| by the CMM.com Editorial Staff (posted 1/01) – Happy New Year! The sum result of CAHA III landing on the weekend immediately after the New Year is that my Christmas lights aren’t coming off the house until perhaps the end of January and that really tall, dry twig in my living room is going to keep dropping pine needles on the floor for at least another garbage pickup cycle. Lucky me. Remember, CAHA IV happens in just two weeks – won’t get much done around the house this month. A quick glance at the CAHA standings shows four teams sitting a cut above the rest. The Heat, Wave, Jr Kings and Jr Ducks have all but wrapped up their Top 8 standing. The big drama for the next two weeks comes from the race for the final five playoff slots. For those of you living in a cave this season, the top eight teams make the state playoffs. However the California Heat, as host of the USA Hockey Pacific District championships, receives a berth in that event and is thus exempt from the CAHA playoff. As a result, the ninth place team this season makes the post season. After the Wave, Jr Kings and Jr Ducks, there remain five playoff slots up for grabs. California Heat 9-0-0 in CAHA; 24-5-0 against CAHA teams; 28-9-1 Overall; 3-2-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Titans (Sat), Jr Sharks (Sat), Cougars (Sun) The Heat enter CAHA III as the undisputed top dog, 9-0-0 in CAHA and 9-1-0 in December including the Ontario Hat Trick Holiday Classic championship just yesterday. If any CAHA weekend can be likened to a vacation for any team, this will be one for the Heat. They played five games at CAHA I and thus earned the luxury of this 3-game set against a relatively soft set of opponents, each of whom sport overall records below .500. Nothing indicates anything but another clean sweep unless of course, the Bearded Boy from Beantown (Ref CAHA II Recap) stands on his head again like he did against the Jr Kings. California Wave 8-0-0 in CAHA; 14-7-1 against CAHA teams; 19-10-1 Overall; 2-2-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Wild (Sat), Jr Ducks (Sat), Gulls (Sun), Stars Black (Sun) The Wave beat up some weaker teams at the Ontario Hat Trick tournament this week to stave off the ignobility of sporting a record under .500 outside of the CAHA weekends. Really though, you’ve got to give the Wave a lot of props – they’re perfect this season in the only games that count. In the CAHA II Preview, we mentioned that their big test will come this weekend – the Wave face two Top 5 teams and the Gulls on their home ice. Though they’ve already done enough to secure a post-season berth, we don’t see the Wave coming away with more than four points this weekend. Los Angeles Jr Kings 6-1-1 in CAHA; 18-4-2 against CAHA teams; 24-7-2 Overall; 2-4-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Lightning 93 (Fri), Lightning 92 (Sat), Jr Ice Dogs (Sat), OCHC (Sun) The Jr Kings have some nice wins this season and are essentially running on cruise control toward the CAHA playoffs. We see no bumps in the road for them this weekend since the highest ranked team they face are the BCL92s, whom the Kings have already beaten 8-0. Anaheim Jr Ducks 7-2-0 in CAHA; 18-2-0 against CAHA teams; 24-7-2 Overall; 3-2-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Stars Red (Fri), Cougars (Sat), Wave (Sat), Lightning 93 (Sun) The Jr Ducks remain on a collision course towards the Pacific District championship game. Despite their two CAHA weekend defeats, they remain the most consistent team in the league and will be a tough nut to crack for any post season opponent. We don’t see them losing another game before the playdown in February. California Stars Black 6-3-0 in CAHA; 16-8-1 against CAHA teams; 18-11-2 Overall; 2-4-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Sharks (Sat), Lightning 93 (Sat), Titans (Sun), Wave (Sun) Since the CAHA I Preview, we predicted the ups and downs of youthful inconsistency for this very talented team and have been proven correct. Wins against the Top 4 Heat and Wave are offset against losses to OCHC and the Saints. Just yesterday, they battled the Heat in the Hat Trick championship game, losing a 2-1 decision. The Black appear able to beat any team on a given day but still have a tendency at times to play down to the level of weaker opponents. In order to make the Top 4 a legitimate “Top 5”, the Black need to take care of business in the three games leading up to the finale against the Wave. Their track record says they’ll struggle and drop a game along the way. SoCalifornia Titans 5-3-0 in CAHA; 9-12-2 against CAHA teams; 13-14-3 Overall; 0-7-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Jets (Fri), Heat (Sat), Saints (Sat), Stars Black (Sun) After beginning the season 4-12-2, the Titans somewhere found a new gear and are 9-2-1 in their last twelve games. Nobody would mistake this group for one of the elite teams but they’ve managed to win enough games to stay ahead of 75% of the competition, half way through the season. This stat tells their story to date: The Titans are 0-8-0 against the teams ahead of them in the standings and 9-4-2 against those below. The first game against the Jets on Friday night is their biggest of the weekend. Two wins will keep them on pace for a once unthinkable playoff berth, but they’ll really need to battle to pick up those four points. Beach City Lightning 92 5-3-0 in CAHA; 9-13-0 against CAHA teams; 11-17-1 Overall; 1-5-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: OCHC (Sat), Jr Kings (Sat), Jr Ducks (Sun), Jets (Sun) Like the Titans, the BCL92s pin their hopes of a playoff berth on success against their middle-of-the-pack peers. Also like the Titans, their big game of the weekend comes against the Vacaville Jets and they hope to pick up two wins this weekend to hold serve in the race for the final playoff slots. Whatever happens, this has already been a successful season for the 92s as they’ll always have bragging rights at KHS over their 93 crib-mates. California Cougars 2-3-3 in CAHA; 8-6-5 against CAHA teams; 10-14-5 Overall; 0-2-1 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Jr Ducks (Sat), Gulls (Sat), Wild (Sun), Heat (Sun) The Cougars play a lot of close games and not surprisingly, garner many ties. Much of this can be directly attributed to their fabulous imported goaltender. He and they will have their work cut out for them this weekend as most every game holds a unique challenge, especially the bookending games against the powerful Jr Ducks and Heat. We see it as too big a hurdle for them – one win, probably more likely tie, is the best they can hope for. Orange County Hockey Club 3-4-1 in CAHA; 10-9-2 against CAHA teams; 13-12-2 Overall; 1-3-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Lightning 92 (Sat), Jets (Sat), Jr Kings (Sun), Wild (Sun) The OC had high hopes going into the action at San Jose – they were playing excellent hockey and had four very winnable games on the schedule. Unfortunately, CAHA II took place at the same time that Yorba Linda burned and far from home with a lot on their minds, the team earned a mere three points for the weekend. They’ve dug themselves into a little hole but can start the long climb with a good effort this weekend, especially in the two games against teams in striking distance in the standings – BCL92 and the Jets. This is truly a make or break weekend for the OC – we think “break” might be more likely – two wins are the up-side. Vacaville Jets 3-4-1 in CAHA; 7-7-3 against CAHA teams; 12-11-5 Overall; 0-4-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Titans (Fri), Ice Dogs (Sat), OCHC (Sat), Lightning 92 (Sun) For a shot at the playoffs, the Jets need to win at least three games this weekend, if not sweep all four. Every game for them at CAHA III is winnable with each foe being a direct competitor for one of the final playoff berths. Like for the OC, this is make or break – put up, or shut up. We see it as possible, though not probable because the Jets have not put together a consistent stretch of quality hockey all season. 2-1-1, perhaps 1-2-1 seems a likely scenario at Escondido. SoCal-Hockey Jr Ice Dogs 3-6-0 in CAHA; 6-18-1 against CAHA teams; 9-21-1 Overall; 0-6-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Jets (Sat), Jr Kings (Sat), Gulls (Sun) The Dogs only have three games this weekend, but it will likely be a very tough outing. The Jets and Gulls are playing for their season this weekend and will likely be very motivated against the young Dogs. On the other hand, the JID tend to play low scoring games against peer teams and anything can happen. They have only one game remaining against a Top 5 team this season (Jr Kings) so in a sense, they control their own destiny. Look for destiny to spin out of control starting this weekend, 0-for-the-weekend. San Diego Gulls 2-5-1 in CAHA; 10-8-3 against CAHA teams; 18-10-3 Overall; 1-5-1 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Stars Red (Sat), Cougars (Sat), Wave (Sun), Ice Dogs (Sun) The Gulls’ season to date has been almost the total opposite of the California Wave. Where the Wave struggle in non-CAHA Weekend games, they sit with a perfect 8-0-0 record in the official standings. The Gulls dominate in non-CAHA Weekend action to the tune of a .629 winning percentage but currently reside in an unfathomable 12th place in the league with only 5 points. The good news is that they host CAHA III and all remaining games on the schedule are winnable. Ironically the Wave is their only Top 5 opponent and they’ve already proven they can beat them. Look for a perfect weekend from the Gulls. Inland Valley Wild 1-4-3 in CAHA; 6-9-4 against CAHA teams; 11-19-4 Overall; 2-3-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Stars Red (Sat), Wave (Sat), Cougars (Sun), OCHC (Sun) In our CAHA II Preview, we mentioned that the Wild hadn’t beaten a team of consequence since very early in the season – we keep reliving those September wins against the Heat and Wave. We and they are still waiting. The Wild have a good schedule this weekend and three wins are not out of the question. Three wins sets up some possibilities for them at CAHA IV. Anything less and they’ll be just playing out the string in Lakewood. San Jose Jr Sharks 1-5-2 in CAHA; 4-10-3 against CAHA teams; 12-21-3 Overall; 0-2-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Stars Black (Sat), Heat (Sat), Lightning 93 (Sun), Saints (Sun) Things have not gone well for the Jr Sharks this season, at least not in their home league. They’ve made a nice season of it, entering events in most of the available western states. Things for the Sharks get a lot harder on Saturday at CAHA III, but Sunday should offer some competitive games where they’ll have a chance to pull out a point or two, but no more. Beach City Lightning 93s 2-7-0 in CAHA: 10-16-3 against CAHA teams; 10-23-3 Overall; 1-9-1 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Jr Kings (Fri), Saints (Sat), Stars Black (Sat), Jr Sharks (Sun) BCL93’s high hopes have been well chronicled this season and seeing them residing in 15th place is still a shock. Any success they’ve garnered came very early in the season – since then, it’s been a real struggle. Things don’t get much easier this weekend, but they have a chance to squeeze out a couple of wins. For now, they’ll have to be satisfied with just playing out the string. San Diego Saints 1-6-2 in CAHA; 5-15-2 against CAHA teams; 7-17-2 Overall; 0-6-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Lightning 93 (Sat), Titans (Sat), Stars Red (Sun), Jr Sharks (Sun) The Saints’ 3-0 win over the Stars Black still ranks as the biggest upset of the season. Since then, they’ve managed to play some very competitive games but don’t have much to show for it in the standings. They face no top teams this weekend and should play some competitive games. Californa Stars Red 0-8-0 in CAHA; 0-25-0 against CAHA teams; 0-26-0 Overall; 0-8-0 v Top 4 Weekend Schedule: Jr Ducks (Fri), Gulls (Sat), Wild (Sun), Saints (Sun) One of these days, perhaps this weekend, the Stars Red will finally break through and win their first game of the season. I want to see that celebration on ice. Go Stars! Sorry for the tardiness in posting this Preview but you should definitely feel fortunate. I’ve still got four boxes of Christmas cards to write, address, stamp and mail, not to mention all those lights on the house and that crispy fir sitting in my living room. Did you ever hear the theory that if you leave Christmas lights up until June, you might as well leave them up since you’ve already crossed the half-way mark? I may have to test that myth. See you in Escondido. |
| CAHA Tier II Weekend #3 - Preview |
