Those joining the children for the day of celebration included New Jersey Devils alumni, NHL executives, City officials and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
“In any city, public spaces are so important to bring people together and sports is an integral part of that concept,” Bhalla said. “When you can bring people together in public places along with sports, especially youth sports, kids will learn to grow, it’ll foster relationships, it’ll teach life skills that they’ll take with them for the rest of their lives.”
Among the improvements included tearing out the old boarding, fencing and netting, patching the concrete flooring, installing new concrete flooring with new boards, fencing and netting systems, a new Mateflex Flooring showcasing the Devils and Hoboken logos and new signage along the boards and panels.
“Three years ago this rink was in tough shape. Kids were getting injured and it was a hard place to have fun,” Frechette said. “In partnership with the NHL and NHLPA we submitted for an IGF Grant (Industry Growth Fund). We were successful and our youth hockey squad worked with the City of Hoboken to work through the construction, renovation and permitting phases that needed to be done. So here we are today having this fabulous clinic for a bunch of kids on a really sweet ball hockey court.”
Part of the funding provided equipment to run hockey programs on the new rink. With over 100 sign-ups already for ball hockey programs on the new surface, the Devils and Hoboken are working to build a new foundation of hockey in the community and continue to grow the game.
“It’s a really special thing not just for Hoboken,” Mayor Bhalla said, “but for the youth of Hoboken to make sure that they have an opportunity to recreate, to get together, to play, to compete, to grow, to collaborate, to build friendships that’ll last a lifetime. This is a really special day for Hoboken and for ball hockey.”
The rink was named after community icon Johnny Ray McDonald Jr. Though he passed away, his legacy will live on as well as his passion for teaching the game of hockey to the next generation. A plaque hangs in his honor at the rink.
“He was an icon in our community,” Mayor Bhalla said of 'Diddle.' “In his honor, this is a coming together of our community to introduce, amplify and elevate ball hockey to make sure people can come together, stay active, recreate and really bring our community forward.”
And Hoboken is only the beginning. With the partnership with the NHL, NHLPA and the Industry Growth Fund, the Devils plan to grow up to eight other host sites by the summer of 2026, impacting other local communities.
“The best part of my job is when I see a project come to fruition and complete that I know my team has worked really, really hard on in partnership with other people in our hockey family,” Frechette said. “I say hockey family because the League is really important. The NHL supports us a lot, the NHLPA supports us a lot. Truly, it takes a village to pull off today.
“When we have kids, their enthusiasm and excitement is infectious. That’s why we’re here. We’re meant to grow the game, we’re meant to nurture our fanbase and we’re meant to all rally around the New Jersey Devils and today you can see that happening.”
