Desert Hockey Development

Dedicated to building youth hockey in Arizona

Arizona Coyotes

NHL Centennial Fan Arena Street Hockey

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The Coyotes staged a street hockey Jamboree this past Saturday (January 7) during the “Centennial Fan Arena” event at Tempe Marketplace this Saturday. The event attracted five teams of kids 10 and under. Other than the DHD team, most of the the tams were organized ice hockey teams, used to playing together.

Everybody had a blast! Somebody may have been keeping score, but we aren’t sure who. We don’t know who scored the most goals, but we saw a bunch of kids running around playing hockey and having a great time.

We also saw ZERO examples of poor sportsmanship, whining, or complaining. Everybody that participated really got into the spirit of the casual event and made it a big success.

Plus, every team had their picture taken with the Stanley Cup! How cool is THAT!!!

Answer: REALLY cool!

There was plenty of other action at the Fan Arena including a really nifty set of NHL memorabilia in a mini museum with all sorts of touch screens and multimedia presentations. There were two virtual reality Zombonis to race, Howler and the Paw Patrol ladies were there, too.

If this event comes around again some time, you should try to get out and see what it’s all about, it’s worthwhile.

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Coyotes Youth Hockey Night – Deals!

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Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town in just over 2 weeks on Friday December 23 at 7:00pm.

As you know, Auston is from Scottsdale and learned to play hockey here because he was a Coyotes fan. As you also probably know, Auston was drafted FIRST in the NHL draft, going to the Leafs.

There has been a buzz around hockey as soon as he was drafted and it has only grown after his start to the season. If you didn’t hear about or see Auston’s first NHl game…

HE SCORED FOUR GOALS!

From mites up to adult players, everyone has circled this date on the calendar and knowing that, the Arizona Coyotes are celebrating with some blowout offers for YOU!

Aside from simply offering up a discounted ticket that these families would be purchasing regardless, there are two main initiatives geared around this night:

  • Coyotes youth jersey giveaway for kids 12 and under who purchased from offer
  • post-game on-ice photo with Max Domi (without his diabetes alert dog Orion).
(AZ Central photo)

Other exciting initiatives included for this game include:

  • All information and ticket discount link: arizonacoyotes.com/YouthHockeyNight
  • Coyotes beanie giveaway provided by Fox Sports Arizona for first 10,000 fans
  • Discounted tickets up to 35% off or more in both the upper and lower level
  • Benchwarmers – 15 randomly selected players will watch warmups from Coyotes bench
  • 5 randomly selected players will join the Coyotes on the blue line during national anthem
  • Youth hockey mites-on-ice intermission game
  • “Top Dog of the Game” will be a local hockey leader

So, you’re in, right? CLICK HERE NOW

See you at the rink!

Coyotes AHL Team in Tucson

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It’s official and all the business matters are finished. The Coyotes AHL affiliate team will soon be taking up residence in Tucson at the Tucson Convention Center (TCC).

Name The Team

The name for the former Springfield Falcons is yet to be determined, so please join in the process and add your suggestion by clicking on the image below.

nameteam

Convention Center Upgrades

Tucson Convention Center
Tucson Convention Center

The Tucson Convention Center will receive renovations and upgrades including locker rooms for home and away teams, the purchase of a Zamboni ice resurfacer, and some new video equipment. The renovation process will begin immediately.

Click here for the Arizona Star story.

More Ice, More Ice Time

The University of Arizona, the Tucson Adult Hockey League, and the Wildcats Youth Hockey Association already share the TCC ice surface. Having the ice available for longer periods of time will help all three organizations expand their operations or, at least, improve their play.

There’s strong talk of another facility coming on-line soon. Having a permanent sheet of ice available to the public will have a tremendous effect on growing the game of hockey in the Tucson area. This has been a major stumbling block in the Tucson area, it’s difficult to build a youth hockey program without enough ice time for practices and games.

Community Advantages

Arizona-Coyotes-Foundation-500Having an AHL team affiliated with an NHL team that’s a couple hours away by car will mean benefits to the community as well as to the Coyotes.

The Arizona Coyotes Foundation is very active in the Valley and continues to support a wide variety of organizations, including DHD, that benefit the local community. The AHL team will be out in the Tucson community doing similar things, and having the NHL team so nearby will strengthen their ability to make a difference.

DHD South

DHD portable rink
Taking It On The Road

DHD is currently planning events in the Tucson area and we’d love to hear from Tucson people. Please contact us with any ideas for venues, what neighborhoods are most in need of some youth outreach programs, and anything else you want to discuss.

Our ultimate goal is to extend the reach of DHD with partners in the Tucson area to be, essentially, “DHD South”. Pooling resources and sharing knowledge will be a great way to keep programs flowing throughout the year to get more kids started with hockey through ball hockey events.

Shoot us an email or give us a call any time to talk about how we can work together to make this thing happen.

Ball Hockey With Louis Domingue

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Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue sponsored a Desert Hockey Development event at Bonsall Park in Glendale on Saturday, April 16. His idea was to provide breakfast and some really cool custom T-Shirts while playing some ball hockey with a bunch of kids.

Fifty boys and girls between two (almost three) to fourteen years old participated on a beautiful day in Arizona.

DJ and crew at ball hockey with Louis DomingueSome more of the Arizona Coyotes “A” team people also chipped in a LOT of effort and time to help ensure the event a success.

We started earlier in the day than usual so the kids could relax a little, get to know each other and munch on some light breakfast eats courtesy of Louuuuuuuuuu. The blueberry muffins were the biggest hit with the kids, for what it’s worth.

Between DHD volunteer coaches and the extra coaching power of a few of the Coyotes Hockey Development people, there was plenty of personal coaching attention for all the kids.

Louis made sure that he played with every single kid. He signed a custom T-Shirt for every single kid and spent some one on one time with every single kid. That means that Louis, despite having a brand new daughter (four days old!) at home, spent that much time with each child there. So, multiply that by FIFTY.

All of the board members and volunteers from Desert Hockey Development would like to express our humble thanks for the heartfelt effort and personal attention he graciously offered to our organization and our kids AND to the growth of hickey in Arizona.

You have a lot of permanent fans, Louis!

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Coyotes “Part of the Pack” Rink Partnership Program

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The Arizona Coyotes announced a new “Part of the Pack” rink partnership program today. The Coyotes have entered into formal agreements with ALL of the hockey rinks in the Valley.

While the Coyotes have always been staunch supporters of youth hockey in Arizona, this move represents an increase in that support in an effort to continue to grow the game of hockey in Arizona.

The team has already started this program with four visits from Coyotes players to hockey practices around the Valley. Now, the team will have more involvement with “learn to play” clinics and other events at the local rinks.

It’s an exciting time for youth hockey here in Arizona, we hope you’re aboard!

Click here for the Coyotes press release with more details.

Shane Doan gives advice to his younger self

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doanAll of us at DHD are big Shane Doan fans. If you don’t believe us, ask us when you have an hour or so to listen to the reasons why.

This video from Pat Shannahan who works for the Arizona Republic and AZ Central is a great example of why we think so much of the Arizona Coyotes Captain. You never doubt for a minute that Doaner means what he says and that he walks the walk.

Good advice from the Captain, right?

Even if you don’t play hockey (or another sport), the same lessons apply to everyday life. We’re all in this together, life is a team sport and we can’t do it alone.

Kid’s Day Off HOCKEY

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KDO_HowlerGoalieWe had a great time at the first “Kid’s Day Off and Ultimate Birthday Party” we attended on Saturday, August 15.

Throughout the day, we played some hockey with over 100 kids, most of whom had never touched a hockey stick before. A bunch of kids tried on the goalie gear and stopped some shots, we had some really little kids that were having a great time trying out their hockey skills.

The Kid’s Day Off and Ultimate Kid’s Birthday Party event (from PB&J Events and Productions) was at WestWorld in Scottsdale. Everything was FREE including:

  • Massages
  • Really cool balloon animals
  • Bounce houses
  • A golf course next door to DHD
  • Hockey (yes, that’s us)
  • Archery
  • Video game theatre
  • Obstacle course
  • Caricatures
  • Lots more and everything was FREE!

KDO_HowlerNetFrontIt was 115 degrees outside, but the WestWorld North Hall was breezy cool and pleasant inside.

The Arizona Coyotes were kind enough to send Howler and, from the Paw Patrol, Allison and Ashley. They were all, as usual, a big hit and a great addition to the event.

Special thanks to faithful DHD volunteers Gina and Ryleigh for helping us out all day, you ladies are the best!

We hope to see you at our next event, Ice skating fun (and fundraiser) at AZ Ice Peoria next Saturday, August 22 from 5 pm to 7 pm. We’d appreciate a $5 donation (including skate rental) for two hours of ice skating. Skating lessons from real, professional, skating instructors will be available at the same time. We’re grateful to to AZ Ice Peoria for offering us the opportunity to get to know more people, get some ice skating in, and maybe keep the lights on at DHD for future hockey endeavors.

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League Championship

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The Championship finals for the 2015 Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League were held Saturday, August 8.

Final Bracket
Final Bracket

Down To The Wire

It was an exciting finish, with the Gila River Monsters overcoming an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the last minute or so of regulation time.

Rather than go to the shootout, the Monsters played the OEL Diablos in the first 3 versus 3 hockey every played in Gila River Arena and managed to score the sudden death goal.

Free Hockey Gear

Every kid that played this summer played the final games and then went home with a brand new CCM street hockey stick curved right or left thanks to CCM Hockey.

All eight goalies got to KEEP their goalie gear, they were pretty happy with that extra surprise thanks to the Arizona Coyotes!

After the event, Papa Johns delivered maybe a million pizzas to Gila River Arena for all the kids and the adults they brought with them.

It was all FREE for every participant.

Can’t Say Thanks Enough

DHD can’t say thank you enough to the Coyotes, Fry’s, Mix1, Papa Johns, Gila River Arena, and CCM Hockey for making the five event series a complete success. Throughout the season, over one hundred kids got the chance to see what hockey is about, and it didn’t cost any of them a dime.

10489916_10207204478017372_6525316720349530829_nThanks, Connor Murphy, for joining us a while back during your time off! Thanks for playing with every team, signing everything pointed in your direction, talking hockey with adults who were supposed to leave you alone so you could interact with the kids, and hanging out until the event was over and everybody left. And, of course, you did it with a smile the entire time.

We were all welcomed into an real NHL arena during a time when the 100+ degree temperatures of an Arizona summer make it simply impossible for us to run outdoor clinics. The hockey boards magically reappeared after concerts in the arena for us to be able to play hockey. The Coyotes Hockey Development men and women put up and knocked down three rinks for five events, a LOT of work.

Obviously we can go on, but we’ll finish by thanking our volunteers for making our all volunteer “hockey thing” a success that we hope to keep growing.

Thanks, families for showing up and making our day(s) this summer. Take a run through the slide show below if you have time.

If you haven’t already, if you want to stay up to date on what is going on with DHD, please click here to join our mailing list.
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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League Results – Week 4

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League
Week 4 Results

We had a full schedule with 80 kids for yet another GREAT day at Gila River Arena! We even had a “no goal” scoring controversy this time, with no hope of getting on the phone to Toronto to check the replay.

The controversial game resulted in a change in the league leading team with the Doanasaurs taking the top spot over from the OEL Diablos.

The commissioner ruled “That’s hockey!”, so we’re moving on with no hard feelings.

Every kid that played (and even some of their smaller brothers and sisters) wen home afterwards with snacks courtesy Fry’s, Mix 1 drinks courtesy Mix 1, and nifty backpacks courtesy the Arizona Coyotes.

725ArenaOnce again the National Anthem was courtesy of the DHD official anthem singer Callie who sucked it up and managed to belt out the Anthem despite a freshly broken foot and crutches!

It’s coming down to the wire now, with the formerly unbeaten OEL Diablos taking a beating from the Doanasaurs in the last game of the day.

The final, championship, event is scheduled for August 8, it’s still a wide open competition.

July 25
Game 1
1 Doanasaurs (W) 2 BoedZillas (L) 1
2 OEL Diablos (W) 4 Domi-Nators (L) 1
3 SMurphs (T) 2 Gila River Monsters (T) 2
Game 2
1 OEL Diablos (L) 2 Howlers (W) 3
2 BoedZillas (W) 2 SMurphs (L) 0
3 Domi-Nators (W) 1 Desert Dogs (L) 0
Game 3
1 Doanasaurs (W) 2 SMurphs (L) 0
2 BoedZillas (W) 4 Gila River Monsters (L) 3
3 Desert Dogs (W) 2 Howlers (L) 1
Game 4
1 Gila River Monsters (W) 2 Desert Dogs (L) 0
2 Doanasaurs (W) 3 OEL Diablos (L) 2
3 Howlers (W) 4 Domi-Nators (L) 1
Team Standings W L T Chg
Doanasaurs (19) 9 2 1 +1
OEL Diablos (16) 7 3 2 -1
Gila River Monsters (13) 3 2 7 0
Howlers (12) 5 5 2 +2
Desert Dogs (11) 5 6 1 +3
Domi-Nators (10) 4 6 2 -2
SMurphs (9) 2 5 5 -2
BoedZillas (8) 2 6 4 0
* Scoring is two points for a win, 1 point for a tie, zero points for a loss.

 

 

Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League Results – Week 3

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League
Week 3 Results

Another GREAT day at Gila River Arena! We had lots of kids and managed to get some waiting list people into the action.

Super nifty water bottles were handed out to all the kids that played, and the National Anthem courtesy of the DHD official anthem singer Callie (yes, she IS famous enough now to ONLY use her first name) was particularly excellent.

It’s coming down to the wire now, with the formerly unbeaten OEL Diablos taking a beating from the Doanasaurs in the last game of the day.

With two events (July 25 and August 8) left on the schedule, it’s still a wide open competition.

July 11
Game 1
1 Doanasaurs (W) 4 BoedZillas (L) 0
2 OEL Diablos (W) 1 Domi-Nators (L) 0
3 SMurphs (T) 4 Gila River Monsters (T) 4
Game 2
1 OEL Diablos (T) 1 Howlers (T) 1
2 BoedZillas (T) 3 SMurphs (T) 3
3 Domi-Nators (W) 4 Desert Dogs (L) 1
Game 3
1 Doanasaurs (W) 4 SMurphs (L) 2
2 BoedZillas (T) 2 Gila River Monsters (T) 2
3 Desert Dogs (L) 1 Howlers (W) 2
Game 4
1 Gila River Monsters (T) 1 Desert Dogs (T) 1
2 Doanasaurs (W) 3 OEL Diablos (L) 1
3 Howlers (W) 4 Domi-Nators (L) 1
Team Standings W L T Chg
OEL Diablos 6 1 2 0
Doanasaurs 6 2 1 0
Gila River Monsters 2 1 6 +1
Domi-Nators 3 4 2 +1
SMurphs 2 3 4 +1
Howlers 3 4 2 +1
Desert Dogs 3 5 1 -4
BoedZillas 0 5 4 0
* Scoring is two points for a win, 1 point for a tie, zero points for a loss.