The Nashville Predators were best represented of all 10 NHL clubs at the 2008 Got Skills Nationals.
The Phoenix Coyotes were represented by 8 young hockey players from the Valley at a recent youth hockey championship in Boston.
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SCOTTSDALE, AZ, July 3, 2008- Boy, 9, represents Coyotes at Boston Event
by Charlie Jannetto - Jul. 3, 2008 10:46 AM
The Arizona Republic
SCOTTSDALE - A 9-year-old Scottsdale boy, along with seven other young hockey players from the Valley, represented the Phoenix Coyotes at a recent youth hockey championship in Boston.
Jacob Hotz, a fourth-grader at Cheyenne Traditional School in Scottsdale, was chosen by the Phoenix Coyotes after winning a competition held at Jobing.com Arena.
Jacob won the local goalie competition by letting the fewest number of pucks hit the net in a "shootout."
At 9 years old, Jacob is the youngest in his division, with some in the 'squirt' division as old as 13, his mother Laurie Hotz said.
Jacob started playing hockey nearly five years ago and is a member of the Coyotes Amateur Hockey Association at Scottsdale's Ice Den, 9375 E. Bell Road.
The Got Skills Competition brought young hockey players from around the nation to the Walter A. Brown Arena in Boston from last Friday through Sunday.
The annual invitational competition involves various skill tests in goaltending, shooting and skating.
The event benefits the Ace Bailey Children's Foundation, a charity group for hospitalized children named in honor of Ace Bailey, a professional hockey player that died aboard one of the hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001.