Quebec

[Ziegler]

Hey parents North of the Border.....any specifcs to share on how things are going? Quick glance shows Ducks won game 1 and Kings stayed alive today in OT. Good luck to both going forward.

[Nowhearthis]

Close competitive games for the Cali kids.  Kings fighting back through the lower brackets to quarter finals, Ducks are out.

[Area 51]

Jr Kings 04s won in the quarterfinals against #8 ranked Pittsburgh Penguins Elite this morning and move on to the semi-finals playing the Middlesex Islanders this evening. If they can get passed the #10 ranked Islanders they would meet up with either the #1 Midfairfield Rangers or #2 Honeybaked teams who are playing in the other Semi-Final game tonight.


Championship Game is tomorrow at Noon PST.

[area51]

Good Luck boys!

[Nowhearthis]

Jr. Kings 04 move into the finale!  Great climb back to the main event boys!

[trans4761]

GOOD LUCK 04S !!

[Got hockey?]

Congrats to the JK 04s for what appears to be an extremely close game. Wow...way to represent Cali.

[Handboni]

I'm not sure the 04's have been particularly heralded, but the Kings, Ducks and Sharks represented California extremely well on the international stage, and along with the Gulls, made for a very competitive CAHA schedule.  Between the Ducks, ranked 12th, and the Kings, ranked 17th, California has two very strong nationally ranked teams in this age group.  Those rankings are sure to go up after the success both teams had in Quebec, with both the tournament and exhibition games.  The Sharks, ranked 30th, are a dangerous opponent that create matchup problems because of their size, and beat both the Kings and Ducks this year. 


The Kings had a fantastic run in Quebec.  Losing their first game to Honeybaked (2nd) really set them up to make a run through the backside of the draw.  Along the way, they played Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (8th), Middlesex Islanders (10th), and MidFairfield Rangers (1st).  They also had an exhibition against Team Illinois (7th) and the Czech Knights.  From what I understand, somebody better check those birth certificates of the Czech team.   


The Ducks beat Belle Tire (last year's Quebec champs), and then lost 2-1 to a NY Rangers Select team that was supposedly very strong and had a 6 footer that may have been the player of the tournament from what I heard.  (By the way, how do select teams go to Quebec?)  They convincingly beat Buffalo Sabres (9th), tied Team Illinois (7th),and tied a Slovokian team that plays in a different gear compared to most domestic teams.  The Ducks also won States, beating the Kings twice, and decisively in the finals.


In following this age group, key to both the Kings' and Ducks' success has been outstanding goaltender play and defense.


There's one thing I don't understand about the Kings.  They added two strong players from the Nashville Predators to their team for not only Quebec, but also CAHA States.  Those players apparently played some tournaments with the Kings, but never played a single CAHA game.  The defender they added is one of the best around and the forward is solid, and gave the kings 3 full lines.  I have to believe the rules allowed for it if they did it, but why in the world would the rules allow that to happen?  That just doesn't seem right.


Sounds like it was a great experience for all involved.

[Hkymom17]

Congrats to the JK 04s for what appears to be an extremely close game. Wow...way to represent Cali.

Congratulations to the Jr Kings and all the teams that were lucky enough to attend