And So It Begins...2015!

And so it begins. The 2015 Roller Hockey season is here. This time of year is often bittersweet for me. On one hand, I am going to miss my family! I have spent the past 6 months fully entrenched in my 2 young daughters lives, spending just about every minute of every weekend with them. Now, on Valentine’s Day weekend no less, I embark on a new season that will see me away from them a good part of the weekends for the next 6 months.

At the same time, I can’t wait to get started. I have the best job in the world, and there isn’t much more I enjoy doing than spending weekends with my roller hockey family and watching non-stop hockey! Every year a new story is written, and I am excited to see what this year’s story will be all about. On top of that, I expect 2015 to be our best year yet. With all the work we have invested over the last 2 years, I really feel our product is at the top of its game, and I am excited to share that with you. The staff here at T2H4I has put a ton of work in this offseason, and we are excited to show the nearly 70 teams in Pittsburgh what’s in store for 2015!

That being said, I would like to thank all of the teams competing this weekend in our annual Winter Cup event. Scheduling this event is always a challenge. With only 2 rinks, even using the holiday weekend, scheduling nearly 170 games is quite the job. Luckily for that, we have John Gelement! We appreciate everyone’s understanding that the schedule is not ideal. That being said, I can promise you that you wont leave Pittsburgh without playing a ton of hockey. We offer all of our teams a 4 game guarantee.  The staff at Hot Shots Arena always does a great job preparing for this event, and we are looking forward to them playing host for the 2nd year in a row!

As for the hockey, we have plenty of hardware on the line. Fielding multiple divisions in just about every age group, and a PRO division that will be competing for a $5k check, I am sure there will be some intense games throughout the weekend. Speaking to Jason Muro from the Mission Black Ice this morning on my way to the airport, I know he is excited to get things started saying, “Joe, I just cant wait to get back on the bench again! That’s all!”

Vio will once again be bringing his army into Pittsburgh, with a whopping 13 Roadrunner teams competing this weekend. The local Pittsburgh market is well represented with the Bandits, Chaos, Fusion, Bulldawgz, and Inferno programs all fielding multiple teams, and our Adult division is as diverse as it has ever been with the Alkali Assault leading the way with a team in each division!

We have a ton of action off the rink in store for this weekend. We will be doing raffles throughout the weekend, we will once again be awarding prizes for 100th goals, and there is a chance we will have a very special presentation during halftime of the PRO final on Sunday that you will NOT want to miss!

If you are not already, please make sure that you and your teams are a fan of our Facebook page(@TORHS.2Hot4Ice) and our Instagram page(@TORHS2H4I). Our newest TD, Chris “Trefty” Treft will be in the house, editing videos throughout the weekend, and running our social media. There will be a ton of content throughout the weekend so make sure you check it out.   Excited to have Trefty on board this year, and would like to congratulate him on getting a full time gig with the AHL’s Adirondack Flames.

I am about to touch down in the Steel City so I’ll be signing off for now. I will be meeting up with RB and the aforementioned Trefty and we will be heading directly over to the rink to start getting things set up. The A-team of Gelly and Brown will arrive in the morning (well with George, we know that wont happen…haha). I am looking forward to seeing my team here at TORHS 2Hot4Ice, which are like a second family to me. Evidence of that is when I dropped my oldest daughter off to school this morning, and told her I would not be home this weekend for Valentine’s Day she told me ‘Don’t worry Daddy. You can spend Valentine’s Day with your friends, like Mr. George and Mr. John!” Yes sweetheart, yes I can! I’ll be spending it with them and Mr. Ron, Mr. Chris, and hundreds of others that I consider my roller hockey family….

See everyone at the rink. For those traveling, please arrive safely.