This report is from the 2002/2003 California Golden Bears Mite BB team. In case you don't know what BB is, it was a division between A and B that has long since been phased out. This team had both Tom and Killian as well as Sergey behind the bench as an assistant coach. It was Killian's first goal ever and the only one he would score all season, though he did finish with 20 assists and 20 penalty minutes. Not bad for a six-year-old.

February 3, 2003 - “Duck And Recover”

The Jr. Ducks A2 came to Burbank Saturday morning for what the Brits would call a “friendly”. The Mighty Mite Golden Bears were loose and took the ice unintimidated by this higher caliber team. Haroutun Kupchyan scored at the end of the first to tie the game at 1-1. Our boys played the Ducks hard. In fact, after two periods the Bears were only down by 2. Solid defense and outstanding goal tending from Chris Liner kept the kids close. Then, early in the third they got a little closer when Killian “The Cannonball” Anderson scored his first goal ever. “The Miracle On Ice”, “The Called Shot”, and “The Catch” were all nice moments, but this was a truly momentous occasion. Okay, I’m overreacting, but it was a sweet one-timer from Billy Tarasoff. The Ducks extended their lead, but Nick Wallace came right back with his second goal in as many games. In the end, the Bears lost 5-3, but they can be proud of putting up one heck of a fight against this A level team. Haroutun #33 scored a goal and an assist. Killian scored a goal. Nick scored a goal and Billy had 1 assist. Chris L. made 7 big saves and Jackson Germaine had 8 huge ones in relief.

Sunday the boys headed back out to Riverside to face the Arrowhead Rangers. This game was dominated by the Baby Blueshirts fundamentally sound play. They played position and moved the puck extremely well. The Bears couldn’t get much going. The Rangers defense limited our boys to very few shots and chances. If it weren’t for Jackson’s stellar play in net, this game would have gotten completely out of hand. It’s not that our boys played bad or didn’t try very hard; Lake Arrowhead just played that much better. The Bears were shut out 5-0 in a “back to the drawing board” kind of game. Jackson had a hot glove hand and stopped 20 quality shots.

So the Bears dropped both games this weekend, it wasn’t a total wash. There were loads of good things going on for them. First and foremost, the goaltending was great. Chris L. and “Stonewall” Jackson really stepped it up. The Bears continue to get offense from the second line. Tom Dobrokhot looked a lot more comfortable on the blue line, making many nice stops through both games. David Nardoni proved he is effective no matter what position he plays. Against the Ducks on defense, David made plays from his skates, knees, belly, whatever it took. Gordie Dean began playing with a ferocity that was exciting to watch. He joins Grind-liners Killian and Manny Mancha as one of the toughest smash-mouth hockey players on the team. It’s time for the Bears to regroup, lick their wounds, and get ready for the Vegas tournament and a run at the play-offs.

News And Notes

- As you all may know, the Mighty Mite California Golden Bears won the Valencia tournament over the Christmas holiday. In winning this tournament the boys were presented with a banner commemorating this awesome accomplishment. The team manager had every kid’s name put on the banner to preserve his place in hockey history. It is now February and I have yet to see the banner hanging at Pickwick. I sincerely hope this is just a minor oversight and nothing more. I would hope that our boys play out of a rink that is proud of their success.