Thursday night, the Ventura Mariners Bantam Killer Bees hit the ice against the Valencia Express to open the Labor Day
Tournament. It's always an exciting time when hockey season finally starts up again, but it's also a time of nervousness.
I think the nerves probably played a role as the Mariners struggled early. They looked like a deer caught in the headlights
as the Express came barreling at them. A slew of penalties and tentative play had our boys down 3-0. It looked like the team
was in for a blow out, but Killer Bees don't just lie down an take it.
Tyler Forest got things going
late in the first period when he blistered one past the Express goalie. Before the crowd had a chance to settled down, Brian
Zacchia popped one in to make a one goal game. There was finally some life in the Mariners and the boys really picked up their
play. In the second period tough guy Luke Tickle was mucking it up in front of the net and muscled the puck in. Not long after,
Conor Gleason found a hole a scored through it. The problem was, every time the Mariners got something going, the Express
would counter. Jason Hart would score late in the third, but it wasn't enough. The Mariners lost 7-5.
I'm
still trying to learn all of the kids names, but I did notice a few standout performances. In addition to scoring goals, Conor
and Brian both had assists. Jason led all scorers with a goal and 2 assists. Coming off the "D" JB Lovelace set up a goal.
Niko Utash, who is apparently going with the Icelandic spelling of "Vtash" had a helper. Snot-nosed Killian Anderson had a
few chances and an assist.
Not all the good plays made the scoresheet. It seemed like alll of the
kids had their moments. TJ Samuel showed off his wheels and led some nice rushes. Patrick Dalton won some key puck battles.
Blake Burlew showed some inspried hustle. Defenseman Tom Dobrokhot did a good job at the blue line keeping the puck alive,
while Carmeron Torres, known more for his hitting, worked the poke-check to perfection. The goalies kind of got hung out to
dry, but they had their moments too. Gianluca Allen made a sweet toe save that brought the fans to their feet, and Mark Becica
straight up robbed a shooter with his magic glove.
In general, the goaltending could have been better,
the defense could have been better, heck the whole team could have been better. The kids need to trust each other more and
they have to play more physical. I, for one, am salivating at the idea of our big man Josh Kuchinski just laying suckas out.
Bear in mind, Sergey, Coz, and Jere are still trying to figure out who's who and what's what. Despite the loss, this was
not a disaster. After a slow start, the boys settled in and improved over the course of the game. The penalty kill was outstanding
and the powerplay netted a pair of scores. Most amazing of all: Luke and Killian combined for ZERO penalty minutes. Anyone
that knows these two from seasons past is as stunned as I am. I even sent the scoresheet to Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
I
have to give a shout out to all our boys on the pee wee and bantam A teams. I'm glad we're all at the same tournament. I'd
also like to give whatever the opposite of a shout out is to the Titan players who played against us in a game that mattered.
Nice club loyalty.
