Mariners Contend for National Title

A hockey team called the Mariners. It’s as odd as a regatta yacht named the Iceberg.

“By gosh, who thought there would ever be a hockey team named the Mighty Ducks?,” Sean McGillivray said. “We have a class operation.”

And a winning one.

McGillivray is general manager of the Ventura Mariners, a Simi Valley-based team that will begin play in the eight-team Junior B National Championships today in Blaine, Minn.

Ventura opens against the East Metro Lakers at 2:30 p.m.

The Mariners, a mixture of local talent and players recruited from as far away as Canada, won the Western States Hockey League with a record of 41-8-1.

The league’s leading scorer with 132 points was Mariner center David Partch, 18, of Agoura. Partch is among several homegrown Mariners.

Forward David Perry, 19, grew up in Tarzana and attends Moorpark College. Forward Anthony Sedler, 17, is a senior at Granada Hills High and forward Cole Baron, 16, lives in Newbury Park and is a junior at Hillcrest Christian School in Thousand Oaks.

Center Chris Mallaber is a junior at Westlake High, defenseman Joe Cardiel is a senior at Moorpark High and forward Chris Zeilinger lives in Agoura and attends Moorpark College.

“Being located in Southern California, it’s difficult to break into the hockey establishment and recruit players to supplement local kids,” McGillivray said.

Nevertheless, the Mariners, whose players must be under 21, have improved steadily since their inception five years ago.

“This year we have our deepest team ever, California kids and otherwise.” said McGillivray, who also coached the team until this season. The coach is Scott Yorkison.

After winning the Southern Division of the WSHL by defeating the New Mexico Ice Breakers and the Utah Grizzlies in a pair of best-of-three series, the Mariners captured the overall title by winning two of three against the perennially powerful Fairbanks Ice Dogs in Alaska.

“Those were huge wins for us because they had 6,000 people in the stands in Fairbanks,” McGillivray said.

The national tournament consists of eight teams from five Junior B leagues around the nation. The Minnesota Junior Hockey League is considered the strongest.

No WSHL team has won the national title. Can the Mariners become the first?

“We have a great chance because we have three strong lines,” McGillivray said. “We have tremendous scoring ability and are tough on defense.”