Golden State Elite Hockey

Tryouts will be Friday, May 18th, in Dublin and Saturday, May 19th, in Vacaville.  More info this week.

Our 18U AA head coach, Mike Holmes, was just awarded the USA Hockey Pacific District Coach of the Year award at the NORCAL board meeting.  Congrats, Mike!  Well-deserved.

Mike played juniors and NCAA, Division 1 hockey at Northeastern University.  Mike is in Northeastern’s Sports Hall of Fame and his picture is still displayed in the men’s locker room as the school all-time leading scorer for a defenseman.  After graduating, he played two full seasons in the Bruins organization, earning Best Defenseman honors both seasons.

After settling in California, Mike became a USA Hockey Level 4 coach at Tri-Valley Blue Devils in Dublin, CA and, later, became Tri-Valley’s director of coaches, a position he still holds today.  He coached Squirts to Midgets, settling on the 18U age bracket. Between Tri-Valley and Golden State Elite (Tri-Valley’s tier partnership with 3 other clubs), Mike has been coaching for nearly 20 years.  

Mike has worked his coaching magic by consistently turning lackluster teams into State champions.  In the past 10 years alone, Mike has won 5 State titles and made 7 trips to Nationals. Over the past 5 years, Mike’s 18U teams have gone: 160-39-18 or a winning percentage of 73.7%.  The average national ranking of his teams is: 33.

Mike is highly regarded by other coaches and referees throughout California and areas of the US and Canada.  Mike is a repeat evaluator at NORCAL’s Development Camp.

Mike has always been a player advocate and every year he has talked players into returning to hockey after being burned out on other teams, has helped fundraise for players and teams that need funds, and has worked to get players into Junior tryout camps.  Mike is a scout for the BCHL’s Spruce Kings where he annually places a handful of not just his players, but players from his opponent’s teams.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Humbolt Broncos Junior hockey team after a tragic bus accident last Friday.  

GSE Alumni, Brian Adams, has been very busy with his hockey career. He has been playing for the Chicago Fury and is the 3rd highest scorer in the 18AAA Tier I Elite League. Now, he has signed on with the NAHL's Minot Minotauros. Congrats, Brian!

We hate to see these guys go...

Six of our teams were headed to the playoffs and now four teams are going to States.  The following teams are going to States:

Our 12U AA South team is currently ranked #6 in the nation and both of our 14U AA teams are in the top 50.  Good luck and have fun!

Congrats to Karley Garcia of our 14AA North team for making CAHA Girls Selects. Karley will move onto District Selects. Nice job, Karley!

CAHA's board of directors approved San Francisco to join GSE.

A year before GSE opened its doors, we spent that time planning our program.  At the table from the beginning was San Francisco.  So we have come full-circle and we are thrilled to add them to our program.

San Francisco has come a long way and they have done remarkable stuff with their limited ice time on their city-run one sheet facility.  The club has expanded their travel and house ranks to the point where they are buying ice in Vacaville.  Their travel program has seen more and more success.  Looking at last year, they won two NORCAL banners and one CAHA banner.

With this merger, San Francisco can now offer their members a tier program.  Some players will be able to take immediate advantage of this, while others will use this as a goal or an inspiration.  San Francisco will be involved in the management of GSE.

We are looking forward to a bright future with San Francisco!

Congrats to the following 24 players that were either selected or were alternates at NORCAL Selects:

Dias Belda 2003
Ethan Bittner 2004
Deven Boldway 2002
Christian Codding 2003
William Collins 2001
Ryan Coultrip 2003
Hunter Hayes 2004
Cade Herrera 2002
Grant Hunsader 2001
Kenan Isik 2004
Ryan Kopelman 2002
Alexander Kowalewski 2003
Aidan Kwok 2004
Tyler Lajoie 2004
Kyle Mackintosh 2004
Christopher Manzer 2001
Nolan McMahon 2001
Owen Millward 2003
Naoya Miyata 2004
Cody Nielsen 2003
Ryan Nutt 2003
Connor O'Keefe 2004
Matthew Scheeler 2001
Vladislav Severin 2003

If you are interested in submitting your name to our coaches in order for them to review your potential, please fill this form out.

If you do not think you possess the skills just yet, our coaches can still advise you about the steps you need to take in order to prepare for an eventual tryout.  So, email us and indicate your intentions.

Carson has been playing for the NA3HL's Jr. Brahmas last season.  His stats from 27 games played are: 24-1-0 record, 1.33 goals against average, and 94.3% save percentage.  Carson will be playing for the Kenai River Brown Bears.  Congrats, Carson!

Tristan Waechter has committed to Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan on a scholarship. He will be playing NAIA hockey.  Congrats, Tristan! Good luck and have fun!

GSE Alumni, Don "Donny" Carter Jr., is now playing NCAA Div III hockey at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Goalie Carson Murison was drafted to the Jr. Brahmas where he will play along side fellow teammate, Kellen Ireland.  In fact, Kellen and Carson are roommates in North Richland Hills, Texas.  

Congrats to GSE and Tri-Valley alumni, Alexander Stoley, for committing to Concordia College in Minnesota! In addition to getting a great education, Alex will be playing NCAA-D3 hockey. After GSE, Alex went to the BCHL Prince George Spruce Kings with help of Prince George scout and GSE 18U coach, Michael Holmes. Last year, Alex played for the NAHL Jr. Brahmas where they won the 2017 NAHL Championship (pictured here). Congrats, Alex, and have fun!

Kellen Ireland is moving on to bigger pastures - namely, North Richland Hills, Texas to play with the Jr. Brahmas.  It has not been determined whether he will play on their NAHL or NA3HL team.  Congrats and good luck, Kellen!

Our own Donovan Garcia has been offered a spot on the Islanders Elite team with the USPHL!  Islanders are located in North Andover, Mass.  In his first year, Dono was named team captain.  Congrats and good luck, Dono!

Deven Boldway has been invited to the WHL's Portland Winterhawks main camp.  Good luck, Deven!

In his first year with the USHL's Tri-City Storm, GSE alumni, Justin Dixon, is hoisting the Clark Cup after winning the USHL championship.  Congrats, Justin!