MARINERS AIMING FOR 'A' LEAGUE.Byline: Bryan Winchell Special to the Daily News Area sports fans have run out of excuses for not attending a Ventura Mariners hockey game at the Easy Street Arena. Football season has ended. The Mariners, who think they can win a Junior B level national championship, are playing some of the best junior hockey in the country. And Ventura is trying to schedule some of the top Junior A hockey teams in the country in the next few weeks. "I'm quite confident that the crowds will pick up as we go past the first of the year," coach Sean McGillivray said last week. McGillivray is trying to schedule games with Junior A teams from Jackson Hole Jackson Hole, fertile Rocky Mt. valley, c.50 mi (80 km) long and 6 to 8 mi (9.6–12.8 km) wide, NW Wyo., partly in Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Lake, 39 sq mi (101 sq km), a natural lake through which the Snake River flows, was dammed in 1916 to control and Casper, Wyo., and Billings, Mont., over the next few weeks. Games against those teams are important for two reasons: The Mariners need quality competition to keep them sharp for their playoff run, and they are attempting to make the jump to the American Frontier League The Frontier League, based in Troy, Illinois, is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Midwestern United States and Western Pennsylvania. It operates mostly in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. , with which those teams are affiliated. "We're going to do everything possible to join that league along with Anaheim," McGillivray said. "It's a very good league." The main reason McGillivray is confident the team can make the jump to a Junior A league is the way his team is playing. Heading into a three-game home series with San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. this weekend, Ventura is in a first-place tie with Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. with 28 points. The Mariners have also done better in their games against Junior A level competition. That's a drastic improvement from last year when they lost games sometimes as badly as 15-0 when facing Junior A-level opponents. "The progress we've made in a year has been really quite remarkable," McGillivray said. "What's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. is really exciting. One fan came to me and said this is the best kept secret around." The main reason the team has improved so quickly is its recruiting efforts. Assistant coach and head scout Sean McGillivray Jr. spent most of his summer recruiting players from around 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 addition, the Mariners held two summer camps - one for 60 to 70 local players, and one for 30 players from outside the area. The Mariners have a lot to offer young hockey players and, not surprisingly, climate is a big pull. After spending time "Spending Time" is the first single released by Christian artist Stellar Kart. The lyrics describe the band members desire to spend "more time with God". "Sometimes it’s a real struggle to spend time with God. with Ventura last season, goalkeeper Siegfried Guentensberger played in Michigan but returned this season. The sun may have been a factor. "He said he still can't get over coming out of the rink in December and not having to scrape snow off his windshield," McGillivray said. The abundance of activities 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, is another drawing point, McGillivray said, noting that one player was excited over attending his first professional basketball game. But having a solid hockey team is still the best recruiting tool. "As long as we have a good program, kids will much prefer to play hockey in 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. than Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County. As reported in the 2000 U.S. Census, the city was home to 111,454 people. The land on which Springfield is today was first settled in the late 1810s, around the time Illinois became a ," McGillivray said. The Mariners have established their success by having a combination of local and out-of-state talent. Center Ryan Weber is one of the imports who, after playing Junior A hockey last year, is leading the league in scoring with 36 points. Weber's line mate, Jerome Randklev of Minnesota, isn't far behind Weber with 30 points. And Brad Bourhis from Saskatoon Saskatoon (săskət  n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. ,
Saskatchewan, is probably the best defenseman in the league.
Local talent includes Simi Valley's Steve Petritz, who scored seven goals in a three-game series against San Jose in mid-December, Jason Slinger from Camarillo and defenseman Shane McGillivray from Thousand Oaks. "Our team has the best balance in the league in terms of imports and local talent," Sean McGillivray said. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (1) Ventura Mariners ice hockey coach Sean McGillivray talks with Jason Slinger of Camarillo. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News (2) Guentensberger (3) Petritz |
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