Coyotes Prospects Deliver Smiles at Boys & Girls Club in Scottsdale

The Valley may be mired in its typical summer heatwave, but prospects at the Coyotes' development camp brought a whole new level of cool to Boys & Girls Club in Scottsdale on Wednesday.

The prospects took a break from their jam-packed camp schedule to volunteer at Boys & Girls Club Piper Branch, taking part in various activities at the club's summer camp programming. Roughly 75 prospects took turns in two shifts to play floor hockey, assist on various art projects, and even served up some sno-cones to the roughly 225 kids that attend the club's camp on a given summer day.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America's mission is to "enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, carting, and responsible citizens," according to its web site.

Kids interacted with Arizona's top prospects throughout the afternoon, delivering smiles and memories for all who were in attendance.

"It means everything -- this is going to be a core memory for some of these kids," said Liz Byrne, the Director of Programs for Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. "Just having facetime with an adult that cares about them, cares about their future, and is engaged in wanting to get to know them, that alone is special enough, and these kids are all going to feel like rockstars."

Prospects in attendance included 2021 draft picks Dylan Guenther and Josh Doan, 2022 draft picks Logan Cooley, Conor Geekie, Maveric Lamoureux, Jérémy Langlois, and 2023 draft picks Michael Hrabal and Jonathan Castagna, among others.

Giving back is nothing new to Geekie, whose "Geekie Goals" campaign with the WHL's Winnipeg ICE raised almost $6,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities Manitoba since the 2021-22 season. The 19-year-old said community service is something he and his family have always stressed, and he was proud to be in attendance at Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday.

"When you come and you look at it from the kids' perspective, maybe they don't have the greatest opportunities, so for me, it's just a big thing coming from where I'm from," Geekie said, "I'm so fortunate. It's important that's how I was raised. We need to give back as much as I can."

Langlois said he remembers when athletes would come to his school, and he was proud to give some of Arizona's kids the same experience. The Québec native, who won the Memorial Cup with the QMJHL's Remparts this past season, recalled times the Remparts would visit his school when he was growing up.

That left such a lasting memory with him that he made a point to do the same during his time with the QMJHL's Cap Breton Eagles from 2020-2023. He also recently paid a similar visit to his former elementary school following his aforementioned Memorial Cup win.

"It's fun," Langlois said. "Everyone of us growing up were always lucky to see professional players, guys we look up to. Just to be here and see smiles on their faces is amazing."

Arizona's top prospects will go their separate ways heading into the 2023-24 season, each pursuing their ultimate goal of someday making it to the NHL.

The memories they created with Arizona's youth on Wednesday, though, will carry on for years to come.

"The Coyotes are longtime partners of ours, and we're so lucky to have them engage with our organization," Byrne said. "A lot of these players will end up making a name for themselves someday and they'll be able to say that they met them here at the Boys and Girls Club."