The expanding sport makes its mark on Tahoe and gains community support as the Lake Tahoe Lakers earn a name for themselves and the Tahoe Knight Monsters gear up for their debut season.
Hockey is a well-known sport around the globe but is the smallest of the main four. Those four are baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. While it’s widely recognized, it isn’t equally available making some hockey lover’s pursuit to play or watch difficult. Lake Tahoe no longer has that problem. With youth hockey programs like the Grizzlies and Tahoe Hockey Academy, an amateur league, and a brand new professional minor league team, Tahoe has almost every level of hockey to enjoy.
The city also has a huge potential to become the hockey hub on the West Coast. There is a foundation already being built with the spread of hockey further opening up opportunities for athletes of all ages. Here’s hoping for the chance to become a major pillar to the culture of Tahoe as a winter sports city and as one of few hockey towns on this side of the country.
Lake Tahoe Lakers
The Lake Tahoe Lakers are in the USPHL, the United States Premier Hockey League, and they compete in the Pacific Premier Division. There are hundreds of teams in the USPHL spread throughout 24 of the 50 states making up the largest amateur hockey league in the nation. The overall goal for athletes in the USPHL is to become the most prepared and developed player so they can move forward and up onto college teams.
The Lakers started their season on September 20th and have already proven that they won’t be backing down no matter who they’re up against. Coached by Andy Radke, with help from general manager Chad Olson, the team is nothing but prepared, talented, and confident. Comprised of players from all over the world, the team came together and created a strong chemistry that will carry them through the entirety of the season.
Every time the community meets in the Tahoe Ice Arena to watch this group of men play hockey, it’s easy to see the growing love for the sport and exciting obsession for this team specifically spread like wildfire. And it’s well deserved. The staff and team put their all into being the best. “It’s somewhat like putting a puzzle together,” Radke explains, “bringing in the right type of players that fit our style helps us set them up for success. Every player has a specific role on the team and trying to get those pieces to all fit together is our biggest task. Once we have our lineup set, everything else can fall into place and we can go play the game how we want.”
A lot of folks in the hockey world have loved the sport for their whole lives and continue to love it passionately all the while. Hockey teaches life lessons and is sometimes the place a person’s foundation is born.
“Hockey taught me that life takes consistent work, teamwork, communication, and sometimes a little bit of luck, but luck doesn’t come without hard work,” Olson shared, “and teamwork has to exist. You can win a game because of an individual but you can’t win a championship because of one.”
Radke shares a similar mindset in the importance of making a team out of a group of individuals. “We focus on preparing our guys to give full effort and test them in real scenarios because hockey is an imperfect game. We are very fortunate to have a really good group of players with high character that have come together and bonded which works wonders for team chemistry. They are a very confident bunch and they play like it,” Radke expressed.
Watching hockey stimulates the brain. The game is fast and the puck is constantly on the go. Winning battles and making fast decisions shows how highly skilled the players are. “80% of the game is played along the boards and games are won in the house (area in front of the net) so we strive to be the best at winning those battles whether it’s in the corners or burying the puck in front of the net,” Radke explained. Olsen agrees adding, “My favorite part is the speed of the game and the ability to make real-time decisions based on the in-game situations. Seeing a highly skilled pass or play that leads to a big goal will never get old.”
With a stacked roster, endless talents, and all the hard work put in, the remainder of the season looks exciting. It’s about more than winning though, as good as the victories feel. It’s the game itself, the community, and the athletes’ futures. “Culture to me is everything. My number one goal was to build a family culture. We want our players to feel wanted and loved in Tahoe. We are a players-first approach organization and the future here is extremely bright,” Olson said.
Check out the Lakers schedule here https://laketahoelakers.com/schedule/ and make sure to come support the team when they spend the weekend of January 10-12 playing in Tahoe Blue Events Center against the Rogue Valley Royals!
Tahoe Knight Monsters
This brand new professional minor league team kicked off their season, and their legacy, on October 24th. In affiliation with the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, this ECHL team was catapulted into the limelight from the get go. Coached by Alex Loh and assisted by Brett Boeing, the team plays on their new rink in the Tahoe Blue Event Center.
Loh has been coaching since 2011-2012 and is prepared to guide the team through their 72 games of the season. The group of men are players that were pulled from all over including overseas and from colleges anywhere from 20-35 years old. One of the players pulled from overseas, Tyler Dill, is actually the only player on the team who was born in the very city he will now play hockey in.
With this team being the first in the area at this level, the energy is up and expectations are high. “You never know how the guys will be until they’re together on the ice but our offense has a lot of experience, some of these players have played in leagues above this and are coming down to be on the team so they’re experienced too, and getting them to work as one, as a team, will come once they go from a group of individuals to a family, as cliche as that is to say,” Loh shared.
The only struggle with playing at this level and with so much background behind each player is that everyone thinks they know the best way to play but coming together under one new roof forces change. “The hardest part about coaching is getting a player to accept a different role that’s better for the team but if you can get the team to buy into the game, their whole attitude changes,” Boeing explained.
This could be some of these athletes’ last chance to make it into the NHL or to even play at all. It’s important that players pulled from colleges transition their game from college hockey to ECHL hockey and that athletes already at this level are open to trying new things or different positions etc. to open future opportunities for themselves and their teammates. “I want to see guys succeed and make it to the NHL. My favorite part is seeing their dreams come true,” Loh said.
And what a beautiful moment Tahoe gets to share with the Knight Monsters while watching some of the players work towards their goals and aspirations. This is a magical place with a magical lake (Tahoe Tessie the Knight Monsters mascot knows) and there is magic in the air as the sport creates new pathways to success. “Hockey is going to bring a new market to the Tahoe area while also bringing a new location to professional hockey. We’re ready to help spread the gospel of hockey,” Loh said.
Tyler Dill knows just how special hockey, Tahoe, and hockey in Tahoe is. Dill was born in South Lake Tahoe, California 27 years ago. He started playing hockey when he was 8 or 9 years old. He played every sport growing up but he tried hockey and really liked it. So much so that when he was 16, he decided to start taking the sport seriously. Because the hockey industry was even smaller then, he moved to San Diego to play in an area that had more opportunities. It wasn’t until this very summer that Dill made the move back to Lake Tahoe after playing overseas for 8 months. “I am super excited to be able to play 10 minutes from the house I grew up in. It’s the coolest opportunity. I feel pretty lucky to have hockey in Tahoe now after having to go everywhere else just to play and everyone coming here should feel lucky that they get to come to a place like Tahoe. My goal is to play in Tahoe for as many years as I can. A badass way to end my career is playing where it all started,” Dill expressed.
Like so many other athletes, hockey taught Dill the way of life. “Hockey taught me everything I know. The ability to compete. To communicate. About teamwork. My favorite thing about hockey is the team camaraderie. It’s such a cool thing to take a group of individuals and turn it into a brotherhood with one common goal of making it to the championship game,” Dill shared.
Growing up in Tahoe is unlike anywhere else. To have a childhood where there is constant nature and the great outdoors in every direction and as soon as you step outside truly shapes the way you view the world. Now as an adult, Dill gets the chance to sort of relive the dream as the new team begins its life in Tahoe building new team traditions and he gets to play his sport in his hometown. “I am super excited to be on a brand new team. I hope we’re able to open people’s eyes to how cool hockey is. The sport fits the Tahoe town vibe perfectly. And we get a clean open slate to make the legacy of this team exactly what we want it to be. We also have a new beautiful arena to play in right in the heart of Tahoe. I want to give a huge shoutout to Carol Chaplin who made that possible,” Dill said,
The community has already welcomed hockey and the Knight Monsters to the town with a huge embrace. All that’s left to do is buy a jersey, head to the arena, and support our Knight Monsters!
Check out the Knight Monsters’ schedule here, https://knightmonstershockey.com/.