Dek hockey returns to Latrobe with new rink at Legion Keener Park

Brothers Tripp, 6, and Deekin Nolan, 5, hit the dek Saturday morning to brush up on their hockey skills.

They were among about 20 area kids who got to try out the new Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation dek hockey rink that had its grand opening at Legion Keener Park in Latrobe.

The facility was welcomed by enthusiasts of the sport, who for the past several years have had to travel to play at the Peach Plaza dek rink at Twin Lakes Park east of Greensburg. An initial Latrobe rink was developed in 1993 at the Old Athletic Field along Lincoln Avenue, but that site was sold in 2017 to make way for construction of Latrobe Elementary School.

“When they started building this, it was a dream come true,” Latrobe resident Ryan Nolan said of the new Legion Keener rink. The father of the two parks-and-recreation players, he’s also a volunteer coach for the program.

“Over the past two years, when they went to Peach Plaza, they fell in love with it,” Nolan said of his sons. “I wanted them to play a really good sport and interact with other kids. I found this program, and they love it.”

“I think it’s going to help grow the program,” Justin Cottrell of Saltsburg said. His sons, Julian, 6, and Landon, 5, joined the program in the past spring season.

“I think when you have new stuff like this, it really gets the kids excited,” Cottrell said. “I think they’re really ready to go.”

No tax dollars were tapped to create the new dek hockey rink, said Craig Shevchik, director of the Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation.

Near the Legion Keener tennis and pickle ball courts, the $1.1 million facility received funding support from a number of individual donors and several area organizations, including the McFeely-Rogers Foundation, The Latrobe Foundation, Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation and Richard King Mellon Foundation.

The rink represents an upgrade from the previous version. It features LED lighting, an updated scoreboard, bleachers for spectators and a building that houses a concession stand and restrooms.

In addition to serving the hockey rink during the program’s spring and fall seasons, the restrooms will be open year-round for those using the park’s walking path.

As part of the project, the park has expanded through demolition of residential structures on five neighboring properties.

“We redid that whole south side of the park,” Shevchik said. “It’s an exciting day for us.”

Planning for the new hockey rink began in 2018, but its completion was delayed by the covid-19 pandemic and related supply-chain issues.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation is assisting the Latrobe dek hockey program with marketing and promotional support.

Representing the Penguins at Saturday’s dek hockey rink debut were the team’s Iceburgh mascot and Jaden Lindo, manager of community hockey programs. Lindo played minor league and college hockey in his native Canada and was a sixth-round Penguins draft pick in 2014 .

Joining the rec program’s volunteer coaches, Lindo helped inaugurate the Latrobe rink by leading the young players through exercises in stick-handling and other game skills. The players participated in some competitive face-offs and took turns shooting for goals with small balls instead of traditional hockey pucks.

“We want to be able to help provide kids the opportunity to play the game of hockey, whether it’s in an ice format or ball hockey format,” Lindo said. ”There’s an opportunity here for them to come out, enjoy themselves, run around and be physically active, but also enjoy the game of hockey with their friends and families.”

Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation has hired Sam Brink of Indiana County to serve as its dek hockey coordinator.

A Saltsburg native, Brink grew up playing dek hockey as well as ice hockey for a Murrysville team. He has coached youth hockey teams in Indiana and Allegheny counties and earned a sports management degree in 2022 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“I hope that we can rebuild the (Greater Latrobe rec) program back to what it was,” Brink said, “maybe get a travel team going.”

Before the rec program lost use of the previous Latrobe dek hockey rink, it had attracted about 300 young players up to age 16.

“Many believe the dek hockey program contributed to the success of ice hockey at the (Greater Latrobe) high school,” said Richard Okonak, vice president of the McFeely-Rogers Foundation. Greater Latrobe hockey players captured state championship titles in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013.

The dek hockey program scaled back with the move to Peach Plaza, focusing primarily on younger kids, ages 4-6.

“Our first step is to get participation up, get the energy going around dek hockey and get healthy in-house,” Shevchik said. “Then we can venture off into travel hockey.”