Color of Hockey: Montoya, Stars helping to build game in Mexico

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Al Montoya, Dallas Stars vice president of cultural growth and strategy and retired NHL goalie who is helping support a Stars Learn to Play program in Mexico City with grants through his membership in the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition.

The Dallas Stars continued their outreach and mission to expand their brand in Mexico recently, with an assist from Al Montoya.

Montoya, the Stars’ vice president of cultural growth and strategy and retired NHL goalie , was helping to sign in kids and lacing up their skates for the first session of the six-week Dallas Stars Learn to Play – Mexico City Spring 2025 program at the semi-enclosed La Pista Coyoacan rink on a sweltering hot morning April 20.

“The weather’s hot, it’s an outdoor rink with a tarp over it ... the science behind how this rink works, and it works throughout the whole summer and it’s full, I have no idea,” he said. “Lucky that it’s there and we were able to use it.”

About 54 boys and girls ages 4 to 10 signed up for the program and for $49 (U.S.) received head-to-toe equipment and instruction for the first session from Stars director of hockey development Dwight Mullins, assistant director of youth hockey development Allysen Weidner, hockey programs manager Jouni Lehtola and coaches from the Mexico Ice Hockey Federation.

“This is a learn to skate, right?” Montoya said of the weekly sessions which will run through May 25. “You put up a few stations, get sticks in their hands and get them feeling like they’re goal-scorers and it’s a well-rounded hour.”

The Learn to Play sessions in Mexico City are personal for Montoya, who became the first Cuban American player in the NHL when he debuted for the Phoenix Coyotes on April 1, 2009 and made 23 saves in a 3-0 win at the Colorado Avalanche.

The 40-year-old Chicago native is a member is the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, which was established by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association in 2023 to advance inclusion on and off the ice. He has provided more than $40,000 to help fund the Mexico City Learn to Play program over the past two seasons through Player Inclusion Coalition grants in his name.

“You want to spread the love of hockey, you know the passions in Latin America,” said Montoya, who was selected by the New York Rangers with the No. 6 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft and went 67-49-24 in 168 games (136 starts) with the Coyotes, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers from 2009-18.

“We go to Finland, we’ve been to China, NHL played a game in Australia not too long ago. Why not go down 2 ½ hours on a flight from here in Dallas and spread that word of hockey? I think the chance to grow the game, the number of Hispanics, Mexican Americans, that live here in Dallas that go back-and-forth, for us it’s a no-brainer.”

Mexico Ice Hockey Federation technical director Diego de la Garma, Montoya’s PIC grant support and the Stars’ involvement are helping create a hockey player pipeline in a country that aspires to climb the international hockey ladder and someday compete in the Winter Olympics. Mexico’s women’s national team is currently 27th in International Ice Hockey Federation rankings, and its men’s national team is No. 42 in the world.

“With this, we get 54 kids stick to hockey and hopefully we have 54 U18 players at some point,” de la Garma said. “If we keep doing this every single year with the support of the Stars, eventually we’re going to get better players, more teams, more competition. So it’s super-important for Mexican hockey.

“It’s not only like just six Learn to Play practices. It’s a whole Dallas Stars experience and obviously Al is the one that his putting this together, obviously with the NHL Players Association.

"It’s awesome, growing the sport all over the world. When you are a celebrity, which NHL players are, it’s the best you can do to grow the sport to give back to the community, not only in your country, but worldwide. It’s just great all the things that Al is doing right now.

The Stars have ventured into Mexico to conduct Learn to Play programs since 2018, but they’re not the only NHL team trying to expand their territory into the country. The Vegas Golden Knights made their first trip in September 2024, sending team mascot Chance, members of the Viva Las Vegas cheerleading squad, the Knights Guard ice-cleaning crew and Spanish language broadcaster Jesus Lopez to Mexico City, Metepec and Monterrey for six days to hold ball and ice hockey clinics and host a fanfest.

The Los Angeles Kings first journeyed into Mexico in 2018 to conduct clinics and camps and have since established a partnership with Ice World Santa Fe, a rink in a Mexico City shopping mall.

So which franchise is winning the battle to become “Mexico’s Team"?

“Hockey's winning,” Montoya said diplomatically. “Everybody’s winning. There's enough hockey to go around, and the more people are talking about it, I think it's great. The people that come away winning is the Mexican community.”