Hockey heads onto the ice
Ashton Christian, left, and Jonathan Lee hold the Crosstown Cup after UCLA beat USC in the five-game series last season. The season opener is on Oct. 6.
By Kimberly Lajcik
Sept. 23, 2010 1:30 a.m.
PANORAMA CITY “”mdash; Sixteen miles away from Westwood, the UCLA hockey club walked off the ice Wednesday morning, finishing a three-hour practice, its first of the season.
Last season, the Bruins made plans to win and eventually won the five-game series against USC Hockey to take home the Crosstown Cup for the first time since 2005. This year, in addition to keeping the Crosstown Cup, the Bruin squad has another title in mind.
The last time that UCLA Hockey brought home the Pac-8 title was in 1999, a dry spell that coach Jason Kitay aims to end this year.
“That’s our goal this year, the Pac-8 title,” Kitay said.
Kitay has first-hand knowledge of the league since he played hockey for Washington from 2003 to 2007 and has been around the Pac-8 over many years. Kitay, a Los Angeles native, brought his experience to the Bruins in the middle of last season.
“This will be my first full year coaching at the collegiate level. … I’m chomping at the bit to get the season going,” Kitay said.
Along with a new head coach, changes for UCLA Hockey include losing two pillars of the defensive game.
“Neil Parsons and Jay Boffa ““ it’s going to be tough, they are some of our most memorable players. … I don’t think we can specifically replace them, but we have the depth to make up for what they provided last year,” said Michael Carder, a second-year business economics student and assistant captain of the team.
With their season opener against host team Loyola Marymount scheduled for Oct. 6, the Bruins expect to quickly address the early-season realities of waning physical conditioning and performing as a unit. With young leadership and up to 10 newcomers to be potentially added to the roster, the Bruins can expect to be challenged by teams with veteran leadership and considerably more competitive experience. The capture of the Crosstown Cup ended last season with a store of potential energy which UCLA Hockey has already begun to capitalize on.
“For our first practice, I think it’s on par with a mid-season practice. The rookies look really good,” Carder said. “We are going to be ready, everyone has played hockey before, and it’s just a matter of shaking the rust off the skates.”
The Bruins’ game on the ice last season was characterized by a strong defensive core, a defining trait they intend to maintain.
The team opens the season with three away games until meeting two-time defending conference champion Oregon on their home ice.
“Our game plans are going to change for our opponent,” Kitay said. “We are going to start out being a very defensive-minded team not taking too many unnecessary offensive stances ““ if the chance is there, we are going to take it. We are going to start out the season pretty conservative with defense first; it’s defense that wins championships.”
UCLA Hockey’s two-game series against Oregon in mid-October may be a litmus test for the team’s cumulative performance, but during a five-month season, no single team reigns as the ultimate obstacle.
“The biggest challenge in the Pac-8 is Oregon. They are a really strong team, but what really hurt us last year were injuries, commonly concussions and groin pulls,” said Jonathan Lee, a second-year economics and architecture student and team captain for the Bruins.
When the Bruins face the Trojans at Staples Center in November, they expect to be ready.
Although heartily ambitious, with plans for the Crosstown Cup and ultimately a Pac-8 title, the Bruins look past no team.
“We can’t take historical teams that have been weaker for granted,” Lee said.
