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Canfield hosting 2nd alumni tournament

The Canfield hockey program is hosting its second alumni fundraising tournament on Saturday at Deep Freeze Arena in Boardman.

Eight teams, four of which are all Canfield alumni, are hitting the ice to raise funds for the Cardinal hockey program.

One of the other teams is this past season’s Canfield squad, led by now-graduate Matt Scolieri. The other three teams are from area adult league teams.

“Last year was the trial run,” current Cardinals coach Steve Covelli said. “There were players and coaches from 20 years ago that came to us. It was nice, especially for me. I got to meet the first coach here (at Canfield). He came to the game and was proud of what (the program) is now and he was one of the guys who started it. We’ve got guys coming in from Canada, Georgia, New Jersey, New York coming in to play some hockey.”

This serves as the main fundraiser for the Canfield program. It’s not a cheap sport, so events like this are crucial for the Cardinals.

A few local businesses have chipped in with fundraising over the years, most recently helping the team get new jerseys.

Things like jerseys and gear have an on-ice benefit as well. To Covelli, there’s a “look good, feel good” aspect.

That being said, Canfield’s rink, the Deep Freeze Ice Arena, was recently purchased by the Youngstown Phantoms’ ownership group. Improvements are currently being made and the Cardinals will be able to reap the benefits of them this fall.

“The young man who is in charge is communicating well with us,” Covelli said. “I hear we’re going to have a better ice surface, they’re going to spruce it up a little bit. It’s needed some some TLC and this group is going to do that. They’re going to clean up the locker rooms. They’re going to make the scoreboard better.

That’s another thing that adds onto Covelli’s point. He thinks the better facilities may give an added mental boost to the players and that the mental boost will give way to better on-ice results.

“It’s funny how that stuff transforms into the players,” Covelli said. “They have a feeling of a little bit of swagger walking in now and that just translates to the ice. It’s contagious.

“Those are all new jerseys, new pants, new socks, new gloves. For 19 years it was just a silk-screened sweater. Now they’re regular Adidas NHL jerseys. These kids feel like ‘Now, we’re a team’ and the rink does the same thing.”

Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and the first puck drop is set for 8 a.m. Spectators are admitted for free. Food and beverages will be available as well as a live band, cornhole tournament, multiple basket raffles, as well as a 50/50 drawing. The championship game at the end of the tournament is set to start at 4:45.

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