Dublin PeeWee hockey team is hot on the iceBy Matt Schwab Contra Costa Times Posted: 04/16/2010 12:00:00 AM PDT see article
The Tri-Valley Blue Devils PeeWee B hockey team helped make the club's 40th anniversary season mighty special. The under-12 squad, based at Dublin Iceland, won its league title with a 17-1 record, the Northern California championship and recently finished second in the state — but the biggest highlight came a little farther up north, in Canada, where hockey is a national passion.
The Blue Devils team won the International Silver Stick Championship in Pelham, Ontario, in January, meaning its team name will be on a Silver Stick trophy in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto next year — a huge deal for a youth team.
"It's a remarkable bunch of kids," the team's coach, Bill Davis, said Monday. "They're all friends. They hang out. It's a very tight-knit team. If you walk into the rink before a game it's not two here and two there, they're all together."
The Tri-Valley Blue Devils hockey program boasts more than 300 kids ages 4 to 18, drawn from as far away as Elk Grove, Corte Madera and Stockton. The club has a rich history — one former Blue Devil, Casey Wellman, was called up to the NHL's Minnesota Wild this season.
The 2009-10 season has been packed with Blue Devils accomplishments: the under-18 Midget AA team last week advanced to the semifinals of the USA Hockey Tier 2 Nationals before bowing out 3-2 in overtime to Oklahoma.
Four Blue Devils teams advanced to the state finals — the under-12 PeeWee B, under-10 Squirt A, under-10 Squirt B and under-18 Midget A. Each team finished second. The Blue Devils PeeWee B squad has one girl, Rachel Carranza, but she's no token female. She is probably the team's top defenseman and one of the best in its league, said Davis, noting her puck-handling and decision-making.
In the Silver Stick championship game, the Blue Devils faced a familiar foe in the Lincoln Blades of Ontario, which hosted them throughout the tournament. Playing in a packed stadium, the wide-eyed Blue Devils showed that California kids can really play.
They prevailed 2-1 in a fast-paced contest in which both teams showed good sportsmanship. Perhaps one of the Blue Devils team's hardest workers all season was Taylor Burgess, a center on the attack. He admitted that the team was "a little" nervous before the finals in Ontario. "We just talked (with the Lincoln Blades) before the game and said whoever wins, we're both good teams," said Burgess, whose dad, John, is an assistant coach.
Davis, who has two daughters playing in the club, said the success of the San Jose Sharks has spawned a groundswell of interest; the club now has 60 kids in its under 8 Mites program and 20 more in the under 5 program. The club was founded by the Merrick and Long families in 1970 and initially was based at Hayward's Southland mall.
In spite of the club's success and vitality at every level, Davis still gets puzzled looks from people about his sport. "Unfortunately, that happens all the time," he said. "When I tell them that I coach ice hockey, they say, 'Where do you do that?'" But the sport is not going away. A Tri-Valley high school team is up and skating, and Davis said in the next four or five years you're going to see more local schools with teams. Oakland Tech has a junior varsity team, and Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose has a program.
View from the ice: Tri Valley's Judah GemmellBeing a teammate extends beyond what happens on the ice
By Judah Gemmell
online link (same article) or article in PDF {click here} |
Tri-Valley Teams Enjoy Playoff SuccessThe NORCAL “A” and “B” playoffs were recently completed and four Blue Devil teams enjoyed great success. Both the Squirt A and Midget 18A teams are headed to the CAHA State Playoffs being held in San Jose on April 9, 10 and 11 by virtue of each team’s second place finish last weekend in Vacaville. They will now compete against the NORCAL champion and the top two teams from SCAHA to determine who will be crowned State champion in their respective divisions.
In the B division, both our Squirt and Peewee teams were crowned NORCAL champions in Oakland and are also headed to San Jose to compete against the NORCAL runner-up and the top two teams from SCAHA to determine the State champion in their divisions. {See article about PEEWEE : April 9, 2010 ~thePRESS.net}
In addition, the Midget 18AA team received an at-large bid to the USA Hockey National tournament in the 1A division by virtue of their third place finish in the recently completed CAHA State championship tournament held in Valencia. They are headed to Rochester, New York on April 5 where they are scheduled to compete in pool play against the top teams from New Mexico, West Virginia and Delaware.
Congratulations to the players and coaches for all your hard work, and to all the parents for your undying support. There is still one more weekend of exciting hockey action, so head on down to Sharks Ice and support all of our teams as they follow their dream of being named the best in California. |
Casey Wellman |
TRI-VALLEY BANTAM A BLUE DEVILS STRIKE GOLD IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN!
Blue Devil winger, Jake Minton recorded the game-winner as he gathered a long, lead pass from Devil D, Alex Pelletier at the Midnapore blue line, burst away from the last Stealth defenseman and fired a wrist shot passed the goalie for a beautiful goal. It was Minton’s second highlight reel goal of the tournament but none more important.
With the game seemingly in-hand, the Stealth didn’t go away. With the score 3-0 with less than 5 minutes to play, Midnapore popped 2 quick goals in 33 seconds.
Now with only a one goal lead with still 4 minutes to play, the Devils stepped up the pressure and never let up. With a stifling fore check, it was all Tri-Valley in the last few minutes of the game.
With the clock winding down, Midnapore managed to fire one last slap shot from center ice at the Tri-Valley cage but Devil goalie, Martin Munn stopped the desperate, laser beam as the horn sounded. With the buzzer still echoing throughout the Polar Ice Arena, the Devils rushed their victorious goal tender. A pile of sticks, gloves, helmets and Blue Devil players all surrounded the championship net minder. As the players hoisted the Polar Bear Ice President’s Day Banner, Tri-Valley celebrated its first Bantam A championship of the season.
The turning point in the championship game came in the third period when the Devils killed off a disputed, 5 minute Theo Somers boarding penalty. To make things even more unnerving, the first 90 seconds of the major, Tri-Valley played down 2 skaters. Being up to the challenge, the Devils did not bend and certainly did not fold. For nearly the entire 5 minutes, the Blue Devil fore checkers were quicker to the puck and all over the Stealth offense, deep inside their zone. It was very difficult just for the Stealth to set-up for a break-out. The Devils were so effective that Midnapore managed only one shot on net during the 5 minute kill.
For the game, Tri-Valley outshot Midnapore 29 to 15.
Leading up to the championship game, the Devils went undefeated in its first four games, beating Abbotsford Hawks 6-1, Crowfoot Blades 7-3, Phoenix Polar Bears 3-1 and NCYH Jr. Eagles 9-0.
Certainly worthy of gold medal performances, The Blue Devils had great team effort from the offense, defense and goaltending. Tri-Valley outscored its opponents 28-7 in 5 games.
Tri-Valley, left wing, Levi Gemmel lead the team and outpaced all tournament scorers with 17 points--9 goals and 8 assists. Devil center, Theo Somers finished second with 8 points—3 goals and 5 assists. Tri-Valley, right wing, Conner Nyman fired in 3 goals and dished out 4 assists. The line of Gemmel, Somers and Nyman had an extremely productive tournament combining for 15 goals or 54% of the offensive onslaught.
Finishing with 5 total points, Jake Minton had another goal and two assists in addition to his highlight reel goals.
Fresh off its first championship, the Tri-Valley Bantam A Blue Devils now prepare for a final, regular season stretch run leading up to the Norcal Playoffs, scheduled for March 20th-21st in Vacaville.
~Ed Lohmann |
"Tri Valley Blue Devils Mite Team Captures Wine Country Face Off Tournament"
The Blue Devils rattled off 7 unanswered goals in the second period with a few Blue Devil players sporting multi
goal performances. Controlling the play in the third period, the Blue Devils added a few more goals to seal the victory and bring home more hardware to the Dublin rink. Coach Lino Persi was quoted shortly after game saying, "With the Mites playing their heart out and with the strong support of their parents, we were destined to win!!"
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January 10, 2010Tri-Valley Blue Devils Peewee B Silver Stick Finals 2010Click here to see pictures of our trip to CANADA Download "Solid gold experience at Silver Stick Tourney" article from RUBBER magazine
As we prepared for the trip to Canada, there was much anticipation and nervousness amongst the players (and the coaches) about what this weekend would have in store for us. As a team from California, we were traveling to the birthplace of hockey (well not Montreal but pretty close) to play in Canada. Would we be competitive? What would the Canadian teams think of a team from California? Are we really going to have to do our homework for the missed school days? And most importantly, would there be enough snow for us to have a snowball fight? We all arrived in Niagara Falls on Wednesday tired from the trip but excited for the tournament to start.
In our group at the tournament there was a team from Huntsville Alabama and two teams from Ontario – Whitby and Lincoln. We played our first game Thursday morning in St. Catherines to a 1 – 1 tie with the team from Alabama and after a hearty Tim Horton’s snack we headed to Fort Erie for our second game against the team from Lincoln. The snow in the park outside the Fort Erie rink looked very inviting and we couldn’t resist a little snowball action before the game (don’t anyone tell Coach Bill). We played a good game against Lincoln that we lost by a score of 2 – 1. After our second game was over, the true experience of the weekend began. The team from Lincoln invited us to a pizza party after the game which was just the beginning of the relationship between the teams and the families – truly as the weekend went on, we realized that the team from Lincoln had decided that it was their responsibility to ensure that the team from California had a great time!
Before heading for pizza after the second game, we went out to the park and tentatively started a snowball fight amongst ourselves. Before we knew it, we were involved in what must have been one of the best good old fashioned Canadian snowball fights that park had ever seen that involved both teams and many of the coaches and parents (don’t anyone tell Mr. Bagnall that it was Coach John who told us all to get him after the picture). After 10 minutes of that, the kids from Lincoln and from Tri-Valley were best of friends. The pizza party was a great time with the kids and the parents all mixed with the Lincoln families. We were very touched when the parents from the Lincoln team let us know that their players had raised money via bottle drives for their tournament entry fees AND to host us for the pizza party. The relationship between the two teams flourished all weekend. It was the talk of the opening ceremonies on Thursday evening and between games on Friday the two teams were tobogganing on the hill outside the rink – it was impossible to pick out who was from Tri-Valley and who was from Lincoln.
Our 3rd game on Friday morning was a 3 – 0 loss to Whitby (they were fast!). As we prepared for our 4th game Friday afternoon, there was a lot of excitement about playing in the “knock out” stage and determination to keep playing Saturday and Sunday. Well, boy did we get to keep playing – we won our quarter final 4 – 1 against the Pelham Panthers and then won our Semi Final 4 – 0 against the Mt. Clemens Predators on Saturday. After the semi-final on Saturday, the team made a great trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and a highlight of that was to see the trophy case where the team names of the Silver Stick tournament winners are on display for all to see (oh yes and Coach John got lost in the Montreal Forum dressing room exhibit).
Well, here we were getting ready for the CHAMPIONSHIP game of our “tier” and wouldn’t you know it but we got to face our friends from the Lincoln Blades! The weekend ended with a tremendously well played, clean and exciting game that resulted in a 2 – 1 victory for us - the team from California! The sportsmanship that was on display before, during and after that game is an example that should be seen by anyone who tells you that youth sports has lost its meaning!
As we sat on the plane heading home on Sunday evening, the feeling was impossible to describe. The experience that we had and the friends we made will not be forgotten. And oh yeah, it is the Tri Valley Blue Devils team name that will be one of the ones on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame this year! ~J. Burgess |
Casey Wellman, a former Tri Valley Blue Devil, has just been called up to the NHL - Minnesota Wild!! Watch him tonight 3/18 as Minnesota plays against Nashville.
Casey played for Tri Valley from In-House Mites to Squirt A. Then moved on to play Peewee tier.
The Tri-Valley Bantam A Blue Devils swept all 5 games at the Polar Bear Presidents’ Day Invitational Tournament to capture its first championship of the 2009/2010 season. The Blue Devils captured the title in an exciting final game, by downing Calgary, AB, Midnapore Stealth 3-2. In the final game, Tri-Valley notched the first 3 goals, tallying scores in each period. 
BREAKING NEWS --- Associated Press (AP) -- In a stunning turn of events at the legendary Snoopy Ice Palace in Santa Rosa, CA, The Tri Valley Blue Devils Mite Team won their second tournament of the year with a run-a-way 13-5 victory against cross-Bay Area rivals, Cupertino Cougars, at the 14th Annual Wine Country Face Off Challenge early this morning. The Blue Devils were stunned the day before by runner up finalist Cupertino losing 10-8, which left many people wondering if Tri Valley could regain their confidence in the Championship game. Some critics questioned the Blue Devils coaching staff for their strategy and line combinations in their loss to Cupertino, but luckily for the coaches the movie theater and Charles Schultz Museum were enough of a distraction to avoid more questions from those critics.
The first weekend in January, my son and I along with the TV Blue Devils Peewee B team from California was treated to the best experience that youth hockey has to offer. We were fortunate enough to qualify for the International Silver Stick finals hosted in Pelham, Ontario (yes that is in Canada!) which is a town located on the Niagara peninsula just north of Buffalo. The team qualified for this experience by winning the Pacific Regional finals in San Jose during Thanksgiving weekend. Just winning the regional event was a thrill for these kids – many of them were playing in this tournament for their 5th year – never mind that it entitled them to this trip to Canada to play in the International finals!
The Mite X team made it to the finals in Valencia at their 10th annual Holiday Festival tournament. We lost in a shoot out after 5 minutes of over time. A heartbreaker, but the kids played great.
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Silverstick 2009 Tri-Valley competition over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend was exciting to
say the least with 8 travel teams participating in the Regional Silver Stick
Tournament in San Jose. 7 Blue Devil teams moved on to the Semi-Finals, 5
moved on to play in the Championship game and 2 won their division. What a
great showing for our club! |
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