Firebirds players share why ‘Kids Day’ has special meaning
Coachella Valley Firebirds’ goalie Ales Stezka is one of five players on this year’s team who has children. His two kids play on the junior Firebirds youth hockey team that is playing this weekend in Arizona.
So, Stekza’s kids will not be in attendance Sunday during the team’s kids’ day. Other players say that their children will be among the thousands expected inside Acrisure Arena for the Firebirds’ game against the Colorado Eagles.
The game marks one of the more anticipated theme nights on the Firebirds’ schedule. The first 3,000 kids under 12 will receive a free “red alert” style Max McCormick jersey. The jersey is red and displays the Firebirds’ alternate logo, the palm tree, on the front and McCormick’s name and No. 17 on the back.
“I still remember, the first moment, watching the guys out on the ice when I was young,” said Stezka, who grew up watching hockey in the Czech Republic. “It’s a very emotional moment for me. We want to make those kind of moments for the kids here.”
Other Firebirds players with children include center Andrew Poturalski, blueliner Connor Carrick, forward Devin Shore and defenseman Gustav Olofsson. McCormick and his wife, Alexis, announced on social media that they are expecting a girl in June.
“It’s the biggest blessing being a father,” Shore said, “but then to just see the other kids who’ll be at the game on Sunday, I’ll probably appreciate it a lot more that I would have before I became a dad.”
While the crowds inside Acrisure Arena have been known to get loud since it opened on Dec. 14, 2022, players and head coach Dan Bylsma have noted multiple times that there’s a next level of energy that kids bring to the building.
Poturalski is one who said that he’s excited for his son to be a part of that on Sunday.
“Hopefully he can learn to appreciate the game and what I do,” Poturalski said. “It’s a fun energy with a lot of kids there. They play a come kids’ songs and it gets the crowd going and think it’ll make for a fun game.”