Icing the competition

Mike Sciacca

Jeff Turcotte has seen ice hockey talent come and go throughout his

years as a head coach.

He’s taught and coached in such towns as Toronto, Detroit, Ann

Arbor, Mich., and now Madison, Wis. -- each city considered a hotbed

when it comes to hockey.

But Turcotte said one of the top, emerging younger talents comes

from Surf City, of all places.

Sixteen-year-old Rhett Rakhshani of Huntington Beach recently made

the USA national under-17 ice hockey team, a squad also known as the

National Team Development Program. It’s a two-year program based in

Ann Arbor and is designed to provide a “hothouse” training

environment to enhance U.S. competitiveness on an international

scale.

The U.S. national under-17 team will be competing in upcoming

tournaments against international teams from Canada, Russia, the

Czech Republic and Sweden.

Rakhshani leaves for Ann Arbor in mid-August. He will stay in

Michigan until April 2005 with his mother, Joan, while his father,

Steve, and his brother, Shaun, 21, stay at home in Surf City.

“I’m really, really excited about this opportunity,” said

Rakhshani, who just returned from attending a Select 16s camp in

Rochester, N.Y. “I’m looking forward to developing my game even

further.”

His ability to grasp instruction -- and be critiqued, both good

and bad -- is one of several key attributes Turcotte says Rakhshani

possesses, making him a key prospect.

Rakhshani plays for the California Wave, a traveling ice hockey

team comprising 15- and 16-year-olds coached by Turcotte. The team

recently won a national tournament in Rochester, N.Y.

“I’ve been coaching him since he was 7 years old, and I’m just so

impressed with him, both as a player and a young man,” Turcotte said

from Madison, Wis. “He’s got the best hands, and he can stick-handle

extremely well. Not only that, but he’s a great shooter, too.

“I see a lot of athletes, and one of the things that Rhett has

going for him is that he is very serious when it comes to training.

He’s got the ability and drive to succeed and take it to the next

level. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and all of the

attributes of a great athlete. I definitely see him as a Division I

player, and with his drive and determination, he could take his game

even further.”

Playing in the National Hockey League has been a long-standing

goal of Rakhshani’s.

“That’s been my dream all these years I’ve been playing,” he said.

Rakhshani played the usual sports as a youngster. He gave

baseball, soccer and football a try.

Football seemed like it would be a natural for him, since his

father and uncles, Vic and Craig Rakhshani, all starred in football

at Edison High in the 1970s. His mother, Joan, also graduated from

Edison.

Steve and Vic Rakhshani both went on to play Division I football,

Steve at the University of Hawaii and Vic at USC. So for a hockey

player to come out of the Rakhshani household proved a surprise to

everyone.

“Yeah, I think my liking ice hockey kind of surprised them,” said

Rhett Rakhshani, who is home-schooled. “But, once I told them that I

really loved the sport, they were really supportive.”

Vic Rakhshani, a personal trainer, serves as Rhett’s off-season

trainer.

Rhett Rakhshani lifts weights, runs sprints and gets practice time

on the ice three or four times per week. His transition to ice hockey

started with rollerblading. He then segued into roller hockey, a

sport he became “seriously” involved with. Roller hockey eventually

evolved into ice hockey, and it’s been his main sport since he was 9.

In the past few years, he’s played in tournaments in Detroit,

Toronto and New York, each helping him gain valuable exposure to the

ice hockey lifestyle, he said.

It was during those tournaments, he said, that his playing

abilities began to get noticed.

“I love the sport of ice hockey because it’s so competitive,” he

said. “I’m such a competitor, and every game I work my tail off. The

harder the game, the more fun it is to me.”

Rakhshani, who also enjoys surfing with his friends, credits

Turcotte with being a major influence in developing his ice hockey

game.

“With Rhett’s work ethic and drive, I think he has a very bright

future in the sport,” Turcotte said. “He has a shot at the NHL.”