Golf outing another winner for Tanner’s Kids I


By Brett Fera


t’s hard not to think what Tanner Catalano would say if he were here to see this. As the foundation named in honor of the late Arizona amateur hockey ambassador wrapped up its fifth annual fundraising golf tournament last month, it now turns its attention to planning the fifth Tanner Cup hockey tournament - a wait-list only, lobster-style ice festival scheduled for late March.


Matt Zubrod, vice president of the Tanner Catalano Foundation, can’t help but chuckle at the thought of what Catalano himself would think of the fuss that the local hockey community - from the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes all the way to the lo- cal associations and rinks he used to lace ‘em up for - makes year round in his honor. “He’s up there right now looking down on us going, ‘What the heck are you guys doing?’” Zu- brod explained with a laugh.


Keep in mind: Zubrod isn’t saying Catalano wouldn’t be honored by the continued commit- ment supporters of the foundation give toward growing hockey in the desert. No, he thinks back to the personality of his friend - a man remem- bered as a uniquely humble, committed, feverish worker who’d rather deflect attention away from himself than sit center stage.


“We just had our wrap-up meeting for the golf tournament, and we realized, ‘Gosh, it’s been five years already,’” Zubrod added, needing no more than a split second to recall that it was March 18, 2007 when Catalano was tragically killed in a car accident just shy of his 30th birthday.


Among those on hand at last month’s Tanner’s Kids charity golf tournament were Phoenix Coyotes’ broadcaster Tyson Nash, right, and Mike Nealy, the team’s chief operating officer. Photo/ Doug MacLeod/SouthWest Post


“If they said back then five years from now you’re going to put 1,000 kids through that pro- gram, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said. “It’s a shell shock.”


This year’s fifth-annual golf tournament - back at the Wildfire Golf Club at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge resort - was another unequivocal success, Zubrod said.


“We had a great turnout, and we’ve kind of


Zubrod also can’t help but think of the Tan- ner’s Kids program - the primary beneficiary of the fundraising efforts from the golf tournament and Tanner Cup hockey event - and what the program, based at the Ice Den in Scottsdale, has been able to do in terms of promoting the sport to a whole new corps of young beginning hockey youngsters.


fallen into a nice little trend here after five years of doing this,” he said, noting that it’s become an event on the calendar that foundation supporters and tournament regulars don’t dare miss. “We’ve got a great day. A lot of people came out.” This year’s event took in more than 110 golf- ers, and more than 30 volunteers; Zubrod said accounting is still in process to see how much money was brought in, but added that the expec- tation was somewhere in the range of $24,000, minus expenses.


With the Coyotes’ involvement as a title spon- sor, company representatives like former-player- turned-announcer Tyson Nash and chief oper- ating officer Mike Nealy were on hand; so was Howler, the Coyotes’ venerable mascot. In past years, players like longtime captain Shane Doan usually partook as well, but this year the Sept. 17 shotgun start conflicted with the first weekend of NHL training camp. Zubrod said he’s still amazed at the commit- ment and effort a select core group of volunteers and leaders of the foundation put into events like the golf tournament and the Tanner Cup hockey weekend - and how much they’ve put into each event for five consecutive years.


The foundation is a team effort if there ever was one, in honor of the ultimate team player in Tanner, Zubrod noted.


“There’s a core of Tanner’s friends and team- mates and there’s a handful of guys who just give it their all throughout the year to make this pro- gram run,” Zubrod said. “They have families, and their kids are in hockey, and yet they carve some time to make this program what it’s become.”


Flagstaff strengthening from the bottom up A


By Shane Dale


rebuilt rink, a stronger connection with North- ern Arizona University and a renewed interest


in hockey up north has reinvigorated the Flagstaff Youth Hockey Association (FYHA). “Last year, having the ice back, I think we had


160 kids (participating), which was as good as any year,” said FYHA presi- dent Kevin Tye, refer- ring to the rebuilt Jay Lively Ice Arena, which suffered a collapsed roof in January of 2010. “I think the rink rats (who rebuilt the arena) actu- ally strengthened hockey and got a lot of attention, so I think it definitely grew from there.” And the kids who are


involved in the North- stars’ house and travel hockey clubs have benefit- ted from a budding bond between the association and NAU. “Our relationship with NAU club hockey is


Tye added that some of the more experienced


FYHA players are being put into leadership roles in an effort to further their growth as young men. “We’re using the older kids to lead drills and


that sort of thing, so there’s a lot of mentoring,” he said. “We also certainly strengthened our associa- tion by getting our kids involved in officiating. We had 10 attend a kids’ officials seminar recently. We’re going to start us- ing them in our house programs.” But the most excit-


ing development for the Flagstaff youth hockey scene - a possible second ice rink - is still in the works. “I’d say that’s the


Members of Flagstaff’s Bantam A team, along with the rest of the Northstars organization, are enjoying a resurgence since the Jay Lively Ice Arena reopened its doors last fall.


biggest thing happening right now and looking like a real possibility,” Tye said. “The City of


Flagstaff put together a master parks and recre-


fantastic,” Tye said. “They’re bringing coaches and players out to help our kids during practice. They’re doing camps, stick time and skill sessions, and we’re starting to strengthen our goalies in every division. We’ve already got 40 kids signed up for Mini-Mites right now, so we’re strengthening from the bottom up.”


12 magazine


ation plan back in March, and I presented a full proposal to them on the costs involved, and how a second sheet of ice can produce cost recovery.” The idea, which was initially buried by the city


council in lieu of other priorities, is now towards the top of the list. “At the first meeting in March, a second sheet


of ice was like 18th or 19th on the agenda,” Tye said. “Well, they’re having the final meeting to the public on Nov. 5, and the second sheet of ice will be


second on the list.” An additional playing surface is crucial to the


continued growth of youth hockey in Northern Arizona, Tye said. “It’s harder to grow everything much further


right now because we’re sharing ice with NAU, high school hockey, public skating, adult skating - all these groups vying for these ice slots,” he said. “A second sheet of ice is really needed up here, and I really think that’s something that can happen in the next five years.” Another rink would also allow the Northstars


to more effectively compete with Phoenix and its growing travel hockey programs that sometimes lure hockey players from the northern part of the state down south. “It’s still hard to fully compete at the younger


levels - Mites, specifically - with the Phoenix and California programs just based on population,” Tye said. “But when our kids stick with the program, we’re pretty competitive in the higher levels be- cause there’s a lot of cohesion. They stick together for a long time.” In the meantime, Tye and the FYHA will


continue to improve upon what they already have as much as they can in order to make hockey a special experience for Flagstaff-based kids. “We’re getting extra rink dividers, we approved


a third set of nets so we can break the ice up in three, we’re getting stick holders - just small things like that,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of things we’re doing to improve, and I think there’s a good, strong handful of (administrators) making sure we’re taking the right steps.”


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