Mite B travel team posts 18-3-1 record in Sonoran League
By BROCK RADKE
VIEW SPORTS EDITOR
JACOB KEPLER/VIEWLas Vegas Ice Cats youth hockey club player Justin Bataglia attempts to shoot on goalie Rhett Bruckner during a recent practice at the Fiesta Rancho Ice Arena.
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The chilly Ice Arena at the Fiesta Rancho in northwest Las Vegas is much more than a place to cool off in the summer. It's the home base for the Ice Cats, a thriving youth hockey organization.
Proof of the program's rapid development is the success of the Ice Cats' Mite B travel team, a group of 5- to 8-year-olds that recently finished in first place in the Sonoran Youth Hockey League, posting a record of 18-3-1 against teams from Las Vegas and Arizona cities Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff.
"When we first got the kids together for a team at this age level, we really didn't know what to expect," said Jeff Bruckner, Ice Cats youth hockey director. "And then they were blowing everybody out in their first few games. I think (the finish) really has to do with not only having a great bunch of kids, but also the support from parents and some really great coaches."
Matt Daly is the head coach of the Mite B travel team and one of several coaches in the Ice Cats' stable. A native of Minnesota and longtime hockey player and youth coach, Daly has been with the local program for a couple of years.
"We didn't expect to do so well with this team this year because I think we only won one game last year. It was a learning experience," Daly said. "We spent a lot of the last year on skating, fundamentals, and it really paid off this season. We had a lot of fun."
The Las Vegas Ice Cats is a program on the rise, but it's not entirely new. The organization was formerly known as the Little Rebels. Bruckner helped initiate a few changes when he got involved two years ago.
"It was a small organization, with about 15 to 20 regular kids participating. Now, this year, we have close to 100 kids," Bruckner said.
The Mite team is just one age group in which the Ice Cats are fielding at least one squad. The Squirt division features youth ages 9 to 10, the Pee Wee league is for 11- to 12-year-olds, the Bantam division features 13- and 14-year-olds, and older children find their way into the Midget programs.
By developing a solid house program for younger hockey players, coaches and organizers are hoping to hold children's interest in the sport as they get older and form the foundation for successful travel teams.
"Our main thing is to make it enjoyable," Bruckner said. "Hockey can be very competitive, especially in the Midget level, and sometimes that aggressiveness can burn kids out at an early age. We want to build a foundation without losing kids in the process. Of course, we want to be competitive and successful, but it's most important to teach kids the fundamentals of skating and of appreciating the sport, and to have fun while they're doing it."
Next up on the Ice Cats' schedule are travel team tryouts in various age groups, which will start this week and allow participants in the house program to advance to a travel team. Tryouts continue Aug. 11 and 12 for the Midget squads, coached by Adam Kilbourn, who is hoping to field two teams for the first time this year in the 16-and-under and 18-and-under divisions.
The Ice Cats house program starts up again on Sept. 17, when aspiring hockey players ages 4-8 and 9-12 take to the ice Monday and Thursday nights. The organization also operates Hockey 101, an ongoing program whereby inexperienced youth can learn the rules of the game and some skating fundamentals on Sunday.
All Ice Cats teams and programs are based at the Fiesta Rancho, which Bruckner and his fellow organizers couldn't be happier about.
"The people here are fantastic," he said. "Everyone's always volunteering to help out. There's a great synergy here between everything that is going on, between the different events we have and working together with local figure skating programs. Everyone here always has a smile on their face."
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