Desert Hockey Development

Dedicated to building youth hockey in Arizona

FREE Hockey

Norterra Canyon K-8 School Carnival

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Desert Hockey Development had the new portable rink up and running for the first time at a school carnival at Norterra Canyon School on Saturday, April 9, 2016.

Girls getting ready to playOver fifty kids joined DHD throught the afternoon and evening to basically mess around with some ball hockey to get the feel for how to use a hockey stick and to have some fun.

This sort of event is something DHD is looking to attend more often, we just want to get hockey sticks into the hands of kids that otherwise, for whatever reason, probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so.

While the Norterra Canyon School is in an affluent area of Phoenix, DHD will happily travel to any event of this nature if it can fit the schedule. If you are involved in event planning for school carnivals, block parties, gatherings of a nature where there would be enough kids in attendance that fifty or so kids would end up joining us for some hockey, we’d love to hear from you. Use the contact page to find out how to get us using the communication type of your choice.

DHD would like to thank the kids and parents of Norterra Canyon that dropped in to play some hockey with us, we hope to see you again!

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.

 

Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League Results – Week 2

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League
Week 2 Results

We had some special guests join us yesterday. Ace sportswriter and all around decent guy Craig Morgan brought his Fox Sports expertise and camera to see what’s going on this summer with ball hockey in Gila River Arena.
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Also on hand was former first round draft pick and also all around decent guy, Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy. Connor played hockey with everybody and it sure looked like he managed to talk to every single kid in the building at least once, and he only left the building when everything was being packed up.

We (DHD) can’t thank you enough, Connor, for your visit and everything you passed on to the next set of first round draft picks that are just learning the ropes.

Not only that, but Murphy’s namesake team jumped a spot in the standings because they were obviously inspired by the tall defenseman. Note to number 89, the BoedZillas dropped a spot and the next event is July 11. We’ll save you a spot, Boeds.
** NOTE: A scoring error, spotted by a sharp eyed Gila River Monster, changed the rankings when we corrected the scores. So, the SMurphs, despite having their team decimated by a couple older “no show” kids, managed to hold on to their spot.

June 20
Game 1
1 Doanasaurs (T) 1 BoedZillas (T) 1
2 OEL Diablos (W) 3 Domi-Nators (L) 1
3 SMurphs (T) 1 Gila River Monsters (T) 1
Game 2
1 OEL Diablos (W) 3 Howlers (L) 2
2 BoedZillas (L) 1 SMurphs (W) 3
3 Domi-Nators (W) 3 Desert Dogs (L) 1
Game 3
1 Doanasaurs (W) 4 SMurphs (L) 2
2 BoedZillas (T) 1 Gila River Monsters (T) 1
3 Desert Dogs (L) 1 Howlers (W) 2
Game 4
1 Gila River Monsters (W) 1 Desert Dogs (L) 0
2 Doanasaurs (L) 2 OEL Diablos (W) 3
3 Howlers (T) 2 Domi-Nators (T) 2
Team Standings W L T  Chg
OEL Diablos 5 0 1 +1
Doanasaurs 3 2 1 +1
Desert Dogs 3 3 0 -2
Gila River Monsters 2 1 3 +1
Domi-Nators 2 2 2 -1
SMurphs 2 2 2 0
Howlers 1 4 1 +1
BoedZillas 0 4 2 -1

 

 

Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League

Week 1 Results Week 2 Results Week 3 Results

WE ARE FULL!

We’re adding a new element to this summer’s events in Gila River Arena. We have partnered with the Arizona Coyotes to offer some real competition for kids of all skill levels to have some fun playing against other teams.

The Arizona Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League is a reality!

NO EXPERIENCE OR EQUIPMENT NECESSARY

We have five dates scheduled at Gila River arena (click here for calendar). Last summer, we had kids returning for every clinic we ran. This summer, we’re hoping to have a similar experience.

We know returning kids don’t necessarily want to run through the same or similar drills and instructions once they have the basics down. What do they want to do?

KIDS WANT TO PLAY HOCKEY!

So, this summer they will be able to do exactly that. It’s all about keeping the FUN level up for the kids.

Arizona Coyotes Hockey DevelopmentThe Coyotes and DHD are running a FREE Summer Street Hockey League and hope to host at least six teams of kids with a minimum of eight kids per team. If there’s more children that want to play, we will accommodate as many as we can fit.

These teams will attend ALL FIVE of the scheduled events and play a full championship series with the finals to be held at the final event on August 8.

Every child that participates in the entire series on a team will go home with a street hockey stick and a hockey card with their own picture on it after the championship games are finished on August 8.

Street Hockey Tournament Format

Each team will play at least two games during each event, kids won’t be sitting around and getting bored.

The Coyotes Hockey Development Team and DHD will be coaching all of the teams and we hear there may be special guest coaches.

Fry’s, Papa Johns, and Mix 1 are all graciously providing some food, some drinks, and some cool stguff for everybody.

Everybody that participates in the series will go home with the stick and card, AND some other cool hockey goodies throughout the summer.

There might even be some special guest coaches.

We understand it’s a big commitment for families to schedule five events in a busy summer with vacations and other things that compete for hockey time. We hope that we’ve come up with a schedule that works well for most people. We avoided holiday weekends.

The dates are (all Saturdays):
June 6 and 20, July 11 and 25, August 8.

Sign up for the mailing list to stay informed or complete the form below to register.

Click here for cool printable flyer if you’d like to share.

 

Coyotes Street Hockey League – FREE!

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Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League

Week 1 Results Week 2 Results Week 3 Results Week 4 Results
Printable Championship Bracket Sheet

WE ARE FULL!

We’re adding a new element to this summer’s events in Gila River Arena. We have partnered with the Arizona Coyotes to offer some real competition for kids of all skill levels to have some fun playing against other teams.

The Arizona Coyotes Street Hockey Summer League is a reality!

NO EXPERIENCE OR EQUIPMENT NECESSARY

We have five dates scheduled at Gila River arena (click here for calendar). Last summer, we had kids returning for every clinic we ran. This summer, we’re hoping to have a similar experience.

We know returning kids don’t necessarily want to run through the same or similar drills and instructions once they have the basics down. What do they want to do?

KIDS WANT TO PLAY HOCKEY!

So, this summer they will be able to do exactly that. It’s all about keeping the FUN level up for the kids.

Arizona Coyotes Hockey DevelopmentThe Coyotes and DHD are running a FREE Summer Street Hockey League and hope to host at least six teams of kids with a minimum of eight kids per team. If there’s more children that want to play, we will accommodate as many as we can fit.

These teams will attend ALL FIVE of the scheduled events and play a full championship series with the finals to be held at the final event on August 8.

Every child that participates in the entire series on a team will go home with a street hockey stick and a hockey card with their own picture on it after the championship games are finished on August 8.

Street Hockey Tournament Format

Each team will play at least two games during each event, kids won’t be sitting around and getting bored.

The Coyotes Hockey Development Team and DHD will be coaching all of the teams and we hear there may be special guest coaches.

Fry’s, Papa Johns, and Mix 1 are all graciously providing some food, some drinks, and some cool stguff for everybody.

Everybody that participates in the series will go home with the stick and card, AND some other cool hockey goodies throughout the summer.

There might even be some special guest coaches.

We understand it’s a big commitment for families to schedule five events in a busy summer with vacations and other things that compete for hockey time. We hope that we’ve come up with a schedule that works well for most people. We avoided holiday weekends.

The dates are (all Saturdays):
June 6 and 20, July 11 and 25, August 8.

Sign up for the mailing list to stay informed or complete the form below to register.

Click here for cool printable flyer if you’d like to share.

 

Coyotes In The Schools

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Untitled-2The Coyotes continue to step up all around the Valley to grow the game of hockey. They were a big help to us, providing us with equipment and a lot of elbow grease to get our program off the ground.

The Coyotes youth hockey and fan development group are first rate, and they’re riding all around Arizona in the Coyotes truck handing out hockey equipment to schools. But, they don’t stop there.

Once the sticks and nets and the rest of the equipment is out of the boxes, the Coyotes stick around and run a clinic for the kids to teach them the basics of hockey. Hopefully, after they leave, the excitement they’ve generated sticks around and hockey becomes a part of the physical education and recreation programs in the schools.

This is obviously a long term plan being implemented full force by the Coyotes. Watch the video and you’ll see.

If you’re involved with a school or recreation program in Arizona and you think a program like this would be good for your kids, get hold of the Coyotes Community Relations department and they’ll hook you up.

EVB Live (KPNX) Features DHD

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EVBLiveWe were lucky enough to have Pete Scholz from 12 News visit with us Saturday, February 15. We had a special event that day, and Pete was nice enough to drop by and find out what Desert Hockey Development was all about.

We’re really happy with the story he produced for EVB Live, the afternoon news lead in show on KPNX.

Thanks to Pete, KPNX and everybody that joined us for hockey on Saturday. It was a rewarding day for DHD and we’re humbled to have such positive response.

Click here for the link to the video if it isn’t displayed below (Flash is necessary).