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Former N.Y. Rangers Brian Mullen, Nick Fotiu and Adam Graves are joined by Rangers TV personality John Giannone during a youth hockey forum. New York City emphasizing proper technique in skating, puck-handling and passing. As a native New Yorker who went on to play 832 games in the NHL, including four seasons with the Rangers from 1987 to 1991, Mullen can certainly appreciate what it means for the team to be actively involved in growing the game in New York. "It's fantastic," Mullen said of the Try Hockey event. "It's something near and dear to my heart because growing up in New York, there weren't many programs, and to see all these programs popping up with USA Hockey and the Rangers, we're getting inner-city kids involved, and it's a great event." East section of USA Hockey's New York District, the involvement of the Rangers is key to the success of programs that aspire to grow hockey in the metropolitan area. "When we have events, we have a good turnout of kids," Scannapieco said, "but when they hear the Rangers are hosting, you really get them to come out in droves because it is the Rangers." For Ralph Scannapieco, president of the game of hockey can be a little foreign, but he's happy to help build enthu- siasm around the Rangers and the sport wherever he can. "It's great for the game," said Stepan, who hosted an autograph signing as part of the Rangers' Hockey Weekend Across America activities. "Being in Minnesota, we were always surrounded with hockey, but to be able to spread that out a little, it's great for the state of New York to get more involved in hockey." And if Stepan and his Rangers teammates can continue their remarkable season with a deep playoff run this spring, the growth of the sport will only increase. SATURDAY NIGHT Uniondale, N.Y. this one, as the Rangers have stormed to the top of the Eastern Conference, highlighted by a win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 2 in the NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. "I think what emerges from this team, doing all the winning that they have, they've built up this attitude where they hate to lose," said Rangers color commentator Joe Micheletti. That effect is exaggerated in a year like There are plenty of youth hockey players in the crowd at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum when Kyle Okposo scores to put the Islanders ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. However, if you want to see the Islanders' efforts to grow hockey on Long Island, you'd be best off looking some 500 miles north of the team's home in Uniondale. tling the Hurricanes, the Junior Islanders are at the prestigious Quebec Peewee While Okposo and his teammates are bat- Uniondale, N.Y. "I think that through that, you see the growth of some of these young players, like [Derek] Stepan, and [Michael] Del Zotto at 21, and [Ryan] McDonagh at 21. I think that as a young player, you see that these guys worked at college or played Junior hockey. For young kids that are watching, it sends a message. Everything has been so positive that it's had a trickle-down effect on every- body else." For Stepan, who grew up in Hastings, Minn., the idea of needing to grow the 24 APRIL/MAY.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM at Harvard University, where he scored five goals and assisted on 21 more during the regular season. A fourth-round selec- tion of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, McNally is also a prod- uct of the Junior Islanders, and remembers the experience being very influential on his development as a player. "That McNally said of his own Quebec Peewee Tournament. "It was one of the greatest weeks of my life, and it helped me love hockey even more than I already did." Encouraged by his time as a Junior Islander, McNally's was an amazing experience," brought him to one of America's most pres- tigious universities, with a promising pro hockey career ahead of him. All over the New York metropolitan area, love of hockey has Tournament. Coached by for- mer Islanders winger Benoit Hogue, the team is a reg- ular participant in the "World Championship of Pee-Wee Hockey," and although the Junior Islanders are young, there are great things in their future. Just ask Patrick McNally. A native of Glen Head, N.Y., McNally is in his freshman season the Rangers, Islanders and Devils are working to forge new hockey dreams. Whether it's for a weekend, a season or a lifetime, who knows where those dreams might one day lead? N Elliot Olshansky is a freelance writer based in Hartsdale, N.Y. The support that the N.Y. Islanders have provided to youth hockey on Long Island is evident in the number of talented players who hail from the area. PHOTOS COURTESY OF New York Rangers; New York Islanders