“With this, we get 54 kids stick to hockey and hopefully we have 54 U18 players at some point,” de la Garma said. “If we keep doing this every single year with the support of the Stars, eventually we’re going to get better players, more teams, more competition. So it’s super-important for Mexican hockey.
“It’s not only like just six Learn to Play practices. It’s a whole Dallas Stars experience and obviously Al is the one that his putting this together, obviously with the NHL Players Association.
“It’s awesome, growing the sport all over the world. When you are a celebrity, which NHL players are, it’s the best you can do to grow the sport to give back to the community, not only in your country, but worldwide. It’s just great all the things that Al is doing right now.
The Stars have ventured into Mexico to conduct Learn to Play programs since 2018, but they’re not the only NHL team trying to expand their territory into the country. The Vegas Golden Knights made their first trip in September 2024, sending team mascot Chance, members of the Viva Las Vegas cheerleading squad, the Knights Guard ice-cleaning crew and Spanish language broadcaster Jesus Lopez to Mexico City, Metepec and Monterrey for six days to hold ball and ice hockey clinics and host a fanfest.
The Los Angeles Kings first journeyed into Mexico in 2018 to conduct clinics and camps and have since established a partnership with Ice World Santa Fe, a rink in a Mexico City shopping mall.
So which franchise is winning the battle to become “Mexico’s Team“?
“Hockey’s winning,” Montoya said diplomatically. “Everybody’s winning. There’s enough hockey to go around, and the more people are talking about it, I think it’s great. The people that come away winning is the Mexican community.”
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