Valley Stream ice hockey team hosts community day

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Sounds of skates gliding across the ice and sticks battling for pucks filled the air at Grant Park on Jan. 10, as players from a growing ice hockey league in Valley Stream faced-off in a scrimmage to celebrate the addition of a new varsity team.

“There’s nothing like varsity hockey,” said Pete Mastrota, one of the middle school team’s coaches. “It’s kind of been the big goal. So when that happened this year — when we were finally able to get a varsity team going — that was kind of the big picture. We’re really excited about it.”

The Valley Stream District Hockey Club has two teams, a middle school squad (grades six through eight) and a varsity club (grades nine through 12), which include players from all four schools in the Central High School District. Mastrota said that going forward, the teams would be called the Valley Stream Eagles — a reference to the neighborhood’s hockey teams from the 1970s.

Though players must be residents of the district to play for the club, it is self-funded and isn’t affiliated with the schools. Mastrota said the goal is for the league to thrive enough to warrant funding from the high schools, which is why they are looking to raise awareness about the team.

“We just wanted to showcase what we’re all about,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t know that we had a hockey team. I think there’s a good vibe here.”

Mastrota said he helped establish the hockey club with president Rick Dominique three years ago because they were frustrated their children didn’t have a place to play. They also wanted to provide student athletes a cheaper alternative to travel teams.

“One of the best moments was when we got our jerseys the first day,” Mastrota said. “To actually have a red and green jersey with ‘Valley Stream’ written across it, it was special.”

The action was fast and furious when the skaters hit the ice for the scrimmage. Players from North and South high schools were split into different teams, while those who attend Memorial Junior High and the Central High School were distributed evenly to both sides.

Every three minutes, the varsity players rotated out and the middle school teams hopped on the ice. The friendly exhibition was filled with back-and-forth action and ended in a 2-2 tie. After the game, friends and family members of the players and coaches took the ice to skate around and the hockey club covered the expense of the skate rentals.

For Nick Casalo, the alternate captain of the varsity team, the afternoon was a day to finally celebrate being able to play for his hometown.

“It’s cool to be able to actually represent my team,” he said. “A guy like me, I don’t play other sports. So to be able to finally represent my school, it’s pretty cool.”