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3 Jr. Kings teams ready for nationals, states

By Brian McDonough, 04/04/18, 5:30PM PDT

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The Los Angeles Jr. Kings' Bantam Major team will compete for a USA Hockey Tier I national championship this weekend in North Carolina, while the program's Squirt BB1 and B clubs will play for CAHA state titles in Valencia.

The Los Angeles Jr. Kings’ Bantam Major team continues its quest for a Tier I national title this weekend as its faces off against the rest of the country’s best in the 14U age group at this year’s USA Hockey National Championships, which will be showcased from April 5-10 in Charlotte, N.C.

The Jr. Kings will open nationals on Thursday with a game against Florida Alliance (11:20 a.m. Pacific time), followed by a matchup with Shattuck-St. Mary’s on Friday (12:30 p.m.). L.A. will close pool play on Saturday with a contest against the Buffalo Jr. Sabres (8:50 a.m.).

In the 16-team tournament, the top two squads in each of the four, four-team pools following pool play will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Sunday. The semis will be played on Monday, and the championship game on Tuesday.

The Bantam Major team, led by head coach Jeff Turcotte, punched its ticket to nationals by first capturing a California Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) state championship in February at The Rinks-Lakewood Ice - one of seven state titles won by Jr. Kings teams this year - then the Pacific District title last month in San Jose.

“To win states and then regionals is exciting, and we can’t wait for the test in front of us at nationals,” said Turcotte. “Our boys have worked extremely hard to earn this opportunity, and I know full well they plan to make the most of it.”

USA Hockey, in conjunction with HockeyTV, will stream every game online. Games are available live and on-demand by visiting USAHockey.HockeyTV.com, creating an account and purchasing a subscription.

Also of note for tournament coverage is the USA Hockey National Championships app. Available for both Apple and Android devices, the app provides access to news, scores and schedules, as well as photos and videos from fellow participants in the app social stream.

In addition to streaming and mobile coverage, USA Hockey will provide stories, scoring, stats, standings and photos from each of the games on Nationals.USAHockey.com.

Fans can follow all of the action at nationals on Twitter (@USAHockey), Facebook (facebook.com/USAHockey) and Instagram (@usahockey) with the #USAHNationals hashtag.

In addition, two Jr. Kings teams - Squirt BB1 and B - will head to Ice Station Valencia this weekend (April 6-8) to compete at the CAHA A/BB/B State Championships.

The Squirt B team, led by head coach Chet Carlbom, earned its berth to states after celebrating the Southern California Amateur Hockey Association (SCAHA) championship in its division last weekend at The Rinks-Anaheim Ice.

The BB1 team, under the direction of head coach Jeff Bain, punched its ticket after finishing runner-up in its division at the SCAHA Championships, which were also showcased last weekend in Anaheim.

Both teams will play three round-robin games in their respective four-team divisions on Friday and Saturday, with the top two squads in each division advancing to the championship games on Sunday.

Click here for more information on the CAHA A/BB/B State Championships.