Atlantic Youth Hockey League

14U National Tournament Preview

Release Date : 03/24/2016

EAST HANOVER, N.J. – The pool play matchups for the New Jersey Colonials have been announced for the 2016 Toyota/USA Hockey Tier I National Championships at the 14U level. The Colonials reached the national tournament by virtue of winning the Atlantic District championship.

Finishing their season with a 50-10-7 record, the Colonials ranked fourth in the country, per MyHockeyRankings.com and outscored their opponents by a 309-140 (+169) margin. The program finished with the 11th toughest schedule in the country and had the third best average goal differential.

How’d we get here: The Colonials won the regular and postseason championship of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. The Colonials then swept the North Jersey Avalanche to win the Atlantic District championship to advance to nationals.

The Colonials Bantam Major team has won six consecutive AYHL championships. The team also won a district championship at Pee Wee Major two seasons ago.

All games take place at the Subway Ice Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

The opponents: The Colonials open play against the Los Angeles Jr. Kings. The Jr. Kings enter play at nationals with a 24-22-6 record and are ranked 29^th according to MyHockeyRankings.com, making them the second lowest ranked team in the field. The Jr. Kings finished play in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League at 3-4-3 and played to a second place regular season finish (7-5) in the California Amateur Hockey Association. The team finished with 132 goals for and 152 goals against.

The Jr. Kings reached the national tournament by winning the Pacific District championship, 2-1 in overtime, over the Anaheim Jr. Ducks, who won the CAHA championship.

The Colonials did not play the Jr. Kings in the regular season.

The Colonials will continue pool play by matchup up with Jr. Sabres, winners of the New York District. Playing one of the top schedules in the country, the Jr. Sabres finished with a record of 38-16-8 and outscored their opponents 215-107. The Jr. Sabres finished 13^th in the country according to MyHockeyRankings.com.

The Sabres finished play in the T1EHL at 7-4-4 and won the New York District championship, 4-0, over the Syracuse Stars.

The Colonials did not play the Jr. Sabres in the regular season.

The Colonials will close pool play with the Jr. Eagles, the sixth ranked team in the country according to MyHockeyRankings.com with a record of 46-14-9 and a +178 (305-127) goal differential. This will be the second consecutive appearance in the 14U national championship tournament for the Jr. Eagles.

The Colonials defeated the Jr. Eagles, 4-3, on September 6, 6-3, on October 17, 2-1, on January 2, and played to a 3-3 tie on January 3.

In their words: “We are really excited to be representing the Atlantic District in Alaska for nationals,” said head coach Noel Rubin. “My team is focused on Los Angeles for our first game. They are from the west coast, so they will have an advantage with less travel and [less of a] time difference [to adjust to]. That’s what our focus is on: getting the three points in game one and then going from there. It’s a long road and there will be lots of ups and downs, so we need to stay focused and not get too emotional as things change fast. [Every game] will be a roller coaster ride; sometimes you think you’ve won and then you lose a lead. No lead [in any game] will be safe and we have to play 48 minutes [in every game]. We are excited about this opportunity.”