Vol 3_No 1 Guts.indd - Rubber Magazine

arizonarubber ❂ com 

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 September 2007 From Kids to Coyotes, the Desert’s Authoritative Voice of Ice and Inline Hockey

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

��

The Lineup 

Editorial 

Rubber Interview 

Cover Story 

Inline Hockey 

Coyotes 

Sundogs 

RoadRunners 

College Hockey 

Junior Hockey 

Associations 

Inline Hockey 

Lacrosse 

4 

5 

6 

8 

10 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

26 

30 

A few of Arizona’s young 

hockey stars gather at “Hole 

in the Rock” at Phoenix’s 

historic Papago Park. 

Front Row (from left): Sierra 

Van Fleet (Arizona Girls), 

Allison Era Excalibur) 

Second Row (from left): 

Nathan Saurer (FYHA), Justin 

Rogers (VOSHA), Eddie 

McGovern (DYHA); 

Arizona Rubber Magazine is a production of: 

publisher: Brian McDonough 

editor: Brett Fera 

design: Julie Wilson 

Third Row (from left): 

Alex Aguirre (Phoenix Polar 

Bears), Chris Chamberlin (Ozzie Ice) 

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 September 2007 From Kids to Coyotes, the Desert’s Authoritative Voice of Ice and Inline Hockey 

Back Row (from left): Chris Diaz (Mission), Jake Butler 

(AZ Outlaws), Michael Colantone (P.F. Chang’s), Vince 

Francis (Notre Dame HS), Shane Marino (CAHA), Danny 

Fazio (Peoria Roadrunners), Nick Revell (AZ Thunder) 

Cover Photo / Brandt Clinard 

Express/Overnight Mail: 4524 Washburn Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55410 

Arizona Rubber Magazine is published by Good Sport Media, Inc., P.O. Box 24024 Edina, MN 55424, 

10 times a year, once monthly September through May and once in the summer. 

Postmaster: send address changes to P.O. Box 24024, Edina, MN 55424 

Ph. (612) 929-2171 * Fax (612) 920-8326 * E-mail: brian@goodsportmedia.com 

Subscription Rates: $29.95 USD * Single Copy: $3.95 USD 

Mail subscriptions to: P.O. Box 24024 Edina, MN 55424 

Subscriptions are non-refundable * REPORT AN ERROR IMMEDIATELY 

Arizona Rubber Magazine will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion 

Visit our Web site at: www.arizonarubber.com 

Photo / Robert J. Meyer 

3

4 

Where can you take 

Arizona Rubber? 

Want to win a $20 iTunes gift 

card? It’s easy and fun! 

Just post a video of you and the 

latest issue of Arizona Rubber 

at any upcoming tournament or 

out-of-state tourist hotspot on 

www.youtube.com with the title: 

Arizona Rubber Magazine. 

We’ll randomly draw the winner 

and announce them in the next 

issue with a photo! Creativity 

is encouraged and all ages can 

enter. We’ll also accept digital 

photos at: 

editor@arizonarubber.com. 

Good Good 

Luck! Luck! 

❂ Team of the Month 

The Centennial Coyotes defeated Florida’s 

Cooper City Cowboys, 5-3, in the 

championship game to win the High School 

division at the 2007 North American Roller 

Hockey Championships (NARCh) in Florida. 

The Coyotes were the only Arizona team to 

win a NARCh title in 2007. 

Centennial won two of three roundrobin 

games, with its lone loss coming 

against Cooper City in the fi rst game of the 

tournament. ❂ 

Editor’s Column: 

This game belongs to everybody 

This being my fi rst issue as part 

of the Arizona Rubber Magazine 

staff, I expected most of our coverage 

to hit on the best of the best - the 

state’s elite junior, youth and inline 

players who deserve recognition for 

their many astounding accomplishments. 

I fi gured on NHL coverage - the 

Coyotes, of course - and features 

each month touching on the Roadrunners, 

Sundogs and the 

rest of the state’s hockey 

leaders. 

But I realized something 

along the way: 

Hockey leaders in this 

state - from us at Arizona 

Rubber to the staff of the 

Phoenix Coyotes to local 

youth hockey associations 

- are clamoring for every 

level to get its time in the 

spotlight. 

While promoting the state’s elite 

players is a must, it’s also imperative 

to the sport’s success - especially 

in a climate like ours - that we promote 

hockey to everyone involved, 

all age groups and all interests. 

The growth of this game does not 

lie in the hands of those already living 

it; they caught on early enough 

to enjoy all a pair of skates has to 

offer. 

Fera 

It’s the new hockey player - that 

14-year-old whose never skated, but 

decided that he or she wanted to do 

something other than basketball 

or soccer, or the adult interested in 

getting back into the game after not 

lacing up for a decade or two - that 

hold the key to hockey’s future. 

That’s why, in the coming 

months, you can expect to see Arizona 

Rubber do its part as well. 

No, we won’t be scaling 

back our coverage of 

the best of the best; they 

deserve to have their 

triumphs shared with the 

rest of the Arizona hockey 

community. 

But expect features 

that everyone, from the 

youth beginner to the 

late-night pick-up master, 

can relate to as well. 

From equipment testing to features 

on youth camps, our coverage will 

continue to cater to push the game of 

hockey as an all-inclusive sport. 

It’s our chance to turn the game 

on to a new breed and get more 

people involved and excited about 

what this great game on ice has to 

offer. ❂ 

Reach Brett Fera at 

brett@arizonarubber.com 

PICTURED (from left): Tyler Wilson, Daniel 

Amimoto, Long Duong, Kevin Morgan, 

CJ Hawley, Michael Ciurro, Andrew 

Barletta. Centennial Coyotes

Avondale’s Kyle 

❂ Beattie helped 

the U.S. Under-17 

Select Team to a 

silver medal at last 

month’s Five Nations 

Tournament in the Czech Republic. 

Beattie skates for the P.F. Chang’s 

U18 team (see more on Beattie on 

Page 25). 

At the NARCh Finals skills 

❂ competition, Mike Rivera 

(Tour Outcasts) earned Top Sniper 

honors in PeeWee Platinum; Jake 

Coughlin (Mission Arizona ’90) 

was named Top Goalie in Bantam 

Gold; and Ryan Davis (Tour 

Outcasts) took Fastest Skater 

honors in Bantam Platinum. 

Peoria’s Matt Giacobbe was 

❂ one of 18 players named to 

the USA Hockey 20-and-Under 

sled hockey team this summer. 

Giacobbe is a member of the 

Phoenix Coyotes sled team. 

Dan Amimoto earned High 

❂ Scorer honors and goaltender 

Andrew Barletta won the Top 

Goalie award in the High School 

division as the Centennial Coyotes 

rolled to Arizona’s only title at 

NARCh Finals. 

Melissa Zehrbach was the 

❂ only Arizona player to compete 

in the Women’s Platinum division 

at NARCh Finals. Zehrbach played 

for the CanAm Selects, which 

fi nished fourth in its division after 

losing 3-0 in the bronze-medal 

game. 

❂Goaltender Matthew 

Federico, a member of last 

year’s P.F. Chang’s U18 team, has 

committed to Western Michigan 

University (CCHA) for the upcoming 

season. Federico, from Scottsdale, is 

the fi rst goalie from Arizona expected 

to play Division I college hockey. 

Rubber Interview: Rick Van Fleet 

His hockey roots might have been established north of the border, but 

there’s nothing Rick Van Fleet wants more than to see the sport 

fl ourish in Arizona. AZR Magazine’s Brian McDonough caught up with 

the vice president of the Arizona Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA) 

and the founder of the Arizona Girls Youth Hockey Association (AGYHA) 

to learn more about his passion for 

pucks in the desert. 

AZR Magazine: How did you get 

involved in hockey and what eventually 

led to your appointment as 

vice president of the AAHA? 

RVF: I’m originally from Canada 

and grew up playing up to the 

Junior C level. I took a break for 

a few years, but, after relocating 

to Arizona from Florida 14 years 

ago, I immediately got involved in AGYHA founder Rick Van Fleet 

coaching. 

As my two daughters began to play, I formed the Arizona Girls 

Youth Hockey Association. I have my USA Hockey Masters Level 

5 coaching card and have coached at several levels, including high 

school. 

I began to attend AAHA meetings and quickly became involved fi rst 

with the player development program and have also served as secretary 

for two years and vice president for the past two years. 

AZR: Can you explain the structure of the AAHA and its purpose? 

RVF: The AAHA is offi cially known as the Arizona USA Hockey Affi liate 

within the Rocky Mountain District (RMD). The RMD is comprised 

of Arizona and the seven surrounding states. There are 12 similar 

districts that make up USA Hockey. 

In laymen’s terms, the AAHA is basically the “franchise holder,” 

if you will, for USA Hockey within the state. With that said however, 

it’s a completely volunteer body that is made up of directors who are 

elected by the member associations. At present there are nine active 

associations. 

The mission and purpose of AAHA is to promote and grow the sport 

within the state, coordinate and administer state playdowns and orchestrate 

selection camps, which are governed by USA Hockey, and to 

serve as a disciplinary body 

when necessary. 

AZR: How many people are playing hockey in Arizona right now? 

RVF: According to the 2007 USA Hockey Annual Congress Report, 

there are approximately 4,870 players registered, not including approximately 

1,900 adult players. 

Interview continued / Page 22 

5

Onward and Upward 

6 

Hockey in Arizona continues to make strides 

By Brett Fera 

Longtime hockey heads in the 

state of Arizona call it the ultimate 

stereotype. 

Others see it as reality. 

The idea of hockey in the 

desert, at its core, is as contradictory 

as trying to get a 

tan in Winnipeg in the middle 

of December. 

But nearly 11 years after 

a team with a rich Canadian 

history defected to give the 

Southwest its own branded 

franchise, it appears a sport 

that traditionally requires 

freezing temperatures and 

layer upon layer of equipment 

might have a place among the 

100-plus degree heat after all. 

“Hockey already has a 

great following in Arizona, 

but it’s among players that 

already play hockey,” contends 

Rick Van Fleet, vice 

president for the Arizona 

Amateur Hockey Association, 

the governing body of the 

sport around the state. “It’s 

the kids that aren’t already 

into it- those are the ones we 

have to target.” 

With nearly 20 statewide 

associations or full-time house 

leagues in place, another 

40-plus high school programs 

set for play in 2007-08 and a host 

of all-girls teams popping up, the 

popularity of hockey in the Valley 

of the Sun and surrounding areas 

appears to be on a continual, if 

not gradual, upswing. So much so, 

that, in the past two seasons, minor 

league hockey teams have both reappeared 

in Phoenix, in the form of 

the Roadrunners, and also sprung 

up in Prescott Valley, where the 

Arizona Sundogs averaged more 

than 4,200 fans per game during 

their inaugural season. 

But what about Tucson and 

Southern Arizona, where a community 

of nearly 1 million residents 

now, after the closure of Tucson 

With players like Arizona Select’s Sierra Van Fleet, left, and 

Excalibur’s Allison Era, the state of the girls game is in good 

hands for years to come. 

Ice earlier this year, doesn’t have a 

single sheet of public ice? 

And the other outlining areas, 

such as the 58,000-resident city of 

Flagstaff, which has the closest 

climate to a hockey hotbed of any 

Arizona city, but just a single sheet 

of ice to simultaneously share between 

the youth, adult, high school, 

college and fi gure skating realms? 

And what say for the Coyotes - 

the proverbial head-of-state when it 

comes to desert hockey? A return to 

the playoffs in the upcoming future 

wouldn’t hurt, that’s for sure. 

Coyotes: It starts at the top 

With an NHL franchise in 

the Southwest for more than a 

decade now, Scott Storkan, 

manager of hockey development 

for the Phoenix Coyotes, 

said he’s convinced attention 

to the sport in Arizona is on 

the upswing. 

But it can always get better, 

he adds. 

Through seasonal youth 

camps that feature recognizable 

Coyotes players (see Page 

10 for more), free ice time and 

equipment usage for younger 

players and numerous partnerships 

with both the NHL 

and USA Hockey to increase 

awareness, Storkan said the 

Coyotes recognize the importance 

of expanding their fan 

base to the youngest of the 

young. 

“We are the NHL infl uence 

in the market. So we view it 

that it’s almost our duty as an 

organization,” he said. 

In creating a bond, Storkan 

said, the Coyotes brass realizes 

that fi elding a competitive 

team is an absolute necessity. 

Dave Strader, the new 

television play-by-play voice of the 

Coyotes, is imploring viewers - both 

long-time and casual fans - to be 

patient. 

“It will come,” Strader said 

of a return to winning ways for 

Arizona’s NHL franchise, one that 

reached the Stanley Cup playoffs 

fi ve of its fi rst six seasons in the 

desert, before falling on hard times 

as of late. 

Onward continued / Page 7 

Photo / Brant Clinard

Photos / Brant Clinard 

Onward from Page 6 

Strader said he’s confi dent the 

current Coyotes leadership, specifi 

cally Doug Moss and Wayne 

Gretzky, understand that as much 

as fi nding success on the ice is good 

for business, building a club that 

every hockey player in the state 

can enjoy - no matter age or skill 

level - is good for the game. 

“[Florida] recently, just this 

summer, had a reunion of the 

team that went to the fi nals in 

1996 in their third year of existence,” 

said Strader, whose 

most recent stop prior to Arizona 

was with the Panthers. 

“They played an exhibition 

game. They had 14,000 at the 

BankAtlantic Center. Those 

people remember, and always 

will remember.” 

Strader said the Coyotes 

need to fi nd a way to reach 

the younger player - again not 

only for ticket sales, but to create 

lifelong fans of the game and 

participants of the sport. 

“Whether it 

starts with Shane 

Doan, guys who are 

going to be identifi 

ed as Coyotes need 

to be found and 

embraced.” 

Female numbers 

on the rise 

“Sydney Crosby 

is cute.” 

That’s the explanation 

Van Fleet, 

also the director of 

hockey operations 

for the Arizona Girls 

Youth Hockey Association, 

gives as to why more and 

more young females are becoming 

interested in the sport - even in 

Arizona. 

Van Fleet kids, but, all joking 

aside, his sentiment may not be 

that far off. 

“The ones that do play are 

looking for a recognizable player 

to associate, to connect with,” Van 

Fleet said, noting that girls now, 

since recent Olympic efforts, have 

female hockey role models they can 

relate to. 

Youth female registration is now 

more than 100 in Arizona, while 

total female enrollment, including 

adult leagues, has topped 200, he 

said. 

Currently, the AGYHA has 

three all-girls teams, while the 

While players like Nathan Saurer, left, has to deal with 

fi nding time on a single sheet of ice in Flagstaff, Alex 

Aguirre of the Phoenix Polar Bears, Chris Chamberlin of 

Ozzie Ice, Justin Rogers of VOSHA and Eddie McGovern of 

DYHA have a host of rinks to choose from in the Valley. 

With teams and organizations like Mission Arizona (represented by Chris Diaz, left), 

the AZ Outlaws (Jake Butler), P.F. Chang’s (Michael Colantone), Notre Dame Prep High 

School (Vince Francis), CAHA (Shane Marino), the Peoria Roadrunners (Danny Fazio) 

and the AZ Thunder travel team (Nick Revell), talent levels among older youths in 

Arizona is reaching higher levels. 

Valley of the Sun Hockey Association 

posts two squads. Female 

participants are also popping up 

in Peoria, Chandler and Flagstaff, 

among others areas. 

While the female youth numbers 

continue to increase, the state of 

the girls game, Van Fleet said, is 

hampered by the need for many 

young females to play competitively 

with their male counterparts, as 

well as issues with the quality of 

instruction for female players. 

“Those are the two things we 

battle with more than anything,” 

he said. “We basically have enough 

talent for one team at every age, 

so the girls play on multiple teams 

- boys teams. Some would argue, 

‘What’s wrong with that? It’s 

more ice time.’ But boys don’t usually 

play on multiple teams. 

And there’s no way these girls 

should physically match up 

against some of these boys.” 

Van Fleet said the full-contact 

nature of the high school 

level also poses problems. 

“You could have a senior 

that weighs 200 pounds and 

you could have a freshman or 

sophomore girl that weighs 

100 pounds,” he said. “But 

they need a team to play on 

at that level, so what are they 

going to do?” 

Van Fleet said seeing new 

players get interested year after 

year means the state of the 

girls game is in 

holding steady. 

He countered, 

however, adding 

that it’s also 

diffi cult now to 

take beginners 

who might not be 

“young” by traditional 

standards 

- something that 

simply can’t help 

the game grow 

as much as he’d 

like to see. 

“It’s great that 

we have a 14year-old 

girl who 

wants to come out and start playing,” 

he said. “But can we put them 

on the same team as players who 

have years of experience? 

Rink dilemmas in Flag, Tucson 

In March, Arizona Rubber 

chronicled the inevitable closing of 

Onward continued on Page 18 

7

8 

By Alex Dodt 

For many, the most 

hectic part of the roller 

hockey season started in 

late May with the Arizona 

Inline Hockey Association 

(AIHA) State Championships 

and continued on to 

early July at the Pacifi c 

Cup Finals. 

But the fun wasn’t over 

yet, as the state’s best 

travel teams went off to 

compete at the national 

tournaments - NARCh 

Finals in Florida and AAU 

Jr. Olympics in Michigan 

- in late July. 

Then, for two weeks 

in August, many more of 

Arizona’s top players went 

to Chicago for State Wars 

III. 

For many of 

us, it was a very, 

very long couple 

of months - to 

say the least. 

Just ask 

Dan Maxwell, 

Mission Arizona 

coach and Team 

Arizona state director, who 

spent most of the summer 

traveling from tournament 

to tournament like so 

many others. 

“It’s a long hard road,” 

said Maxwell. “It’s a lot of 

fun, but it’s just crazy.” 

My own experience at 

State Wars, playing for the 

Arizona Junior team, said 

a lot about how far Arizona 

has come and continues 

Inline Hockey 

Local talents boost out-of-state teams 

By Alex Dodt 

Eight premier Arizona players 

represented the state this summer 

at national tournaments while 

playing at the AAA/Platinum level 

with out-of-state teams. 

None, however, accomplished 

more than Cody Stocker and 

Cody Castro, two former Tour 

Outcasts players who played for the 

East Coast-based team Black Ice 

‘92. 

Stocker and Castro led Black Ice 

to back-to-back AAA national championships 

at the Tournament of 

Roller Hockey Series (TORHS) and 

the North American Roller Hockey 

Championships (NARCh), proving 

that Arizona grown talent can 

make a huge impact at the national 

level. 

There were several other Arizona 

players who competed at the AAA 

level this summer for other teams. 

Kasey Caruso of Phoenix and 

Former Tour Outcasts player Tyler Marek 

Bobby Krafve of Goodyear played 

for California’s Western Capitals. 

The team competed in Squirt Platinum 

division at NARCh Finals and 

lost 2-1 in a playoff game against 

Mission Snipers, the eventual 

GET INLINE: 

Arizona evolving into national power 

Dodt 

to come in the 

roller hockey 

world. 

At the beginning 

of the 

tournament, we 

heard players 

from a team we 

beat talking to 

some friends, 

only to have the friends 

counter, “You lost to who!?” 

They couldn’t believe 

the lost to a team from the 

desert. 

But, by the time we 

skated off the rink following 

the championship 

game, that sentiment had 

almost completely fl ipped. 

Teams now couldn’t believe 

our team - an Arizona 

team, no less - had lost. 

bronze medalists. 

“Kasey loved playing at that 

level,” said his father, Mike Caruso. 

“He’s been waiting for this kind 

of challenge for years.” 

Phoenix’s Cameron Caruso 

also competed in the PeeWee Platinum 

division for Florida’s Team 

Phat Tape. 

Glendale’s Clay Taylor, one of 

the top Bantam goalies in Arizona, 

competed at both AAU and NARCh 

Finals. Taylor helped the Tour OC 

Blades ‘90 fi nish fourth at the AAU 

Jr. Olympics on top of helping the 

St. Louis Sharks fi nish 12th at 

NARCh. 

“Playing for the Sharks was like 

trying out for the team,” Taylor 

said. “But we came together, played 

well, and played closed games with 

everyone.” 

Continued / Page 33 

And if teams were saying 

that about us, I can 

only imagine what they 

were saying about all the 

other Arizona teams who 

accomplished so much 

more. 

This summer saw 

Arizona establish itself at 

the AAA level, bring home 

a prestigious NARCh Cup 

with a handful of players 

making a name for themselves 

with Team USA. 

And that was just the 

start. 

Chances are the Arizona 

reputation will precede 

us at tournaments next 

year, and I can’t wait. ❂ 

Reach Alex Dodt at 

alex@arizonarubber.com

Inline Hockey 

Arizona tastes success at NARCh Finals 

By Alex Dodt 

Fourteen Arizona teams made 

the trip to Estero, Fla., this 

summer for the North American 

Roller Hockey Championships 

(NARCh), considered by many to 

be the most prestigious tournament 

in all of roller hockey. 

Of those 14 entrants, three 

came home with a medal. 

Centennial wins high 

school crown 

The Centennial High 

School Coyotes from Peoria 

were the big story of the 

tournament among the Arizona 

contingent. Centennial’s 

roster was evenly split of 

with players from three of the 

biggest programs in Arizona: 

Rollerplex Panthers, Tour 

Outcasts, and Mission Arizona 

Stars. 

Centennial won two of 

three round robin games, with 

its lone loss coming against 

Florida’s Cooper City Cowboys 

in the fi rst game of the 

tournament. 

“We came into the game 

with too much confi dence,” 

Centennial’s Long Duong 

said. “Kevin Morgan scored 

nine seconds into the game 

and we thought it was going 

to be easy.” 

Centennial rebounded 

though and beat a tough 

Naples (Fla.) High School 

team, 6-4 in the semifi nal. 

The championship game was 

a rematch against Cooper City 

and, after a slow start, Daniel 

Amimoto led the Coyotes on a 

comeback and a 5-3 win. Amimoto 

earned High Scorer honors for the 

tournament and Centennial goaltender 

Andrew Barletta won the 

Top Goalie award. 

“Everyone played great and 

Moto was awesome,” Duong said. 

“We’ll play together again next 

year but it’ll be even tougher to 

repeat with Finals in California.” 

AZ Stars ‘91 make great run 

Mission Arizona Stars ‘91 came 

as close as possible to winning a 

second NARCh title in 2007. The 

Daniel Amimoto carries teammate Long Duong out 

during player announcements before the NARCh High 

School championship game. The two went on to lead 

Centennial to a 5-3 win in the fi nals. 

Stars had a great run through the 

playoffs with big wins over Team 

Phat Tape and ISCA Grizzlies and 

made it to the championship game 

for a rematch against Revision 

Devil Dogs, a team the Stars beat 

in the semifi nal at Pacifi c Cup 

Finals. 

“We always had close games 

against Devil Dogs,” said Mission 

Arizona coach Dan Maxwell. “It’s 

a good matchup.” 

The championship game was a 

classic back and forth battle that 

went into sudden death overtime. 

Mission Arizona goaltender David 

Johnson stopped a penalty 

shot in the fi rst overtime period, 

but the Stars could not buy a goal 

and the Devil Dogs got their 

revenge with a 3-2 win in 

double overtime. 

“That was one of the 

longest games I’ve ever been 

involved in,” said Maxwell. 

“The boys played great, 

stopped a penalty shot in 

overtime, and it was just a 

fl uke goal that ended it.” 

The Mission Arizona 

Stars’ Mite team earned the 

third and fi nal medal for 

Arizona at NARCh Finals. 

The Stars beat a very tough 

St. Louis Tour Blast team in 

the bronze medal game for 

the Mite Gold division. 

“The playoff game we lost 

was a real nail-biter,” said 

Maxwell. “We had trouble 

scoring, but we beat the 

Blast pretty handily in the 

bronze medal game.” 

Local individuals honored 

Several Arizona players 

won big in the NARCh Skills 

competitions. Tour Outcasts’ 

Mike Rivera was Top Sniper 

in PeeWee Platinum, Jake 

Coughlin of Mission Arizona 

90’s was Top Goalie in 

Bantam Gold, and Tour Outcasts’ 

Ryan Davis was Fastest Skater 

in Bantam Platinum. 

In 2008, NARCh will be hosting 

two WinterNational tournaments, 

one in Irvine, Calif., and 

another in Bethpage, N.Y. The 

2008 NARCh Finals will return 

to the West Coast at the Silver 

Creek Sportsplex in San Jose, 

Calif. ❂ 

9

Phoenix Coyotes 

Youngsters share ice with NHL heroes 

10 

By Brett Fera 

At just 13-years-old, Glendale native 

Logan Rader admits he doesn’t 

remember much about NHL Hall of Fame 

goaltender Grant Fuhr’s playing days. After 

all, they came to an end in 2000, when young 

Rader was only 6. 

But that didn’t stop Rader, a recent inline convert 

whose been an ice hockey goalie for less than a year, 

from getting excited about the chance to work with a 

fellow netminder who has his name on the Stanley Cup 

fi ve times. 

“I have his cards, 

so I know who he is,” 

said Rader, one of 

92 participants last 

month at the Phoenix 

Coyotes’ inaugural 

youth hockey minicamp, 

held at 

Oceanside Arena in 

Tempe. 

The youth players 

were divided into 

Squirt (9-10 years 

old), PeeWee (11-12) 

and Bantam (13-16). 

Fuhr, the Coyotes’ 

goaltending coach, 

was arguably the 

most decorated of 

the group of instructors. 

But that doesn’t 

mean the veteran 

of 19 NHL seasons 

wasn’t the only with 

Storkan and Coyotes video coordinator Steve 

Peters joined Keith Blasé, head coach of USA Sled 

Hockey, and strength and conditioning guru Scott Abbey 

to round out the camp’s teaching corps. 

Phoenix resident Arnold Mondragan, whose 

grandson Gabriel, 13, also participated in the camp, 

said he’s never seen a camp before in Arizona to 

give players - no matter age and skill level - as much 1on-1 

ice time with instructors and fellow players as the 

Coyotes mini-camp did. 

“I sent out an e-mail the day after and asked parents 

for feedback, because this is so new to us,” Storkan 

said. “I got probably 

50 or 60 responses, 

and they were all 

very positive, just 

like (Mondragan).” 

Gabriel Mondragan 

said getting the 

opportunity to take 

the ice with pros like 

Doan was the highlight 

of his experience. 

“Just being out 

on the ice, so close to 

them, that’s a once 

in a lifetime opportunity,” 

he said. 

Mondragan said 

he was surprised 

how hard it was to 

recognize some of the 

players, since he’s 

Shane Doan signs a Phoenix Polar Bears jersey at last month’s Coyotes mini-camp 

at Oceanside. 

current or prior NHL experience under his belt. 

Current Coyotes captain Shane Doan, forward Bill 

Thomas and defenseman Derek Morris made appearances 

as guest instructors, while lead instructor Jim 

Johnson, a former Coyotes player and the head coach 

of the P.F. Chang’s U-18 AAA Midget squad, joined 

Coyotes assistant coach Ulf Samuelson and former 

NHL defenseman Alex Hicks as pro alumni serving as 

instructors during the three-day camp. 

“I think the unique aspect about this is that we 

can bring in professional hockey players,” said Scott 

Storkan, the Coyotes’ manager of hockey development. 

“I think it was great they were actually participating 

with the kids and not just standing in the corner not 

doing anything, there only to have their name associated 

with it.” 

used to seeing them 

from afar at games or 

on television, donning 

Coyote red. 

“Without the gear on, it was kind of hard to tell,” he 

said. “But we all got introduced to them, so that was 

cool.” 

Storkan said the opportunity for the Coyotes to 

reach out and hold multiple similar mini-camps within 

the next year should present itself. Storkan added 

that the Coyotes organization is also looking to renew 

its program of single-day clinics from last season. 

Storkan said that the success of those clinics coupled 

with the positive reaction to last month’s minicamp 

will only help the team continue to grow 

its junior and youth hockey outreach programs, which 

would ultimately mean more ice time and instruction 

from those within the Phoenix organization. 

“Next year we want to do more,” he said. ❂

Phoenix Coyotes 

Strader reunites with old pal Pang 

By Brett Fera 

Dave Strader has been there, 

seen that. 

That’s why the veteran broadcaster 

of 26 NHL seasons wasn’t 

scared away from the opportunity 

to take over this season as the 

Phoenix Coyotes’ television playby-play 

man, despite the Coyotes 

recent run of less-than-stellar 

Pacifi c Division fi nishes. 

“I was fortunate my fi rst team 

job was Detroit,” 

said Strader, a 

New York native 

who will likely 

also call games 

nationally this 

season for both 

NBC and Versus. 

“When I 

went there in 

‘85, thank goodness 

we only 

televised about 

15 games because 

they had, I 

think, a 40-point 

season. They 

only had 

less than 5,000 

season-ticket 

holders.” 

Strader was 

quick to point out, however, that 

it wasn’t long before all was right 

again in “Hockeytown,” and the 

Red Wings were selling out every 

game and winning the Stanley Cup. 

“The Coyotes will have their 

day,” Strader said. “And I wouldn’t 

mind being part of it.” 

Strader, who also spent time 

working national telecasts for 

ESPN over the past two decades, 

said he fi rst learned of the opening 

in Arizona from Mike Roth, a coordinating 

producer locally for FSN 

Arizona and former producer at 

ESPN. 

“There are a few guys in Arizona 

I’m familiar when from when I was 

with ESPN,” Strader said. 

None, Strader said, carried the 

infl uence of former NHL netminder 

Darren Pang, the Coyotes television 

analyst, who works side-byside 

with the play-by-play voice 

during telecasts. 

“I worked with him more than 

anyone else while I was ESPN,” 

Strader said of his “new-old” television 

partner. “We’ve become very 

good friends.” 

Strader said that friendship, 

Dave Strader, right, has covered NHL games nationally for NBC, ESPN, Fox and ABC. 

both on and off the air, was almost 

destined from the start. 

“The very fi rst game I did 

for ESPN was the night before 

Thanksgiving 1987 in Chicago,” 

Strader said, noting that Pang was 

Chicago’s backup goaltender and 

came in midway through the contest 

after the Blackhawks gave up 

a fl urry of early scores. “I still have 

the tape where (broadcast partner) 

Bill Clement says, “Here comes 

wee Darren Pang with his wee 

white pads.” 

Strader jokes of Pang’s diminutive 

- at least in hockey terms 

- stature, but he notes that, as a 

player and broadcaster, “there are 

very few guys that have worked 

harder than Darren.” 

“And to have a guy like Todd 

Walsh, our sideline reporter, that’s 

huge,” he added of Walsh, whose 

position and knowledge of the game 

locally is no longer a luxury, but a 

necessity to earn back the fans.” 

Admitting that the NHL is still 

hampered by the lingering effects 

of the player lockout earlier this 

decade, Strader said he thinks 

the Coyotes, thanks in large part 

to president Doug 

Moss, has the pieces 

in place to regain the 

public’s attention 

span, and subsequently 

hold on to it. 

And with arguably 

the game’s 

greatest all-time star 

- head coach Wayne 

Gretzky - on board, 

there’s no reason, 

Strader says, that 

Phoenix can’t become 

a “Hockeytown” in its 

own right. 

Strader, who most 

recently was the television 

play-by-play 

voice of the Florida 

Panthers, said that 

while he doesn’t come 

to a city to root for a team, it helps 

make his job both enjoyable and 

relevant if that team is committed 

to winning - something he said he’s 

certain the Coyotes are. 

“It is a fi ne line. But our job really 

is different than the straight 

journalist, and it’s different doing a 

game for a team you cover regularly 

than doing a network game, for 

say ESPN or Versus,” Strader said. 

“You do have to be careful because 

the fans can see what you see, but 

there’s a way to do it so you’re not 

tearing the team down, but there’s 

also a way to do it so the fans can 

gain some good knowledge along 

the way.” ❂ 

11

Arizona Sundogs 

Prescott readies for desert battle 

12 

By Brett Fera 

As the leader of 

a professional 

hockey team, Marco 

Pietroniro is well 

aware of the necessity of 

preseason games as both a learning 

and conditioning tool to his players. 

“Sure, preseason games have 

a purpose,” said Pietroniro, head 

coach and general manager of 

the Arizona 

Sundogs. “We 

still want 

to win, but 

there’s more 

to it than 

that.” 

Noting 

that keeping 

players 

healthy 

while getting 

them 

some 

time on 

the ice against quality 

opposition is a delicate 

balance before 

the regular season 

starts, Pietroniro did 

admit that he and his 

players will take to the ice for their 

fi rst two preseason games with a 

little more bounce in their step. 

After all, state supremacy is on 

the line. 

“We thought it was good timing 

to us to invite them to our facility 

and play them out here,” Pietroniro 

said of the ECHL’s Phoenix Roadrunners, 

who will travel to Prescott 

Valley Oct. 12-13 for a two-game 

preseason set aptly dubbed the 

“Battle of the Desert.” 

“It’s big for us. Last year, we 

started the year and the fi rst three 

weeks we were on the road,” Pietroniro 

said. “Now we’re able to 

have preseason games in our building. 

We’re able to have openers in 

our building.” 

The 5,000-seat Tim’s Toyota 

Center will serve as the site for 

what could be the birth of a new 

state-wide rivalry between Arizona’s 

two AA-level hockey clubs. 

“For our fan bases, it makes a lot 

of sense,” Pietroniro said. “We’re in 

the same state, and it can help grow 

the sport in our state.” 

With only one year of play 

under its belt so far, the Sundogs 

organization enters the set as the 

de-facto little brother” 

to the Roadrunners, who 

were re-introduced to Phoenix in 

2005. 

“The Roadrunners organization 

has been very well-established in 

our state,” Pietroniro said. “It’s not 

a regular-season game, but it’s fun 

to be able to prepare yourself in 

your own city.” 

Pietroniro said that a fan base 

that, on average, fi lled 4,200 of 

5,000 available seats at the Tim’s 

Toyota Center during the Sundogs’ 

inaugural season, will only help 

make the matchup with the Roadrunners 

- not to mention the rest of 

the season - one to remember. 

“We have the best fans in the 

league. They are pretty rowdy,” 

Pietroniro said. “We are fortunate 

to be in a smaller market. When 

we came to town, we wanted to be 

good neighbors to all the businesses 

in town. With our fans we had last 

year, we think we did pretty good in 

that regard.” 

Pietroniro said that having such 

high attendance fi gures, especially 

considering it was the team’s fi rst 

season of play, means that notoriety 

for the club will only increase as its 

season nears. He added that with 

the nature of minor-league hockey - 

player development 

and 

ultimately 

movement 

to higher 

levels are as 

nearly 

as 

important 

as 

winning 

itself - it’s 

always 

necessary 

that fans 

have a few regular 

players they can resonate 

with from year to 

year. 

This year, the club 

brings back a handful of 

regulars from the 2006-07 season, 

including player-assistant coach 

Dan Laperriere, 21-year-old forward 

Chris Greene and defenseman 

Jonathan Bernier. 

“Out of 18 players, we were able 

to move nine of them,” Pietroniro 

said of last season, noting that the 

ultimate success of a club like the 

Sundogs will come in the next few 

years and seeing how former players 

develop and where they end up. 

“It’s the reasons why these 

leagues exist. Of course in our town 

it’s great entertainment for our 

fans, it’s a good family atmosphere. 

The end result is winning, but without 

compromising that, we have to 

develop these players to move on to 

the next level.” ❂

Photo / Phoenix RoadRunners 

Phoenix RoadRunners 

Church eager to mold a contender 

By Paolo Cruz 

A year 

ago at 

this time, Brad 

Church was preparing 

himself for the start 

of just another hockey season. 

Only this time he would be wearing 

a coat and tie rather than a 

sweater and a helmet, and he would 

be holding a clipboard instead of a 

stick. 

Brad Church 

was going into 

coaching, and, 

with the No. 2 

job with Roadrunners 

open, 

he jumped at 

the opportunity 

to come 

to Phoenix to 

launch his career 

behind the 

bench. 

“I want to 

learn and develop 

as much 

as I can. I want 

to be looked 

upon as a quality coach with a good 

future,” Church told Arizona Rubber 

last year. “I want to coach at 

the highest level.” 

Little did Church know that an 

opportunity for advancement would 

come just six months into the 2006- 

07 season. 

With just eight games left in the 

regular season and the Roadrunners’ 

playoff hopes on life support, 

head coach Ron Filion resigned. 

In response, the Roadrunners 

organization turned to Church - just 

30 years old, but a 10-year veteran 

of professional hockey - to right the 

ship and make the playoffs. 

“I never thought I would get an 

opportunity so quickly,” he said. “I 

fi gured I would be an assistant for a 

few years, but I’m very grateful that 

this opportunity came up.” 

Two crucial wins, including a 4-2 

road win over Fresno, were enough 

to get Phoenix into the playoffs, 

where they were eventually swept 

by No.1 seed Las Vegas. 

In May, the Roadrunners offi - 

cially named Church as their head 

coach and director of hockey operations 

for the 2007-08 season. 

Church will be assisted by 

Brian O’Leary, who was named 

The RoadRunners are hoping for more reasons to celebrate with Brad Church in charge. 

the team’s new assistant coach last 

month. 

O’Leary brings to Phoenix 17 

years of coaching experience in Canadian 

junior hockey as both an assistant 

and a head coach. The Owen 

Sound, Ontario, native recently 

spent the past four seasons as an 

assistant with the Owen Sound Attack 

of the Ontario Hockey League. 

“Brian brings a wealth of experience 

to our staff and I’m very excited 

to work with him,” said Church. 

“He has built great relationships 

with his players and his colleagues 

over his long coaching career.” 

“I’m thrilled for the opportunity 

to coach in the ECHL and extremely 

happy about working with Brad as 

a member of the RoadRunners family,” 

said O’Leary. 

Church, the youngest coach in 

the league - he turns 31 in November 

- brings a youthful exuberance 

to the job and has leaned on the 

numerous connections he has made 

during his career in hockey to help 

build the Roadrunners into a 

contender. 

Because all ECHL contracts last 

for only one year, the recruitment of 

players is a key factor in separating 

the contenders and the pretenders. 

Already, 

the Roadrunners 

have 

benefi ted 

from Church’s 

contacts. This 

summer they 

announced 

the signing of 

ECHL veteran 

Reagan 

Rome, who 

is slated to 

be the team’s 

No. 1 defenseman. 

Rome 

played with 

Church for the 

ECHL’s Read- 

ing Royals. 

“I’ve crossed paths with a lot of 

people in this game and it has come 

in handy as far as recruiting goes,” 

Church said. “As widespread as 

[hockey] seems, it’s a small world at 

the end of the day.” 

In the case of Jeff Kyrzakos 

and Cody Rudkowsky, Church’s 

reputation as a coach and leader 

has even attracted former players 

back to the Roadrunners. 

“When Church took over, you 

knew he was that kind of guy 

that would be able to relate to the 

players and get us to play hard,” 

Kyrzakos said. “One of the main 

reasons I came back was because I 

knew what Churchy was all about 

and he’s played at the next level so I 

know he knows how to get there.” ❂ 

13

14 

College Hockey 

ASU Ice Devils UA Ice Cats NAU Ice Jacks 

By Brett Fera By Brett Fera By Brett Fera 

Lind brings local 

fl avor to roster 

Head coach Mike De Angelis 

is intent on giving spots on his 

Arizona State University Ice Devils 

hockey team to the best players 

available. That much is for sure. 

But when those players happen 

to be homegrown talents, like 

Phoenix native Pat Lind, that’s 

even better. 

“He’s looking like he’s going to 

make the team and make a major 

impact for us,” De Angelis said. “It 

is an added bonus when they’re 

local guys, to promote hockey in 

Arizona locally.” 

While De Angelis is set to complete 

his roster following the team’s 

mid-September tryout, a few spots 

on the Ice Devils’ 2007-08 squad 

were already taking shape at the 

end of August. 

After top offensive leaders like 

Ray Corey, Richard Feroni and 

Tony Biffi gnani ran out of eligibility 

after last season, De Angelis 

will turn to Trevor Van Contant 

and Ryan Clark, both forwards, to 

take over the offensive lead. 

At the blue line, ASU also 

welcomes Scott O’Neil, a transfer 

defenseman from California whom 

De Angelis is also high on. 

Another blue line addition - albeit 

on the bench instead of the ice 

- comes in the form of new assistant 

coach Todd Bisson, a former 

NCAA Division I player at Canisius 

College in Buffalo, N.Y. 

ASU fi nished 16-15-1 last 

season, narrowly missing out on 

a berth to the ACHA Division I 

national tournament, but the Ice 

Devils did win fi ve of their fi nal six 

games to close out the season at the 

.500 mark. ❂ 

Icecats look to regain 

elite status 

Rochester, N.Y., is a long way 

from Tucson: 2,301 miles, to be 

exact. 

But if the University of Arizona 

Icecats hope to regain their form 

as one of the American Collegiate 

Hockey Association’s most and 

consistent clubs, that’s where it will 

have to both start and end. 

The Icecats open the 2007-08 

season the fi rst week of October 

with a pair of games in Scottsdale 

against rival Arizona State. But it’s 

a three-game swing the next week 

(Oct. 12-14) in Rochester, site of 

the fi fth annual ACHA Division I 

Showcase, that will likely prove if 

the Icecats are for real again. 

One of 16 teams invited to 

the season-opening event, none 

will come from as far west or as 

far south as the Icecats. And few 

ACHA teams have as much to 

prove on a national stage, either. 

A strong showing at the Showcase 

might - ironically enough 

- help lead Arizona back to Rochester, 

which will also host the 2008 

ACHA Division I championship in 

March. 

During the team’s fi rst 24 years 

under head coach Leo Golembiewski, 

the Icecats reached the 

national tournament every season. 

In the four years since: just one 

tourney bid and a lone 20-win season, 

which came two years ago. 

On Arizona’s side, however: the 

team lost just three seniors from 

last year’s club. Slated to return 

in 2007-08 are senior co-captains 

Craig Irwin and Scott Marshall. 

Also on tap to return are junior 

alternate captains Robbie Nowinski 

and Matt Conover. ❂ 

‘Jacks set out for 

nationals repeat 

The Northern Arizona University 

Ice Jacks likely won’t have 

to look to hard to fi nd a group of 

players to follow up last season’s 

fi rst-ever berth in the American 

Collegiate Hockey Association 

Division III national tournament. 

With just one senior gone from 

last year’s squad, it’s conceivable 

that the Ice Jacks could return 

virtually their entire team - one 

that included 14 Arizona natives 

and six players who earned All- 

ACHA honors in 2007. 

Arizona natives eligible to 

return in 2007-08 include: wingers 

Sean Vardeman and Rob 

Fairchild and defensemen Matt 

Perrin and Michael Borgeson 

of Glendale; forward Michael 

Gray of Tucson; wing Kyle Klein 

of Anthem; defenseman Kyle 

Martinez of Cave Creek; forward 

Michael Sounhein of Scottsdale; 

wingers Dillon Schaffer and 

Matt Slansky of Phoenix; Flagstaff 

natives Nathaniel Morgart, 

Tyler Holmes and Greg Neville 

- all wings - and Dan Carrick, a 

defenseman. 

Entering this month, the Ice 

Jacks’ roster was in the process 

of being fi nalized by head coach 

Todd Schall after the team’s late- 

August tryout. 

NAU ended last season with 

an eighth-place fi nish at nationals 

to go along with records of 14-3-0- 

1 in Pacifi c Coast Hockey Association 

play and 17-11-1-3 overall in 

ACHA D-III play. 

This year, the PCHA adds 

three teams to its lineup – Redlands, 

Santa Clara and San Jose 

State. ❂ 

The Ice Devils, Ice Cats & Ice Jacks are members of the

Junior Hockey 

Peoria Coyotes Phoenix Polar Bears 

Coyotes cease operations 

Junior hockey took another hit in Arizona when the 

Peoria Coyotes ceased operations in July. 

The team was reportedly looking to transfer ownership 

prior to its third season in the Western States 

League, but mutual terms could not be agreed upon. 

That, and with the team in a state of fl ux as late 

as the middle of July with only one tryout and no ice 

time scheduled, contributed to the Coyotes closing up 

shop. 

“Putting together another 8-34 team was just 

something we weren’t sure was going to be good for 

the organization,” said Peoria GM-assistant coach 

Trevor Waagner. “Next year was always going to 

be the better year, but you can only put together so 

many 8-34 seasons before it starts to hinder your 

future.” 

Still, Waagner sees positives from the fallout. 

“The hockey community has been really supportive 

and while everyone is sad to see the team go, the 

connections we made and support we had will not be 

forgotten,” concluded Waagner. ❂ 

By Matt Mackinder By Matt Mackinder 

Polars ready for Tier III Junior A 

This summer, the Western States Hockey League 

received USA Hockey certifi cation as part of a new 

Tier III Junior A loop, moving the league “up” from 

Junior B status. 

“I think the evolution to Tier III Junior A is very 

positive for the development of junior hockey in the 

United States,” said Phoenix Polar Bears coach-GM 

Harry Mahood. “It creates another positive development 

stream to the NCAA. 

“It’s interesting from our side, in that we have been 

working in this area for over eight years and to have 

been part of the roller coaster and upswing growth of 

junior hockey in the WSHL has been very rewarding.” 

With the season right around the corner, Phoenix 

has a team that Mahood expects to challenge for a 

national championship, much like he expects every 

season at this time of year. 

“We are excited about this team because we have 15 

returning veterans from our championship team last 

year and we’ve added some exciting new young players 

to the mix,” noted Mahood. ❂ 

Join the BTM/Arizona Rubber Test Team! 

Behind the Mask, long 

considered the state’s 

leading retailer of consumer 

and team hockey 

equipment, uniforms and 

services, in conjunction 

with Arizona Rubber 

Magazine, is looking to 

recruit a volunteer group 

of hockey players who will 

be given to the opportunity 

to evaluate and test 

new 

merchandise as the hockey 

industry releases it. 

With locations in 

Chandler, Phoenix and 

Peoria, BTM ownership 

and staff 

prides themselves on an 

ability to stay on top of 

the wants and needs of all 

customers, both local and 

afar. 

Each season, BTM 

challenges the major 

manufacturers in the 

hockey equipment industry 

to come up with 

new technology, materials 

and designs 

that will best 

protect and 

enhance the 

game of all 

who frequent 

the 

shop. 

This 

coming fall, 

Behind the 

Mask would like to enlist 

the expertise and knowledge 

of you, the customers 

who buy and use the 

equipment BTM sells. 

In an effort to better 

evaluate the new technologies 

and innovations to 

equipment such as skates, 

sticks, protective gear and 

more, BTM is assembling 

a team of product testers 

who will be given the opportunity 

to evaluate and 

test new merchandise 

as the hockey 

industry releases 

it. 

BTM will 

then provide the 

feedback of the “BTM 

Test Team” to 

Arizona Rubber 

Magazine 

for a recurring 

product review feature, 

as well as publish reviews 

and feedback on the 

Behind the Mask Web site 

for our customers to read 

when making decisions on 

purchases. 

Those interested in 

becoming a member of the 

BTM Test Team, visit 

www.behindthemask. 

com and click on the BTM 

Test Team link. Simply 

fi ll out 

the brief online application 

and submit it for 

consideration. 

The test team is open to 

Arizona residents between 

the ages of 12-18-yearsold 

and who are currently 

playing hockey at one of 

the state’s ice or inline 

facilities. We encourage 

both ice and inline players 

to apply. 

The test team will be 

announced in the October 

issue of Arizona Rubber 

Magazine along with a 

sneak peak at some of 

the hot new products the 

team will be testing over 

the next few months. ❂ 

15

16 

By Brett Fera 

In all, 13 P.F. Chang’s 

Midget AAA Major or 

Minor players attended 

USA Hockey National Select 

Festivals this summer. 

Danny Heath, a 6foot-1, 

180 pound defenseman 

from Glendale, joined 

Midget AAA Major teammates 

Derik Johnson, 

a 5-foot-11, 170 pound 

defensemen from Scottsdale, 

and Duncan McKellar, 

a 6-foot-3, 167-pound 

forward from Gilbert, at 

the U17 National Select 

Festival in St. Cloud, 

Minn. 

At the U16 National Select 

Festival in Rochester, 

N.Y., it was Dan Anderson, 

Aaron Ave, Kyle 

Beattie and Rich Coyne 

P.F. Chang’s Tier 1 Hockey Program 

Plenty take stage at Select Festivals 

representing P.F. Chang’s. 

Anderson is a 5-foot-11, 

162-pound forward from 

Peoria; Ave is a 5-foot-8, 

153-pound defensemen 

from Chandler; Beattie is 

a 6-foot, 160-pound forward 

from Avondale; and 

Coyne is a 6-foot-2, 

177-pound defenseman 

from Cave 

Creek. 

At the U15 festival 

in St. Cloud, 

P.F. Chang’s was 

represented by 5-foot- 

10, 175-pound forward 

J.T. Barnett of Scottsdale; 

6-foot-2, 176-pound 

forward Conor Clancy of 

Scottsdale; 5-foot-7, 128pound 

defenseman Kevin 

Johnson of Phoenix; 5foot-10, 

167-pound forward 

Colten St. Clair of Gilbert; 

and 5-foot-9, 143 pound 

defenseman Jordan 

Young of Peoria. 

Zach Larazza, a 6foot3, 

155-pound forward 

from Scottsdale, was the 

lone P.F. Chang’s representative 

at the U14 Festival 

in Rochester. 

And after just 

a single offi cial 

season of play, the 

program already 

has an alum who 

is going places. 

In this case, that 

place is hockey-crazy 

Kalamazoo, Mich., home of 

Western Michigan University. 

Matt Federico, a 6foot, 

190-pound goaltender 

who spent the 2006-07 

season as a member of the 

P.F. Chang’s inaugural 

U18 AAA team, has joined 

the Broncos for the 2007- 

08 school year, and is believed 

to be the fi rst goalie 

from the state of Arizona 

to play NCAA Division I 

college hockey. 

“This is an exceptional 

opportunity for an exceptional 

young man,” P.F. 

Chang’s program director 

Jim Johnson said. “This 

is a great accomplishment 

for both Matt and the P.F. 

Chang’s hockey program. 

We wish Matt much success.” 

Federico, who was born 

in Knoxville, Tenn., before 

moving to Arizona with his 

family, posted a 1.84 career 

goals-against average, 

a .924 save percentage and 

15 shutouts during his 

Midget hockey career. ❂ 

AAHA’s Annual Meeting Set for September 24 

The AAHA’s annual 

meeting will be held on 

September 24, 2007 at 

6:30 p.m. at the Alltel Ice 

Den. Each 

association 

will seat 

new directors 

at this 

meeting. 

The monthly AAHA board 

meeting will follow the 

annual meeting. 

Coaching Seminar 

Info Online 

All Arizona USA 

Hockey coaching seminars 

and USA Hockey offi 

cials seminars have been 

set for the fall and can 

be found either on www. 

usahockey.com or www. 

azamateurhockey.org 

Arizona Wins RMD 

Bid 

Arizona has been 

awarded the bid to host 

the 2008 Rocky Mountain 

Girls and Women’s 

Rocky Mountain Championships.Tournament 

chairperson Rick 

Van Fleet made the 

bid presentation in Utah 

to the District Council, 

which was accepted. The 

event will be hosted by 

the AZ Selects, skating 

under the Arizona Girls 

Youth Hockey Association 

(AGYHA), and the 

Lady Coyotes, skating 

under the Valley of the 

Sun Hockey Association 

(VOSHA). Games will be 

played at the Alltel Ice 

Den and the Arcadia Ice 

Arena. 

Coyotes Launch Jersey 

Display 

The Phoenix Coyotes 

announced that they 

will be setting up a new 

display of youth hockey 

jerseys on the main 

concourse of Jobing. 

com Arena. Each youth 

hockey association, high 

school and college team 

will have their jersey on 

display. The AAHA will 

also be working with the 

Coyotes to provide youth 

hockey information at the 

arena. 

Background 

Screening Instituted 

All USA Hockey registered 

coaches, managers, 

board members and offi 

cials will be undergoing 

background screening as 

part of a new initiative 

undertaken by the AAHA. 

The AAHA is utilizing 

Axiom as its background 

screening partner. As 

each person clears screening, 

their names will 

be posted on the AAHA 

Web site at www.azamateurhockey.org. 

Parent Education 

Video Online 

USA Hockey has 

produced a new ACE Parent 

Education video and 

PowerPoint presentation 

that all associations have 

agreed to present to parents 

of all youth hockey 

players for this year. The 

video and PowerPoint can 

be viewed at www.azamateurhockey.org. 

❂

Desert Youth Hockey Assocation 

DYHA creates new Midget team 

By Brett Fera 

Desert Youth Hockey Association held 

tryouts in August for a newly formed 

Midget A tournament team. 

The team, once fi nalized, will likely be a combination 

of U16 and U18 players, said DYHA president John 

Hojnacki. 

“It could actually be a U16 tournament team,” he said. 

“They’re kind of a mix. It really depends what players 

exactly land on that tournament team.” 

Hojnacki said that after other local teams disbanded, a 

demand arose for to create a new Midget squad at DYHA. 

“My understanding was there was a Polar team that 

folded and these kids needed a place to play,” he said. 

“The bottom line is there was a demand at the Midget 

level and we were able to fi t them in.” 

Hojnacki said the Midget A squad’s new coach, Michael 

Caracciolo, was a perfect fi t to take over the new 

team. 

“He seems like a great guy, very knowledgeable,” Hojnacki 

said, a goaltender by trade in his mid-20s who had 

been previously playing minor league hockey in Florida. ❂ 

Flagstaff Youth Hockey Association 

Flagstaff welcomes new president 

By Brett Fera 

The Flagstaff Youth Hockey Association 

underwent a change at the top of its 

leadership totem pole this summer, instilling 

Denny Lauritsen at the organization’s new 

president. 

“My responsibility as president is making sure 

our kids are learning the correct way to play hockey,” 

said Lauritsen, a native Canadian who has lived in 

Flagstaff for the past fi ve years. 

FYHA registrar Camie McCracken said it impressed 

the board how much time and effort Lauritsen 

was willing to donate despite not having a child 

within the program. 

“There was an opening last year on the board, I 

stepped up and took that and was voted president 

this year by the new board,” said Lauristen. “I don’t 

have any kids in hockey. I do it for the sport.” 

Lauritsen said a major goal of the current board of 

directors is to re-emphasize the growth and vitality of 

FYHA’s house program. 

“The house program is really important for those 

kids who are still devoted to competition but just 

need a place to play hockey,” he said. ❂ 

ARIZONA ICE RINKS 

Alltel Ice Den 

9375 E. Bell Road 

Scottsdale, AZ 85260 

ph. (480) 585-7465 

Arcadia Ice Arena 

3853 E. Thomas Road 

Phoenix, AZ 85018 

ph. (602) 957-9966 

Desert Schools Coyote Skating 

Center Chandler 

7225 W Harrison Street. 

Chandler, AZ 85226 

ph. (480) 598-9400 

Desert Schools Coyote Skating 

Center Peoria 

15829 N. 83rd. Ave. 

Peoria, AZ 85383 

ph. (623) 334-1200 

Jay Lively Recreation Center 

1650 N Turquoise Dr # B 

Flagstaff, AZ 86001 

ph. (928) 774-1051 

Jobing.com Arena 

9400 W Maryland Ave 

Glendale, AZ 85305 

Oceanside Ice Arena 

1520 N. McClintock Drive 

Tempe, AZ 85282 

ph. (480) 941-0944 

Ozzie Ice 

10443 N. 32nd Street 


ph. (480) 488-6122 

Tim’s Toyota Center 

3201 N. Main Street 

Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 

ph. (928) 772-1819 

Tucson Convention Center 

260 S Church Ave 

Tucson, AZ 85701 

ph. (520) 791-4101 

US Airways Center 

201 East Jefferson Street 


17

18 

Onward continued from Page 7 

Tucson Ice, the only truly public sheet of ice in all of 

Pima County. That March issue also mentioned steps 

were being taken toward possibly building a new 

facility in Tucson’s Northwest Catalina Foothills. 

But despite the struggles in Tucson to keep its 

lone rink open, hockey, in some form or another, 

seems to fi nd ways to endure in outer parts of the 

state. 

The minor league AA level Sundogs draw a feverish 

crowd nightly to the Tim’s Toyota Center in 

Prescott Valley, while a new inline rink recently 

opened in Lake Havasu City. 

Things are a bit trickier in Flagstaff, however, as 

the game is surviving despite only a single sheet of 

ice as well and a feigned interest from local youths. 

“We are actually very fortunate in that [the rink] 

is not privately owned,” 

Flagstaff Youth ockey Association registrar Camie 

McCracken said in comparison to Tucson, which 

for years housed a single rink that was anything but 

profi table for its owners. “It is a city-run rink, and the 

youth program and the fi gure skating program have 

fi rst dibs on the ice.” 

But having just one sheet still poses its dilemmas, 

she added. When Denny Lauritsen took over as 

president of FYHA in June, the fi rst thing he pushed 

was to increase participation and attention to the 

house league. 

“For a town this size, we should have way more 

hockey players than we do,” McCracken said. “We 

have the cheapest hockey program I’ve ever known 

of. Our travel teams cost $500 a year. That’s a fi fth of 

some programs in the Valley. 

“Our house program is $300 for the year, and we 

rent equipment for $40 a year,” she said. “You think 

about that, and it’s $5 an hour on the ice. You can’t 

get a babysitter for that.” 

McCracken said the dilemma, however, comes 

from that time-tested issue in Arizona’s outer banks: 

just one sheet of ice in a town of nearly 60,000 residents. 

McCracken noted that local adult leagues, high 

school teams and the Northern Arizona University 

Ice Jacks all have to share the same sheet - the same 

one used by FHYA; the same one that also houses 

fi gure skating and holds mandatory public skate sessions. 

“The high school is upset at us because we’ve 

pushed them to 9 p.m. at night, then that means the 

men’s league is at 10:30 and it kind of dominoes from 

that,” she said. “We want more kids, of course, but 

where will we put them?” ❂

2 - Keith Ballard 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

Meet your 2007-08 Phoenix Coyotes 

Town Hall Meeting with Coyotes GM 

Don Maloney 

Watch your Coyotes take the ice for 

an open practice 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

Get 6 great games plus 

opening night for FREE! 

�� 

�� 

�� 

19

‘Runners won’t fi eld U18 team 

By Brett Fera 

As the Peoria Roadrunners prepare to 

send forward seven teams this season, 

one group - the U18 squad - will not be in 

action this year. 

“At a lot of different levels, I think everyone is trying 

to fi eld too many teams at the travel level,” said association 

president Marvin Lomax. “For us, as kids get older, 

it becomes harder to fi eld the older teams. It’s just what 

happens. 

“We don’t want to fi eld a team that’s not competitive.” 

The seven remaining squads will compete at the 

Mite A (coach Don Berg), Squirt A (coach Jim Dover), 

Peewee A (coach Darrell Sleeman), PeeWee AA (coach 

Brad Bayer), Bantam (coach Jon Larson) and U16A 

(coach Dave Cope) and AA (coach Shawn Babin) 

levels. 

Last year, the Roadrunners fi elded eight travel teams, 

winning three of fi ve A division state championships 

(Mite, Squirt A and PeeWee Silver), a pair of Southwest 

Youth Hockey League (SWYHL) titles (PeeWee Blue 

and Bantam AA Tier II) and three regional Silver Stick 

Championships (Squirt A, Peewee Silver and Bantam 

AA Tier II). ❂ 

20 

AWAY FROM THE RUBBER: 

Summer healing the ultimate energizer 

The fall is one of my 

favorite times of the 

year, as our players and 

coaches start returning 

to the ice in the Valley to 

prepare for another NHL 

campaign. 

Although many of 

our players do not live 

in Arizona, I like to keep 

in touch with all of them 

throughout the summer 

to keep tabs on how 

they’re doing. 

Immediately following 

the season, I typically 

recommend that players 

take 2-4 weeks off from 

any sort of structured 

physical activity. At the 

end of the season, they 

are physically worn out, 

maybe a few nagging 

aches and pains, and 

mentally they 

are ready for a 

break. 

A player 

might even 

require a little 

more extensive 

rehabilitation 

for an injury, 

and that rest 

period can be 

easily implemented into 

his rehab schedule. Many 

players like to take a vacation 

during this time. 

Following that short 

break, players are usually 

chomping at the 

bit to start working out 

again. Some are ready to 

go two weeks after the 

season ends; some need 

3-4 weeks before they 

want to go near a train- 

Peoria Roadrunners Hockey Association 

Bahn 

ing facility! 

The break 

should consist 

of light activity; 

nothing 

structured or 

intense. But 

players don’t 

spend this time 

sitting around 

at home, 

watching TV. They may 

go on a fi shing trip, take 

up some light bike riding 

outdoors, or some other 

activity that they can’t do 

during the season. 

Not only does this 

help keep their body 

moving, but it is amazing 

for the mental recovery 

of the player following 

the long, rigorous NHL 

season. 

Once they start 

training again, typically 

they’ll spend a week or 

two getting back into a 

workout routine, allowing 

their body to adapt 

to exercise once again. 

From there, they spend a 

month or two building up 

their physical foundation 

of strength and general 

conditioning. 

Not until July do they 

start doing explosive 

movements or agility 

training. Come August, 

they start getting on the 

ice 2-3 times a week, 

building up to 4-5 times 

a week by early September. 

❂ 

Mike Bahn is the Coyotes’ 

strength and conditioning 

coordinator. 

Arizona High School Hockey Association 

High schools start 8th season 

By Brett Fera 

The Arizona High School Hockey Association 

is readying for the start of its eighth 

season this month. 

Varsity teams slated to compete include: Boulder 

Creek (Anthem), Brophy (Phoenix), Cactus Shadows 

(Cave Creek), Chaparral (Scottsdale), Corona del Sol 

(Tempe), Deer Valley (Glendale), Desert Mountain (Scottsdale), 

Desert Vista (Phoenix), Flagstaff, Gilbert, Hamilton 

(Chandler) Highland (Gilbert), Horizon (Scottsdale), 

Mesquite (Gilbert), Mountain Pointe (Phoenix), Mountain 

Ridge (Glendale), North Canyon (Phoenix), Notre Dame 

(Scottsdale), O’Connor (Glendale), Pinnacle (Phoenix), 

Prescott, Saguaro (Scottsdale), Thunderbird (Phoenix), 

and Tucson. 

A combination of players from Cactus (Glendale) and 

Centennial (Peoria) High Schools will also compete. 

Thirteen junior varsity teams will also compete, including 

Brophy, Corona del Sol, Desert Mountain, Desert Vista, 

Flagstaff, Hamilton, Horizon, Mountain Pointe, Mountain 

Ridge, Notre Dame, Pinnacle, Prescott and Tucson. 

The Valley of the Sun Youth Hockey Association will 

also fi eld a Lady Coyotes junior varsity girls team. ❂

Phoenix Scorpions 

Scorpions high on newcomers 

By Brett Fera 

The Phoenix Scorpions women’s travel 

hockey team has announced their roster 

and travel plans for the 2007-08 season. 

Several new players were drafted by the club, including 

Lindsey Hundley, Amanda Bailey, January 

(J.J.) Johnson, Maggi Connelly and Katie Goreham. 

“It’s really great to see so much talent this year,” said 

Sheri Jones, the Scorpions’ captain. “It’s the fi rst season 

we’ve been able to add so many quality players to our 

roster without having to recruit from out of state.” 

Several other travel players were being considered, 

but had yet to be offered a position on the team entering 

September. 

The Scorpions will kick off their fall season in the 

men’s league at Arcadia Ice, and will host several invitational 

tournaments, including a small tournament which 

will include teams from the UK, Germany and the East 

Coast. 

Other tournament plans include the Gold Digger 

Tournament in Park City, Utah, in December; the MLK 

Tournament in San Jose in January; and the USA 

Hockey National Pond Hockey Championship in Eagle 

River, Wis., in February. ❂ 

Beyer takes on Ozzie role Ice at Polar Ice 

Spiral Entertainment Group (SEG) announced 

last month the appointment of Jim Beyer as its 

assistant general manager of the Polar Ice facility in 

Chandler. 

As well as assisting in the day-to-day operations of 

the facility, Beyer will also take leadership of Polar Ice 

Chandler’s youth hockey program. 

Additionally, Beyer has accepted the position of 

president of the Polar Bear Travel Hockey Organization. 

He replaces Chuck Allen, who has diligently 

served the Polar Bear membership and families for the 

past two-plus years. 

“Jim’s experience and dedication in serving youth 

hockey interests in the western states over the last 

two decades greatly enhances the role that Polar Ice 

continues to play in growing the great game of hockey 

throughout the state and country,” said Brad Berman, 

president of SEG. 

Spiral Entertainment Group recently acquired the 

Polar Ice group of businesses from Polar Ice Entertainment, 

Inc. 

“Except for the change in ownership, nothing will 

change operationally with the ice facilities,” Berman 

added. “Our rinks have always been run effi ciently 

with customer service being a top priority.” ❂ 

Coyotes Amateur Hockey Association 

Mites tap into NHL pipeline 

By Brett Fera 

As the fall season approaches, Mike 

De Angelis, director of the Coyotes 

Amateur Hockey Association, admits it’s 

not uncommon to see a former NHL player 

helping coach a youth team when his son or daughter 

is playing. 

But four on the ice at the same time - well that’s a 

different story. 

“We’ve got a Mite A team with kind of a neat 

coaching staff,” De Angelis said. “We’ve got a lot of 

famous fathers that are on the ice with these kids.” 

Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson’s 

son, Adam, is on the CAHA Mite team. 

Derek King, a veteran of 14 NHL seasons, has a 

son, DJ, who is also on the club. 

Max Middendorf, father to Mite player Ethan, 

had a 15-plus year pro career, including parts of four 

seasons in the NHL, while former NHLer Bryan 

Savage, who played three seasons with the Coyotes, 

has a son, Ryan, on the team. 

“They’re all on the ice with these kids for practice,” 

De Angelis said. “It’s a pretty unique thing. ❂ 

Tommy Tuohy 

uses his Warrior 

Kronik to get 

himself out of a 

tough situation 

on the golf 

course. He wins 

this month’s 

Warrior Hockey prize package. 

Tuohy, a Brophy High School student, plays inline 

hockey for the Tour Outcasts ‘92s and ice hockey for 

DYHA Firebirds Midget U16 Tier II team. 

Enter this month by sending a photo of yourself 

wearing Warrior hockey or lacrosse gear 

in a unique location to 

warriorgiveaway@arizonarubber.com. 

21

22 

SCOUT SPEAK: 

Good teammates thrive through respect 

To succeed in a team 

setting or in life, you 

have to earn the respect 

of your peers and you 

have to learn to respect 

your peers. 

Everyone has unique 

skills that may be totally 

different from yours. It’s 

a combination of these 

unique skills that help 

to build a real team. 

Respect and loyalty are 

earned through your conduct, 

example, attitude, 

perseverance and work 

ethic. 

Lefty Curran, goaltender 

of the ‘72 U.S. 

Olympic team, once told 

me that a goaltender has 

to go above and beyond 

when it comes to earning 

the respect of teammates 

as a person, friend and 

Interview from Page 5 

The numbers did drop somewhat 

a few years ago, but have actually 

increased the past two years 

and that’s a very good sign for all 

areas: youth, female and adults. 

There are always opportunities 

for growth, especially at the 

younger ages. 

AZR: What is the AAHA doing 

to get the word out to help grow 

participation? 

RVF: First and foremost, since 

the AAHA is made of directors 

elected from each of the active 

associations, it serves as a conduit 

to relay information and programs 

back to each member. Our Web 

site, www.azamateurhockey.org, 

serves as a focal point for information 

about statewide events such 

as playdowns and players selections 

camps. 

player. He believes 

that players 

play harder 

for a goaltender 

they like and 

respect than one 

who separates 

themselves from 

the team. Teammates 

will go the 

extra mile when 

it comes to blocking 

shots, defensive posture 

and getting back into the 

play on transition. 

There isn’t a player 

living who knows what 

to expect when he joins 

the team. What they 

do know is this: They 

want to work hard, try 

to contribute, earn a spot 

in the lineup, earn more 

ice time and eventually 

make a difference. If 

Grillo 

every player 

is given the 

opportunity to 

make a difference, 

they just 

might respond. 

Teams come 

together when 

every kid is 

honest in the 

locker room 

and on the ice. Every 

team becomes family 

when every player understands 

that everyone 

earns their ice time and 

everyone plays for each 

other. Goal-setting is 

great if it has to do with 

the team. I’ve seen fi rstround 

draft picks fail 

to make it because they 

didn’t fi t in. 

Every player has one 

or more unique assets 

Recently, we approved funding 

to begin an awareness campaign in 

a couple of statewide publications 

which are distributed primarily to 

all of the elementary schools. The 

aim is to generate interest with 

potential youths 

that have never tried hockey. 

The AAHA is also teaming up 

with the Phoenix Coyotes, who 

run introductory programs. There 

are also plans this year to bring in 

a highly-successful program that 

is sponsored by the Girls Scouts 

called “Put the Biscuit in the Basket.” 

It’s meant to introduce girls 

to the sport and some programs 

are reporting an almost 60 percent 

retention rate. 

Obviously, living in the desert, 

hockey is not always the fi rst 

choice for many athletes. Sometimes 

the challenge is just getting 

the word out. 

and it’s their obligation 

to their teammates 

to overachieve in their 

asset categories so their 

teammates can emulate 

them - and they will. If a 

player with lesser skills 

is great in the locker 

room, then they should 

excel and overachieve in 

the locker room. 

Life is built around 

the relationships you 

form with “real people.” 

They are the ones who 

care about others while 

earning their way to the 

next level. If you are 

real, people will seek you 

out. ❂ 

Chuck Grillo is an amateur 

scout for the Pittsburgh 

Penguins. 

AZR: Talk about the AAHA’s relationships 

with the state’s professional 

teams. 

RVF: I think that all of the professional 

teams are doing a fi ne job 

promoting hockey within the state. 

There will always be a few who 

think they can do more, but you 

can’t forget that they’re a business 

and without the support of the 

fans, no one will be successful. 

The Coyotes are working with 

the AAHA this year sponsoring an 

exciting jersey display of all teams 

in the state and both the Roadrunners 

and the Sundogs are also very 

active with the youth programs 

and community exposure, which is 

encouraging. 

AZR: What are your thoughts on 

the situation in Tucson? 

RVF: It’s very unfortunate and 

Interview continued / Page 24

24 

Interview from Page 22 

will have a lasting impact for 

some time. It’s my understanding 

that several of those players have 

joined Valley programs and attempts 

are being made to continue 

with the program using the 

Tucson Convention Center. 

It’s my goal that we, as a board, 

learn from it and do our best to 

assist in building a new program 

and ensure that it doesn’t happen 

again. 

I’ve also been concerned with 

the declining registration numbers 

in Flagstaff because they have a 

great facility and a growing population 

base. 

It should be a priority of the 

AAHA to reach out and do whatever 

is possible 

to help them; we do not want to see 

another facility close. 

CHALK TALK: 

Many coaches like 

to debate on what 

type of practice best 

suits a hockey player’s 

development. 

Some want to have 

ice sessions that are 

solely based on basic 

skill work and skating, 

while others will argue 

that small area games 

are the key to rapid improvement. 

I think it’s nice to 

have a nice mix of both, 

but I feel there’s something 

even more critical 

to player’s development. 

Most of us fail to recognize 

that the biggest 

determining factor in 

progress in any athlete 

may be what goes on 

in their heads out on 

the ice. I’m convinced a 

AZR: What’s your assessment of 

the talent level across the state? 

RVF: I’ve seen a tremendous increase 

in the upper levels of skill 

development over the past few 

years and a large part of that can 

be attributed to the strong Coaches 

Education Program that we are 

lucky to have here thanks to Jim 

Rogers and Larry Gibson, who have 

done a fantastic job. 

We’ve recently had a couple 

of teams reach the fi nals of the 

national championships and even 

had a bantam team win a national 

championship (the VOSHA Mustangs 

in 2005). Not bad for a bunch 

of desert dwellers. Another 

judge is the number of players 

- both male and female - who have 

progressed to the national camps. 

AZR: It appears that the different 

associations are working closer 

together for the betterment of the 

Fun a key element to development 

young athlete 

needs to want 

to get better 

and needs to be 

willing to make 

the commitment 

necessary for 

progress. 

It’s human 

nature to participate 

more 

passionately in activities 

that you have fun doing. 

I’m sometimes surprised 

during practices at the 

rink the lack of emotion 

some players exhibit and 

the absence of noise and 

smiles out on the ice. We 

need to make sure these 

kids are having fun and 

enjoying the work in trying 

to get better. 

The lack of ice available 

for non-structured 

De Angelis 

“shinny” games 

and open ice 

may play role 

into this equation.Sometimes 

players 

just need to get 

out on the ice 

and improvise. 

It doesn’t 

matter how 

good the coach is or 

how great his drills are. 

Hockey players need to 

be mentally challenged 

and properly motivated 

in order to reach their 

potential. 

Many experts say 

athletic performance is 

90 percent mental and 

10 percent physical - and 

hockey is no exception. 

I’m convinced that positive 

emotional and men- 

game. 

RVF: Yes, we have come a long 

way on that front during the past 

few years. All of the associations 

are doing a much better job of participating 

and the results are clear. 

Jon Brooks, the president of the 

AAHA, should also be given a lot of 

credit for seeing us through those 

diffi cult times. The future does 

look bright, but there is still work 

to be done. 

AZR: Long-term, what’s most important 

to you in terms of growing 

the game? 

RVF: A lot of people talk about 

growth which obviously is a good 

thing in the long run, but I think it 

needs to be controlled growth. It’s 

also important that our coaches 

continue to develop and that the 

various programs keep the focus on 

skill development at a reasonable 

cost for all. ❂ 

tal fi tness of a player can 

trigger rapid development 

in their skill base. 

In the end, players 

having fun and enjoying 

their hockey experience 

will develop quicker 

than others who loath 

having to go to practice. 

Let’s make sure that 

the pure enjoyment of 

playing the game still 

remains the No. 1 priority. 

The challenge for us 

coaches is to make sure 

it happens on a daily 

basis. ❂ 

Mike De Angelis is 

CAHA’s director of youth 

hockey and the head 

coach at Arizona State 

University

Avondale’s Beattie continues to blossom 

By Matt Mackinder 

Kyle Beattie was part of the 

inaugural P.F. Chang’s Midget 

Minor AAA team last season and 

turned some heads not only in Arizona, 

but in Colorado Springs. 

Beattie, a 16-year-old Avondale 

native, earned a spot as one of a 

dozen forwards on the 2007 United 

States Under-17 Select Team 

that fi nished second at the 

2007 Under-17 Five Nations 

Tournament to host Czech 

Republic last month. 

Team members were 

chosen from the 2007 USA 

Hockey Select 16 Player Development 

Camp, which was 

held June 23-29 at the ESL 

Sports Centre in Rochester, 

N.Y., and featured many of 

America’s best hockey players 

born in 1991. Beattie was the 

lone Arizonan. 

“It was a lot of fun,” said 

the 6-foot, 155-pound Beattie 

who played on a line with 

Steve Whitney and Ryan 

Walters and tallied fi ve 

assists over the four games. 

“It was nice to be in a different 

country and see different 

people and experience a 

different culture. I thought I 

played well in Rochester and 

a lot of that was because of 

my linemates.” 

Last year, Beattie progressed 

rapidly for the Midget 

Minors and this season will move 

up to the Midget Major squad with 

P.F. Chang’s. Jim Johnson, his 

coach last year who will also move 

up to coach the Under-18 Majors, 

said Beattie blossomed from the 

beginning of the year straight to 

the end. 

“Kyle is one of those kids that 

is not only being recognized for his 

on-ice talents, but for his demeanor 

off the ice,” said Johnson. “He’s a 

very level-headed kid and is very 

even keel. A lot of schools are after 

him and I think if he continues to 

develop and get stronger and stay 

focused, he should have his choice 

of schools. 

“His biggest asset is his speed 

and he loves to play the game at a 

Kyle Beattie skated for DYHA before joining the P.F. 

Chang’s Midget program. 

high speed. Once he gets stronger 

and bigger, a lot more will start to 

happen for Kyle.” 

Though he was drafted by the 

major junior Western Hockey 

League’s Prince George Cougars in 

the 12th round of the 2006 WHL 

Bantam Draft, Beattie wants a college 

scholarship and, like Johnson 

thinks, knows it is well within his 

reach. 

“Since I’ve been playing hockey, 

all I’ve thought about is going D-I,” 

Beattie said. “There are a couple 

schools I’m looking into, but right 

now, I just want to wait it out and 

see what happens.” 

The fact an Arizona kid is being 

considered for college hockey is another 

testament to where the level 

of hockey has come in a short time. 

While it may not be on par 

talent-wise with the Minnesotas, 

Bostons and Detroits 

of the country, some feel it 

actually is. 

“Slowly, but surely, the 

talent is getting there,” said 

Beattie. “It’s improving a lot 

each year.” 

“Arizona hockey is most 

defi nitely on the map,” added 

Johnson. “There is some 

top-level hockey here that is 

as good, if not better, than 

the hockey in places like 

Minnesota and Detroit. With 

Kyle, I’ve always said that if 

you’re a good enough player, 

you will be seen and they 

will fi nd you. It doesn’t matter 

where you play, but how 

good of a player you are. 

“Kyle is the perfect example 

of that.” 

Beattie said that with 

each new year comes new 

challenges and new expectations. 

This season should be a 

telling season as to how many 

levels he can ascend. 

“I know I need to add some 

size to go with my speed and once 

I do that and put my skills with 

my speed, I think I’ll be a better 

player,” noted Beattie. “I think we 

have a good team and our goal is 

obviously to get to nationals. As an 

individual, all I want to do is go out 

there and do what I can to help my 

team win.” ❂ 

Advertise in Arizona Rubber Magazine 

Call (612) 929-2171 or e-mail brian@goodsportmedia.com for details. 

25

By Alex Dodt 

State Wars III in Chicago was 

by far the most successful State 

Wars tournament so far for Arizona 

teams. 

After winning three medals in 

2005 and four medals in 2006, Arizona 

squads equaled that combined total 

with seven medals in all in 2007. 

Two teams, the 1995 A team and the 

Women’s AAA team, won their divisions 

after only 

one Arizona team 

won a State Wars 

championship in 

all of the fi rst two 

years. 

“It was a great 

feeling,” said 

Arizona Women’s 

coach Javier 

Zuniga. “You 

could see the 

look on the girls 

faces how much it 

meant to them to 

win it all.” 

The women’s 

team surprised 

many with how 

successful they 

were in Chicago. 

With a strong 

club assembled of 

great players from 

all parts of the state, Team Arizona 

went undefeated in round robin. The 

only blemish on their record was a 4- 

4 tie against Michigan. They made up 

for it in the playoffs, though, as Team 

America selection Allie Era scored 

two goals for a 3-2 semifi nal win over 

Michigan. 

“Allie was big that game for us,” 

Zuniga said. “The biggest thing was 

the girls all kept their composure and 

stayed in it like they knew they were 

going to win.” 

In the fi nal, Courtney Render 

scored late in the fi rst period on an 

assist from Rebekah Zuniga to put 

Arizona in the lead. Colorado tied 

26 

Inline Hockey 

AZ takes home 7 medals at State Wars 

it up with fi ve minutes left, but the 

score didn’t stay tied for long. With 

4:30 left in the game, Render scored 

her second goal of the game, this 

time assisted by Era, to make it 2-1. 

Goaltender Chelsea Wilkinson shut 

down Colorado the rest of the way to 

fi nish with nine saves on 10 shots as 

Arizona clinched the AAA championship. 

“The girls gelled together well for 

not having played together before,” 

Arizona’s women’s squad won the AAA championship at State Wars III, marking only the 

second AAA State Wars title in Arizona history. 

Zuniga said. “They played as a team 

and deserved it.” 

The 1995 Selects team had a great 

run of their own in the 1995 A division 

in Chicago. A balanced attack in 

the quarterfi nal resulted in a 5-3 win 

over Wisconsin and a great defensive 

effort earned the team a 2-1 victory 

against Georgia in the semifi nal. In 

the championship game, Tanner 

Tuohy scored a pair of clutch goals, 

both assisted by Megan Amimoto, 

to lift Arizona to a 4-2 victory over 

Pennsylvania. 

“The 95’s were a great young 

group,” state director Dan Maxwell 

said. “They were fun to watch.” 

Three Arizona teams - 1997 Selects, 

Junior and Senior teams - all 

won silver medals in the AA divisions. 

Ben Jackson, of Yuma, led 

the 1997 team to an exciting overtime 

win in the semifi nal before they lost 

in the fi nal against Texas. 

“Ben’s a great young player,” Maxwell 

said. “He knows how to put the 

puck in the net.” 

The Junior and Senior Arizona 

teams had similar rosters and similar 

endings. Led by 

the scoring of 

Duane Jones 

and Tyler Koressel 

and the 

goaltending of 

Cody O’Reilly, 

the Junior team 

pulled of an overtime 

upset in the 

semifi nal against 

Team Missouri. 

They fell short in 

the fi nal though, 

losing to Connecticut. 

The Arizona 

Senior team, with 

several players 

from the Junior 

team, snuck out 

of the semifi nal 

with a 5-4 win over 

Illinois, but they 

too fell short in the fi nal, losing 3-0 to 

New Jersey. 

“We defi nitely exceeded our 

expectations by winning two medals,” 

Jones said. “We surprised some 

teams and helped put on Arizona on 

the map.” 

The fi nal two Arizona teams to 

medal, the 1992 and 1991 select 

teams, both won bronze medals. 

One of Arizona’s most recognizable 

teams at State Wars, the 1990 

Selects, fell short of making the semifi 

nals for the third consecutive year 

when they lost 3-2 in the quarterfi nal 

to the eventual champions, Team 

Illinois. ❂

By Alex Dodt 

The 2007 Pacifi c Cup Finals in 

Anaheim, Calif., had three different 

Arizona travel programs win a 

championship, while two more teams 

earned a second-place fi nish. 

Tour Outcasts ‘92 made history by 

becoming the fi rst-ever Arizona team 

to win a Pacifi c Cup AAA 

championship. 

Led by a hat trick from 

Ryan Davis, the Outcasts 

came back from a 5-2 

defi cit with four minutes 

remaining in regulation 

to force overtime in the 

semifi nal against Mission 

Mulisha. 

In the extra period, 

Nick Baszo put in the 

game-winner, earning the 

Outcasts a birth in the 

fi nal against AKS Mission’92. 

“I’ve seen some dramatic 

comebacks before 

but nothing like that,” 

Outcasts head coach Nick 

Boyarsky said. “Once 

these boys made the 

decision not to lose they 

became a team on a mission.” 

The championship 

game was a chess match 

from start to fi nish, with 

the Outcasts taking a 1-0 

lead before AKS tied the 

game with one minute 

remaining. In overtime, 

Mike Rivera made a 

fancy move around an AKS defenseman, 

head-faked the goaltender, and 

slid the puck home to clinch the title 

for his team. 

“It was extremely satisfying to 

fi nally win a AAA cup but to see a 

team earn it the way this group did 

was extra special,” Boyarsky said. 

“They had that never give up attitude 

all year long and deserved to be the 

fi rst team to bring a cup home.” 

Inline Hockey 

State wins 3 championships at Pacifi c Cup 

The Mission Arizona Stars had 

one of the most dominant performances 

of the tournament in the 

Mite AA division. Led by the goaltending 

of Anthony Ciurro and an 

overwhelming offensive attack from a 

deep roster, the Stars rolled over the 

Las Vegas Raptors by a 7-1 score to 

clinch the Mite AA Select title. 

Tour Outcasts ‘92 celebrate their semifi nal overtime win over Mission 

Mulisha at Pacifi c Cup Finals. 

“We were very dominant and 

played very good team oriented 

hockey,” said Mission Arizona coach 

Dan Maxwell. “They proved why 

they could have competed in the AA 

Elite division.” 

Mission Arizona’s ‘91 team also 

made a championship game appearance 

at the Pacifi c Cup Finals. In 

the semifi nal, Ryne Rezac scored 

a clutch goal in the fi nal minutes to 

knock off the top seeded Devil Dogs 

and move his team onto the championship. 

In the fi nal, the Stars went 

back and forth with the HB Vipers 

but fell short in the fi nal minutes, 

taking home a silver medal after the 

6-4 loss. 

“The ‘91 team plays a really defensive-oriented 

game,” Maxwell said. “I 

was really happy with this 

group. They are all unselfish 

players and deserved 

to win.” 

Team Excalibur ‘91 

was its program’s only 

team to reach a championship 

game, made the 

most of their fi nal round 

appearance. The team was 

dominant in round robin 

and knocked off Team 

Allegiance 6-3 in the 

semifi nal, but was pushed 

to the brink by the RBK 

Bulldogs Black squad. 

Excalibur ended up 

pulling out the victory 

in overtime, however, 

winning the Bantam AA 

Select championship, 3-2. 

“This was the third 

year in a row that the ‘91s 

have won Pacifi c Cup,” 

said program director 

Dave Marmorstein. 

“They played great team 

hockey and deserved to 

win it.” 

In the Squirt AA Select 

division, the Arizona Phlyers 

were the fi nal local 

team to bring home hardware 

from Anaheim. The Phlyers 

knocked off a strong RBK Bulldogs 

team and move on to the fi nal. The 

Western Capitals ended up being too 

much to handle for the Phlyers, who 

fell 6-2 to fi nish second. 

“We had a tough tournament,” 

Phlyers coach Tom Tuohy said. 

“The kids played well to get past that 

semifi nal but we just didn’t have the 

energy to win in the fi nal.” ❂ 

27

28 

THE HOCKEY MOM: 

A summer of hardwood heaven? 

With summer upon 

us, a break from the 

ice was a good idea. We 

agreed that a trip to the 

old hardwood would be 

a great way to have fun, 

make new friends, and 

stay in shape. 

One would think 

growing up in the heart 

of the ACC, hoops would 

have long ago entered 

into our realm of youth 

sports activities. ‘Round 

those parts you had no 

choice but to declare 

yourself a Tar Heel, Blue 

Devil or Pack fan. I was 

rebellious and joined the 

ranks of “piracy” at ECU. 

But folks, this recreation 

youth basketball 

thing was a whole new 

world of enlightenment. 

You arrive fi ve min- 

utes before 

game time, your 

kid dribbles, 

shoots, and runs 

for less than 60 

minutes. He or 

she gives the 

“good game” 

hand shake and 

you and your 

player are D-O-N-E done! 

Sounds like heaven, eh? 

Having dedicated 

much of our extra-curricular 

life to hockey over 

the past few years, it has 

become second nature to 

leave the house and get 

to the rink 30 - 45 minutes 

ahead of practice or 

a game. Then, of course, 

comes the dreaded “whatthe-heck-could-he-be-doing-in-that 

locker room” 

post icetime wait. 

Wilson 

So are we 

crazy for doing 

this hockey 

thing? Is it time 

to jump on the 

“done in 60 

minutes or less 

bandwagon?” 

Our experience 

was that 

the time commitment 

was much less, and 

alright, the fee was less 

expensive, but here’s the 

point. I, unfortunately, 

can’t say I held one 

meaningful conversation 

with any parent. I 

really wasn’t even chatty 

- shocking news for those 

who know me. 

Is the sometimes additional 

time commitment 

and cost of hockey worth 

it? You’ll get an unequiv- 

ocal YES from this Mom. 

The value of the relationships 

and great times our 

family has experienced 

with hockey in our lives 

is incomparable. 

I realize comparing 

the two may not be fair. 

No question; basketball 

is a great sport and my 

son wants to play again. 

And hockey defi nitely 

translated well to the 

court as my son’s coach 

called him “highly effective” 

in the defensive 

mode - minus the checking, 

of course. ❂ 

Julie Wilson is a local 

freelance designer and 

writer whose son plays for 

the PeeWee 96 Jr. Coyotes. 

She can be contacted 

at jjcjwilson@aol.com.

Arizona Girls Youth Hockey Association 

Girls hit Flagstaff for camp 

By Trevor Askeland 

Keeping with tradition, the Arizona 

Girls Youth Hockey Association’s 

AZ Selects traveled to Flagstaff for their 

fourth annual training camp late last 

month. 

“The camp is designed to not only take advantage 

of the less expensive ice time offered at the Jay 

Lively Activity Center and to get a brief reprieve 

from the sweltering temperatures in the Valley, but 

is also serves as a real good bonding experience for 

the players,” said AGYHA director Rick Van Fleet. 

The teams had four on-ice skills sessions for two 

days, fi nishing up with an inter-squad scrimmage. 

The girls are assigned roommates with one parent 

chaperone over the weekend stay. 

“Kim dragged herself to school Monday, but had 

an absolute blast,” said Susan Bauer, mother of 

U16 player Kim Bauer. 

This year, Coyotes associate coach Ulf Samuelsson 

joined head coaches Van Fleet and Brian 

Burke on the ice. Samuelsson’s 11-year-old daughter, 

Victoria, is on the U12 team. 

“The girls worked really hard,” said Samuelsson. 

“They all got a good jump on conditioning and had 

an excellent time.” ❂ 

AGYHA to host RMD’s best 

The Arizona Girls Youth Hockey Association was 

granted the bid to host this season’s Girls/Women’s 

Rocky Mountain District Championships. 

The tournament will run from March 6-9 at the 

Alltel Ice Den with overflow games at the Arcadia 

Ice Rink. 

The event will feature the Girls Tier U12-U19 

teams from the entire Rocky Mountain District, as 

well as Women’s B and C teams. 

The champion at each level will advance to 

represent the Rocky Mountain District in the USA 

Hockey National Championships which will be held 

in West Chester, Pa., in April. 

The AGYHA last hosted a qualifier in 2005 and 

also hosts its annual President’s Day Girls Invitational 

tournament in February at the Ice Den. 

“That event has grown to be one of the premier 

girls events on the West Coast, so we have gained 

a great deal of experience putting on these types 

of tournaments,” said AGYHA director Rick Van 

Fleet. “Our volunteer base has grown and that really 

helps.” 

This year, VOSHA will also provide volunteer 

assistance for the RMD event. ❂ 

Jonah Daniels, 

a member of 

the CAHA Pee- 

Wee A ‘96 Jr. 

Coyotes, relaxes 

with the 

summer issue 

of Arizona 

Rubber Magazine 

before 

jumping feet 

fi rst into a 

new hockey season. He wins a $20 

iTunes gift card! 

Where can you take 

Arizona Rubber? 

Enter this month by sending a photo of 

you and this issue of Arizona Rubber to 

editor@arizonarubber.com. 

Mission Arizona 

Mission builds on fi rst-year promise 

By Brian McDonough 

With its fi rst season a success, Mission 

Arizona Ice hoping for even bigger 

and better things on the ice this year. 

“We’re looking forward to an even more exciting 

season,” said coach Jeremy Goltz. 

The program’s inaugural campaign was a hit, with 

one of its teams advancing to the North American 

Sliver Stick fi nals in Canada and another competing in 

the USA Hockey Rocky Mountain District Regionals. 

“We had an amazing 95 percent of our players return 

from last year and have added some very talented 

newcomers, too,” said Goltz. 

The program has grown from three to fi ve teams 

this year, and two players - Mychal Salvione and 

Alex Shipley - represented Mission in the USHL Futures 

Camp over the summer. 

“We’re really proud of those two guys,” said Goltz. 

Mission AZ teams already have travel plans lined 

up to Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and Las Vegas this 

season. 

“We’re looking forward to working with all the associations 

in the area for an exciting season and great 

competition,” said Goltz. ❂ 

29

By Bill Casey 

Vincent Perez-Mazzolla 

believes the state of Arizona is 

underachieving when it comes to 

maximizing the development of its 

young lacrosse enthusiasts. 

“With the ability to play this 

game year round, we should be producing 

many more college-bound 

players than we currently are,” 

said Perez-Mazzolla, author of “The 

Lacrosse Training Bible.” 

Perez-Mazzolla isn’t alone in 

his sentiments, but he took pen to 

paper in an effort to help change 

the state’s ways. 

Along with Matt Brown, a professional 

lacrosse player with the 

Arizona Sting and Denver Outlaws, 

Mazzola wrote a guidebook for 

players, coaches and enthusiasts 

with historical information, training 

methods and techniques, as 

well as skill training for burgeoning 

and seasoned athletes. 

“The Lacrosse Training Bible” 

is a comprehensive guidebook for 

serious lacrosse players; it provides 

everything athletes need to know 

about the game, how it’s played and 

what players can do to optimize 

their performance and recovery 

time while competing. 

“This book is a great way for 

players to get started, sharpen 

their current skills and learn new 

ones,” said Brown, the recently 

appointed assistant men’s lacrosse 

coach at the University of Denver. 

“Not only does this book offer drills 

and skills, but it gives the history of 

the game and is great for parents, 

players and coaches. I enjoyed 

making contributions to what I 

think is the overall best lacrosse 

book on the market.” 

Dedicated to the development of 

30 

Lacrosse 

Local author pens lacrosse ‘Bible’ 

individual players, Perez-Mazzola 

breaks the training process down to 

three essential categories: athletic 

skills, individual skills and team 

concepts. 

“With guidance, challenging 

yourself during training can im- 


author Vincent Perez-Mazzolla 

prove your motivation on the 

fi eld, get you in top shape and 

show you how to have fun in 

the process,” said the author. 

The detailed chapters 

include: a complete look at the 

beginnings of lacrosse and how it 

evolved to be the sport it is today; 

comprehensive athletic training, 

from strength training to endurance 

to fl exibility; unique drills to 

improve catching, throwing, dodging, 

ground balls and defense skills; 

specially-designed programs for 

both men and women; and vital 

nutrition and hydration information 

to keep you on the fi eld longer 

and stronger. 

The author himself worked hard 

to play the game and he ultimately 

excelling in the sport. 

“As a former player who was 

not, at the time, a particularly gifted 

athlete, I was forced to develop 

my stick skills to a high level in 

order to play,” said Perez-Mazzola. 

“It was this personal dedication to 

mastering the basics that allowed a 

slow, overweight kid to play three 

years of varsity lacrosse and score a 

ton of goals for my team. 

“It was the mastery of these basics 

that allowed me to play further 

on the GWU club team as well as 

keep up with East Coast teams and 

even world players on the Monterey 

and UCLA club teams.” 

Mazolla is now in his fi fth year 

as a coach in the Arizona Youth 

Lacrosse Leagues. He has coached 

for developmental leagues, at Notre 

Dame Prep and for 

the last two years 

at Phoenix Country 

Day School, where 

he is currently the 

head varsity coach. 

It’s the author’s 

experiences that 

lead to his opinion 

that Arizona 

should be producing 

more collegebound 

athletes. 

“The reason for this is not because 

we don’t have great coaches, 

but the rush many players make 

into playing the game before 

they’ve the mastered the fundamental 

skills,” said Vince. “The 

book gives players, coaches and 

parents a guide to developing good 

basics while providing cutting-edge 

training in strength and conditioning 

for the lacrosse athlete.” 


is published by Hatherleigh Press 

and available at local book stores, 

Amazon.com and at LacrosseTrainingBible.com. 

❂

By Brian McDonough 

Fresh off of its 

second West 

Division 

championship 

in the 

last three en 

route to playing 

host to the National Lacrosse 

League championship game, the 

Arizona Sting is proud to stamp the 

2007 season an unequivocal 

success. 

“Last season was 

amazing,” said Dustin 

Payne, the team’s 

director of marketing. 

But it can be even 

better, and it’s Payne’s 

plan to make it so. 

“There’s one constant 

in the Phoenix 

market: Fans like 

winning,” he said. “It’s 

a tremendous lift to be 

able to sell your team 

as the defending West 

Division champions. 

I think the success 

of the team last year 

helped establish a 

larger fan base and it’s 

our job to ride the mo- 

mentum into the 2008 

season.” 

And bolstering 

attendance is one of Payne’s top 

priorities. Arizona averaged just 

over 6,000 fans per game in 2007, 

ranked 11th in the 13-team NLL. 

“I want to see the upper concourse 

open at every game in 2008,” 

he said. “We provide Valley sports 

fans with one of the most exciting, 

action-packed and affordable 

options in entertainment and I 

know the team will have success 

on the fl oor, but it’s time that we 

have similar success at the box 

offi ce and I think that coming off a 

memorable 2007 season, the sky’s 

the limit.” 

Lacrosse 

Sting riding winning momentum 

Connecting with the kids will 

play a big role in the team’s ticket 

push next season. 

“We need to do a better job raising 

the awareness of our product 

on a grassroots level with youth 

lacrosse,” said Payne. “There are 

thousands of kids playing lacrosse 

in Arizona and we need to capitalize 

on that market.” 

Payne was particularly happy 

with the success of the team’s 

Tyler Gormley gets behind his Sting during last season’s West Division 

championship game. 

Opening Night Tailgate Party and 

plans to build on it next season. He 

was also pleased with the Fan of 

the Week presented by Your Travel 

Center contest in which Kim Dennis 

of Phoenix won a road trip with 

the team to Minnesota. Payne was 

also proud of the relationships the 

Sting was able to establish with 

its local neighbors in the business 

community, namely Gordon Biersch 

and Westgate, which helped push 

the team’s awareness during the 

postseason. 

“I really believe that once a fan 

experiences a Sting game, they 

will want to come back. But in our 

market, we need to offer just a little 

bit more than what fans can get 

elsewhere,” said Payne. 

On the fl oor, the team saw the 

emergence of Dan Dawson as 

a true NLL superstar and MVP 

candidate, while goaltender Rob 

Blasdell established himself as 

a go-to guy in the net. Off it, the 

Sting maintained a strong presence 

in the community which continues 

throughout the summer 

and fall months. 

This summer, the 

Sting staff attended the 

Hubbard Sports Camps 

and introduced thousands 

of kids to the sport 

of lacrosse with multiple 

clinics. The team is also 

exploring the option of 

adding a mascot which 

will help promote the 

Sting during the off-season. 

“Because our players 

live out of state, the offseason 

involves a heavy 

amount of grassroots 

programs and planning,” 

said Payne. “The success 

of this sport in Arizona is 

dependent on kids adopting 

the sport as a form of 

recreation and competition.” 

Leading up to the season, the 

team also plans promotional nights, 

sets ticket prices, tweaks and 

initiates programs and lays out a 

general game plan and goals for 

the upcoming season. The Sting 

is also in the process of creating a 

new-and-improved Web site which 

Payne says will serve as a more 

effective resource for the team’s fan 

base. 

“I think the biggest obstacle is 

getting the local news media to give 

us recognition, but as the fan base 

rises, so will the media coverage,” 

said Payne. ❂ 

31 

Photo / Arizona Sting

By Richard Egan 

Several members of the Arizona 

Sting took part in the 2007 

World Indoor Lacrosse Championships 

held in Halifax, Nova Scotia 

back in May. Team Canada 

defeated the Iroquois National 

team, 15-14, in a hotly contested 

championship game to win the 

gold medal. 

Dan Dawson, Arizona’s leading 

scorer last season, was joined 

on Team Canada by Sting teammates 

Scott Self, Peter Lough 

and Bruce Murray. Sting coach- 

GM Bob Hamley served as an 

Assistant Coach for the Canadian 

team. 

“That was a great week of 

lacrosse,” said Hamley. “We met 

players from all over the world, and 

I enjoyed seeing their passion fro 

indoor lacrosse.” 

32 

Sting players help Canada to championship 

Grimes Not Gone For Good 

Sting defenseman Mike Grimes 

COACHES CORNER: 

If we could boil down 

the essence of lacrosse, 

it would center 

on the act of keeping 

the offensive player in 

front of you, constantly 

checking your opponent 

with poke/slap and lifts 

and altering the shot by 

reducing his angle to the 

goal. 

Sounds easy, right? 

Problem is playing effective 

defense is probably 

the most diffi cult aspect 

of lacrosse to master. 

The main reason for 

this is opposing players 

are always working 

to break defensive 

positioning with picks, 

Lacrosse 

became a member of the NLL’s newest 

team earlier this summer - for 

three days. The yet-to-be-named 

Boston franchise selected Grimes in 

Dan Dawson led the Sting in scoring last season. 

the expansion draft on July 31, as 

they were allowed to take one player 

from each of the league’s 13 returning 

clubs. Three days later, however, 

he was traded back to Arizona 

in exchange for forwards Andrew 

Lazore and Mark Tinning. 

changing speed, dodging 

and a variety 

of excellent set 

plays. 

To counteract 

the 

offense, there 

are a number 

of ways to play 

defense in 

lacrosse: zone, 

slide, early 

slide, late 

slide or simply man-toman. 

Zone defenses with 

slides are one of the 

main strategies used in 

fi eld and box lacrosse. 

Simply put, the players 

have set areas they are 

responsible to protect. 

As the ball 

moves to a 

particular 

zone the defense 

slides to 

double-team 

the threat. 

Man-toman, 

the 

defender must 

be aggressive 

with pokes 

and other checks, yet 

leave room between 

themselves and their opponent 

when outside the 

shooting lane. 

Once inside the lane 

however, the defender 

must move in tight with 

“Mike is one of the best young defenders 

in our league,” said Hamley 

upon re-acquiring Grimes. 

The Peterborough, Ontario, native 

had one goal, three assists, 

38 loose balls, and 13 penalty 

minutes in 11 games last year in 

his rookie season. 

Best of the Best 

Inside Lacrosse Magazine 

issued the results of its annual 

NLL Players Survey following 

the 2007 season, with two Sting 

players earning honorable mention 

status in the Best Player and 

Best Captain categories. 

As voted on by the players, 

Dawson was named the league’s 

fourth best overall player behind 

2007 MVP John Grant, all-time 

leading scorer John Tavares and 

loose ball king Jim Veltman. 

Lough fi nished third in voting 

for the “Captain’s Award,” behind 

Veltman and Calgary’s Tracey 

Kelusky. ❂ 

Don’t underestimate solid defense 

Casey 

legal crosschecks, hard 

pushes and strong stick 

checks. If the opponent 

gets a shot off, make 

sure your stick is in the 

air, preferably altering 

the shot and creating 

a turnover. Also, it’s 

especially important to 

be aware of rebounds 

to reduce the amount of 

second opportunities. 

Overall, it may not 

be the glory job, but 

very few teams win 

without a solid, hardworking 

defense. ❂ 

Reach Bill Casey at bcasey@ 

glendalelacrosseleague.com

Local talent from Page 8 

Melissa Zehrbach was the only 

Arizona player to compete in 

the Women’s Platinum division at 

the 2007 NARCh Finals. Zehrbach 

played for the CanAm Selects, who 

fi nished fourth in the division, missing 

out on a medal in a 3-0 loss in 

the bronze-medal game. 

“It was fun but nerve-racking to 

play Platinum at Finals,” Zehrbach 

said. “We had a good tournament 

though considering a lot of the team 

were mostly ice players.” 

Two more former Tour Outcasts 

Inline Hockey 

Heartbreakers roll to gold at Jr. Olympics 

By Alex Dodt 

The AAU Jr. Olympics returned to 

Detroit over the summer and the 

Arizona Heartbreakers walked away 

with the state’s only championship, 

while Team Excalibur brought home 

three bronze medals. 

The Heartbreakers 12-and-Under 

team entered as the sixth seed in the 

Tier II bracket of the AA division. 

After starting their run with a 6-3 

victory over the Tour Bandits in 

the quarterfi nal, the Heartbreakers 

knocked off top seed Great 

Britain, 7-4, to set up a meeting 

with second-seeded Storm Surge. 

“We had a tough draw and it 

was even tougher because we only 

had fi ve skaters,” Heartbreakers 

coach Javier Zuniga said. 

Tough draw or not, the Heart- 

rbreakers took care of Storm 

Surge, 8-5, in the championship 

round. 

“Everyone on the team contributed 

because they had to with so 

few skaters,” Zuniga said. “It was 

awesome.” 

Three Excalibur teams win 

bronze. 

While they did not bring home 

a championship from the 2007 Jr. 

Olympics, Team Excalibur had a 

strong showing collectively, with 

three teams fi nishing third place in 

their respective divisions. 

“Excalibur had a good showing at 

the Jr. Olympics this year,” Excalibur’s 

Dave Marmorstein said. “We 

didn’t win a division but all of our 

teams played well and brought home 

many medals.” 

Team Excalibur ‘94 earned the 

bronze medal in the 12-and-Under 

AAA division, making them the 

fourth Arizona team to medal at the 

The Arizona Heartbreakers celebrated an AAU 12-and- 

Under AA championship at Jr. Olympics. 

AAA level this summer. The’94s lost 

5-2 in the semifi nals to the Tour OC 

Blades ‘94, the top team on the West 

Coast. In the bronze-medal game, 

Excalibur cleaned up nicely and beat 

the Skatetown Swords, 8-0. 

“The ‘94s showed, in their fi rst 

year of playing at that level, that 

they can play with the best,” Marmorstein 

said. 

In the 16-and-Under AA division, 

Team Excalibur ‘01 fi nished their 

players, Tyler Marek and Long 

Duong, made a big impact in the 

Bantam division at Pacifi c Cup and 

NARCh Finals. 

At NARCh, Duong led New 

York’s Mission Snipers to a fi fthplace 

fi nish and made the prestigious 

NARCh All-Star team in the 

process. 

“The Snipers were a great team 

to play with,” Duong said. “It wasn’t 

a team of superstars. Everyone was 

unselfi sh and moved the puck around. 

I was proud of how well we did.” 

Marek played for the Western 

Capitals Gold, but his team suffered 

very successful year that started 

with an AIHA state championship 

and a Pacifi c Cup Bantam AA title. 

In Detroit, Excalibur earned the top 

seed going into the playoffs and got 

into the semifi nals by beating Tour 

Bandits, from 

Pennsylvania. Mission Fusion would 

end Excalibur’s run in the semifi nal, 

though. The ‘91s continued Excalibur’s 

dominance in the bronze 

medal games, blanking Team 

Advanced Care 3-0 to bring home 

some hardware. 

“This fi nished a great year 

for the ‘91s,” Marmorstein said. 

“They won Pacifi c Cup and then 

to win a medal again at the Jr. 

Olympics was great.” 

The always-successful Excalibur 

women’s team lost a close 

one in round robin play against 

the eventual champion Tour OC 

Blades and just barely missed 

earning a spot in the championship 

game by losing a goal differential tiebreaker. 

In the bronze-medal game, 

Excalibur matched up against local 

rivals, Rollerplex Panthers, and shut 

them out 3-0 to win Excalibur’s third 

bronze medal of the tournament. 

“The Excalibur women always 

do a great job representing the 

program,” Marmorstein said. “They 

came so close to the championship 

game, but they did well to bring 

home a medal.” ❂ 

a couple heartbreaking overtime 

losses at regionals and nationals. 

At Pacifi c Cup Finals, the 

Capitals lost 3-2 in overtime of the 

championship game against Mission 

Velocity. In the Bantam quarterfi nal 

at NARCh, Marek and the Capitals 

had one of the tournament’s most 

exciting games when they lost 2-1 

in double-overtime to the eventual 

champion Revision Black Ice ‘90. 

Marek said losing twice in overtime 

was a hard pill to swallow. 

“But we had a really tough draw 

and almost didn’t even make playoffs, 

so it wasn’t too bad,” he said. ❂ 

33

34 

480-473-5835 

coachmike@coyotesice.com 

coyotesice.com 

VOSHA Mustangs 

602-957-9966 

admin@vosha.com 

vosha.com 

480-598-9400 

hockey@phoenixpolarbears.com 

phoenixpolarbearshockey.com 

623-334-1200 

peoriaroadrunnershockey.com 

Jay Lively Ice Arena 

928-774-1051, ext. 102 

president@fyha.org 

fyha.org 

480-994-9119 

info@dyha.org 

dyha.org 

602-493-4667 

pjohnson@ozzieice.com 

ozzieice.com 

Arizona High School Hockey Asso. 

602-799-7447 

thunderonice@thunderonice.com 

thunderonice.com 

agyha.org 

missionarizonaice.org 

pfchangshockey.com 

www.azamateurhockey.org 

www.usahockey.com 

www.usahockeyregistration.com 

Check out all the great hockey in Arizona! 

Arizona Sundogs

WGiveaway_AR.indd 1 4/26/07 2:06:35 PM

Vol 3_No 1 Guts.indd - Rubber Magazine

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?