Hockey fan shoots, scores as coach

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - Dave Weaver dreamed of being a professional ice hockey player, but he’s found what he calls his perfect job.

“I love ice hockey, and I love to teach the sport. I want to instill that passion in the kids that come through. This is the perfect place for me,” said Weaver, manager/hockey coach at Galactic Ice, Altoona.

Weaver, 40, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn., started playing hockey at age 8, after his family moved to Kennett Square, when he was 6.

Weaver graduated from Unionville High School in 1991 and went to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire for a year, before enrolling at Hamilton College. At Hamilton, he played one year of hockey before hanging up his skates to become a broadcaster for the school’s hockey games.

“While I was broadcasting the games, I realized I liked the broadcasting field. I applied to broadcasting schools, and that is how I ended up at Brown (Institute of Broadcasting),” said Weaver, who now lives in Hollidaysburg.

After graduating from broadcasting school, Weaver accepted a radio job in Clearfield and stayed there for six months before coming to Altoona to work at WRTA-AM as news director and talk show host.

He took his “dream job” at Galactic Ice in 2003.

In 2004, Weaver and Sean McTighe, hockey director in Johnstown, started the Mid-State Mustangs hockey team, which has gone on to win eight consecutive MidAm Western Pennsylvania state championships.

The Mustangs U18 team recently captured its second consecutive national championship by defeating Littleton Hawk of Colorado 4-1 in the championship finals in Troy, Mich. The Mustangs finished 6-0 in the tournament.

“It is surreal. I don’t know if it has hit me yet. It was an incredible experience and an incredible ride,” Weaver said upon returning home.

Winning a national championship is an incredible feeling, Weaver said.

“It was awesome watching the kids celebrate, celebrating something they will never forget,” Weaver said.

Job has many facets

Coaching is just part of Weaver’s job.

“I am the hockey director. I don’t separate the jobs,” Weaver said. “Part of my job is coaching. I coach all different levels. I help the younger kids. I run the learn-to-skate program. I am responsible for anything that goes on the ice including birthday parties - anything that goes on within the ice.”

However, Weaver admits he is probably best known as coach of the Mustangs.

“Dave is great for the kids; he’s a coach and a mentor. He is driven. His goal for those kids is to get to the nationals every year now,” said Ken Koronowski, founder of the Altoona Area Youth Hockey Association.

“The kids call him now. With the reputation he has built, they are coming after him. Parents want their kids to play for Dave; that tells you about his character. The kids want to play for him, and the parents want them to play for him.”

One of the highlights of Weaver’s coaching career was the opportunity to coach his stepson, Sam Lafferty, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014.

“I’ve coached Sam since he was 5 years old. For me to have any player get drafted out of Blair County was amazing; to be my stepson was special. What I saw was a gifted athlete who has tremendous drive and unbelievable desire. Where that would lead him, I had no idea. I knew there was something special,” Weaver said.

Weaver said local interest in hockey continues to grow.

“It has grown every year and has become much bigger as years have gone by. As we get more and more publicity, more and more kids get interested. We have 60 kids in our in-house program, kids under 8. I have seen significant growth in hockey interest since I have been here,” Weaver said.

Weaver said the biggest challenge is to get the word out that hockey is an affordable sport and a great game.

Local culture changing

“The biggest challenge is getting the kids, the fear factor of parents not understanding the sport. People here grew up with a basketball and football culture. There is not a culture of hockey here. We are seeing the culture start to change,” Weaver said. “There is a notion you have to be rich to play the game. We have people here from all walks of life who love ice hockey. We have to get the word out. Once they experience hockey, they will be in love with it for a long time. Once they put the equipment on and play a game, 99 percent of them stay with it.”

Weaver tells kids that hockey is a great game.

“You get great exercise. You get to play a different sport and have a ball at the same time,” Weaver said. “It incorporates many facets of being a good athlete. You have to skate to play. It is physically demanding. You have to be tough. You have to have great endurance and eye-to-hand coordination to play. It is a team sport in the truest sense of the word. It takes a complete athlete to be a good player.”

Weaver said he has no plans to leave his job at Galactic Ice.

“I don’t have any plans of going anywhere. I love to come to work every day and get on the ice with the kids. There are challenges every day. This is a place I want to be. I can’t see myself anywhere else,” Weaver said. “Hockey has meant so much to me. It has been my absolute passion. I have loved the sport as long as I can remember. It is fulfilling for me to do something I am so passionate about. It is just perfect.”

___

Online:

https://bit.ly/1O6HUT5

___

Information from: Altoona Mirror, https://www.altoonamirror.com