LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Faith Lutheran High School hockey program continues to make history, punching their ticket to their third straight USA Hockey National Tournament.
“We’re going to play on the National stage, which is very cool for these kids,” explained Head Coach Adam Miller. “Me and Coach Jordan, we went the last two years with our group, Dallas and Minnesota, now we’re going to Philadelphia and it’s a great experience. High competition, there are scouts there, and it’s great for our program.”
Faith Lutheran and Bishop Gorman are the only two high schools in Nevada when it comes to ice hockey, meaning the Crusaders travel to California for most of their games, playing in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League, Division II. Faith Lutheran finished in first place during the regular season, winning 19 of 21 games, scoring 125 goals. In March, the Crusaders ran through the competition again during the Division II tournament, becoming the first non-California team to win both the regular season title and tournament.
“Every year there is steady progress with us in that league and I think teams are starting to take us more and more seriously and it’s showing Vegas; We’re going to be a hockey spot soon, if we aren’t already,” said Crusaders Captain, Carter Adams. “A lot of kids do want to play high school, they want to play hockey and for them to be able to look up to us and see all of these older kids doing special things. we’re just building the hockey here in Vegas, we want to keep adding more teams, we want to be a part of it in the beginning; it’s special.”
“Just to make a name for the state of Nevada and have fun doing it,” said sophomore goaltender, Kameron Laskaska.
Head Coach Adam Miller is in his third season with the program. He is also the current Hockey Director for the Golden Knights at City National Arena and a former member of the Las Vegas Wranglers.
“The goal here in Vegas is to have our own high school league,” said Miller. “Right now, we can’t, we only have two, but the numbers are growing and hopefully in five years we have our own league; we don’t have to go to California.”
“Our goal is to move kids on. Could you say that maybe six years ago in this town? Maybe not. There are kids that grew up here, play Division 1 hockey, but our goal right now, move kids on to the next level, whether that’s UNLV or D-II school, Juniors, USHL, NAHL, Junior-A in Canada; we have all these connections playing, so we’re going to use them and hopefully our kids can move on.”
However, before any of these kids move on to the next level, they say there is one more item on the to-do list.
“I don’t know how to describe it, we’re all just super pumped to get the opportunity to go out to Philadelphia this year and play the best of the best,” said senior left winger, Zaden Hnidy.
“It means a lot, because coming from here when you come to this team and you play states and you have the fans, the crowd, it’s really electrifying and to go there and have a chance to win, it’s really special and means a lot,” said Laskaska.
“Everyone is just excited; I think it’s mostly just work hard,” said Adams. “We have a chance to do this, we have a chance to do something special that no one else has done yet, especially for Faith Lutheran. We want to work hard and get it done, we have a chance, and we want to capitalize on it.”
The Crusaders are set to arrive in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 19th with the games beginning on March 20th.
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