When Tucson Roadrunners president Bob Hoffman first joined the Arizona hockey scene in 2006, he saw the desert state could support a sport on ice.
In a little over a decade, the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes had developed a committed a group of fans willing to sit through some down years in anticipation of a winning franchise.
The Coyotes — the parent organization of the Roadrunners — have since adopted “Arizona” as their official locale. They eventually broke through, advancing to the 2011-12 Western Conference Finals.
“Phoenix showed that they’ll rally behind a pro sports team like that,” Hoffman said. “They went all-in on hockey.”
The team’s success ignited an interest in hockey, even as the Coyotes went through a number of difficulties off the ice. The Coyotes have dealt with bankruptcy, ownership turmoil and public fights with the Glendale City Council over future plans for an arena.
Earlier this month, the Coyotes doubled down on their commitment to the sport of hockey in Arizona with the announcement of a $2.1 million investment in youth development. The youth program will expose 100,000 kids to hockey through physical education curriculum and financial support for Valley ice rinks.
As of now, it doesn’t appear Tucson will be a recipient of the investment. In fact, the city is still looking for a permanent sheet of ice. Hoffman said a local ice rink could be far off.
“In a perfect world, we’d love to see a community recreation center that would potentially have a sheet of ice,” Hoffman said. “You want to have more for our team to practice, for (UA’s club team) to practice. You have men’s leagues here in Tucson. You just need more ice.”
The Roadrunners and the UA’s club hockey team play their home games at the Tucson Arena. On weeks when the Arena is booked, neither team can slot in time to practice.
The Roadrunners spent this week practicing (and living) in Glendale before traveling to Bakersfield for this weekend’s games. The Wildcats team practiced on campus — and on grass — before trekking to Gilbert for a trio of “home” games.
Ice access or not, Hoffman sees the popularity of hockey taking off locally.
Tucson Arena also plays host to the Junior Roadrunners, the only youth ice hockey league in town. The Junior Roadrunners, formerly the Wildcat Youth Ice Hockey Association, are sponsored by the professional organization. The Junior Roadrunners range in age from 8-under to 18-under.
“We’ve really jumped in with them to try to help invest in hockey that way,” Hoffman said. “To say, ‘We’re here to raise money for you, to help you get new jerseys, to help you get mouth guards,’ so more and more kids have that access and exposure to play the game.”
Even street hockey, often played on rollerblades and with a ball instead of a puck, gives kids a chance to grip a hockey stick. Until an ice rink is built, that will have to do.
“Where I’ve seen growth is the access where kids have to play, which is what we’re really trying to do down here,” Hoffman said.
