HOSPITABLE TO ICE KINGS PROSPECTS CLARKE, KIM DEMONSTRATE QUALITY OF SOCAL YOUTH HOCKEY.Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and - There was no home rink and only one team for a thousand square miles. Alex Kim and Noah Clarke Noah Clarke (born on June 11, 1979 in La Verne, California, U.S.) is a National Hockey League Left Wing for the New Jersey Devils. Clarke scored his first career NHL goal on March 12, 2007 against the Edmonton Oilers, becoming the first native of Southern California to record a liked the odds. They also liked baseball and soccer, tennis and golf, and all the other sports kids play growing up in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . But they loved hockey the most. It was fast, rough and you couldn't put it down. You needed instincts and hand-eye coordination hand-eye coordination Eye-hand coordination Surgery Oculomanual synchronization, required by surgeons, especially for laparoscopic surgery. See Laparoscopic surgery, Paradoxical movement. , and they could fill a Zamboni with both. Ten years ago, though, youth hockey was still lacing up its skates in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area. The Gretzky revolution was under way with the Kings and their fans, but for teenagers already hooked on the game, it still was a wilderness. ``The biggest problem with having only one team was there wasn't another one to play,'' Clarke said. ``You could play older guys or go to Montreal, Boston or New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of for a tournament. It's amazing what's happened.'' Amazing, not because Kim and Clarke were standing in the Kings' dressing room Monday with more than just dreams of an NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there career. Amazing because the explosion of the sport in this area at the youth level is making it one of the most fertile spots for hockey in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . In 1993, Kim and Clarke were linemates on the only travel team in Southern California, which had to scramble for ice time at just five rinks in the vast region. Today, there are 23 facilities and another opening in Bakersfield this winter. Each rink has up to 200 youngsters participating and at least three travel teams for kids 8 to 16. Three teams representing the Kings' HealthSouth Training Center have won national championships in the past three years, beating top-flight programs in Michigan, Minnesota and the Northeast. One player, Richard Park
Richard Park (Korean: 박용수) (born May 27, 1976 in Seoul, South Korea) is an American professional ice hockey player in the National from Torrance, has reached the NHL and plays with the Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their symbol is a bear made to look like the wilderness. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). . Dozens play junior hockey in Canada or have received Division I hockey scholarships, including Kim and Clarke, who were teammates at highly rated Colorado College. Another player, Garrett Stafford Garrett Stafford (born January 28th, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is a professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently a part of the Detroit Red Wings organization. Playing career
Travel budgets include tournaments in Europe, but the root of the success has been the development of top talent at home. When the West Valley Wolves, representing the Iceoplex facility at the corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Parthenia Avenue in Panorama City, play the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. Mariners, college scouts will be in the crowd. ``We used to be a laughingstock laugh·ing·stock n. An object of jokes or ridicule; a butt. Noun 1. laughingstock - a victim of ridicule or pranks goat, stooge, butt April fool - the butt of a prank played on April 1st ,'' Kim said. ``The other teams from Canada or Boston thought we were a big joke. They asked about our surfboards. We did OK on the ice, but they never took us seriously. Now we go to Toronto and whip their best teams.'' With so many kids picking up the sport, youth hockey also has attracted qualified coaches from Canada. That has improved the skill level and the teaching ability of local coaches mentored in these programs. ``I must say I was very surprised at the level of play around here,'' said Jocelyn Langlois, hockey director at the Iceoplex and a former professional player. ``And as good as these kids are, the ones born in '92 and '93 are really spectacular. I grew up in Montreal where hockey is bigger than life. But this is really something.'' From Kim and Clarke to Kings coach Andy Murray and every hockey fan in L.A., the undisputed father of youth hockey is Wayne Gretzky Noun 1. Wayne Gretzky - high-scoring Canadian ice-hockey player (born in 1961) Gretzky . The NHL's all-time leading scorer joined the Kings in 1988 after winning four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). . Within four years, he took the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals. Gretzky's vast influence spawned expansion in warm-weather cities like Miami and Nashville. And the popularity of Gretzky's Kings helped create a team in Orange County, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Kim and Clarke, both 24, were on board long before then. They first met at age 6 at the Culver City ice arena, which served as the Kings' first training facility. For eight years, they played on the same teams and developed a close friendship. Clarke will be the best man at Kim's upcoming wedding. Kim grew up in Fullerton. His world was shattered during the 1993 riots, when his family's Compton liquor store was burned to the ground. But a strong support group at home helped him persevere. Without today's opportunities for hockey in Southern California, Kim went to play juniors in Sault St. Marie in Michigan. After growing up around ethnic diversity, the adjustment was difficult. ``There were no African-Americans, no Hispanics, no Asians,'' he said. ``The racial taunts were an everyday thing. Those people didn't know anything about the riots. That was the toughest adjustment.'' Clarke grew up in La Verne in the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. . His grandfather, Harold Stuve, founded Altadena Dairy. He excelled at every level of local hockey but also knew he had to leave if he wanted to make it a career. He received a scholarship to Shattuck St. Mary's Prep School outside Minneapolis, where Murray coached during the 1998-99 season. Two years there and two more on a junior-A team in Omaha, Neb., got him ready for Colorado College, where he was reunited with Kim. Clarke was drafted by the Kings in 1999 but stayed all four years at college. He is expected to open the season at the Kings' minor-league affiliate in Manchester, N.H. Kim was a year ahead of Clarke but never drafted. He signed with Reading (Pa.) of the East Coast Hockey League and scored 22 goals last year. He won't make the Kings squad and already has been offered a minor-league contract with the St. Louis Blues' farm team in Worcester, Mass., if an arrangement can't be made with Manchester. ``To me, just standing in this dressing room is a dream come true,'' Kim said. ``To play for an organization where you grew up is an amazing experience.'' --Kings acquire goalie: The Kings acquired goaltender Milan Hnilicka from the Atlanta Thrashers for future considerations. Hnilicka played in 30 games with Atlanta last season, finishing with a 4-13-1 record, 3.56 goals-against average and .893 save percentage. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder also played 15 games with the AHL's Chicago Wolves last season. He was 11-2-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Matt McHale, (818) 713-3622 matt.mchale(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Noah Clarke, left, and Alex Kim are among the first local hockey players to make the Kings' camp. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion