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04/06/09
By Gary
Herron
By Gary Herron
Sports Editor
Published on Saturday, April 4, 2009 2:04 pm MDT
Rio Rancho Observer
Peter Ambroziak knows hockey.
Peter
Ambroziak, former Scorpions player and all-time leader in games
played, points and goals scored. Ambroziak will now be the Head
Coach of the New Mexico Renegades Junior A Hockey Team.
Ambroziak, in fact, loves hockey, and it’s that passion that’s
fueling his latest venture into the game he grew up with in Canada.
Ambroziak and his wife, Mary Ann, of Rio Rancho have purchased a
partnership in a junior hockey team that competes in the Western
States Hockey League and will play its 2009-10 season home games at
Blades Multiplex Arenas in Rio Rancho. The
Texas Renegades,
who played their home games at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North
Richland Hills, Texas, will now be called the
New Mexico Renegades.
The Renegades played previously as the Cajun Catahoulas in
Lafayette, La., when the WSHL expanded from seven to a dozen teams
before the 2005-06 season, then moved to the Fort Worth area in time
for the 2008-09 season.
The Renegades (12-37) finished in fifth place in the just-completed
season and were one of three teams to miss out on the playoffs.
The WSHL began in 1994 with its six teams — Anaheim Junior Ducks
(Arrowhead, Calif.), Arizona Bandits (Phoenix), Las Vegas Junior
Aces (Nev.), San Jose Junior Sharks (Calif.), Utah Lightning (Salt
Lake City) and Ventura Mariners (Simi Valley, Calif.) — playing a
30-game season.
The New Mexico Ice Breakers, who played their home games at Outpost
Ice Arena in the foothills of the Sandias, were league members from
1996-2001.
Ambroziak, still the all-time leader in games played and goals
scored for the New Mexico Scorpions, for whom he played from 1999 to
2004, was an assistant coach for the Scorps this past season. His
retired No. 12 jersey hangs in the Santa Ana Star Center rafters,
brought here from Tingley Coliseum, where the team played its home
games when Ambroziak played.
Ambroziak said he enjoyed his stint behind the bench for home games.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “It was nice in a sense I was on a
volunteer basis; I could come and go. It was great to watch what
(head coach and former teammate Randy Murphy) does, learn from what
he’s been doing over the last few years.
“It was a role where I looked after the defense. I was able to give
any suggestions or tips to the forwards. I knew when Randy needed to
express something, I’d stay back,” he said. “If a player had a bad
shift or did something wrong, I’d be the guy who’d pat him no the
back, say don’t worry about that, let’s do this. We complemented
each other very well; he’s a positive guy.”
Ambroziak said it takes a special breed to make the transition from
player to coach, which he believes he can do. He has coached youth
teams in the past, including one with his teenage son Jake on its
roster, and run a few hockey schools.
“You have to have been strong at a lot of things but not outstanding
at scoring goals,” he said. “Players (who later coach) need to be
teachable and learn from their coaches, absorb from all their
coaches in previous years, and find a way to explain it or show it
to the team he’s coaching. From playing youth hockey all the way
through to my last year with the Scorpions, I’d say I’ve had
two-dozen coaches.”
Ambroziak played on nine teams in his 13-year professional career,
cut short by too many concussions.
Ambroziak said he’ll borrow coaching techniques from some top-notch
youth coaches he had, as well as the coaches he played for with the
Scorpions: Tony Martino, Pat Dunn and Bill McDonald.
This time behind the bench, Ambroziak will be working with young
men, ranging in age from 18 to 20.
This year’s Renegades came from Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina,
Arizona, Kentucky, Scotland and Alberta, Canada. Some of this year’s
players will be on the new team, he said, but there will be tryouts
coming up in June.
“I think we have enough talent in this town and we can put three or
four on the team,” he said.
Blades will undergo renovations in May, and Ambroziak said the
seating configuration would mean a capacity of 450 fans for home
games.
Season tickets — the team will play 22 games at Blades, 22 on the
road — will cost $99 to $139, and there will be “glass seats,” close
to the action, plus season tickets available for $69 if the buyer is
in a local youth hockey program.
“It’s very affordable,” Ambroziak said, knowing it might not be a
good business move.
“It’s not in competition with the Scorpions in any way,” he
explained. “I think it’s a different product. People can see youth
that are trying to move on, play for scholarships — it’s everything
good about hockey.
“I’m doing this because I love the game,” he continued. “I think
juniors is where I’ve always wanted to coach. Obviously, we want to
make this juniors team a success, not make millions, because that’s
not going to happen.”
Ambroziak envisions an open camp June 6-7 for about 40 hopefuls,
including New Mexico players. An invitation-only camp will be held
in August. The season runs from September-February.
“We’ll play only on weekends,” he said. The nice thing is we’re in
the Midwest Division.”
This past season’s Midwest Division also had teams in Westminster,
Colo.; Tulsa, and Addison, El Paso and San Antonio.
“I want to build a youth program that is strong and can compete with
teams in Colorado and Arizona. Our youth program has been struggling
to take that next step, maybe even get some more kids interested in
doing it,” he said. “My main goal is helping the kids. I’m
passionate about it — my wife is passionate about it.
“This could really work,” he said. “We’re trying to get the
community involved, looking for community sponsors.”
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