Cheyenne Capitals Youth Hockey: News

2012-2013 General Information & Practice Times

The Capitals, along with other large market organizations such as Casper and Gillette, are trying to split teams into two separate divisions at the squirt and pee wee levels for WAHL play this year.  The A division will be the more competitive team.  This will allow competitive teams and rec/younger teams to compete against similar competition.   

This will stretch the organization to field two teams at both levels but this keeps the organization growing at both the rec and competitive levels instead of losing kids to other organizations.  We are also hopeful this will keep quality hockey parents in the organization whose interest is to grow the quality of the organization.  All support from kids and parents will be a big help to make this happen.  

Information for Capitals teams and practices: 

U8
Practice times:
Levels B through D
Monday 5:45 to 6:30
Wednesday 5:30 to 6:15 

New Capitals without skating experience and “A” level skaters will practice with City Learn to play
Tuesday 5:45 to 6:30
Thursday 5:45 to 6:30 

3 on 3 Saturday mornings 9 to 10:30 

Tryouts for different levels will be during the week of October 8^th 

Important note:  Depending upon interest, we may field a competitive U8 team to play AAU and tournaments with additional practices.  There will be tryouts for this team.    

Development coordinators:
Ty Smith- Assistant coach of the Cheyenne Stampede
Mike Cote- 20 years hockey experience both playing and coaching, most recently with the Texas Jr. Stars.  

Squirts
Practices times:
Tuesday 6:45 to 7:45 split with Pee Wee
Wednesday 6:30 to 8:00
Thursday 6:45 to 7:45 split with Pee Wee 

Head coach: Andy Woods
Development coordinator: John Ford - 20 years hockey experience both playing and coaching, most recently with the Colorado Springs Tigers. 

We are planning on having 2 teams
A level
B level
There will be tryouts the week of October 1^st  

Important note:  At the scheduling meeting we will decide if there will be a state tournament or not.  

Pee Wees
Practice times:
Monday 6:45 to 7:45
Tuesday 6:45 to 7:45 split with squirts
Thursday 6:45 to 7:45 split with squirts
Friday 5:45 to 6:30 (optional) 

We are planning on having 2 teams
A level
B level
There will be tryouts the week of October 1^st  

Head coach: Ken Walter  

Bantams
Practice times:
Monday 8 to 9
Tuesday 8 to 9 share with girls
Thursday 8 to 9 share with girls 

Head coach:  Luke Sarne  

Girls
Practice times:
Tuesday 8 to 9 share with bantams
Wednesday 8:15 to 9:15
Thursday 8 to 9 share with bantams 

Head coach:  DonTardif  

High School
Practice times:
Monday 4:15 to 5:15
Wednesday 4:15 to 5:15
Thursday 9:15 to 10:15 

Head coach: Boyd Byelich

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 30, 2012

Cutthroats to Appear at Hockey Camp in Cheyenne September 5 at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center

DENVER, CO – On September 5 the Denver Cutthroats will be on the ice with kids from the Northern Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming area as part of the Cheyenne Stampede’s annual youth hockey camp.

Cutthroats Director of Hockey Operations Brent Cullaton will be working with the kids to improve their skill sets in a variety of areas on the ice.  Cullaton will also be assisted by Stampede Head Coach Marty Quarters and various Stampede players.

“The youth hockey community is an important piece to our success as a franchise,” said Cullaton.  “It’s important for the Cutthroats to be active in the community, especially with youth hockey players who have a chance to improve their game and learn from players who’ve competed at the pro level.”

Cullaton will be participating in the Wendesday, September 5 session of the youth camp, which begins at 6:45 PM.  The Stampede camp is scheduled to run all the way through early October.

For more information call the Cheyenne Stampede at 307-630-4926 or visit cheyennestampede.com.

ABOUT THE DENVER CUTTHROATS

The Denver Cutthroats are the Central Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.  The team drops the puck on their inaugural season on October 19th, bringing professional hockey back to the historic Denver Coliseum for the first time since 1989.  Season ticket packages and mini-plans are on sale now, and can be purchased by calling (303) 295-FISH (3474).  The most up-to-date information can be found at denvercutthroats.com

Capitals Family,

 We hope everyone had a great summer and is ready to return to the ice.  Registration begins August 15th for the 2012-2013 season with practice starting October 8th.  The Stampede will be running a preseason camp for all ages in September and we will have 3 on 3 every Saturday from September 8th through the end of October for 8 to 14 year olds.  You can go to www.cheyennehockey.com and click on the registration link to register for the season and each activity beginning August 17th.  The ice is back on Friday, August 17th. 

Reflecting back on the 2011-2012 season we made great strides in building an organization focused on skill development and improved structure.  We continue to see growth in the number of kids in the Capitals organization.  This past year we had teams at each level and increased our ice usage significantly over the year before.  This means we are providing more opportunities for your kids to improve their skills than ever before and it shows having won two state titles, our first titles in several years.  Our coaches did a great job last year and their commitment level was unbelievable. Couple this with the addition of the players and coaches from the Stampede junior’s hockey team and we had improved instruction at every level.  We recognize though we have room for improvement.

This past summer the organization held both coaches and board meetings to define our strategy for next year.  During these meetings there was a sense of additional focus on the U8 program and further skill development needs, and a renewed commitment on communication.  We have been blessed to add two coaches to our great coaching staff which will help both of these initiatives.  Mike Cote and John Ford have extensive hockey backgrounds, both with over 20 years’ experience coaching youth hockey.  They have recently moved to Cheyenne and showed great interest in helping us move our program forward.  They will be helping our coaches develop players at almost every level.

The U8 program will be run by both Ty Smith and Mike Cote this year.  Ty is the assistant coach of the Stampede.   Our goal will be to run a better U8 program through the two coaches and Mike will serve as the U8 coordinator.  He will be able to answer questions regarding on ice development.  We will also make a greater effort to identify team managers for the U8 teams earlier in the year with more extensive training to be able to answer organizational questions.  The Board will also have representative Dawn Chalmers available for questions from new parents, or relatively new parents to the organization.

Our relationship with the City has never been stronger as Robin Feezer and her team have done a fantastic job running the rink last year.  This year the City will run the LTP program with a goal to bring 100 new kids to hockey between the two sessions.  The increase will be a long-term gain for the Capitals as we look to continue to grow our program.  We have also received news that a local business has purchased the naming rights to the rink.  This will be a huge boost to hockey in the area as we continue to get local business support and allow the City to fiscally manage the rink.

Finally, we are looking for volunteers to help run the organization on a day to day basis.  We have needs for coaches, team managers, equipment managers and other jobs that help keep the Capitals family together throughout the season.  As we announce team managers you can ask them for a list of jobs you can help with.  Also, our Booster club has been doing a great job this summer.  They have pledged $20,000 to the Capitals program to help reduce costs for our kids.  The more help we can provide them the less expensive hockey will be for all of us.  We have two upcoming events planned for the Booster Club to raise money.  On August 25th there is a miniature golf tournament for the kids from 12:00-4:00 p.m.  Following the miniature golf tournament, there is free skating from 4:00-6:00 p.m.  There will be board members, coaches and players available to answer questions about hockey for the upcoming season.  Bring your friends!  Then on September 15th from 5:00-7:00 p.m. we are hosting a Beer Tasting at Shadows.  Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.  The price includes 7- 4oz. tastes of beer and light appetizers. 

Here’s to a great 2012-2013 season!

- Cheyenne Capitals Hockey Board

Our U8 program (sometimes called Mite or Mini-Mite) is for boys and girls born in the year 2003 or younger.

Skill Groups
Players are divided into four co-ed groups based on skill. Our "A" group is for children that are new to skating, or new to hockey. Typically, this group consists of 4 to 6 year olds, a few of whom have taken a Learn-To-Skate class. But, this level is also well-suited for 7 and 8 year olds who are new to skating.

Our "B", "C" and "D" levels provide increasing levels of skill development and competition, with our top-tier "D" players having been involved with hockey for four or five years.

Equipment
Most new players will not have equipment. It's tough to make that investment when you just want to try out the sport! The Capitals have some sets of equipment to borrow, for a small fee. Check back for more information about that. Required hockey pads include:

• helmet
• shoulder pads
• elbow pads
• gloves
• breezers
• shin guards
• skates 

Schedule
Players will practice twice a week in the evenings. Saturday mornings, there are games between teams of other Capitals players. Of course, these games are for fun and skill-development, and we don't keep score. We offer two sessions. Session 1 begins the first week of October, and runs until Winter Break. Session 2 begins right after the New Year, and runs through February. Players may register for one or both sessions. 

Travel
Some of our families choose to travel to scrimmages and tournments, which is entirely optional but always fun. At this level, the tournaments are round robin, noncompetitive, and nobody keeps score. Opportunities for travel increase as players gain more experience. Our "A" team usually gets to play exhibition games during our own tournament, and is usually invited to play during an intermission at a Colorado Eagles game. Our "B" team usually travels to one or two overnight tournaments, and a morning scrimmage in Laramie. Our "C" team will travel to two or three tournaments throughout the season, along with some scrimmages in Laramie or Colorado. At the "D" level, players can expect to travel almost every weekend, after the Winter break.