The Mohawk Valley Youth Hockey Association has joined forces with the newly formed Utica Comets AHL team to create the Utica Junior Comets. While the MVYHA has been around for over 10 years, the Utica Junior Comets is beginning their first year. The Utica Junior Comets feature teams from Learn To Play to a Midget 18U team. In
total, the program will field 12 teams, which is the most by any organization in the Mohawk Valley in quite some time.
We are one of only 3 teams in our section that is fielding a travel team at every level. Not only are we offering
the standard teams at each level (Learn To Skate, Mite, Squirt, Peewee, Bantam and Midget), but we are also looking to form a recreational team. This team will be made up of kids over the age of 8 who have not experienced ice hockey before, or are not able to participate in a full season team. We feel that all
kids should be able to try hockey and this is why we are offering the recreational program. We will field an
8U full-ice Mite program starting in January as per USA Hockey rules. This team will be coached by former NHL and
U.S. Olympic goaltender Rob Esche. Assistant coach will be Dave Clausen, head coach of the Utica College woman’s ice hockey team.
The MVYHA board is led by our President Ben Venerro and Vice President Geoff Henderson. Both Ben and
Geoff, along with the rest of the board, bring a great wealth of experience to the program. We have a professional,
dedicated group of coaches who for most teams do not have a child on the team. This allows the coaches to provide
unbiased instruction at a quality that is not seen in our area. 7 of our teams will be participating in the
Tech Valley Hockey League, which is based out of the Albany area. By joining a competitive league such as the
TVHL, our kids have the opportunity to play against other strong teams from western Vermont and New York. Our teams travel across the state of New York, looking for the most competitive teams in order to showcase their skills and become better hockey players.
The Utica Junior Comets is focused on player development. This is a philosophy that
is taught by each and every coach. Led by our Head of Coaches Ken Blum, we make sure that each and every player on
each team is given the best possible chance to improve as a hockey player. This includes both on the ice and off the ice
activities. We feel that it is very important that we teach these skills through the game of hockey in order to
grow our community through our children.
Wins and losses are not the primary goal of the teams, but a willingness to always put in 100% in order to become better hockey players.
We look forward to a very successful inaugural season with the Utica Junior Comets. Youth hockey in the Mohawk Valley is alive and strong. We hope to continue this for many years to come.
