Hothouse Junior Hockey : League Hopes to Raise Crop of Hearty, Talented Players

The man from Hemet brought his wife to the mountains for a romantic weekend to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Then they drove past the Ice Castle skating rink here and saw the sign out front.

Jr. Ducks vs. SJ Jr. Sharks

Hockey? With no NHL games on TV or at local arenas, the couple pulled into the parking lot to see what they had been missing since the lockout began Oct. 1.

The cozy bed and breakfast down the road would have to wait.

Inside, they saw the opening faceoff of the Western States Hockey League, a six-team league for advanced players aged 17 to 19.

Don Thorne of Huntington Beach, the league commissioner and president of the Anaheim Junior Ducks, dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff, then the game began for real. The hitting was fierce, the passing crisp and the small stands were packed with family, friends and the curious.

Soon enough the Junior Ducks wrestled control from the Junior Sharks and turned a close-checking game into an 11-1 rout. The crowd, including the couple from Hemet, filed out of the rink happy the Ducks had won.

Thorne later fretted that the competition wasn’t quite as good as he had hoped. After all, he started this league with the idea that standout players from Orange County wouldn’t have to head out of state to play at a high level.

There have always been quality youth programs in Southern California, but never a good junior program for players aiming for a college or even pro career. Most of the players selected in the NHL draft each year are 18-year-olds taken from junior leagues such as the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Those three leagues are major junior A leagues. The Western States Hockey League is classified as junior B. Size and strength are the two major differences between the levels.

Thorne’s son, Mike, advanced through area age-group teams, but suddenly had nowhere else to play once he reached the junior B level.

“We really needed a place for kids to play so they wouldn’t have to go to the East or Midwest or Canada to play,” Don Thorne said. “A lot of kids here are trying to attract attention to play at (NCAA) Division I schools.”

In May, Thorne contacted USA Hockey, which suggested he start his own league. With an assist from Rick Chartraw, a former 10-year NHL veteran who now works for the Disney Co., Thorne persuaded teams from Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Ventura to join up.

“It’s something that’s absolutely needed here,” said Chartraw, who played three seasons with Kitchener of the OHL before joining the NHL.

“Some kids will take the next step (to the junior A level). Others will simply keep playing the game they love.”

John McFarlane, a youth coach from Mission Viejo, was enlisted to coach the Junior Ducks and a crowd of 100 hopeful players turned out for tryouts. McFarlane cut the squad to 22, including 10 players from Orange County, and they began play last Saturday.

It’s a program similar to most in Canada. The Junior Ducks pay to play--about $1,200 per season, which covers equipment and transportation to home and away games. Because ice time is scarce as well as expensive at Orange County rinks, the Junior Ducks call the Ice Castle home.

Most players live at home and continue attending school while playing on weekends.

“This league is something I didn’t foresee when I first started coaching in California,” said McFarlane, who also played junior hockey in Canada before coming to the Southland 10 years ago. “There were only 70 kids in the (youngest) program, now there are over 300. (Wayne) Gretzky did this magic down here.

“We have a couple of boys on our team with terrific potential.”

David Ahn, a senior at Sunny Hills High, is one.

He was 6 when he first saw other youngsters playing at a rink at the Brea Mall. The rink is gone, but Ahn’s passion lives on.

He played with and against Richard Park, a Rancho Palos Verdes resident who was drafted in June by the Pittsburgh Penguins after a 76-point season with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL. Ahn, a left wing, also played for McFarlane with a team called the Junior Kings.

Ahn spent his junior year attending and playing hockey at Upper Canada College, a prestigious boarding school in Toronto. He quickly asserted himself, impressing the coaching staff with his passing and stick-handling.

Saturday, he was late to the Junior Ducks’ season-opener because he was taking the SAT. He hopes to attend Harvard next fall, to study and play hockey. He hopes playing for the Junior Ducks helps land him a spot on the Harvard roster next year.

“Since this league formed I’ve been really happy,” he said. “Up in Toronto, I was totally homesick. I definitely want to go to college. I love Harvard. I fell in love with it on a visit there.”

Said his father, John: “This league is going to be a big help for California kids.”

After David’s year in Toronto, a 90-minute drive to Blue Jay, near Lake Arrowhead, is only a small inconvenience for the Ahn family.

“It was a painful situation,” John Ahn said. “My son was not ready to leave home, but he had (scholarship) offers to go to Toronto.”

David could have returned to Toronto or joined an OHL or WHL team, according to his father, but decided to play for the Junior Ducks instead.

Like Ahn, Ryan Smith of Mission Viejo started playing at a young age. Smith, 19, also has left California in search of better competition, only to return to become a Junior Duck.

A goaltender, Smith played last season with Jackson Hole, Wyo., of the Frontier League. He also has played in Canada.

When he was 11, his coach asked for volunteers to play in goal. Smith decided to give it a try and has been in the nets ever since.

“I’d never move back to forward,” he said. “I like it back in the net. There’s too much pressure. I like the pressure. All the glory or all the . . .”

Smith hopes the Junior Ducks are a springboard to a junior A team next season. From there he hopes to be drafted by an NHL team.

“I’ve got a long ways to go,” he said. “Eventually, one day, I think I’ll be there.”

If not?

“I’ll always play hockey, even if it’s just playing beer league,” he said. “It would be nice to make the NHL. It’s been my goal since I first stepped on the ice.”

The Junior Ducks simply offer another step toward the NHL for Smith.