Cougars Win the Tahoe Mites Tournament!

January 10, 2006
The Cougars Mites traveled to South Lake Tahoe to compete in the First Tahoe Invitational Tournament.  The eight participating teams were divided into two divisions:

Division 1: Cougars, Bakersfield, Tahoe Bears, Santa Rosa

Division 2: Fresno, Vacaville, Roseville, Tahoe Rink Rats

In the preliminary round each team played against all teams in their division plus against a team from the other division for a total of four games.  The Cougars Mites started out strong in the preliminary round and managed pull off four wins:

vs Bakersfield 8:3
vs Fresno 7:1
vs Tahoe Bears 15:0
vs Santa Rosa 9:0

It was great to see the Cougars playing happy hockey, passing the puck, carrying out their assigments.  In some of the easier games the coaching staff was able to experiment with the lines and everybody had a chance to score goals (except for Felix who was our goaltender this time and Sebastian, Joseph and Steven who could not make this tournament). 

After winning their division the Cougars faced a hungry Vacaville team in the semi finals. Vacaville just barely lost to Fresno and they were ready to carry the momentum. The Cougars however were ready for the fight and won decisively by a score of 9:1.

After a great buffet lunch at Harrah's and a relaxing movie the Cougars were ready to face Bakersfield in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.  This was the most difficult game of the tournament.  Although Bakersfield is not a travel team in this game they definitely played like one (they beat the NORCAL Fresno Falcons to earn their place in the finals).

The Cougars scored a quick goal to silence the fans of their opponents but Bakersfield was quick to tie the game.  The Cougars showed some character and went on to score multiple goals to increase their lead which they managed to keep to the end to win the game by a score of 6:3.


As the buzzer went off Cougars players' helmets and gloves flew off and they all collapsed to one big pile to celebrate their victory.



This tournament was a great experience for the team not only because of all the games that we won but because we grew tighter as team and improved our game across the board.  Now onto more success in NORCAL series!

Congratulations to all players and a big THANK YOU to the coaches!

 
Thanksgiving Tournament News

November 29
Over Thanksgiving the Cougars Mites made their way to the Anaheim Area for the annual Thanksgiving Tournament.  On Thanksgiving Day most of the Mites and families participated in the Cougars Thanksgiving Feast.  After this great feast the coaches ordered all Mite players to go to bed no later than 8 PM, because our first game was going to be at 6:45 AM on Friday.

The team welcomes a new player, Sebastian LarssonSebastian is playing with jersey # 15.  He came to Anaheim with his grandfather while the rest of the family was moving from Chicago.  During the tournament Sebastian showed great commitment and determination.  We are all very happy to have Sebastian in our team.

The first drama took place when our first tournament game was about to start:  Coaches Jeff and Sheldon were not allowed to the bench because of some mistake in the registration...  We got over that and the players lined up to listen to the National Anthem.  Our first game was against the Aliso Viejo Eagles #1... more




The team got over the loss pretty soon.  Most of us went back to the hotel for a breakfast.  After that the kids got to play some hall hockey.  Coach Sheldon invited the players for sandwiches and the coaches talked to the team.  We drove to the Anaheim Rink and prepared to face the Anaheim Jr. Ducks team.  Good preparation, the coaches' advices and the players' eagerness helped us to win this game.  This game was a great one.  The team congratulates Steven for his first shutout... more

After our great game, Coach Don announced the team's representatives for the Skills Competition that was going to take place later on Friday.  The players and their categories were:

Dustin Speedskating Breakaways
Garan Speedskating Target Shooting
Justin Breakaways Target Shooting
Steven Goalie Goalie

The whole team was to cheer to all four players.  They all did splendid and represented our hockey club and our team great.

On Friday night Lee and JoAnne arranged a Texas Hold em' poker tournament as a fund raiser.  The game was very exciting and we raised plenty of money for the Mites.

Our third and final game in this tournament was played early Sunday morning against the Long Beach Jr. Ice Dogs... more



A Cougars Mite parent put it this way: for the kids this tournament was like an extended playdate.

After the tournament the Cougars Mites have returned to their normal practice and game schedule.  On Monday night, most of the team was back to practice in Vallco.  Our next game will be against the San Jose Jr. Sharks.  Please do not forget that Coach Jeff asked all players to go early to sleep before the games!

The team welcomes Kurt back.  Kurt has been absent because of a knee injury, but is now ready to play!

 
Mites are Ready for 2005/06 Season

September 29
As the Regular Season Games are about to start, it is time to look back and see what Cougars Mite Team has been doing this far.  Since the end of August, the team has been practicing together.  Team practices are held two times a week.

Coaches
The team is fortunate to be coached by Don Ballard for the second consecutive season.  Head Coach Don is assisted by Jeff, Sheldon and Taku.  Having several dedicated adults sharing their skills on the ice and off the ice ensures that the practices are effective and all players get attention.

The team thanks all coaches for making the practices so much fun.

Players
Four players, Joseph, Tyler, Justin and Kai, started their second season with Cougars Mite team.  The team is grateful to have your experience from last year.  All of us will learn from you.

Brothers Vanny and Spencer skated last season in Winter Lodge of Palo Alto.  Both of them work hard, skate hard and bring great enthusiasm to the team.  Garan is new to the area, but brings speed and some great hockey skills to the team.  Before joining Cougars Mite team, Garan played travel hockey in Canada.

Will, Kurt, Tristan, Kaz, Dustin and Felix all played in the Vallco in-house league last season.  This means, that nearly half of the team has been playing together.  That certainly helps us to become a very strong team.

Kai is our goalie. Tyler is the team's captain.  Justin, Dustin and Garan are the assistant captains.

It is great to have all of you in the team. Go Cougars!

Scrimmage games
In September we used extra practice times to play scrimmage games against other teams.

September 10
We played a practice game against the Fresno Falcons at Bridgepointe.  Our team played strong and outscored the Falcons.

September 11
The Tri-Valley Blue Devils invited us to play in Dublin.  Our team fought hard and played strong from start to finish.  The Devils scored more goals, but the game was a great learning experience.

September 17
The Berkeley Bulldogs played against us in Vallco.  The Bulldogs started strong and got ahead of us in the first period.  Our game improved for the last two periods.  The game was close and the loss did not feel too bad.

September 24
We met the Tri-Valley Blue Devils for another scrimmage game in Vallco.  In this game, there was lots of passing, great defense and everybody stayed focused.  It was great to see how much our game had improved.  This game was important to us; when we all give our best, we win the game!  Way to go Cougars!


The practices, the scrimmage games, team barbecue, after game lunches and dinners have all helped us to become a team.  We are all looking forward to a great season.