By Ted Parkhill

The Pee Wee hockey team from the South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association had what officials are calling an amazing weekend of playoff hockey in Oakland. 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 13-15.

On March 23, the team faced the California Cougars Pee Wee team from Cupertino. The Tahoe Grizzlies came out strong and triumphed by pouncing on the Cougars 4-2. On Saturday morning, the Grizzlies faced the Fresno Monsters, losing 5-3. The Grizzlies demonstrated the depth of the team with their three goals scored by three players.

Saturday afternoon the Grizzlies stomped on the Redwood City Black Stars, 7-2. Reiss Jensen of Reno scored a hat trick and Edward Parkhill of Incline Village also had three points with one goal and two assists.

The championship game was Sunday afternoon. Again, the Grizzlies faced the Monsters. It was a hard fought game, but in the end the Monsters were hungrier than the Grizzlies. The Monsters won 3-2.

The Fresno Monsters and the Tahoe Grizzlies earned a spot at the California Amateur Hockey Association’s annual state championships.

Ted Parkhill is a member of the South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association.