Publisher Brian McDonough Frequency Monthly First issue September, 2006 | Categories Sports magazine Publisher Goodsport Media Company Goodsport Media | |
Arizona Rubber hockey magazine is a monthly magazine serving Arizona. First published in Sept. 2006, the magazine is distributed at every rink in the state, including Jobing.com Arena, home of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes. Its coverage focuses largely on the youth hockey scene, including junior hockey in the state (the Phoenix Polar Bears), midget hockey (the P.F. Chang's and Mission AZ Ice programs), as well as other youth associations, such as the Arizona High School Hockey Association.
Contents
The magazine, which calls itself "The Desert's Authoritative Voice of Ice and Inline Hockey," also has an online product which publishes daily updates, ArizonaRubber.com.
Staff
Editor & Publisher
Brian McDonough - Publisher
Brett Fera - Editor
Ryan Casey - Director of New Media (Online)
Contributors
Brett Fera - Cover story, Midgets, General
Ryan Casey - Coyotes/Junior hockey
Coverage
The magazine by and large covers the youth scene, but also covers the state's NHL franchise, the Phoenix Coyotes.
Still, a major focus during the year are the local associations. The magazine and online product covered the local high school season from start to finish. It also reports on alumni of associations/local teams, features current youth players, goes in-depth on the inline hockey scene, and features commentaries from hockey personalities from around the state.
In March, the online product broke the news the ECHL's Phoenix RoadRunners would fold.
After the Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated from playoff contention in the 2009 season, the magazine also ran a story in its May issue on the offseason ahead for the franchise: Coyotes were 'probably too young' to make postseason. That project was expanded to a three-part series online: What Went Wrong?, The Draft and The Future.
All-State teams
As part of its on-going push to make youth hockey more of a focus, the magazine put out All-State teams this season for the ice and inline high school associations, as well as the youth inline association.
Arizona Rubber's Arizona High School Hockey Association Varsity A All-State teams were released on March 11, with first-, second- and third-teams compiled, as well as honorable mention. Earlier that day, the magazine named Cameron Morgan of Pinnacle High School its first-ever Player of the Year for the division. The magazine released the Varsity B teams on May 7; Cactus Shadows High School's Nic Spinasanta was named Player of the Year.
Then, in late May, the inline teams were released. Players of the year were Michael Gonzalez of Foothills (District), and Levi Wallace of Prescott High School (Varsity), respectively.
Scholarships and Contests
The magazine recently named three winners of a scholarship it sponsored: Scottsdale's Carsen Stringer, Prescott's Connor McShane and Phoenix's Ben Berey each were honored.
The ongoing contest is a chance for local teams to be on the cover of an upcoming issue with the Phoenix Coyotes' Kyle Turris. The contest, called Win A Cover With Kyle! asks teams to submit their entries by detailing all their charity work during the season.
Online
Arizona Rubber has made forays into social media, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.