KVHA Announces 2008/2009 Coaching Assignments

Kent, WA July 15, 2008 – The long process of firming up the KVHA 2008/2009 coaching assignments is complete.  The task is much more complex than one might imagine.  KVHA management appreciates the patience of coaching candidates, players and parents, as the process extended into July.  Coaching assignments depend on a variety of selection criteria ranging from estimated player enrollment to coaching candidate qualifications, experience, and availability.  KVHA also attempts to accommodate parent coaching assignments when possible.  We are pleased to announce the following Coaches for the 2008/2009 season:

Our final enrollment numbers may result in the need to create an additional team or two, or combine two teams into one.  Now that Head Coaches have been appointed, they will begin selecting their Assistant Coaches.  If you are interested in being an assistant coach, please contact Danny Lorenz at Danny@KentValleyIceCentre.com.  Interested assistant coaches are invited to assist with Tier-II and Tier-I tryouts in August.  Assistants for all teams will be confirmed following the tryouts.

Contact: Lew Sellers, Director of Communications

Kent Valley Hockey Association

6015 South 240th Street

Kent, Washington 98032

Cellular – 206-914-9619

Kent Valley Squirt “A” Continues Busy Summer

Kent, WA July 14, 2008 – Jordan Greenhall of Kent Valley Squirt “A” played for the Boston Jr. Bruins at the North American “AAA” Champions Cup in Las Vegas from July 7-11.  The Boston Jr. Bruins are one of the premier Spring/Summer programs for 1997 birth year players in the US.  During the past three seasons, the Jr. Bruins have won 11 of 14 “AAA” tournament championships against the best Canadian and American teams.  Jordan is the first Seattle-area player to be selected for the team which includes top 1997 players from all across the US.

The Bruins cruised through the round-robin with Jordan picking up a game MVP honor against the Manitoba All-Stars by scoring a goal and two assists.  In the semi-finals, the Bruins ran into a familiar foe to Seattle hockey players, the Vancouver Selects.  The Bruins had the Selects down by a couple of goals in the third period before the Selects mounted a comeback and earned the spot in the finals.  For the tournament, Jordan had 5 goals and 5 assists in 6 games.

Jordan is the latest Kent Valley Squirt “A” player to experience “AAA” competition with some of the best all-star teams in North America.  In June, Jake Levin helped the Vancouver Vipers to the North American “AAA” Hockey Classic championship in Winnipeg.  Recently, Carson Bergstrom and Kailer Yamamoto played for the California 98’s at the prestigious Brick Tournament in Edmonton.

Kent Valley Squirt “A” Head Coach Adam Kurtenbach has used his relationships in the hockey community to coordinate these additional development opportunities for players.  Coach Adam stated: “Having the opportunity to play for teams like the Vancouver Vipers and Boston Jr. Bruins is a great reward for our players.  Playing for the top teams in North America allows players and parents to understand the level of commitment necessary to compete at the highest levels of the sport.  This year we move up to the Pee Wee division and the experience all of our players have had this Spring and Summer will benefit them as we play another schedule of tournaments and exhibition games against top Canadian and American competition.  We are looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to play for a USA Hockey national championship.”

Congratulations to Jordan for helping put Kent Valley on the North American hockey map.

Contact: Lew Sellers, Director of Communications
Kent Valley Hockey Association
6015 South 240th Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Cellular – 206-914-9619

NW Selects, Female Hockey Organization, Fifth Annual Summer Mini-Camps

Kent, WA July 11, 2008 – NW Selects summer camps are a great way to keep sharp in the summer, while learning new skills along the way.  NWS Camps are exclusively for females and feature some of the best coaches available.  Everyone is welcome, no matter where you play in-season.  NW Selects is a tournament travel team organization with U-12, U-14 and U19 “AA” travel teams.

NW Selects camps are structured so that they are completed in one weekend with only one night stay, if you are traveling.  Players get 8 hours of ice time, 2 hours of dry-land training, 1 hour of classroom instruction ... and a lot of fun.  The first of three camps will be held at Kent Valley Ice Centre.

Kent, Washington (July 19 - 20) – This camp is for all female players who have basic skating skills.  Coaches will include former players and NW Select Coaches.  There are no age restrictions for the camp, but we will be holding the number of skaters to 30, so sign-up soon.  Cost is $185.00.  Ice times are: Saturday 7/19, 4:15pm-8:15pm and Sunday 7/20, 9:15am-1:15pm.

http://www.nwselects.org/signup_summer_2008.php

Tri-Cities (August 9 - 10) – This camp is designed for the younger female player, ages 5 - 14.  A strong emphasis will be placed on skating & stick handling skill development ... and fun.  Coaches will include former players and NW Select Coaches Candace Scott, Kim Lynch and Chantelle Russell.  The camp will be limited to 30 skaters.

Portland (August 16 - 17) – The final camp of the season will be for all female players and will be run by Coach Tom Peart, Augsburg College.  Tom has run our Portland camp for 2 years now and everyone loves his ability to teach hockey in a positive environment.  Other NW Selects coaches will assist.  The camp will be limited to 30 skaters.

For additional information, check the NW Selects web site at the following URL:  http://www.nwselects.org/

You may also e-mail the NW selects at:  Info@nwselects.org

Lew Sellers, Director of Communications
Kent Valley Hockey Association
6015 South 240th Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Cellular – 206-914-9619

Kent Valley Players Compete at Brick Tournament

Kent, WA July 7, 2008 – Carson Bergstrom and Kailer Yamamoto represented Kent Valley at the 2008 Brick Tournament in Edmonton, AB on July 2-6. Carson and Kailer played on the California 98 team based out of the LA Hockey Club.  Both players had an amazing experience as they participated in the top tournament for 1998 birth year players in North America.  The city of Edmonton enthusiastically supports the Brick Tournament with several thousand spectators watching each game inside the West Edmonton Mall, the world’s largest entertainment and shopping centre.

Click upon the pdf icon upper right for the full story and a team photo.

Danny Lorenz, Former Seattle Thunderbird’s Goalie, to Head Kent Valley Hockey Program

Kent, WA June 19, 2008 - Each summer USA Hockey conducts Select Player Development Camps for young athletes from throughout the country.  The athletes are chosen from tryouts conducted within USA Hockey Districts.  The goal is to attract the best players, in their specific age group, to USA Hockey’s national program.

Kent Valley’s Ryan Doner is headed to Rochester, N.Y. for USA Hockey’s Select 16 Camp June 21^st through 27^th.  He will be joined by former teammate Tyler Parker who played the majority of the season with the Kent Valley U-16 “AAA” team.  They and 18 other players from Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington will represent USA Hockey’s West Coast District at the National Camp.  Doner and Parker qualified for the National Player Development program at the District Selects Camp held at Kent Valley Ice Centre in early May.

Later this summer, 14-year-old Molly Doner will attend USA Hockey’s Girl’s Select 14 Camp in Rochester N.Y.  Molly played on Kent Valley’s Bantam Tier-I team during the 2007-2008 season.  She is one of only seven female players from the West Coast selected to attend the July 19^th to 25^th Camp.  Molly qualified for the National Camp during the Girl’s District Selects Camp at Olympic View Ice Arena in Edmonds during mid-May.

The purpose of the Camps is to identify, train, educate and evaluate the USA’s best athletes.  Individuals are selected by Districts to attend the week-long event.  During this week, players are evaluated by USA Hockey’s national scouting program, college and junior recruiters and professional scouts.  The competition gives each player the opportunity to measure themselves against others his/her age, gain knowledge about his/her development and to be exposed to outstanding coaching.  At times, teams will be chosen from certain Camps for international competition.  This year a team will be chosen from each of the Select 16 Camp, Select 17 Camp and several of the Girls' Select Camps for international competition.

Contact: Lew Sellers, Director of Communications
Kent Valley Hockey Association
6015 South 240th Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Cellular – 206-914-9619

Kent Valley Helps Vancouver Vipers Win North American Hockey Classic

Kent, WA. June 18, 2008 - Jake Levin of Kent Valley’s Squirt “A” team played with the Vancouver Vipers at the North American Hockey Classic in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 12-15.  The North American Hockey Classic attracted top teams from Western Canada and Minnesota.  The Vancouver Vipers are the top 1997 birth year team in British Columbia and feature players from the Burnaby Winter Club, North Shore Winter Club and other top BC associations.  Jake was personally requested by Vipers head coach, Jon Calvano, to bolster the Vipers defense after seeing Jake play with Kent Valley during this past season.

Kent Valley Squirt “A” head coach, Adam Kurtenbach, coordinated Jake’s participation and commented: “Giving players like Jake an opportunity to play with and against top players in their age group is what our program is all about.  Jake’s experience in Winnipeg allowed him to test his skills against the best players in North America.  It’s important that players in the Pacific Northwest see the level of play in other parts of the world to understand how hard they have to work to realize their dreams.  Our development program emphasizes improvement every time a player takes the ice.  Players can only reach their full potential if they are constantly challenged by the best competition.”

Many of the Viper players were familiar with Jake from playing against Kent Valley during the regular season.  They welcomed him onto the team and made him feel right at home.  The Vipers won all six of their games at the North American Hockey Classic to take home the Gold Medal.  The semi-finals and finals were both won in exciting shootouts.  Jake contributed a goal and 3 assists during the tournament and helped anchor a stingy defense.  He was thankful for the experience and learned a lot playing for this very talented team.  Several other Kent Valley Squirt “A” players will experience similar opportunities this summer with other top “AAA” teams.

Contact: Lew Sellers, Director of Communications
Kent Valley Hockey Association
6015 South 240th Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Cellular – 206-914-9619

Kent Valley Ice Centre’s Summer 2008 lineup of hockey activities begins Monday, June 23rd with the Summer Edition of the popular 3 on 3 King’s Court and Les Grauer’s Accelerated Training Program.  Les Grauer’s Individual Hockey Skills continues on Thursday evenings beginning June 26th.  Planet Hockey comes to KVIC for two engagements this summer.  Camp #1 Skating & Scoring SUPER Camp runs July 7th through July 11th and Camp #2 Preseason “Boot Camp” runs August 11th through August 15th.  Joey Grasso brings his “Future Stars Hockey School” to KVIC July 28th through August 1st.  KVIC will offer a limited run of Friday Day Camp again this summer beginning Friday June 27th.

Full details on these programs and registration forms are available under the Summer Camps 2008 tab.

Speaking of 3 on 3 King’s Court, the Speer team is looking for a 3rd team member.  They are looking for a Squirt Rep or PeeWee Rec player that would like to join them.  Contact Rena Sullivan at KVIC for additional information (253) 850-2400 ext. 10.

Please click upon the pdf icon on the right for a flyer on Kent Valley ice Centre 2008 Summer Hockey Activities.  Print it out and hang it on the fridge for future reference.

Kent, WA May 30, 2008 - Two members of Kent Valley Squirt A, Carson Bergstrom and Kailer Yamamoto, were invited to participate in tryouts for the California Brick team, coordinated by the LA Hockey Club, in Los Angeles on April 12-13.  The California Brick team will play in the prestigious Brick Invitational tournament in Edmonton, AB on July 2-6.  The Brick Invitational is the premier tournament for 1998 birth year players in North America and attracts teams from Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Detroit, Minnesota, and Vancouver.

The Pacific Northwest has not had an invitation to the Brick tournament in 6 years.  Local players have had to look for individual playing opportunities with invited teams.  According to Brick tournament organizers, the Pacific Northwest has not had a player represented since 2001.  It’s a tremendous accomplishment for Carson and Kailer to represent the PNAHA region at this year’s event.

California Brick head coach, Igor Nikolin, was impressed with Carson and Kailer’s skill level and conditioning.  They were clearly the top defenseman and forward at the tryouts and proved themselves at a recent tournament won by the California Brick team.

Kent Valley Squirt A head coach, Adam Kurtenbach, coordinated the tryout and commented, “This is a great opportunity for Carson and Kailer to compete against the best 98 birth year players in North America and continue their development.  The competition we played all year at the Tier 1 Atom level prepared them to excel at the tryouts.  Additional Kent Valley Squirt A players have been recruited by the Vancouver Vipers, last year’s Brick Invitational champions, for AAA tournaments throughout the summer.  The interest in our players by top national and international programs is testimony to the player’s talent, work ethic and the success of our development program.”

Kent Valley is extremely proud of Carson and Kailer’s accomplishments.  We wish Carson and Kailer good luck as they proudly represent Kent Valley at this prestigious event.

Lew Sellers, Director of Communications
Kent Valley Hockey Association
6015 South 240th Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Cellular – 206-914-9619