“The parents are ecstatic and the kids are having a blast,” said Jeremy Rogers, the assistant general manager for the Columbus-based Chiller. “We’ve got a long ways to go to catch up experience-wise, but everyone is having a ball so far.”
Springfield’s organization is the first and only recreational team to use the nickname, Rogers said. The team signed off on both the name and the logo, he said.
“It’s such a cool tie-in for the kids,” Rogers said.
The other Chiller rinks have their own mascot names, Rogers said. The Dublin-based Columbus Chill Youth Association and the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets — the highest level of travel hockey — also use the NHL team’s moniker.
The organization has two teams and 30 players, Rogers said. The Mite team features 7- and 8-year-old players, while players on the Squirt team range in age from 9 to 12.
“We were hoping for about 30 kids for the first year and we achieved that,” Rogers siad. “It’s a pretty good starting point.”
The first games at the Chiller were held last weekend against the Easton Youth Hockey Association, which skates at a Chiller-based rink in northeast Columbus.
The team is also sponsored by Yellow Springs-based BrickForge MiniFig Accessories, which creates custom accessories for Lego products. Business owner and Mad River Twp. resident Kyle Peterson’s son, Merrick, 10, is a Springfield Blue
Jackets player.
“The kids absolutely love it,” Kyle Peterson said. “They’re getting a lot of great exercise. They’re learning some wonderful skills — challenging skills, I might add — and they’re making some good friendships with their teammates.”
The experience is new for both the players and the parents, said Springfield resident Scott Rupp. His son, Andrew, 8, is on the Mite team.
“I like coming down here and watching the kids play,” Rupp said. “Everything they’re doing here is pretty awesome.”
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