The wheels are in motion for New Mexico Goatheads hockey ahead of their inaugural season as General Manager Jared Johnson announced former NHL player Zack Stortini would be the team’s first head coach on Saturday, June 20.
“The biggest thing for us was him just wanting to be here and be excited about it,” Johnson said. “At the same time, he knows what it takes to get to the highest level. You don't see a lot of guys drop from the AHL to the ECHL on the coaching side, so for him to want to make that jump and be a head coach and choose to do it here was everything we needed to know about him.”
Stortini was a 3rd-round pick in 2003 for the Edmonton Oilers, and would go on to play six seasons in the NHL from 2006-2012 for the Oilers and Nashville Predators. For the last four seasons, Stortini has been an assistant for the Tucson Roadrunners, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Utah Mammoth.
Stortini said he was excited for the opportunity and that the passion for New Mexico hockey was a factor in his decision.
“There's a real hunger for it, and I think it's important for us to continue to grow that,” Stortini said. “There's more room for hockey fans to continue to cheer on this local team. I think when they get down to the arena, and they see our players on the ice, and the passion that they're gonna play with, and our players feed off the passion that our fans bring, I think it just rolls exponentially from there.”
Stortini said the types of players they’re looking for are leaders both on and off the ice.
“It's something that we really value, the leaders that are gonna grow, not only the game, but young leaders of the future,” he said.
Alongside the hiring of Stortini, the Goatheads revealed their new jerseys to the public as well. The design features a “desert red” body, with the Goatheads logo outlined in “Rio Grande blue” on the chest. The shoulders are desert red as well, with black sleeves and black abdomen for the home jerseys. For the away jerseys, the color scheme is inverse, with a white body and shoulders, and desert red sleeves and abdomen.
“They turned out to be unbelievable,” Johnson said. “It's always a little scary getting a jersey, because you never know what happened in the factory or anything like that. We actually just got them yesterday. So it was a lot of worrying this week if they were going to get here or not and they did. The line I saw was all the way down to the food court down there to get jerseys. So we're really excited to get those out there to the fans.”
Alex Joe is a freelance videographer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
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