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Firstars’ first season an unequivocal success


By Larry O’Connor T


here’s temptation to call the Califor- nia Firstars’ 2001 Squirt AAA team an experiment, but even Thomas Edi- son didn’t invent the light bulb on his first try.


The Firststars had success right off


the first whistle, winning high-profile tournaments in Toronto and Chicago while compiling a 36-4 record. The team earned a No. 1 ranking in its division by MyHockeyRankings.com. The independent outfit didn’t play a league schedule, opting to play in a hand- ful of tournaments, sometimes taking on Pee Wee AA teams above their punching weight.


Mindful of USA Hockey’s American Development Model, the Firstars main- tained at least a 3-to-1 practice-to-game ratio. Sometimes, the figure reached 6-to- 1 depending on the gulf between games. Individual stats were not kept and


some games went unreported, adding to the organization’s development-first mantra.


“We weren’t playing every week and C M Y CM MY CY CMY K


when we did play, the kids were very en- thusiastic about showing up at the rink,” said Firstars coach Craig Johnson, a former NHL player who spent time with the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. “I think that led to a lot of our suc- cess, too.”


The barnstorming team practiced out of Anaheim Ice and landed performance apparel maker Firstar Sports as a spon- sor.


The Firstars contingent debuted at


the Wildcats Labor Day Invitational tournament at Anaheim’s KHS Ice Arena where the 2001 birth year team played 1999 and 2000 squads, finishing 3-2 after posting wins over the Phoenix Firebirds’ 2000 AAA squad and Orange County Club’s 1999 and 2000 outfits. Otherwise, the Firstars largely played outside of California. The team’s bell- weather event came when it captured the Toronto-Shanahan Warrior Hockey Tour- nament’s Atom 2001 AAA Elite division title.


After knocking off Ontario-based


teams Guelph, Ottawa Valley and Quinte, the Firstars prevailed 6-4 over the then-


top-ranked Markham Waxers during the Nov. 9-13 event. “When we entered the tournament,


obviously as a California team we weren’t given a lot of credit,” Johnson said. “When we won the first few games, everybody was like, ‘OK, you won, but now you have to play our No. 1 team (Markham).’ “Everyone thought we’d lose to them


and we played a phenomenal game; the kids played great. Markham was a great team, a big team, a physical team, and we ended up beating them.


“It was a great game, going back and forth. Win or lose, it was a great game to be in.”


The pivotal win paved the way as the


Firstars then dismissed the Mid-Fairfield (Connecticut) Blues (3-0) and Detroit Lit- tle Caesars (4-1) en route to the crown. Success also followed at the Super01 Series tournament in Chicago from Jan. 27-29 and a Pee Wee AA tournament in Salt Lake City over President’s Day Weekend. The team captured the Super01 Se-


ries championship by going 6-0 while outscoring opponents, 36-9. The Firstars blanked the Dallas Elite Stars, 6-0, in the final.


The Firstars’ roster included Jack Wolfe, Cameron York, Zachary Mc- Neese, Ethan Lahmon, Andrew Chang, Zachary Lane, Dominique Petrie, Jonathan Panisa, Ian Krutch- ensky, Nicholas Kent, Ryan Johnson, Jackson Niedermayer, Ian Reed, Pe- ter Lychnikoff and Gunner Moore. Those players will form the nucleus


of the Anaheim Jr. Ducks’ 2001 Pee Wee AAA team next fall. This season’s memo- ries will last a lifetime, though. The team’s travelogue included visit- ing the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, playing an outdoor game in Illinois in January and skiing in Utah.


“Obviously, you can’t travel every-


where and there are a lot of great tour- naments, and there’s some great tour- naments we missed, too,” Johnson said. “We not only looked for competition, but also for areas where the kids could expect something new.


“We tried to teach them there was more to life than just hockey, and to just enjoy the game.”


Among its many accomplishments in 2011-12, the California Firstars’ Squirt AAA team took home the championship banner from January’s Super01 Series showcase in Chicago.


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