The Santa Barbara Royals Ice Hockey Club put a cap on a great season with a second-place finish in the state championships at the L.A. Kings Icetown in Riverside, finishing the season with a 21-2 record.
Last weekend, the Royals won three pool-play games that put them in the semifinals, where they beat the SF Sabercats. They then lost the championship game to the Central Cathedral Jets.
Royals’ goalie Jack Finneran had a stellar tournament, giving up no goal in two game-winning shootouts. During the regular season, Finneran led the LA Kings League with a save percentage of .934 and goals-against of 1.70.
The Royals draw members from local high schools (as do all the teams in the tournament), and play home games at Goleta’s Ice in Paradise. They are coached by Steve Heinze, a former NHL player and 1992 U.S. Olympian.
As reported by team manager Lori Heinze here are recaps of the tournament games.
— First pool play game, against the Burbank Cougars: A regulation goal by the Royals’ Dennis Peppard tied the score at 1-1. The Royals won in a shootout with goals by Eli Heinze and Dennis Peppard.
— Second pool play game, against the Inland Empire United Wolverines: Regulation goals by the Royals’ Calvin Frisell and Johnny Niemela led to a 2-2 tie in regulation. The Royals won with a shootout goal by Dennis Peppard.
— Third pool play game, against the SF Sabercats: Goals by Dennis Peppard and Eli Heinze, and then Colin Bowman scored the tiebreaker with 44 seconds left in the 5-minute sudden death overtime.
— Semifinals against SF Sabercats: First goal by Johnny Niemela, and two goals by Eli Heinze followed by an empty net goal by Dennis Peppard won the game.
— Championship game against the Central Cathedral Jets: In the loss, the Royals had goals from Johnny Niemela and Reese Niemela.
Eli Heinze finished the regular season tied for most goals in the LA Kings League with 23 goals. Dennis Peppard finished the regular season as the league assist leader with 19.