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WENATCHEE, Wash. - Crunch time is here for three Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy programs as they head for San Jose, California and the USA Hockey Pacific District Tournament this weekend. The Wild 14-and-under, 16-and-under and 18-and-under teams will all play at least three games at Sharks Ice, the official practice facility of the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks, with their eyes on moving on to their respective national tournaments next month.

The Wolves 18U team enters the tournament with a record of 27-17-3, closing out their home Verbero Cup on February 12 with a 5-0 consolation win over Coeur d'Alene Academy. Wenatchee went to a third game in its best-of-3 against their Washington state counterpart Northwest Stars, shutting them out 2-0 on January 19 to clinch their spot in San Jose. Logan Nagle leads the Wolves into the district tournament with 37 goals and 30 assists, with Luca Petroni and Zach Baumann close behind at 50 and 44 points, respectively. Ayvin Eidsness and James Hunt have split time in net, with Eidsness posting a 2.48 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage on the year.

"We've had a couple of injuries here and there, but we roll our three lines and six defensemen, and we can put either of our goaltenders in the net," said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "Everyone's jacked up and feeling good about themselves, and the reality is, you've got to play the game and it doesn't matter what anybody's record is at this stage of the game. Everyone's starting a new season this weekend - it's short-term competition, and it matters what you do at the beginning because you've got to qualify for that semifinal berth. We've got a chance and that's all that you can ask for."

The Wilderness 16U group heads to San Jose with a 14-31-2 record, qualifying for the district tournament with a two-game sweep of the Northwest Stars in December by virtue of a 3-2 shootout victory and a 3-0 win. That group made it to the semifinals at the Verbero Cup, finishing 2-1-1 at their home tournament. Cal Hoyt has pulled ahead in the scoring column going to districts, posting nine goals and 13 assists on the year, while Zach White leads the way in net with 11 wins, a 3.36 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.

"I was happy that they played really well in our home tournament," said Mick, who co-coaches the 16U and 18U teams. "We've had some rough stretches and we've had some good ones, and the good thing is, we made it to the semifinals in our home tournament, so that gives us some momentum going into San Jose."

The 14U Wolverines also landed a spot in San Jose, earning one of two slots from the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association. The Sno-King program from Seattle took the other slot, earning a 2-1 overtime victory over Wenatchee in the state final on February 5. The Wolverines enter the district tournament with a 21-18-3 record, led by Caden Stoltz with 19 goals and 15 assists. Nine different Wenatchee players have posted at least 20 points on the season, while Liam Rogers and Jackson Wagner have split time in the cage.

"They went down to Eastern Washington University and had four or five practice sessions, and did some team bonding on our off weekend," said Mick. "They lost in the finals in Seattle, and it could have gone either way, but at that 14U level [PNAHA] got two berths. Here's a chance to make a little noise and get a little revenge."

All three teams will get an early jump on the tournament schedule, with the 16U team set to play against the San Jose Jr. Sharks at 8 a.m. on Thursday before squaring off against the Anaheim Jr. Ducks and Team Alaska on Friday and Saturday. The 14U team will face the Los Angeles Jr. Kings on Thursday at 9:45 a.m., with matchups scheduled against Team Alaska and Sno-King on Friday and Saturday. The 18U squad will be the last to open its tournament run on 12:30 p.m. on Thursday against the San Jose Jr. Sharks at Tech CU Arena, the home arena of the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda. Games on Friday and Saturday against the Anaheim Jr. Ducks and Team Alaska are also due up for the Wolves. Teams that qualify for semifinals will play Saturday evening, with finals scheduled for Sunday morning.