The Los Angeles Jr. Kings’ Squirt BB1 and B teams advanced to the championship game in their respective divisions of this year’s Southern California Amateur Hockey Association (SCAHA) playoffs after winning their semifinal contests, which were played last weekend (March 17-18) at Ice Station Valencia.
The Squirt BB1 team (pictured), led by head coach Jeff Bain, downed the San Diego Jr. Gulls, 5-1, in its semi on Sunday, while the Chet Carlbom-coached Squirt B squad bested the Santa Barbara Ice Hawks, 8-2, on Saturday.
In the finals - all A, BB and B SCAHA championship games will be showcased on March 24-25 at The Rinks-Anaheim Ice - the Squirt BB1 club will take on Gold Rush Hockey Club on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and the Squirt B team will face off against Jr. Gulls 1 at 11:30 a.m., also on Saturday.
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Two other Jr. Kings teams played in SCAHA semifinal games over the weekend, including their Stephane Desjardins-led Pee Wee BB squad, which fell to the SDIA Oilers, 9-2, on Sunday, and James Gasseau-coached Squirt A2 club, which came up short against the Jr. Gulls, 5-4, also on Sunday.
At last weekend’s California Amateur Hockey Association Tier II State Championships, which were played at Ice-Plex Escondido, the Jr. Kings’ Pee Wee AA1 team finished with a 2-2 record.
The Maik Tatavosian-led club opened the four-team, double-elimination tournament on Friday with a 2-1 loss to Anaheim Jr. Ducks 1. The Jr. Kings rebounded, though, with a pair of wins on Saturday - 3-2 in a shootout over Golden State Elite Eagles 1 and 3-1 over Jr. Ducks 1 - before falling to the California Golden Bears on Sunday, 4-1.
At the Tier I level, the Jr. Kings’ Bantam Major team, coached by Jeff Turcotte, qualified for next month’s USA Hockey National Championships after celebrating the title in its division at this year’s Pacific District Championships, which were showcased earlier this month in San Jose.
At the national tournament, which will run from April 5-10 in Charlotte, N.C., the squad will face off against the rest of the country’s best in the 14U age group.
