| by the CMM.com Editorial Staff (posted 10/29) – The last player from the last game of CAHA’s 16u Tier II Weekend #1 filed out of the Valencia Ice Station just after 11:30 on Sunday night, capping a record 37-game schedule. Now that the dust has settled and we’ve all had a couple days to decompress, it’s time to take a quick look back, then close the book on this opening stanza. First of all, we’ve got to give high fives all around to the CMM.com pencil pushers whose analyses became the basis for some fine weekend predictions. Some were hit right on the head, while many others were near misses. A couple were totally wrong, but we’ll get to those in detail later. Also, hats off to the facilities manager at Ice Station; rink personnel kept games moving and on-time. There was real fear that the last game on Sunday (scheduled for 9:45pm) would for whatever reason get pushed to after midnight with any kind of delay. Having game scores posted on sPortabilty proved a valuable resource for CMM.com. Next month at Sharks Ice, we’ll get the added benefit of downloadable score sheets for each game. The Cream Rises – Five teams dominated the action this weekend and currently sit atop the 16AA ziggurat. The Heat took care of business in its own crib, winning all five games against teams not as good as they. What was impressive was the manner in which they won – total domination, a weekend game scoring average of eight to one. Interestingly, Heat insiders went into the event very apprehensive, commenting that they hoped for three wins, a testament to the team’s inconsistent play in the weeks leading up to CAHA. The Heat still have the bulk of the tough work ahead but enter future weekends with a spring in its collective step….. The Wave stumbled out of the gate, falling behind early and needing three 3rd period goals to win its opening game (a middle of the night, 6am affair). But they overcame opening morning jitters and marched through the rest of the weekend to finish with a perfect 4-0-0 record. Like the Heat, the Wave beat up second division opponents and still have the toughest games ahead, but held serve to share the top perch….. The Jr Kings own the third and final perfect record in the league (4-0-0) and theirs is the most impressive as it came against tougher, or at least more highly touted opponents. They won the game of the weekend on Saturday, defeating the pre-season #1 Anaheim Jr Ducks 4-3 on Saturday morning, then rolled through the rest of its schedule like you know what through a goose. If any team can secure a playoff slot in just a single weekend of play, the Jr Kings did it….. The Jr Ducks dropped the aforementioned game of the weekend to the Jr Kings, but otherwise methodically dispatched its other four opponents by a combined score of 19-1. Despite the early loss, they remain the favorite to win the state championships….. By all measures, the Stars Black had a super weekend, compiling a 4-1-0 record. However in quiet moments, thoughts of what might have been must dance through their heads. You see, the Stars dropped its first game on Friday night 0-3 to the San Diego Saints (and it was the Saints’ only win of the weekend) – a win there and we’re leading off this piece with “How about those Heat and Stars Black?!!” We’ll get a better measure of both these Stars and the Heat at the next CAHA weekend, where their four-game schedules will be much tougher. Jimmy the Greek – The Greek had a great weekend, but let’s first take a look at the misses. Props to him for running the parallel between last season’s LA Hockey Club’s very surprising 0-4-0 CAHA #1 after a very successful pre-season, to one of this year’s teams. Unfortunately he ID’d the wrong victim – it wasn’t the Jr Kings, but rather the Gulls who went winless after coming into the weekend with a 7-1-2 record. It will be very difficult for San Diego to get back on track with games at CAHA #2 against two Top 5 teams as well as the prodigal BCL93s. On the other hand, a big weekend in San Jose puts the Gulls back into the jet stream. The Greek predicted three wins for them this weekend….. In other misses, the Jr Kings went undefeated rather than the predicted 2-2-0 and obviously the Wave did have the “juice” to also go perfect. The Wild only garnered a win and a tie instead of “three wins, possibly four.” The Greek projected five wins by the Heat but his best call was, “look for the Saints to pull out a win this weekend, but not against the Ice Dogs.” They got it against, of all teams, the Stars Black. Trends - In baseball, they say momentum is only as good as your next day's starting pitcher. Youth hockey games generally occur on a weekly basis with certain explosions of action once a month at CAHA. It makes it tough for teams to keep positive momentum flowing. But sports, especially the analysis of sports relies on trends to figure out what's going to happen. Other than the Gulls, who had a disasterous weekend, the team riding the biggest downturn is the Beach City Lightning 93s. They entered the season highly touted, looking to make a run at the State title as first year Midgets. After a very successful September, things seemed to come to a screeching halt after an October 4th exhibition game against the Jr Kings 16AAA, an 8-1 loss. They took that game to prepare for the Nike-Bauer AAA tournament in Chicago (which begins this Friday). After that game, the team compiled a 1-6-1 October record, getting outscored in the six losses 39-6. Hopefully they reverse the trend in Chicago and come back with a vengence at San Jose where the competition should not be as rugged for them as at Valencia. What it All Means – Right now, there exists a definite line of demarcation at .500, with those at 2-2-0 or better currently in playoff position and those below it, out of the post season. The top eight teams advance to the CAHA Play-down at Valencia in February. Because the Heat host the Pacific District Championships and thereby receive a direct berth into that event, they are exempt from the State playoffs - thus the top nine teams advance to post season play. We have lots of hockey yet to be played but the Jr Ducks, Jr Kings and Wave have a leg up on the competition. The fight for the remaining five slots will be fierce and should come down to a group of games on Sunday afternoon in Lakewood in mid-January. See you in San Jose in a couple of weeks….. |
| CAHA Tier II Weekend #1 - Recap |
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| The last game of the CAHA 16u Tier II Weekend #1 ended late, late Sunday night |
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| Interestingly, Ice Station looks strangely similar at 5:00am and it does at 11:00pm. That we were there to witness this phenomenon explains why we had to decompress for three days before writing this recap. |