The NHL made a pit stop in Port Washington on Dec. 12. ESPN started a new ad campaign and featured the Port Washington Youth Roller Travel Hockey Team. The "Kings" who are currently playing at Hotskates in Lynbrook had an exclusive photo shoot at St. Peters posing with the Stanley Cup. As the players filed into the room you could see their eyes open and light up. ESPN will be featuring Port's Team in January's edition of ESPN the magazine. In addition to this, the boys appeared on Cablevision News Channel 12 with interviews of goalie Marko Ristic, center Eric Lewis and defenseman Shane Higgins. Additional entities picked up the event off the AP wire and Nassau County Newsday is also running a feature article in its Sunday edition.

It was the thrill of a lifetime for the young hockey players, whose dads didn't mind seeing the cup either. The team recently played its first game skating to a 5-5 tie in Lynbrook. Shane Higgins scored and Eric Lewis had two goals and an assist. Corey Gottfried, John O'Badia, Johnny O'Reilly and Mike Greenberg played inspirational hockey. Anchoring the defense was Steven Cibants, Gregory Martinek, Danny Grossman, Matt Siegel and Alex Kreichman. Marko Ristic played great between the pipes.

Port's hockey program has begun to develop into a true force as another PW team last year won the Skate Safe 10 and under championship along with strong second place finishes in a tough Whitestone Queens tournament. All the players come from our town league in Port, and players are able to play just locally or Island-wide. Any players interested in joining should contact John Lewis through PYA as we will start a new league in March, as well as new travel and tournament teams.