 3 and No. 4 seeded teams. The Northern Arizona Ice Jacks and the Dordt College Blades both won their two games to advance.

NAU topped 10th-seeded Sacramento State and eighth-seeded UC San Diego by scores of 10-0 and 6-4, respectively. Dordt College defeated ninth-seeded UC Davis and seventh-seeded Wyoming by scores of 6-0 and 4-0, respectively.

Eight teams competed in the Pacific regional tournament. Also making a bid to qualify for nationals were fifth-seeded Cal State Northridge and sixth-seeded Air Force Academy.
As a club team, the Aztecs receive no financial support from the university. In fact, each player on the team paid $1,500 to play this season. The trip to March 11-15 nationals was another unfunded expense for the 31-man squad and coaching staff.

PCHA Finals
SDSU successfully defended its PCHA title by turning back challenges from Northern Arizona University and CSU Northridge in tournament competition in late February in Bakersfield. The Aztecs received a first-round bye as the top-seeded team and then cruised past NAU in the semifinals. SDSU topped CSU Northridge by 10 goals in the championship game, winning 12-2.

The outcome of the PCHA finals did not affect qualifying for the ACHA nationals.

SDSU earned the No. 1 seed in the PCHA South bracket while Santa Clara earned the No. 1 seed in the PCHA North bracket. Santa Clara, sparked offensively by freshman Gary Nissen, cruised past fourth-seeded Fresno State in the first round by a 7-2 score. The Broncos, however, fell by a 7-2 score in the semifinals to Cal State Northridge.

Charity Exhibition
In preparation for SDSU's appearance in the nationals, and to raise needed funds for airfare and hotels, the Aztecs decided to toughen up his team in a recent charity exhibition game. And coach Hough chose the right opponent for the March 7 battle on their home ice at the Joan Kroc Center in San Diego when the Aztecs faced off against the San Diego Pros, a collection of former members of the San Diego Gulls from the West Coast Hockey League and ECHL heyday championship teams.

The Pros, wearing orange Gulls game jerseys, were led by former WCHL scoring champion and team head coach Martin St. Amour. Nicknamed "Moose" as a player, St. Amour towered over several of the Aztec players.

Other notable names who took the ice for the Pros were Stephane St. Amour, Martin's younger brother, and “stocky” defenseman Jason Courtemanche. Also in the lineup were locals Dan and John Gravelle and goaltender Scooter Henson.

Acting coaches for the Pros were popular wingers Brad Belland and B.J. MacPherson.

The collegians had the stronger legs, but the wily old pros, taking shots from many angles and locations the Aztecs don't regularly see, made the most of their limited endurance and huffed and puffed to a 10-3 victory over the youngsters.

After the game, a sweat-soaked Martin St. Amour, still wearing his skates, paid a visit to the Aztec locker room to praise the team and take a donation jar with him back to the Pros' locker room.

“I'm gonna get the guys to put in some hundred dollar bills,” St. Amour promised as he trudged back to his team's quarters.

The Aztecs, despite the loss, were all smiles following the match and revved up to board their March 11 flight to Minnesota.

Slap Shots
· The Aztecs are still accepting donations to help cover the high costs of their successful trip to Minnesota. Contact club President Alex Allphin at sdsuhockey@gmail.com or call (6190 594-7842.
· The club's Web site is located at www.sdsuhockey.com.

ACHA showcase
Roanoke, Va., will serve as the host site for the 2008 ACHA Men’s Division III National Showcase Tournament Oct. 2-4. Sixteen teams will participate in the tournament.