Two Santa Barbara Ice Hawks club ice hockey teams won titles and a third took a silver medal at the California State Games in San Diego over the Presidents Day holiday weekend.
The 14-under Bantam A and 10U Squirt Division teams captured championships while the 12U Pee Wee squad took second place. The Ice Hawks also had a Bantam B team compete in the tournament.
The Bantam A team advanced to championship game after three close wins. In the final, the Ice Hawks fell behind 3-0 against the San Diego Oilers in the first period, but rallied to tie the score 3-3 in the third period.
The game remained tied after a five-minute overtime and went to a shootout. The Ice Hawks won on goals by E.J. Scullion, Jack Kane and Eli Heinze.
In the Squirts Division final, the Ice Hawks overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first period and beat the Valencia Flyers 6-3 for the title. Amsterdam Sweet recorded a hat trick for the champions.
Ice Hawks Bantam A coach Steve Heinze, who formerly played for the L.A. Kings and Boston Bruins of the NHL, said of the weekend tourney: “The feelings, the memories and the lessons learned from this weekend’s experiences are worth every second of hard work and sacrifice the players and families have committed to get to this point.”
Each of the Santa Barbara Ice Hawk teams qualified for the Southern California Championship games next month. If they win there, they’ll will go on to compete for the state championship.
To learn more about the youth hockey programs at Ice in Paradise contact: Brian Scullion at gyhl@iceinparadise.org or visit www.sbicehawks.com.
(Tom Laux photo)