Moose Give Back to the Community

On Saturday October 30, the Metro Moose Junior B team took time out of their busy early season schedule to take part in the 8th annual Ryan Rudden Roller Hockey Tournament in Rockaway, NY. The tournament takes place each year in honor of Ryan Rudden, a youth hockey player from Rockaway who tragically lost his life in 2002 and each year there is a fundraiser held in his name to benefit the Rockaway Rockies youth hockey program.

Moose assistant coach Vinny Smith, is also on the fundraising board for the Rockaway Rockies and helps coordinate the event every year. This year’s event was a huge success with over 85 players participating in the event. The Metro Moose entered two teams into the tournament with one squad featuring Moose alumni and the second team featuring the current Metro Moose players. All in all it was a huge success for both the Rockies and the Moose. Head Coach Craig Doremus said “It is important that our players give back to the community, we want them to realize how lucky there are to be hockey players and more importantly what it means to be a valuable member of a community.”

The current Moose team was fortunate enough to advance to the championship round before losing by the score of 2-1 to the local Rockaway team. All the players enjoyed themselves and were happy to be a part of the day. Rockaway Rockies spokesman Billy Burns said ”The Moose represented themselves well both on and off the rink. It was a pleasure having one of the top Junior hockey teams in the area involved with the event.”