Several recent NHL draftees from California have been attending prospects camps during the past week, and several were noted on various team sites.

On the New York Islanders’ site, forward Rhett Rakhshani of Huntington Beach is mic-ed up for some of the scrimmage video highlights (Day 3). If one looks carefully, you can spot the Denver University product behind John Tavares on the camp opening page. Rakhshani, incidentally, has been selected DU’s captain for the upcoming season.

Forward Colin Long of Santa Ana is quoted several times throughout coverage of the Phoenix Coyotes’ camp on the team’s web site. Long served as captain for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League this past season, and the Rockets came within one game of winning the Memorial Cup.

The Edmonton Oilers have a nice video interview with defenseman Kyle Bigos of Upland on their prospects camp coverage. Bigos addresses a variety of topics, including winning the RBC Cup and his college choice of Merrimack.

And the Detroit Red Wings have a nice feature on forward Mitch Callahan on their site. Callahan went from being a walk-on player at Kelowna’s camp to a sixth-round draft choice in one year!

I wanted to let you in on a little secret about one of the NHL’s biggest, and some would say meanest, players – former Anaheim Ducks and current Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger.

Pronger is a really nice individual. He’s also a very smart one.

Those statements are bound to gall fans of the Kings, Sharks and especially the Oilers, but I believe it’s true. People who follow the Ducks on a daily basis have told me this year after year. And I experienced it myself when I interviewed him for the book.

It’s difficult to find hockey players, even pros, who won’t make a few minutes to talk when I tell them the subject of Palm Trees and Frozen Ponds – the game’s history in California. Most politely answer questions, and a few will expand ideas.

Pronger was different. After our introduction (and after he put down the Wall Street Journal he had been reading), he asked me questions about the project. Once he had a grasp of it, he offered stories – including a fun one about his first visit to Anaheim before the 1993 draft.

Another thing stood out – his sense of humor. He is a really funny guy.

It’s no surprise to me that he wears a letter wherever he plays. Leadership is a lot about enfolding people, welcoming them and helping them succeed, as well as the occasional kick in the pants (which I, thankfully, didn’t get).

In my book, Pronger is very good at all of those things. Anaheim’s loss certainly is Philly’s gain.

Two players who played their youth hockey in California, and a third who was born in the state were selected on Day 2 of the NHL Entry Draft on Saturday. I write about all three at Calirubber.com

A few personal notes about each that you won’t read about there.

As impressive as defenseman Kyle Bigos‘ size is (6-5, 230 pounds), his commitment to improve his skating in recent years has really put him over the top with scouts. He was dominant in the RBC Cup this spring, and he played at a consistently high level in all three zones this past season, his second in the BCHL.He also led the Vernon Vipers’ blueliners in scoring.

Bigos (Upland) is an example of why persistence pays off in hockey. He was picked as a 20-year-old in a draft that can pick players as young as 18. And aside from one summer before he left to play in Saskatchewan, he didn’t play at the AAA level in California.

Right wing Mitch Callahan of Whittier is another example of where hard work can get a player. He played just one season of AAA in California, and even more impressively, he made the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets as a walk-on. As if that wasn’t a rare enough feat, he was an impact player for a team that came within one victory of winning the Memorial Cup. Callahan didn’t sit out one game all season and he was one of the toughest players in the league despite weighing well south of 200 pounds. And he could score – he had 27 points, including 14 goals, in the regular season.

The third player, right wing Brandon Kozun, was born in Los Angeles and might have played some of his earliest hockey here. A former coach of his older brother confirms they were part of the West Valley Wolves program at one point in the late 1990s. Kozun has an invite to the Canadian World Junior camp, and he put up 108 points, including 40 goals, for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.

I spoke with Vernon Vipers defenseman Kyle Bigos of Upland earlier this week about his BCHL team’s recently completete season.

Bigos was selected the MVP and Top Defensive Player of the RBC Cup (Canadian Jr. A hockey’s championship series). This is quite an accomplishment for the 6-5, 230-pound blueliner who barely played AAA hockey in Southern California.

Bigos left home before his sophomore year in high school to attend Notre Dame Prep School in Saskatchewan. From there, he played the past two seasons in Vernon. This season he led all Vipers defenseman in points, and Vernon captured the league’s Doyle Cup en route to taking the RBC Cup.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, Bigos recently accepted a scholarship offer to play collegiately at Merrimack College in Massachusetts.

All in all, not a bad month. And it could get better. Bigos has been getting feelers from NHL teams for that league’s upcoming Entry Draft. Unpicked in his first season of eligibility, there is a good change he’ll go this time around.

(Updated on June 11)

Here is what we know thus far about programs playing Midget AAA hockey in California for the upcoming 2009-10 season – there likely will be eight  programs at the 16U level and six at the 18U:

The 18Us: California Stars, LA Selects, LA Jr. Kings (with CA Wave additions), OC Hockey Club, SoCal Titans and San Jose Jr. Sharks

The 16Us: California Heat, California Stars, LA Selects, LA Jr. Kings, OC Hockey Club, SoCal Titans, San Diego Gulls and San Jose Jr. Sharks

This is tentative, but it is what has been posted thus far. Can anyone remember a time when there were 14 Midget AAA teams in the state?

The first weekend in June was tryout time, so I expect these to become more concrete in the coming weeks.

As I research the history of the game of hockey in California for my upcoming book, I have discovered that ice rinks existed in Los Angeles as far back as 1917. I now can document it. Whether or not those were used for ice hockey is another matter.

However, I did find some record of hockey being played in the Los Angeles area during the early 1920s. So it’s not a stretch to say the game is at least 85 years old in California.

I also have uncovered concrete evidence of organized youth hockey beginning around 1960, meaning we are approaching nearly 50 years of youth hockey in the state. This predates several sources I’ve spoken to for the book.

I keep plugging away, one shift at a time.

So much for the restful offseason, at least for the Midget hockey ranks in California.

Several developments have taken place that will profoundly affect the 2009-10 season.

This starts with the Jr. Kings, who participated in the Tier I Elite Hockey League this past season at the 18U level. Their 16U team will join the league this coming season. This adds a travel burden, but the pay off, and Jr. Kings coaches told me this all season, is their teams will play five games guaranteed in three days, and play them against a quality caliber of competition. Those are important distinctions because most tournaments only guarantee three or four games, and unless it’s an elite tournament, it’s tough to anticipate what level of competition you’re going to face.

Shortly thereafter, the LA Selects 18s and 16s were invited to join the Tier I Elite league. This makes sense given that program’s track record of success and the desire to cluster teams geographically. What I will be interested to see is how they match up at 18s because the Selects are typically so strong at Bantam and 16U that most of their best players move on at 16. But it can only help hockey in Southern California to have two teams in that league. The Jr. Kings played host to the Detroit division in a showcase event last December, and it featured some terrific hockey.

This past week, the Southern California Titans and San Jose Jr. Sharks announced they were joining the new North American Prospects Hockey League at the 18 and 16 Tier I levels. That league includes 20 programs from all over the country. Just like the Tier I EHL, the NAPHL will have showcase weekends, though not nearly as many to start. One of those will be in San Jose in February, just before the state tournament.

The new league is part of the NAHL junior circuit, which battles the perception it is inferior to the USHL. In theory, this could give NAHL teams a distinct recruiting advantage with some programs. Really, it gives Jr. A hockey a bit more of a foothold in a state where the trend of late has been to have top-end prospects head to the WHL.

The fifth 18UAAA team last season was the California Wave, and I wondered aloud over the weekend – what about the Wave? That question was answered Sunday night when the Jr. Kings announced a partnership with the Wave at the 18U Tier I and Bantam Tier II levels for the 2009-10 season.

I have a few more questions – what about beyond next season? Could it become a permanent merger? Team managers I’ve spoken with recently expect numbers to be down in travel hockey because of the economy.

My other question is what about the “mid majors”, programs like the California Stars, OC Hockey Club, Tri Valley Blue Devils, California Heat, San Diego Jr. Gulls? All have had very good AA and AAA squads, though not at every age level every year. How do they fit into this new midget world order?

Stay tuned.

One of the reasons blog postings have been more scarce of late is I’ve had a bit more time to spend writing the book, and so I have.

Researching and writing the historical portion is far from an exact science because there really is no definitive authority the history of California hockey. I’m pulling information from books, records and dozens of interviews with players and coaches who have been involved in the game out here for the past 40-plus years.

Incidentally, one could make a case that this is the 50th year of youth hockey in California. GLAMHA (the old Greater Los Angeles Minor Hockey Association) was formed in 1959 from what I can tell.

Until next time,

Chris

Eight California players were among the 20 U.S. players selected in the Western Hockey League’s Bantam Draft on Thursday.

Five of the eight were members of the LA Selects Bantam AAA team that won a bronze medal at the USA Hockey Youth Nationals in Plano, Texas, in early April. Two were members of the San Jose Jr. Sharks and another played for the LA Jr. Kings.

Jr. Kings right wing Chase Souto (Yorba Linda) was the first Californian picked, going in the fifth round (98th overall) to the Kamloops Blazers.

Selects center Dennis Kravchenko (San Clemente) was selected by the Vancouver Giants in the seventh round (153rd). Teammate and left wing Nicolas Kerdiles (Irvine) was picked by the Kelowna Rockets in the eighth round (171st).

Ninth-round selections included: Selects left wing Nikolas Olsson (Escondido) by the Red Deer Rebels (181st), Jr. Sharks defensemans Chris Buchanan (San Jose) by the Spokane Chiefs (186th) and Selects blueliner Austin Ho (Chino Hills) by the Medicine Hat Tigers (187th).

Jr. Sharks left wing Nicholas Anderson (San Jose) also was drafted by Medicine Hat in the 10th round (202nd), and Selects center Luke McColgan (Manhattan Beach) went eight picks later to Vancouver.

Monday’s elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of their rivals to the south (yes, I think they’re rivals now), cannot sit well with the San Jose Sharks or their fans.

This was a team that not only won the President’s Trophy and had home ice as long as it remained in the postseason, but one that intentionally brought in a mixture of Cup-winning veterans for a presumed deep playoff run.

None of that matters today after the Sharks were ushered out of the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks in six games. If it’s possible for a six-game series to not be as close as it appeared, this one wasn’t. After Anaheim won the first two games, the Sharks came back to take Game 3 in what was the series’ most exciting game, 4-3. After a Ducks demolition of the Sharks in Game 4, the Sharks saved face on home ice with an overtime win in Game 5, but not before allowing the Ducks out of a 2-0 hole in the third period. Even though the Ducks lost Game 5, their ability to score twice in minutes in the Shark Tank probably confirmed to them that they were the better team.

So what do the Sharks do now? Here are four possible answers.

1. Fire the coach. Highly unlikely and not advisable. Todd McLellan and his staff appeared to do a fine job all season, and everything I’ve heard from Sharks insiders is overwhelminingly positive. He was outcoached this series by Anaheim’s Randy Carlyle, but that is part of the learning curve for the first-team NHL bench boss.

2. Fire the GM. I guess it’s possible, but it wouldn’t make any sense to me. Doug Wilson is not only the face of the Sharks franchise, but you will not find a classier man anywhere – NHL, board rooms, the beach, you name it. He was proactive this past offseason, and my guess is he will be again.

3. Shake up the roster, again. Reports from San Jose were this was not a super tight group, and really, how could it be?  The team mixed in a lot of new parts and had to overcome a lot of injuries in the second half of the season. Still, that the team didn’t play with more heart could be construed as a reflection on the leadership in the room, or lack thereof. So before the inevitable trade Patrick Marleau or Joe Thornton rumors kick up, consider this. Maybe the Sharks need a new captain. Or a new set of them. No one questions the team’s talent level – it’s as high as any team’s, but maybe the mix isn’t right. When Brian Burke took over as GM in Anaheim and brought D Scott Niedermayer in, there was no question he was going to be the captain. As serviceable and popular as Steve Rucchin was, Burke knew he could keep him around and demote him as captain. When the Sharks obtained Thornton in 2005, he seemed to be a logical choice to wear the C, in my opinion, but he hasn’t. If the Sharks trade anyone – and I believe they will – I think Marleau will be the one to go. … Another thing to consider is goaltending. Is Evgeni Nabokov the guy to carry San Jose to the Finals? As good as he’s been the past four, five seasons, he has not stood on his head regularly in the postseason. He also would have a lot of trade value at this point. However, the Sharks do not have the depth at the position they’ve enjoyed in the past. Moves are likely, but what they will be is anyone’s guess at this point. If I carried a vote, I would encourage the Sharks to obtain a new goaltender first, then re-arrange the furniture among the skaters.

4. Do nothing. As crazy as it sounds, this might be the best thing. Perhaps the Sharks will learn from this experience and return determined not to let it happen again. A stable room could do wonder for team cohesiveness. A determined Sharks team would be a difficult Sharks team to beat in 2009-10.