SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Ice Hockey

San Diego teams grab spotlight at CAHA Tier ice hockey playoffs

By Phillip Brents

Posted March 11, 2003

With three champions, one runner-up team and one third-place finisher at this year’s California Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) Tier finals Feb. 20-23 in San Jose, San Diego County youth ice hockey programs put themselves squarely in the spotlight.

According to coaches of the teams, it ranks as one of the most successful showings in recent memory. Blockbuster might be a better adjective, though trend-setting might be the preferred designation by San Diego program directors.

The Junior Gulls had three finalists – winning the Midget 17 AAA and Bantam AA Tier titles – while the La Jolla Jaguars captured the Pee Wee AA Tier championship.

The Junior Gulls Midget 17 AA team finished second in its division while the Junior Gulls Midget 16 AA team finished third.

“San Diego County at this championship did a pretty phenomenal job at winning in multiple divisions. It was great to see the kids come together and dominate as the tournament went on,” said Mike Lozano, who coaches the Junior Gulls Bantam AA team that carries an overall 58-6-2 overall record into the Pacific District regional tournament (California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii).

Of the six Tier divisions contested at the San Joe tournament, San Diego teams accounted for four of the 12 finalists and half the championships awarded. The Los Angeles Junior Kings won two titles (Midget 16 AAA and Midget 16 AA) and took second in another (Midget 17 AAA). The Long Beach Junior Ice Dogs (Midget 17 AA) rounded out the parade of champions.

Runner-up finishes went to the Yorba Linda Blackhawks (Midget 16 AAA), California Gold Rush (Pee Wee AA), California Wave 2 (Bantam AA) and South Coast Sabers (Midget 16 AA).

The CAHA Tier championship was the first-ever for the Jaguars.

“It was terrific. The Gulls did so well. It was like old home week up there -- A lot of old friendly familiar faces. It was great to see the San Diego kids do so well,” said Jaguars coach Joe Noris, who played professionally in both the NHL and the WHA in the 1970s.

Noris is in his second year of coach of the Jaguars’ Pee Wee team, which qualified for last year’s playoff tournament but did not medal.

The Jaguars finished in fourth place in the regular season standings this season but just barely out of second place.

“We had a very good season. We were honored that the selection committee picked us to be in the eight best teams in the state,” Noris said.

The Jaguars were among six Southern California and two Northern California teams in their playoff bracket. Favored were the top-seeded Anaheim Junior Ducks, who finished 20-0 in SCAHA competition, and the second-seeded Goldrush, which was coming off a championship in what some consider the most prestigious tournament west of the Mississippi River, the Pikes Peak tournament.

The Jaguars finished second in their preliminary-round bracket after dropping a 5-2 decision to the Goldrush and defeating the Ontario Senators 5-2 and Desert Coyotes 11-2.

The Jaguars met the Ducks in the semifinals and received three goals and one assist from John Noris, two goals from John Parker and solid goaltending from Alex Corbin to score a shocking 6-3 victory and eliminate the top-seeded Anaheim team that had racked up tournament wins against the Junior Kings (5-1), Paramount Panthers (11-0) and San Jose Junior Sharks (3-1)..

“No one expected the Ducks to lose. They had not lost all year,” said the Jaguars coach. “We got the bounces. Our goaltending was huge. We had some players who had the game of their lives. Our defense played great.”

The Jaguars prevailed by the same 6-3 in the ensuing championship game against the Goldrush.

“We beat another team that had a tremendous record. We had great goaltending. We pretty much had everyone score. I’m not going to say we dominated both games but we won by decisive scores,” said the elder Noris.

The Jaguars will next compete in the Pacific District regionals, with the winner advancing to the national tournament in South Carolina.

The Junior Gulls fielded 12 teams from the Squirt (9 to 10 years old) through Midget (15 to 18 years old) level for the 2002-03 season. A and B level teams competed in the Southern California Amateur Hockey Association for league championships and in the California Amateur Hockey Association for state championship play.

The Gulls had four Tier II (AA) teams compete this season – Pee Wee (ages 11 to 12), Bantam (ages 13 to 14), Midget Minor (ages 15 to 16) and Midget Major (ages 17 to 18) – and one Tier I team, Midget Major AA.

Of these five tier teams, four advanced to the CAHA finals and all four qualified for the regional championships – the next step on the road to the national championships (which are held in various cities for different age divisions).

The Junior Gulls Midget 17 AAA team – coached by Rob Neumann and Gus Filantres -- entered the CAHA state playoffs seeded first with a 51-20-4 record and defeated Junior Kings 4-3 in overtime in the championship game to cap a 3-0-1 tournament performance. The Gulls, who had competed in numerous tournaments across North America and were ranked among the top 15 teams nationally, opened the CAHA Tier playoffs with victories against the Long Beach Stars (6-2) and Junior Sharks (6-2) before settling for a 13-13 tie against the Junior Kings.

Rostered players include forwards Sean Birkle, Matt Cattivera, Will Charland, Dan Comrie, Bernardo Elizondao, Brian Longmore, Anthony Matos, Nathan Sigmund, Michael Spawton, John Stoddard and Anton Volkov, defensemen Ian Drummond, Tommy Neer, Rafael Rodriguez, Reza Sharghi and Charlie Vaughan, and goaltenders Aaron Runner and Michael Wells.

Paced by the play of Comrie and Sigmund, the Gulls advanced to the final against the Junior Kings. Trialing early, the Gulls staged a comeback on two clutch goals from Neer to tie the game at 3-3 at the end of regulation play. The game-winning goal came on a hard wrist shot by Rodriguez in the extra period.

Comrie, a member of the United States national junior team, Sigmund, and others, including Sharghi, have received Division I college scholarship offers or offers to play junior hockey in the United States and Canada.

The Midget Major Gulls team will travel to Fairbanks, Alaska for the Pacific Division Regional championships.

The Junior Gulls Bantam AA team captured its title by downing the California Wave 2 by a 4-1 score. The Gulls went 5-0 in the division with previous wins against the California Wave 1 (3-1), Desert Coyotes (3-2), Huntington Beach Sun Devils (3-1) and the Junior Sharks (5-2).

Rostered players include forwards Manny Alvarado, Nielsson Archabal, Kyle Birkle, Matt Comrie, Beau Gloria, Chase Horning, Tyler Lindley, Kenny McCubbins (captain) and Curtis Vanderkooy, defensemen James Baker, Jason Diehl, Steven Hoshaw, Kevin Ingram, Jacob Newton, Tommy Snyder and Randy Swank, and goaltenders Jonathan Glant and Kyle McMahon.

Kenny McCubbins and Archabal both had four goals in the tournament while Glant posted at 1.25 GAA in the four games in which he played. Newton and Swank helped lead the team defensively while Snyder provided the role as the team’s heavy hitter.

Both McCubbins and Archabal have scored more than 90 goals this season. McCubbins, who was picked to the CAHA Select Team and won the scoring trophy for the Southwest Youth Hockey League, had two goals in the semifinal win against the Sharks and a goal and two assists in the championship game. Archabal had the game-winner in overtime against the Coyotes.

“We had been dominating the Southern California league the first part of the season. We went 48-0, so they team jelled together from the get-go. The chemistry was there from the beginning,” said Lozano, who is assisted by Dale Ingram as coach. “But with every team, you got your bumps along the road. We overcame those and come the state championships, we did extremely well.”

The Junior Ice Dogs ended the Junior Gulls’ run in the Midget 17 AA division with a 5-4 double overtime championship game victory. The Ice Dogs’ win was the second in the tournament against the Gulls after the Long Beach team had opened the tournament with a 4-3 decision. The Gulls advanced with subsequent wins against the Oakland Bears (7-6 and 7-3) and Ontario Senators (3-2).

Rostered players include forwards Chase Ambuter, Ryan Estes, Joey Galeno, Jarrad Gilbert, Jacob Glover, Carl Horten, David Imonti, Frederick Keller, Sean Sommer and Brett Timmins, defensemen Brock Backus, Michael Baumker, Stephen Hyland, Brent Ozaki and Kurt Pottinger, and goaltenders Corey Esoldi and Jacob Kalmonson.

The Junior Gulls entered the CAHA Tier playoffs seeded third with a record of 33-12-6 and had defeated the Ontario Senators two weeks earlier to win the Southwest Youth Hockey League where Ambuter and Horton had won top scoring honors.

Paced by the scoring of Ambuter, Horten and Timmins and the defensive play of Ozaki and Estes, the Gulls led for most of the championship game before Long Beach was able to come back and tie the game 4-4 in the third period. Both teams had chances to end the game in the first overtime and then into the second before the Junior Ice Dogs finally scored on a power play with 2:34 remaining in the second overtime period.

Gulls Midget 17 AA team coach Dan Archabal said he is particularly excited about the team’s invitational bid to this season’s USA Hockey Pacific Regionals (which will be held in San Jose) and the momentum the Gulls are riding following the two big wins against the Ontario Senators and the double overtime battle against the Long Beach Ice Dogs to end the regular season.

“We will be one of the most mature clubs at this event and have a good core of seniors in Joey Galleno, Brock Backus, Brett Timmins, Jacob Kalmonson, Kurt Pottinger, Jacob Glover and Stephen Hyland, who are making their last push at a title,” said Archabal, who is joined on the team’s coaching staff by Jeff Chismar. “Goaltending for us is also (a) key -- there are not many teams at this level that can give either one of their netminders the nod in a big game and be confident they will deliver. Kalmonson and Correy Esoldi give us this edge. I also like how we are finishing our checks and goals the last few weeks. Michael Baumker and Ryan Estes give us size on the blue line and Brent Ozaki gives us tough coverage in front of the net. On the other end of the ice, Carl Horten and Chase Ambuter remain a threat to score and we are starting to get more consistent play out of forward Jarrad Gilbert.”

On the downside, Archabal said his biggest concern going into the regionals was that his players would miss two more days of school. “I hope that the organizations will be more sensitive to our players’ academic commitments in the future,” he said. “We need to re-enforce the value of their education every chance we get.”

This year, California gets to send three teams to the regional tournament from the Midget Minor division and the Gulls faced off against the Riverside Coyotes for the honor of securing the third and final qualifying berth. The Gulls entered the CAHA finals seeded third with a 25-22-8 record and were coming off a semifinal finish in the Southwest Youth Hockey League. The third-place game was not close, with the Gulls defeating the Coyotes 9-1.

Rostered players on the Gulls’ third-place Midget 16 AA team include forwards Nick Cervera, Grand Chinda, Derek Dunne (captain), Mitchell Eriksen, Max Guise, Jackson Hartman, Rosds Pfahler, Bijan Sharghi and John Wildman, defensemen Kellen Charpentier, Danny Clausen, Matthew Lewis (captain), Kevin Richardson and Jesse Robison, and goaltenders Taylor Demulder and Clark Oliver.

Led by the scoring of Dunne and Chinda and by the defensive play of Lewis, the Gulls defeated the South Coast (Anaheim) Sabers 4-1 and Riverside Coyotes 4-3 to advance to the third-place game. Wildman had a rare playoff hat trick in the third-place game against the Coyotes while Charpentier laid on some “big hits” to spur the Gulls onto the regional tournament.

Coach Don Oliver spoke of sacrifice and dedication to achieve as key operating words on this team.

“We had a long tough road. When the season started I had a list of 20 possible players to make my team. At the end, I have five left. These few are the core of my team,” the elder Oliver said. “Around them I placed a group of eager younger players trying to contribute. In particular, my captain, Derrick Dunne, came from the previous Bantam AA team where he struggled. This year he has bloomed into a complete player and, more important in my book, a leader and a great human being. It is through his Herculean efforts that we are where we are. Even though 110 pounds wet, he has carried the team on his back without a whimper. When I was younger, a coach who I respected stated to me that there will always be guys that play hockey and very few hockey players. We have used this as a model of what we are today. In summary, my kids have a way to go up the learning curve of being players, but I can sit back when I am older and know that they learned to love the game this year as never before.”

The Gulls will be joined in an all-California regional division (in San Jose) by the Los Angeles Junior Kings, South Coast Sabers and San Jose Junior Sharks. The Kings defeated the Sabers 6-3 in the CAHA Tier finals.

Most of these ice hockey players also play in high school roller hockey leagues and virtually every star roller hockey player is a member of one of these Tier Gulls teams.