AlexWatch2012: Okotoks earns silver in Provincials; Alex records 25 saves, shutout

Alex Caravaggio helped Okotoks Bisons finish 2nd overall in Alberta's Junior B Provincials, which commenced pool place last Thursday and wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a silver medal for the Bisons.

Alex started in net on Friday in the team's last preliminary game, recording 25 saves and a shutout en route to a 6-0 defeat of the Killam Wheat Kings. He was also named the game's Most Valuable Player.

The Bisons recorded a 2-1 record in pool play, also defeating the Spruce Grove Regals 3-2, but coming up short to eventual Provincial champion Whitecourt Wolverines 4-3.

In the semifinals, Okotoks downed the Edmonton Royals 5-2 to advance to the finals against Whitecourt, but fell again to the Wolverines 5-1.

Fight On, Alex!

Okotoks Bisons win HJHL, move onto Provincials

Earlier this week, we updated you on the whereabouts of Alex Caravaggio ("Wait... where did Alex go?"), who is currently playing for the Okotoks Bisons of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) near Calgary.

Last night the Bisons completed a sweep of their opponents (and remained undefeated in post-season play), 3 games to none, to win the HJHL Championship and move on to the Hockey Alberta Junior B Provincial tournament, which will run April 5-8 and hosted by Okotoks.  We'll be following closely from So Cal.

Fight On, Bisons!

HJHL Playoff Info
Okotoks Bisons website

Wait... where did Alex go?

For those fans who noticed that sophomore goalie Alex Caravaggio was no longer in the Trojan lineup in the spring semester, fear not!

Alex makes his debut for the Okotoks Bisons
Junior B. Photo courtesy of Okotoks Western
Wheel.

The younger Caravaggio elected to return to the Calgary area and play for the Okotoks Bisons of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL).

Check out this article in the local Okotoks local paper featuring Alex and his joining the team!

The Bisons finished the regular season with an impressive 31-6-1-0 record, and Alex has a 4-0 record since joining the team, including one shutout.

Okotoks was last season's HJHL champions, and is currently defending its title in the HJHL Championship series against last year's runners-up, the Blackfalds Wranglers.

The Bisons are leading the best-of-5 series 2-0, with Game 3 set for Friday, March 23 in their home rink.

Go Bisons Go!
http://www.okotoksbisons.com/

2012-13 schedule released; New PAC-8 ranking system in place

Our schedule for the 2012-2013 season is now available at USCIceHockey.com/Schedule.

The most important development for the new season is the introduction of a new PAC-8 conference ranking and schedule system.  All PAC-8 teams are required to play 2 games against each other; for more than 2 games against one opponent, only 2 games (agreed upon by both teams before the season starts) will count for PAC 8 standings. 2 points are awarded for each win, and 1 point for an overtime loss.

This new straight points system replaces a complicated weighted points system that was originally instituted to compensate for uneven schedules between teams.

Some other interesting points of note:

• Currently scheduled are 12 home games and 14 away games = 26 games total.
• There will be road trips to the Bay Area, Salt Lake City, Spokane.
• Because only 2 games against any given PAC-8 opponent count for PAC-8 standings, USC and ucla have elected to count Games 3 & 4 (of our 5-game series). While Games 1, 2, & 5 will not count for conference standings, they will still count towards ACHA rankings & for the Crosstown Cup.
• After a 2 season hiatus, San Jose State is on the schedule for a home-and-home series (Oct 5 at SJSU, Oct 19 at USC). Last season, the Spartans entered the ACHA West Regionals as the 7th seed but did not advance to Nationals.
• Cal State Northridge is also a new addition with 2 games (Dec 8 at CSUN, Feb 2 at USC). CSUN joins the ACHA's Division II for next season; previously, the Matadors were competing in the Division III level, finishing in 9th place overall last season.
• San Diego State is not booked next season because of scheduling conflicts.
• We anticipate that there will be another pre-season exhibition game against ucla at the Honda Center, but we will have to wait for the NHL schedule to be announced, which occurs over the summer.
• There will be NO game at Staples Center.

GAME ON! Saturday's game vs. ucla reinstated; Senior Night moved

The suspension of the ucla hockey team has been lifted, ahead of their scheduled meeting with their club sports council at 5:30pm. As a result, Game 5 of the Crosstown Cup has been reinstated.

The game is still scheduled for Saturday, February 4 at 7:30pm at The Rinks - Anaheim ICE.

USC's Senior Night will likewise be moved back to Saturday's game.

Also note that the Victory Bell will be in attendance, and Kazan Taiko of USC will be drumming the Trojans into battle.

We thank all of our fans for their support and emails in support of ucla's appeal... we know it was awkward, but it was in the Spirit of the Rivalry.

And we'd like to take the ucla hockey team for their efforts in working towards resolving this situation.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. FIGHT ON!

Help USC reinstate Game 5 of the Crosstown Cup series; email in support of UCLA's appeal of their suspension

UPDATE 4:36pm:

Game 5 has been reinstated... we WILL be playing ucla on Saturday at 7:30pm at Anaheim ICE, and Senior Night will be on Saturday as well. More details to come.

Click here for more details.

UPDATE:

UCLA's appeals hearing on their suspension is TODAY (Feb. 2) at 5:30pm. As you may have heard, our Feb. 4 game vs. UCLA was to be Game 5 of the Crosstown Cup series, currently tied at 2-2. It was also to be our Senior Night as the last home game of this season, before we head to playoffs in Seattle next week.

We're asking all USC fans to send an email in support of UCLA's appeal, so that we can decide this year's winner of the Crosstown Cup on the ice, and so that our graduating seniors get the proper sendoff.

Read about the situation from BruinsNation.com:

http://www.bruinsnation.com/2012/2/1/2765606/ucla-hockey-team-suspended-before-final-crosstown-cup-game-vs-usc

Email Contacts:

• Club Sports Program Director Jason Zeck (the person who suspended them) - jzeck@recreation.ucla.edu
• Club Sports Executive Council (who will conduct the appeals hearing) - csecouncil@gmail.com
• Copy/Paste for your convenience: jzeck@recreation.ucla.edu, csecouncil@gmail.com

Here's a sample letter:

"I am writing in support of the UCLA men's ice hockey club's appeal of their suspension effective February 1-7, 2012. As a result of the suspension, Game 5 between USC & UCLA on February 4 to determine the winner of this year's Crosstown Cup has been canceled. Not only should the winner of the Crosstown Cup be decided in competition, the cancellation of this game will have consequences for UCLA's team as well as far-reaching and detrimental repercussions for USC's program.

This game has been anticipated all year, with family and friends coming in from out of town to send off our graduating seniors in the proper manner and play out the rivalry as it was meant to be. Because of UCLA's suspension, the USC hockey team will lose significant revenue from our biggest game of the year -- revenue that would have helped them cover their costs of traveling to the PAC 8 playoffs in Seattle next week. Instead, they are stuck with a large nonrefundable bill for ice time and referees, and will also lose a game that counts towards their rankings -- not to mention the blemish this cancellation would have on the rivalry itself.

In the spirit of our rivalry, I respectfully ask you to overturn UCLA's suspension.

Thank you for your consideration."

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PAC 8 playoff schedule announced

The PAC 8 Hockey Conference has released the game and event schedule for the 2012 Championship Tournament in Seattle, WA on February 10-11.

The tournament is being hosted by the University of Washington at Olympicview Ice Arena, located at 22202 70th Avenue West in Mountlake Terrace, WA.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

• 4:00pm: #2 Utah vs. #3 USC
• 7:15pm: #1 Washington vs. #4 ucla

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11

• 2:00pm: 3rd Place Consolation Game
• 5:15pm: Championship Game

Immediately after Championship, the PAC 8 Awards Banquet will be held at the Columbia Tower Club in Downtown Seattle.

To purchase tickets to the games and/or banquet online, visit:

http://pac8tournament.eventbrite.com/