I hope you are all healthy and staying warm—winter has definitely arrived. Our season is in full swing, and you all look fantastic on the ice. We’re excited to have coaches Tony, Patrick, and Andy back again this year, and we’re happy to welcome Mallory to the coaching team.
So far, the Adult team has had a couple of practices and a scrimmage. The Youth have been working hard on skating and hockey skills. We will arrange a Youth scrimmage after the holidays. I am also in early conversations with the newly formed Boston Deaf Team to explore a possible visit in the future. Nothing is confirmed yet—just discussions.
I want to share an important update:
Team Name and Logo Change
The Minnesota Wild have asked all Diversified Hockey teams to remove the name “Wild” from all materials—logos, websites, and social media. The Wild Foundation will continue supporting us through sponsorship.
To comply, we are updating our name to: Minnesota Deaf/HOH Hockey Association.
We have created a modified logo that keeps the same look but replaces the W-I-L-D handshapes with M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A handshapes across the top, similar to the Blind Hockey team’s design.
1. Jerseys
We will be ordering new practice jerseys and updating our game jerseys.
Game jerseys are expensive, so we will keep the current ones and professionally replace the front patch to match the new logo.
Please bring your CLEAN game jersey to practice on December 7.
If you cannot attend, please send it with another player or contact me to arrange a plan.
2. Mid-Season Celebration – December 14
Adults: shortened practice
Youth: practice after the Adults
Family Skate follows Youth practice—families, bring your skates!
“Ugly Jersey Contest” (Youth and Adult winners)
Conference room open the whole time
Food provided for all players and families
Please RSVP with the number of adults and children attending so we can plan food.
3. Volunteers Needed – World Juniors (Dec 26–Jan 5)
We need volunteers to cover our table during the IIHF World Junior Championship. Please let me know if you can help.
4. US Pond Hockey Tournament
Thank you to the Adult players who signed up to play in January. It will be fun—and cold!
5. USA Hockey Registration
If you have not yet registered with USA Hockey and completed your registration on our website, please do so as soon as possible. USA Hockey is checking compliance, and we must finalize our rosters.
That’s all for now—thank you for reading through everything.
If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions, please reach out to our Player Representative, Sachiko Flores (skoflores@gmail.com), or to me directly.
