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2013 National Championships | Santa Margarita Catholic High School Blended to Perfection By Alain Poupart Santa Margarita Shows Its Salt In Winning The High School National Championship M ax Kilkuts can remember the early days of the Santa Margarita Catholic High School hockey program. It was four years ago, and the team was made up of eight players who attended the school along with a collection of club players. And the hockey wasn't that good. 28 june/july. 2013 "I came out, and I was kind of taken aback," Kilkuts said. "There were people that couldn't skate." Four short years later, thanks in large part to the guiding hand of NHL veteran and U.S. Olympian Craig Johnson, Santa Margarita is a national champion. Kilkuts was the lone remaining player from that first season at Santa Margarita, USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM and it was his goal in overtime that gave the Eagles a 4-3 victory in the 2013 ToyotaUSA Hockey Boys' Varsity High School Championships title game against defending champion Regis Jesuit of Colorado. "It's special for these kids, for our seniors, the players that have been there," Johnson said after the final at the Saveology.com Iceplex, the Florida Panthers' practice facility in Coral Springs, Fla. "Max Kilkuts has been with us since the start of the program and for him to stick with our program all these years and to get the end result that he did, it couldn't have been written any better for him and for us. "The kids worked hard all year," Johnson added. "They bought into what we were doing. They put in a lot of time, put in a lot of effort and now they're rewarded for it. It's something that can never be taken away from them. They'll always be national champions." Santa Margarita actually was a national power before winning the title. This was the school's third consecutive appearance at Nationals. Yet somehow they still have their doubters merely because they hail from a nontraditional hockey area. "I think California kids get a bad rap, in general," Johnson said. "People look at it as a surfer state. You hear that said to the kids a lot, they're surfers. Or 'California soft' comes out a lot. But the kids are getting tougher and they're getting a little more grit to them. And they're good hockey players. Photos By TSS Photography