Arizona Redhawks Junior A


European imports proving their worth


By Shane Dale R


ob Powell’s new infusion of European talent is already paying dividends for the Arizona Redhawks. Max Schanza, from Austria, and Dennis Alling-


mon, from Sweden, arrived in the Valley in August to play for the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) club, thanks to a little Euro-scout- ing.


“I have a European scout who sends me a couple players a year,” said Powell, the Redhawks’ head coach. “I always start in the net first and work my way out.”


Schanza, a goaltender, has already moved around a great deal in his young hockey career. He played in Finland and then moved to Minneapolis before transitioning to the Southwest.


“I wanted to play my last year of juniors in the United States and see what the future brings,” he said. “I think I’m really experienced, and I’m kind of a team leader.”


Allingmon, a forward, said he’s still getting used to the Arizona heat, but is enjoying his time in the desert.


“I’ve always wanted to play in the U.S.; it’s been a dream of mine since I was little,” he said. “I wanted to see what the differences are and develop my game, and I wanted to have a challenge and experience I could look back on for the rest of my life.


“I’m a hard skater, have a pretty good eye for the play, and I’m a pretty decent playmaker.”


Powell is confident his scout landed him the right guys to make a dif- ference on his squad this season. The two not only has a strong desire to improve, on and off the ice, but also make the team more competitive. “Both of them have demonstrated a strong will to learn and excel,” he


said. ArizonaRedhawks.com By Shane Dale T


his summer marked a bittersweet moment for the Northern Arizona University hockey program, as


top assistant coach Josh Brown left the team to become an assistant at Robert Morris University, an NCAA Division I program in Pittsburgh. The 27-year-old Brown, who played two seasons at NAU and led the


squad to nationals his junior season before suffering an injury that side- lined him for his senior year, had been a member of the Ice Jacks’ coaching staff the previous four seasons. “Josh was an immediate upgrade to our program the minute he walked


through the door,” said NAU director of hockey A.J. Fairchild. “He was not only my best player, but he helped me on and off the ice.” Brown, who helped the Ice Jacks advance to regionals and nationals


twice overseeing the team’s defensive corps, said he’ll miss the friends he made in Flagstaff, but the opportunity to coach at a Division I program was one he couldn’t pass up. “It was the next logical step in my coaching career,” he said. “(Robert


Morris) is a good program with a good coaching staff that I can contribute to and also learn from.” Fairchild, who wishes Brown the best, is confident the young coach has


a bright career ahead of him. “Josh is one of our proudest accomplishments as an organization,” he


said. “(NAU head coach Keith) Johanson and I are very happy for him.” The Colonials’ roster boasts sophomore goaltender Eric Ferber, a


Scottsdale native. “He’s where he should be: working with top NCAA D-I talent,” Fairch-


ild added of Brown. “He’s still a young man, and he’ll make an excellent head coach someday.”


NAUHockey.com


Arizona Hockey Club Coach’s Corner AHU’s model offers a special opportunity


L


ast month, I had the opportu- nity to attend one of the Arizona


Hockey Union’s Mite A games at Polar Ice-Chandler. What struck me most were the massive improve- ments these youngsters have made in the short time they’ve been practicing with their coach, Dillon Shaffer. As I watched the kids pass the


puck, move it up the ice and snipe lifted goals, it occurred to me that these are the same little guys who’ll be playing on our Phoenix Knights’ junior team in just eight or 10 years. Occasionally, as a hockey coach


- or anything else you do in life, re- ally - you experience those moments that remind you of why you do what you do, and who you’re doing it for. Watching those Mites was one of


those moments for me. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve never


lost track of the fact that I want to develop good, reliable, skilled


hockey players, but this was more than that; this was a moment when I realized that these Mites have the op- portunity to grow within our very own organization - from bottom to top, from kids to young men - by the time their development with us is all said and done. These 6-, 7- and


structured and played; you play for your town, and the only reason to leave your organi- zation is if you and your family moves. What that does is breed lifelong friendships, rival- ries and relation- ships that can’t be replaced. The fact that


Goar


8-year-olds who are just beginning their hockey journeys have the op- portunity to play for the same club, with the same guys, for the entirety of their youth hockey careers, which is something special and something they’ll never forget. Back where I come from in


Minnesota, that’s how the game is


the Arizona Hockey Union now has its own Junior


A team creates a real possibility for these kids to have that same kind of experience, and it’s an exciting and humbling time for our organization knowing that the skills we teach today are going to directly affect our organization tomorrow. We, as coaches and parents,


have the ability to raise the level of Kurt Goar is the Arizona Hockey Clubs’ coach-in-chief. RubberHockey.com 9


hockey in our organization, and we set the bar for the incoming players. That’s a very exciting dynamic and one that’s should be fostered and embraced as we help not only grow our prospering organization, but the entire sport, locally. The Arizona Hockey Union is


always looking for coaches with skills and abilities to relay their techniques to its players. We have some unbelievable coaches this season, from Sean Hill and Mike Vukonich - both former pros - to Jeff Alexander and Shaffer - both of whom played college hockey. Building our organization and


coaching staff will propel our play- ers to the next level, and I can’t wait to see the great strides our cur- rent Mites and Squirts make over the next several years. More so, I can’t wait to see many


of them wearing the Knights’ junior team jersey in the not-too-distant future.


Northern Arizona University


Assistant Brown accepts Division I post


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