La Jolla Jaguars Memorial Weekend Tournament

Over the Memorial Day Weekend, the Jaguar Mite and Squirt Tournament teams took part in exciting tournament play in Orange County.

The Jaguar Squirts played in the KHS Anaheim Cup/International Tournament, participating for the first time ever at the Squirt A level.

The Squirts opened up on Friday, against the home team from KHS.  The heavily favored, and hometown Wildcats were a seasoned team, with tons of speed and skill.   They even imported three kids from Russia for the tournament.   The Jaguars were back on their heels fast giving up a goal scored at 1:08 into the game.   After the wake up call, Drew Jones answered at 2:09.   The goals were back and forth.    The Jaguars took the lead, and then the Wildcats tied it up.  It was definitely a cat fight.   We outscored them each period by a goal.  The final score of this hard fought contest was 9 to 6 Jaguars.    

Goal scorers were Tony Kolesnikov (3), Jack Gitlin (1), Owen Rice (1), Drew Jones (1), Marco Young (1) and Parker Moskal (2).   Assists went to Jack Gitlin (3), Owen Rice (3), Parker Moskal (3), Kenzie DeKeyser (2), Sam Tari (1), Marco Young (1), Drew Jones (1), and Sawyer DeKeyser (1).   Goalie James Dawson, who also had an assist on a short-handed goal by Parker, stopped 24 shots in this hard fought affair.   

We were down two key players, and coaches elected to go with three defensive players in game 1.   Alex Gottwald, Sawyer DeKeyser and Parker Moskal worked very hard, and each played a strong defensive game against a team with incredible speed.   The win allowed the Jaguars to start the tourney on a great note. 

On Saturday, they boys played the Lady Ducks.  This was one great team and there were some amazing skaters out there with size and speed.  We won a scrappy game 4-1.   The Ducks did not want to hand over the game and it felt like they poured it on us for the most of the game.    

Goalie James Dawson was the hero stopping 25 of 26 shots for a .96 save percentage.    The offense again was balanced.   Tyler Osterhoudt provided and several great passes and back checks while goals went to Tony Kolesnikov (1), Drew Jones (1), Marco Young (1), and Owen Rice (1).   Assists went to Jack Gitlin (2), Tony Kolesnikov (1), Marco Young (1) and Drew Jones (1). 

The defense was solid once again and the Jaguars were able to achieve victory #2 against an extremely well-coached team.

On Sunday morning, the Jaguars played the Cool Cats.    We thought the best team was behind us, but we were incorrect.   As it turned out, the Cool Cats were an All-Star team from Los Angeles; A strong collection of players and a fantastic goaltender. The Jags struggled with the strong competitor and the 7:00 AM hour on the way to a 7 to 3 loss. 

Owen Rice found the back of the net twice and Parker Moskal put one in as well.  

Assists went to Jack Gitlin, Sam Tari, Marco Young, and Tony Kolesnikov with one a piece.

As luck would have it, we played the Cool Cats again in the playoffs that night. The Jaguars again came out flat and gave up a quick goal.   Then the officials took over in truly the strangest game we have ever witnessed.  Unfortunately, the calls didn't go our way.   We had a player put in the box for covering the puck in the crease.  Goalie James shut down the attack on the penalty shot, denying a goal and bringing the crowd to their feet.   Twice after that, the opposing team covered the puck in the crease with no call.  Then there was a truly bizarre goal awarded to the opponent on a post shot where the call was delayed so long that we had already scored a goal.   The call represented a 2 goal swing and an opportunity for the boys and coaches to practice "composure" and overcome adversity.   Soon after, the opponents played for 35 seconds with 6 players on the ice.  Again, no call was made by the refs.   We ended the 1^st period down 4 goals to 1.      

The Jaguars absolutely pounded the other team in the second and third periods.   We displayed great courage and came at them in waves.   We were able to climb back to a 5 to 3 game.  We were once again derailed by an interesting penalty call with 3 minutes to go.  We pulled our goalie.  They had a breakaway and we tripped the player up.  They gave the goal to the team without even having to take a penalty shot.  Our player received a game misconduct on top of the penalty.  Final score Cool Cats 6, Jaguars 3.   The Jaguars outshot the opponents 37 to 17, but they just could not get the puck past an extremely tough goalie.    The coaches and parents are proud of the effort, courage, and heart our kids displayed.

Goals in the final game went to Tony Kolesnikov (1), Sam Tari (1), and Marco Young (1); Assisted by Jack Gitlin (1) and Drew Jones (1).

Alex Gottwald had a particularly outstanding tournament and the entire defensive corps did a great job throughout.

All in all, the Jaguars went up against fantastic competition.  They won games, and they fought like champions.  With a few breaks, the outcome could have been very different.

The coaches and parents were very proud of this team.

The Mite tournament (details coming soon) was thrilling and it was great to see families from each team supporting each other as one big Jaguar family.  The entire Squirt team would like to thank the Osterhoudt family for the tournament t-shirts.   It was a wonderful surprise after coming off a tough game.

Summer Camp Info

Here is the Summer Camp info. We will be having 4 weeks of camp this summer. If you are interested or have any questions feel free to email our Hockey Director

Sign Up for Travel Hockey Tryouts Now!

We now have our tryout form available on our website. Please make sure to register online to reserve your spot. If you have any questions regarding tryouts please let us know.

SIGN UP FOR TRYOUTS

La Jolla Jaguars Summer Camp

More info will come in regards to our Summer Camp. Please stay tuned or email Coach Cris for further questions.

Behind the Scenes - Jags Party

Here is a behind the scenes gallery from Saturdays Party. This is how fun you can have at Icetown and the jaguar program. Click HERE to view it.

In House Games Schedule

Our practice and game schedule is now updated. Please take a look at the new schedule and notice that we will update it as soon as we receive further information from the other rinks in San Diego. This coming weekend is set and I anticipate an update later this week.

Coach Cris

Powerskating Clinic - Change

Our powerskating clinic has changed. We will only have one clinic a week and it will be on Thursdays at 7PM - 8PM. We decided to go ahead and join the two clinics and open Tuesdays up for our Adult teams. Time for the Adult Clinic is Tuesdays at 7PM. Bring your skates and a water bottle and come prepared to skate! 

End of Season Party

I would like to thank everyone who came down to Icetown today for our end of season party and since you are reading this I would like to welcome you to our new blog. Please come back often and make sure to leave your footprints so we know you are here.

Thanks again for a great day!

Coach Cris

La Jolla Jaguars Travel Hockey

What is the La Jolla Jaguar travel hockey program? 

The La Jolla Jaguars travel hockey program is designed to complement the house league program by allowing players to further develop their skills, improve their knowledge and understanding of the game, and nurture their desire, dedication and discipline to play the game of ice hockey against the best competition in Southern California. Some of the players that have completed our travel program have gone on to compete at the next level of competition including Junior A and Junior B hockey in the U.S. and Canada, collegiate club hockey. Some of our players have returned to youth hockey to coach, serve as volunteers, become members of the organization, or even have their children join and play in our programs.

La Jolla Jaguars travel hockey strongly supports the principles and guidelines of USA Hockey, Inc. regarding house and travel programs and we firmly believe in a balance between winning, learning the game, and having fun.  No player, team, coach, parent or supporter is more important than the program and the enjoyment of the game by the players.

How are players evaluated during tryouts? 

The head coaches for a particular age category (mite, squirt, peewee, bantam, and midget) along with a two or three other coaches will try to objectively assess the skills of each player at the tryouts. Using a set series of drills designed to help demonstrate the skills needed to play the game, the coaches will be looking for skating ability, stick handling and shooting ability, and knowledge of the game. Forward and backward skating, turning, "crossovers", stopping, transitions, lateral movement, and endurance are some of the skating skills that are evaluated. The coaches also evaluate stick handling, puck control with the stick and the skates, forehand and backhand passing and pass reception.

Coaches will be looking at proper puck shooting techniques, weight transfer, wrist shots, snap shots, and slap shots along with accuracy. Coaches will also determine if players have learned how to " read and react" and "have their head on a swivel" . At higher levels, players will be expected to forecheck and backcheck, aggressively pursue the puck, " play their man", and "complete their checks" . In addition to the foregoing, goalies are expected to demonstrate their ability to "cover the crease", " telescope in and out from the net", "drop and recover" , " stack the pads", " focus on the
puck", etc.  Every effort will be made to provide a fair, impartial evaluation of the players.

What kind of commitment are the coaches looking for? 

All the coaches are looking for players who have the desire, dedication and discipline to play travel hockey. This includes a willingness to attend all practices, off-ice conditioning (if any), games, and tournaments. Coaches expect players to have the self-discipline to notify the coach or team manager of any conflicts, perform well in school and budget their time to avoid excuses for homework or tests, and, above all, be respectful of others. While we understand that every player must balance their home, school, and hockey life, a commitment to a travel team implies a commitment and a responsibility to teammates and the coach.  Discipline is also expected on and off the ice regarding proper behavior. Fighting, profanity, and disrespect for other people (including teammates, opponents and game officials) and disrespect for property will not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action including suspension from games or practices or suspension from the team. Jaguars has a long history of fielding teams that will play the game with dignity and respect whether they are winning or losing and we will not allow this tradition to be compromised. In this regard, and in the best interests of the program, players and coaches, La Jolla Jaguars Travel Hockey may exercise its right to deny participation to a player or parent based on prior incidents involving the player and/or a parent. Players and parents will be provided a "Code of Conduct" that they will be required to sign. This " Code of Conduct" will detail what is expected from them regarding their responsibility to the team.

La Jolla Jaguars Powerskating Clinic

Youth Hockey
"Too many hockey players at an early age are given a puck and a stick and are expected to play the game of hockey when they can barely skate. Through my methods they will not only learn the correct way to skate but will have fun doing it. Children must enjoy what they are doing to excel in it. I feel Youth Hockey is a great way to channel a kid's natural energy and most likely will influence the way he or she feels about themselves for the rest of their lives. Youth Hockey organizations can either instill leadership, confidence and sportsmanship or it can create boredom, stress, humiliation and low self esteem." - Barbara Williams

There are endless articles regarding Ice Hockey and more than 90% of the articles are indicating that Power Skating is the most important part of develop hockey players. 

Join us at Icetown every Tuesday and Thursday at 7PM for an intensive Power Skating Clinic.

/Coach Cris

Mites 1 - How do you practice?

They say practice makes perfect, right?  And are garages meant for cars or for hockey?  Within our household, the picture says it all.  Nice form Aidan!

 

 

Jaguars Information

I think this is a great start to improving our information flow.  I hope that it will allow parents and kids to have access to up-to-date information.  But I also hope that it serves to provide a mechanism for the coaches to provide information directly to the parents/jaguars - maybe coaching tips, maybe "player of the week" acknowledgements, etc.  Only time will tell.  A great start!

Coach Troy

minimites@san.rr.com

Welcome to our New Blog

Welcome to the official La Jolla Jaguars Blog.

This is the place where we will chat about current events and update
exciting news from our rink. Please come back often and make sure to
leave your footprints.

Todays hockey Quote goes to Sidney Crosby: