Ready...Set....2015!

Once again, I am 30k feet up in the air, this time on my way to San Jose, CA...my old stomping grounds. I left San Jose for Florida in 2005, and miss a lot about the Silicon Valley, so I am really looking forward to being back for the weekend. I am also looking forward to our first ever qualifier in Northern California. This year’s event will be taking place over in the Central Valley at High Country Sports in Sonora. Mark Steichen has been great to work with, and we look forward to having him play host this weekend!  We would like to thank all 28 teams who are participating in this event. We know that you are ALL traveling in for this event, and we are very grateful for your support!

I would like to send special thanks out to Dave Inouye from the Silicon Valley Quakes and Jose Mondragon from the Revision Revolution. These two guys have been instrumental is our expansion out to California. They brought both of their programs down to Huntington Beach in November, and will once again have their entire programs participating in this weekend’s event in Sonora. It always great to see guys who run successful programs that share the same passion for the game as we do!

For this weekends event, we will be fielding divisions in Mite, Squirt, Peewee, Bantam, and Midget, and with only 1 rink, things will be jamming all weekend long. We will have a close eye on making sure things are moving along throughout the weekend so that we can do our best to stay on schedule.

We will also be getting our first look at some of the other Northern Cali organizations, and we are looking forward to meeting the Delta River Rats, NorCal Wild, NorCal Elite, San Jose Tsunami, Ripon Ravens, San Jose Inline Sharks, NorCal Extreme, and CAL Blades! The sport in California is like nowhere else in the country, and it is exciting to be a part of it. We know that this is the first experience of TORHS 2Hot4Ice for many, but our goal is to make it a memorable one, so much so that our National Championships are an event that teams don’t want to miss. This years Nationals will be held at Taylor Sportplex in Detroit, MI June 26 – July 5. If you have not been to this facility in the past, it is one of my favorites. It truly is perfect for a Nationals venue!

This is also our kickoff event for the 2015 Regional season. This marks a busy time for us, as we are pretty much on the go from here on out until June! It is certainly an exciting time, as we love what we do, and we get to see a ton of hockey, but it is also a very busy time for our staff! National Tournament Director George Brown, along with my partner Ron Beilsten will be manning the tent this weekend. Please don’t be shy. Come up and introduce yourself. We love to talk hockey, and are very much looking forward to meeting you!

About to land in Denver…then off to San Jose. Please drive safely, and we will see you at the rink !