The Arizona Coyotes kick off a tour Thursday hoping to get kids in the Valley interested in hockey.
The goal is to boost the number of child hockey fans in Phoenix. The 25-stop tour is part of a larger program the Coyotes developed to increase popularity of the sport in Arizona.
Coyotes marketing director Amy Dimond said the Valley is unique because a lot of local hockey fans come from other areas.
"We just want to try to bring that to as many of these youth as possible and let them have the same experience their parents did in getting to grow up with professional hockey right in their backyard,” Dimond said.
She said the Coyotes embrace the difficulty of getting kids interested in a sport made for cooler temperatures.
"We play hockey in the desert; we’re not your dad’s original six, and I think if you look at our brand campaign, we’ve really highlighted that. We don’t apologize for that,” Dimond said.
The tour focuses on digital experiences like personalized draft cards for kids and a virtual slapshot.
The program starts in Glendale and continues through May 2016.
