Judging by the scores against common opponents, the Orange County Hockey Club looked to be the Ventura Mariners Bantam
Killer Bees first real test of this young season. On the day after Halloween, the boys hoped they'd be giving the tricks and
getting the treats. Technically, this was the Day Of The Dead and the team pretty much looked like zombies on the ice. This
was one of the weirder games I've seen.
The first shift of the game had the Mariners pinned
in their zone. They couldn't even get a stick on the puck. Then, Blake Burlew broke it out, found Conrado Gesauldi and BOOM,
the Mariners scored. The boys continued to play poorly and soon found themselves killing a penalty. Things were not looking
good and then Brian Zacchia got the puck and BOOM, scored a shorthanded goal. For the first half of the period, the Mariners
looked like they were sleepwalking, yet somehow had a 2-0 lead. They would eventually wake up and play their game. With about
a minute left, Conrado scored again to extend the lead.
The boys were fortunate to be up by three,
but their luck would soon run out. The middle frame was one of unmitigated horror. OCHC came out with a vengeance and attacked
the Mariners without mercy. The boys were overwhelmed. That three goal lead was chopped down to two and then eventually one.
The lone bright spot in the second period was Niko Utash's one-timer from the bottom of the circle. The Captain's goal was
the only thing that kept the team from a total collapse.
During the second intermission, Coach Sergey
and I took a new approach. Instead of drawing up plays and diagramming systems, we simply issued a challenge. We told the
kids they weren't playing well and asked them to elevate their effort. Okay, that's the nice version of what we said, but
you get the idea. Most of the time we are telling the kids some specific aspect of their game that needs to be improved and
by and large these instruction go completely ignored. This time we gave them the vague message of: Play Better! And boy 'o
boy did they get that one.
The Mariners came out in the third like a team possessed. No longer were
the playing on their heels. They took it to OCHC big time. Blake got things going with the greatest pass in the history of
youth hockey. He somehow threaded the puck through three players and put it right on a speeding Conrado's stick. #26 found
Brian Z. at the side of the net for an easy tap-in. It was a thing of beauty. A couple minutes later, Killian Anderson's forecheck
payed off when he stole the puck behind the OCHC net. He faked the goalie right out of the crease and finished it off with
a wrap-around. AJ Zavitz, who already had 2 assists, added to his point total with a nice goal.
With
a couple minutes left, the only thing to determine was the final score. Before the game Sergey had implored the boys to crash
the net, get the rebounds and create havoc. I guess EJ Frank was paying attention. He got in front of the goalie, fought off
the defenders and scrapped for the puck until he was able to poke it in. EJ's first goal capped his team's 8-3 victory. Like
I said, this was a weird one, but we'll take the two points.
The biggest story of this game was play
of goalie Brian Felt. The scorekeeper gave him 24 saves but that number is way off. The Mariner's net-minder was under a constant
barrage for most of the game and he stood on his head to keep the team in it. It was really one of the most courageous performances
I've ever seen. After the game I told the rest of the team to go give him a little extra appreciation because he saved their
butts.
Obviously their are many things the team needs to work on. I won't point those out here because
I probably shouldn't be giving out free scouting reports to our future opponents. There were, however, many positive steps
taken by the players in their development. I always ask the kids to hit, play physical, and finish their checks. Shawn Wentzel
was a human wrecking ball and the twins (Patrick Gibson and Josh Donovan) both played an angry game. Brad Kriegel did me proud
when he knocked the bejeesus out of the biggest kid on OCHC. We always joke with Tom Dobrokhot about his slapshot because
it generally only goes about 5 feet, but on this day he was cranking pucks from the point. Besides getting the win, it was
great to see the kids address and overcome some of their weak points.
Halloween Shout Out
I
gotta give a "what's up" to the West Valley Werewolves bantam A goalie mom for being a big fan of the Killer Bees. Also, I
would like to thank the OCHC players, parents, and coaches for being friendly and classy. Hockey needs more of this.
Perfection
Zack
Marshall is now a perfect 2-0 as the assistant to the assistant coach.
