Reaves was driving force behind construction of outdoor ball hockey rink in North Las Vegas

© Eliot Schechter

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Ryan Reaves built it, and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition came on Thursday.

Reaves was the driving force behind the construction of an outdoor ball hockey rink at the James Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada on East Carey Avenue in North Las Vegas while he was a forward for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Coalition members visited the club, located in a community far from the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas Strip, to donate $20,000 on Reaves’ behalf. The donation will provide 10 Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada with street hockey equipment and staffing for two months of hockey programming. It will also allow for a 500-foot mural to be painted.

“It’s really special for us to see how the rink has come to life and given everyone an opportunity to play hockey and make friends,” Zach Whitecloud, a Vegas Golden Knights defenseman and coalition member, said to a gymnasium filled with children. “Although Ryan couldn’t be here today, it’s important for him to keep expanding hockey for the next generation.”

© William Douglas

Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada President and CEO Andy Bischel said the donation is the culmination of Reaves’ vision to bring a hockey facility and rink to a place that may not have otherwise gotten one.

“It’s his vision and his continued commitment,” Bischel said. “That’s an athlete putting action behind words.”

Reaves, a forward who played 49 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, couldn’t make it to the event on Thursday, but other members of the coalition were there in full force to conduct an indoor ball hockey clinic.

Toward the end of the session, Boys & Girls Club members took turns facing an All-Star roster of current and former NHL players and women’s professional players. They included Whitecloud, coalition co-chair and “NHL on TNT” analyst Anson Carter, co-chair and ESPN analyst P.K. Subban, Seattle Kraken television analyst JT Brown, former forward Georges Laraque, former forward Anthony Stewart, former defenseman Mark Fraser, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris, PWHL New York defenseman Abby Roque and four-time U.S. Olympic women’s team forward Julie Chu.

“It’s important to the growth of the game. And more importantly, the growth of the game is people becoming comfortable with the game, being able to resonate with the game, feeling apart of it,” Subban said. “I’m already seeing kids who didn’t know how to hold a hockey stick shooting the ball.”

© William Douglas

Jordan Dreen, a 14-year-old club member, said learning from and playing against professional players was a cool experience.

“It’s definitely a change of pace that I like,” Dreen said. “And the pros giving back to the community, I enjoyed it.”

After he put club members through their paces, Harris said he would like to follow Reaves’ example and eventually build a ball hockey rink in his community.

“It shows the impact you can have as a player on top of playing your sport,” said Harris, a Haverhill, Massachusetts native. “You can tell the impact it has on kids. All the kids are smiling, having a blast. To see how it’s done, it’s really inspiring, honestly.”