… the belated version.
If there was a consistent theme to the Los Angeles Jr. Kings Midget 18U team’s season it was high effort level in the face of adversity. That effort paid dividends when it mattered most and landed the team at the USA Hockey Nationals in Buffalo, N.Y., starting next week.
A bit of background. I became familiar with this edition of coach Jack Bowkus‘ team at the end of last year, when they were midway through their Tier 1 Elite League season and were on their way to winning a majority of their CAHA games. I heard repeatedly from the coach, the players and Jr. Kings officials that this was a no-ego group, one decimated by injuries for months, but also one that didn’t have some of the higher-end prospects of some recent groups Bowkus has coached.
At one point the injuries were so bad the team had three healthy defenseman available for a showcase weekend, a situation blue liner Cody Slocum described to me was “brutal”. Yet the club hung in there and got healthier down the stretch and finished their Tier 1 schedule with a 5-2-1 stretch that included wins against the Colorado Thunderbirds, Colorado Rampage and Detroit Belle Tire among others.
Bowkus said the team’s turning point might have come after a showcase in Boston in late December.
“It’s been clear ever since we left Boston that they’ve gelled as a team,” he said. “This group has no superstars, but if everyone pulls their weight we can win.”
Which brings us to the Pacific District tournament at El Segundo in mid-March. After going 1-1 in their first two round-robin games, the Jr. Kings faced Orange County Hockey Club in what amounted to an elimination game for the finals. OCHC was the one CAHA club that had played the Jr. Kings close all season, and that game was no exception. However, the Jr. Kings prevailed 2-1 on power-play goals by Joseph Kaszupski and Kyle Matsumoto.
That set up a rematch with the Alaska Wolves, who defeated the Jr. Kings 1-0 during round-robin play.
After an Ian Hoang goal put the Jr. Kings up 1-0 in the second period, the Wolves rattled off three consecutive goals and maintained a two-goal edge until late in the third period. That is when this team’s true colors shone through for a compelling comeback.
Hoang struck again on the power play, making a nice stickhandle from the lower left circle and walking in to score with 5:18 left.
“The kids knew we could play with them,” Bowkus said. “We’ve focused on making the power play simpler. Ian Hoang had an outstanding hockey game. He got us started on the comeback.”
He also had a hand in the tying goal with just 36 seconds left. Kurtis Klinger retrieved the puck and got it to Hoang in the Wolves zone. Hoang passed to defenseman Austin Ho, who had jumped into the play with Jr. Kings skating with an extra attacker. Ho and forward Harout Sarkisian then worked a give and go with Ho burying a chance in the slot to tie it.
“That was our hugest goal of the season,” Hoang said. “It pumped us up.”
Added assistant captain Devin Linker, “I knew it was going in.”
That set up an overtime played under odd circumstances. The compressor at Toyota Sports Center went out midway through the third period, so the ice was literally melting under the players’ skates. A dry scrape was conducted before overtime, but the ice conditions were less than ideal.
“It helped us a bit,” Bowkus said. “They’re more of a faster-skating, skilled team, we’re more of a chip and chase team.”
The comeback was capped 6:34 into overtime when captain Christian Salvato fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle that Paul Ramsey redirected into the net.
“Jack told us to go hard to the net every time,” Klinger said.
So the Jr. Kings are going to Nationals, as much a testimony to a never-quit attitude as anything.
“Even down 3-1, no one on our bench thought we were going to lose,” Linker said. “We kept fighting, and our playoff experience definitely helped. Really, it was just a great team effort.”
Emphasis on team.
“We don’t need one person to score in order to win,” said Klinger, also an assistant captain. “Anyone can step up on any day. That’s the style of this team.”
It’s a style that makes the Jr. Kings 18s a wild-card at Nationals … and an example of teamwork.
Chris Bayee's Hockey Blog 