PHOENIX — It's been six months since the former Arizona Coyotes moved to Utah and the transition hasn't been seamless for youth hockey leagues left behind.
The long-term impact of the professional hockey team leaving the Valley remains to be seen, but some people associated with youth hockey programs feel the short-term effects are becoming costly.
"Everyone has a reason to be here," Taylor Nelson, an Arizona Kachina, said.
The 14-year-old hockey player told 12News that sportsmanship and comradery keep her on the ice.
“I enjoy hockey a lot," Nelson said. "It’s fun and it’s a way to make friends.”
The Arizona Kachinas is the only girls' youth hockey organization in the state, according to Coach Lindsey Fry.
“We know this is not the most popular sport in the desert. In my opinion, it should be," Fry said.
Fry said there has been some uncertainty about the future of the sport ever since the Coyotes moved to Utah last April.
“There’s been a lot of question marks this summer trying to figure out how is the hockey community going to navigate it, and it’s certainly not just our program with the girls, it’s every program," Fry said.
The Coyotes didn't fund the Kachinas, but Fry said the Coyotes' attention to youth hockey paid off.
“Being with the Coyotes was really nice just to get that marketing support, to get the event support, whatever it was, being able to do 50/50 raffles at the Coyotes games," Fry said.
Without the team, the youth organizations now have to get creative and find new ways to market their team and raise money.
Plus, having a home team to root for drew players to the sport.
“That is the biggest thing, is our ecosystem, it’s strong right now, but if we were to lose a rink in the state, it would be absolutely devastating," Fry said. "So, we all need to work together to make sure that we constantly have not just new hockey players, but new people that want to come in.”
The players who are here said they don't plan on going anywhere.
"No, not at all," Nelson said.
Fry has no doubt Arizona's hockey community will skate through these hard times.
“We want to make sure we learn from history and we do it the right way and hopefully eventually we have an NHL team back here," Fry said.