Jim Clare, AHAI VP of Membership – USA Hockey’s Try Hockey For Free Day is in its 10th year with over 200,000 kids haven taken part in the event during that time. This year there were 11,500 skaters nationwide that participated in the November 9th THFF day. In Illinois, we had 15 associations/rinks participate with 358 young skaters lacing them up as part of the day’s festivities. Many locations hosted parties for the kids after the on-ice instruction, all in an effort to attract new skaters to our great game.

Fifth Third Arena led the way with an impressive 100 participants, followed by Firewagon Hockey with 77 skaters (Crystal Ice House), the Admirals (Center Ice of DuPage) with 32, the Chicago Hawks (Darien Sportsplex) with 31 and the Cyclones (Fox Valley Ice Arena) with 28 skaters. Other participating associations included: Northbrook (Northbrook Sports Center), Sabre Hockey (All Seasons Ice Rinks), Franklin Park (Franklin Park Ice Arena), St. Jude (Southwest Ice Arena), Hoffman Estates Park District (Triphahn Center), Kankakee Youth Hockey (Ice Valley Centre), Decatur Youth Hockey (Decatur Civic Center), Peoria Youth Hockey (Owens Center), Springfield Park District (Nelson Center), Ice Dogs (Glacier Ice Arena), and Evanston Youth Hockey (Robert Crown Center).

This day is not necessarily measured by the number of skaters, but rather by the skaters attending and how many “smiles per hour” achieved! Our sincerest hope is that more rinks and associations will participate in the next Try Hockey For Free Day on February 22, 2020, as part of Hockey Week Across America.