HOCKEY IS HOCKEY '26

By Jim Tamburino

The Year Hockey Is Hockey Took a Leap

Eleven years after a simple outdoor pickup game started it all, HIH ’26 showed just how far a hockey community, and an idea, can grow.

I’ve spent the last day or so trying to figure out how to put this past week into words.

Proud is probably the easiest one. Grateful is another. But if I’m being completely truthful, I’m still processing it.

Eleven years ago, Hockey Is Hockey was a pretty simple idea. Get some friends together, bring in some pro hockey players who we had friendships with, alongside some other friends, play an outdoor roller hockey game and create the type of atmosphere that reminded us why we fell in love with the game in the first place.

Over the years, it grew. A little at a time. More players. More games. More kids. More families. More people asking when we were doing it again. But this year felt different. HIH ’26 took a big leap. And I think I realized that for the first time on Wednesday night.

Draft Night

Our first Draft Night in 2015 was small. 30 players or so, 3 coaches on each side. No crowd. Like most things with Hockey Is Hockey, it started with an idea and we figured it out as we went. This year, we walked into Hotel Indigo hoping for a good crowd. Then they had to bring out another table.

And another… And another.

By the time the night was rolling, the incredible staff at Hotel Indigo had pulled out three or four additional tables of ten because people just kept coming through the doors. Actually, one person had a little trouble getting through those doors.

It took Kyle Palmieri nearly 40 minutes to make it through the lobby. Kids and fans surrounded him for pictures and autographs. Parents stood back taking photos, and even jumped into photos. Kids ran around the room with their Hockey Is Hockey autograph cards looking for the next player or special guest to sign them. And Kyle stood there and took the time.

That image alone represented so much of what we want this event to be.

Then Ed Westfall arrived. Seeing the 2x-Stanley Cup Champion and first captain in New York Islanders history sitting at Team BPE’s management table and taking part in our Draft Night was one of those moments where you almost have to laugh at how far this little idea has come.

David Ayres, Keith Kinkaid and Steve Webb arrived. Riverhead Town Councilman Ken Rothwell and New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio joined us. Media, local news and photographers on hand. Friends, families, players, sponsors and people from throughout the hockey community filled the room. Player swag bags consisting of items donated by sponsors were ready to go out to the first and last player selected.

At one point, Mr. Westfall pulled a raffle winner. Of all the tickets in the room, he somehow pulled his girlfriend’s. The place erupted. He followed it with a few words about Hockey Is Hockey and what we were doing. Hearing someone like Ed Westfall speak that way about something we created meant more than I can probably explain.

Then came the draft itself. And these guys took it seriously. There was real thought put into building the rosters. Not simply picking names, but putting together teams that worked for both the roller and ice games. Picks were debated. Strategies developed. Players came off the board. And around them was this constant buzz. Kids. Families. Hockey people. That room felt alive. 

All players were selected. But keep in mind... this was only Wednesday evening and both teams had until Friday at 3:00pm to add any player they choose to their roster. A pro player. College. Rec. A local celebrity.  Anyone they want by the 3pm deadline. 

Towards the end of the night, staff then surprised David Ayres and I with a birthday cake - David’s birthday being that day and mine the day prior on the 11th.

It was a great glimpse of how we always envisioned Draft Night. And we were only getting started.

Friday: Sometimes the Story Doesn’t Go According to Plan

Prior to the deadline, the Main Event Team Managements submitted the player names that they added to their roster. Final rosters were posted at 3pm est. Friday night began with an ice clinic featuring John Schiavo, David Ayres and Kim Interdonato, followed by a PYHL Rec League Semi-Finals Game, before everything moved outside for our Main Event Outdoor Roller Hockey Game.

And the setting looked incredible. One of our sponsors surprised us that morning by sending two landscaping trucks to the rink. They cleaned up grass surrounding the property and put down shrubs and fresh mulch without us even asking. That gesture says a lot about the type of people who have become involved with this event. We hung string lights and placed solar lights along the ground walkways. Additional speakers ran along the entrance. We set up a giant inflatable projector screen in the field beside the rink. Local singer Maddy Ormsby came out to perform as people arrived on site.

Blue skies. Music playing. Players arriving. It looked exactly how we pictured it. And then we looked at the sky.

Dark clouds started to creep in… For a while, somehow, they stayed away.

The players dressed in the ice rink locker rooms and then made their entrance outside through a walkway of kids reaching out for fist bumps. Following warmups, Maddy sang the National Anthem. Beneath raindrops, we opened the game with a five-man shootout, with Team BPE earning a 1–0 lead before the actual game even began.

Then came a lot more rain. There was real disappointment because so much work had gone into creating that outdoor setting. 

But hockey players find a way to play hockey.

One of our goaltenders, Dru Santoro, owns Rapid Fire Arena. He suggested something that sounded a little crazy at first…

Pack everything up and move the game there.

Twenty minutes away. At 9:30 at night. And almost immediately, the players said yes. So did most of the crowd.

Equipment stayed half-on. Skates came off. Bags got thrown into cars. Everyone packed up and started driving. With a roster spot opening up, former NHL player and U.S. Olympian Chris Ferraro, who had already done a ton to support the event over the years, was picked up off waivers by Team BPE. His son, Evan, was already playing in both games as well.

Before we knew it, we were inside Rapid Fire warming up in front of a loyal group of fans who had followed us over… And we played.

What resulted was a fast, competitive roller hockey game and a Team EIS victory. In fact, it even gave Chris Ferraro the itch to suit up for the Main Event Ice Game the following night. The rain ruined the Friday night we planned. But instead, it gave us a story we’ll probably be telling for years.

Saturday: The Moment It Hit Me

Saturday morning couldn’t have been more different. Blue skies. Sunshine. No humidity. It was hot outside, but that’s part of it. Hockey Is Hockey has always been, in part, a tribute to the way so many of us grew up playing this game: outside. All day. All night. Sneakers, wheels - any you could find - sticks, nets. You played until someone told you it was time to go home.

Saturday had that feeling. There was hockey everywhere. Dek. Roller. Ice. Kids as young as 10U. More than 30 girls and women, ages 15-60's, participating in our Women’s Ice Feature Game. Adults competing in roller feature games and the Mylec Dek Best-of-3 Series. Tents became outdoor locker rooms. Drinks were waiting on the benches. Music played throughout the property. Food trucks were parked outside. People were everywhere.

And throughout the day, there was another anticipation building. MSG Networks was coming to Hockey Is Hockey.

Their crew arrived to film a feature story about the event and recently retired NHLer Keith Kinkaid giving back to his local hockey community. Before the 9U PYHL Rec League Championship Game, Keith walked into the locker rooms and spoke to the kids. Then, as one team took the ice, he stood there and fist-bumped every player at the door. With some of the Main Event pro players already in the building and watching, the championship game itself couldn’t have been scripted much better, ending with a game-winning goal with 40 seconds remaining.

Then the building began changing.

More Main Event Ice Game players started arriving. Fans stopped them for pictures. Kids asked for autographs. Friends and family gathered around. And there was just this buzz. I’ve tried to explain that feeling ever since.

If you’ve ever arrived at an arena early for a professional hockey game, you know it. You’re walking through the parking lot and people are everywhere. You get inside and the concourse is filling up. Music is playing. Everyone is waiting for something.

For the very first time, I felt that at our event.

The lobby and surrounding areas inside Peconic Ice Rinks were maxed out. And personally, I decided not to play in this one. Part of it was physical. After six straight days, my body was completely shot. But more than that, I wanted to watch. I wanted to take it all in.

While the players were getting dressed, I walked outside by myself for a few minutes. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.

People were waiting to get inside. Groups were standing around talking and eating. I’m pretty sure some were tailgating. Kids were running around and shooting pucks on the outdoor rink. Music was blasting from the speakers inside and outside. The main parking lot was completely full. The additional lot was full. Cars were parked out on Middle Country Road. I just stood there for a second and took it in.

This was it. This was the vision we’d had for years. And it was actually happening.

The Main Event

I went back inside and stood on the bench for warmups. Players came onto the ice from completely different parts of the hockey world. Former and current pros. NHL prospects and players. College players. Junior players. Local players. Friends who play recreational hockey. Ages ranged from 17 to 53. All on the same sheet. 

The coaches who had drafted these teams Wednesday night were now standing behind their benches. And I stood there watching the players warm up while, behind them, the crowd just kept piling in. People were standing rows deep. You could hear them. You could feel them. And I got emotional.

I thought about that first outdoor game eleven years ago. I thought about the kids who stood on that bench at that first event watching warmups. I thought about all the times over the years we wondered if this idea could become something bigger.

My eyes watered up standing on that bench. What can I say? Hockey does that to me. And apparently, this event does too.

Then the puck dropped. The game was electric. Crisp. Fast. Smooth. Tape-to-tape passes. Skill. Creativity. Pace. The way hockey should be played. Watching that collection of talent together on one sheet, right here on Long Island, was something special.

During the second intermission and ice cut, we announced our raffle and silent auction winners. Then Team BPE finished the night with the victory. But once again, what happened after the game may have told the story better than the scoreboard ever could. Kids and fans swarmed the players. Pictures. Autographs. Conversations. And the players stayed. They took the time. 

There was that buzz again. And those chills again.

An hour later, and eventually past midnight, many of those same professional and college players were still outside in the parking lot with friends and families, laughing and telling stories. Nobody seemed in a hurry to leave.

One More Day

Sunday brought another full schedule of ice and roller feature games, the Champion Impact youth Roller Game and Kids Vs Parents Dek Game, the DUHH Hockey ice mini-tournament, the 8U Peconic Wildcats vs Nassau Lions Exhibition Game, the 8U Peconic Wildcats vs The Dads Game, the FDNY/EMS vs LI Warriors Ice Game, and eventually the Peconic Ice Rinks Staff Game to close out the week.

And I can’t say enough about the staff at Peconic Ice Rinks. Some were working on the clock. Others weren’t. They simply came in and volunteered because they wanted to help. Because they care. They genuinely care.  There are some really good people there, and this event doesn’t happen without them.

The same can be said for the Peconic Hockey Foundation, our sponsors, vendors, food trucks, volunteers, players, coaches, families and everyone who contributed something - whether it was financial support, their time, an idea, a set of hands or simply showing up.

They Will. And They Do.

I remember preparing for our very first Hockey Is Hockey event eleven years ago. I remember wondering during that first event:

There's no trophy to win. This isn't a tournament or anything. Most people will only play one game all weekend. Will people actually enjoy something like this?

Will they understand what we’re trying to do?

Will they want to come back and do it again?

Eleven years later, I think we have our answer.

They will.

And they do.

Because ultimately, Hockey Is Hockey isn’t about who wins the games. It’s about the kid running around Draft Night trying to collect every autograph he can. It’s about an NHL player stopping in the lobby for 40 minutes because kids want to meet him. It’s Ed Westfall sitting at a draft table. It’s Keith Kinkaid fist-bumping 9-year-olds before their championship game. It’s players driving twenty minutes in half their equipment at 9:30 at night because the rain isn’t going to stop them from playing. It’s girls and women of all ages and skill levels sharing the same ice. It’s a recreational player sharing a locker room and players bench with NHL players and Olympians. It’s people still standing around a parking lot after midnight because nobody wants the night to end.

It’s the community. It’s the love of the game.

Every year, Hockey Is Hockey has grown a little. But HIH ’26 took a big leap. I’m incredibly proud of what happened here this past week. I’m proud of the people who helped build it, the people who believe in it and the hockey community that continues to embrace it. And after eleven years, somehow, it still feels like we’re just getting started.

Stay tuned for our 2027 dates and plans.

To everyone who was part of HIH ’26…

Thank you.

And to the game that gave us the friendships, the memories, the stories and the reason all of us came together in the first place…

Thank you, Hockey.

Whether you play the game in your sneakers, on wheels, or on the ice…

HOCKEY IS HOCKEY.

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