skip navigation

Sharpen your skates – Welcome Back Week is here!

By USA Hockey, 09/21/17, 6:30AM MDT

Share

Summer was nice, but we’ve all missed the ice. Fortunately, the wait is over. It’s Welcome Back Week for hockey players nationwide.

From Sept. 18-24, 2017, USA Hockey is celebrating hockey’s opening week and extending a warm invitation for players to rejoin us at the rink for another great season.

As the game’s national governing body and the endorsed player-development program of the NHL, United States Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation, USA Hockey offers everyone a place to play, love and excel. Last season, a record number of players – 555,175 – answered that call in the United States. It marked the fourth straight season of increasing American participation.

And speaking of calls, youth hockey players throughout the nation recently received a personal invitation from USA Hockey and some of its biggest stars, who were working the phones prior to Welcome Back Week. It was a special start to what is sure to be a special season, with the Winter Olympics and Paralympics mere months away. Before that, USA Hockey will host annual events like IIHF Girls Hockey Weekend (Oct. 7-8, 2017) and its national Try Hockey For Free Day (Nov. 4, 2017).

Going for gold will be the theme when the calendar turns, with the U.S. National Junior Team defending its gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Dec. 26, 2017-Jan. 5, 2018) on home soil in Buffalo, New York. February will welcome the Winter Olympics and the 13th annual Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey National Championships in Eagle River, Wisconsin (Feb. 9-11, 2018). March begins with USA Hockey’s second nationwide Try Hockey For Free Day of the season (March 3, 2018) and the 2018 Winter Paralympics following closely in PyeongChang, South Korea, from March 8-18, 2018. After that, it’ll be April and USA Hockey Nationals for youth, girls, sled and adult hockey at sites across the country.

“We're always eager to get back on the ice this time of year, whether it’s coaching our kids or playing or both,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “It’s a great time of year, remembering the excitement of our own first steps on the ice and everyone who helped us take those first steps. We get to return the favor with a new generation of American players every September, and that’s what Welcome Back Week is all about.”

Youth Hockey Home

Recent News

Michigan Womens's Ice Hockey Team - by Nolan Bona
  • The Game Lives On

  • By Clara Boudette 03/13/2024, 10:15am MDT
  • The University of Michigan Women’s Ice Hockey Team Embraces Domestic & Global Opportunities American College Hockey Association Provides
  • Read More
The Lady Duck "We Play Her Way" program smiles for a photograph on the ice.
Group Picture of the adaptive hockey on-ice event. They are wearing Victory Green Dallas Stars jerseys and black and orange jerseys as they pose for a picture on the ice.
A young boy, in a black Bauer helmet and a navy USA Hockey/NHL jersey sits on the ice and smiles during Try Hockey For Free Day
The Grow Colorado Goalies clinic takes a group photo, with coaches and young goaltenders on the ice.
The Irish Youth Hockey League hosting a Try Hockey For Free Event. Young girls on the ice pose for a photograph after the event.