South Tahoe hockey team going to state

The Bantam hockey team from the South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association will compete at state next weekend. Photo/Provided

By Ted Parkhill

The Bantam hockey team from the South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association had an amazing weekend of playoff hockey at the Vacaville Ice Sports arena. They placed second overall across Northern California.

With this strong finish, the team qualified to compete at the California State Hockey Championships in San Jose April 12-14.

On March 23 the team faced the Redwood City Black Stars Bantam team. The Tahoe Grizzlies started their playoff weekend with a solid 3-1 win.

On Saturday evening, the Grizzlies faced the Santa Clara Black Hawks. It was a nail biter and was a fantastic old-time hockey game. In the end the Grizzlies managed to roar past the Black Hawks with a score of 3-2. This win assured the Grizzlies of playing in the championship game the next night.

On March 24, the Grizzlies faced the Fresno Junior Monsters. The Junior Monsters were hungrier than the Grizzlies and won 3-1. With this win the Junior Monsters qualified for the championship game later that day.

The championship game was held on Sunday evening.

Again the Grizzlies faced the Jr. Monsters. It was a hard fought game but in the end the Monsters dominated in the first period. and were up 2-0. The Grizzlies roared back and tied it up 2-2. But the Jr. Monsters responded with two more goals to win the Northern California Championship.

Head Coach Ken Wood said, “The team play was the key to their success. The defense was a brick wall and the offense scored at critical times. We look forward to competing at the state level.”

The Grizzlies ended the season as the runner up. Both the Fresno Jr. Monsters and the Tahoe Grizzlies will see each other again at the California Amateur Hockey Association’s annual State Championships at the Sharks Ice in San Jose from April 12-14. Los Angeles’ California Heat and the San Diego Gulls will also be competing.

Ted Parkhill is with the South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association.