Ice Hockey Team Getting a Warm Reception

Though better known as a backdrop for many movies, Simi’s craggy hills have also become the home of a junior ice hockey team that is emerging as a force in regional and national competition.

The Ventura Mariners, so named because the Junior B team represents the entire county, have a chance to win the Western States Hockey League championship for the second year in a row.

This weekend, the team--which also has won a spot in the nationals with its 24-6 league record--faces off against the Bay City Bombers from the Long Beach area in the first round of regional playoffs. On Friday night, the Mariners opened the playoffs on the wrong skate, losing 6 to 3, to the Bombers in Simi Valley. The Mariners now have to beat the Bombers in back-to-back games today in Lakewood and Sunday at home to win the best-of-three series and advance to the league’s finals next week.

General Manager and head Coach Sean McGillivray Sr. said that many Californians, unfamiliar with the sport, often mistake junior hockey for more common youth league programs. However, the Mariners represent an elite 3% to 5% of players under age 21, he said.

“There are only three Junior A leagues in the U.S. and only five Junior B leagues,” McGillivray said, adding that the bulk of elite programs are based in Canada. “We have played a number of Junior A teams and beaten them, and they’re the highest level before college.”

Local players, like 17-year-old forward Sam Kuzyk, a junior at Newbury Park High School, said a love of hockey is often a family affair.

“My dad used to play hockey and he pulled me out on the ice thinking I’d like it,” said Sam, who has been skating since he was 6.

“I love the intensity, the aggressiveness and how fast it moves,” he said.

Keith Rosebraugh, 15, a sophomore at Westlake High School, said he also joined the Mariners to feed a hereditary craving for the chill of the rink, the speed of the puck and the roar of the Zamboni ice-sweeping machine.

Keith, the team’s youngest player, is honing his skills as a goalie.

“It’s kind of scary,” he said. “The pucks are traveling pretty fast, but you’re pretty well protected. Sometimes the guys on the other team will try and rough you up, but you’ve got five other guys out there who are on your side.”

While hockey is physically demanding, mental preparation is also important, Keith said.

“There’s a lot of mind games the other team can play to pull you off your game,” he said.

“You just try and get really relaxed and you run over the different saves in your head,” Keith said. “You close your eyes and think of the puck and try to really concentrate on that--you really can’t think about anything else while you’re out there.”

With a scarcity of frozen ponds in the region, ice hockey teams are forced to go outside the state for talent.

*

Fewer than half of the Mariners’ 23 members--ages 20 and younger--are from California. Four are from Ventura County, with the remaining Californians drawn from the San Fernando Valley and other parts of the Southland.

But spurred by the advent of in-line roller skates and a resultant boom in street hockey competitions, local interest in playing the sport has swelled. The number of fans showing up at the Mariners’ home rink, the Easy Street Arena, is also on the rise.

More than 700 fans showed up Friday night at the arena on the city’s west end to watch the Mariners’ first match against the Bombers.

The team’s popularity comes as no surprise to McGillivray, who owns and operates the Easy Street Arena.

McGillivray, who has worked to establish ice hockey as a viable sport in California for more than two decades, formed the Mariners three years ago to help promising young players reach the big time.

“The purpose is to give talented young California kids the opportunity to play at a high level of hockey,” McGillivray said. “These kids are looking to go on to college and going on to play professional hockey.”

*

To supplement the admittedly limited, but growing, pool of ice hockey talent in the area, McGillivray’s older son, Sean Jr., recruits players from across the country, Canada and Europe. His younger son, Shane, plays on the Mariners as a forward.

The fourth county player on the team is 19-year-old forward Jason Slinger of Camarillo.

Members recruited from out of the area usually are housed with local families and attend school. The team plays about 60 games during its season, which runs from September through March.

While the Mariners’ Junior B status can sometimes be a hard sell for players from areas with older, more established hockey programs, many are attracted by the region’s climate, which is more inviting than, say, Buffalo, N.Y., McGillivray said.

“Junior hockey is a developing ground for college and professional hockey players, and it’s great for the fans--it’s really exciting hockey,” McGillivray said.

FYI

The Ventura Mariners play the Bay City Bombers again at 5:45 p.m. today at Glacial Gardens in Lakewood at 3975 Pixie Ave. For ticket information, call (310) 429-1805, ext. 221. If necessary, the third game will be at 1:45 p.m. Sunday at the Easy Street Arena, 131 W. Easy St., Simi Valley. Tickets will be $6 for adults, $4 for children.