Hello Flyers!

We hope everyone was able to enjoy the Stanley Cup Playoffs and is having a blast so far this summer. It's barely July but HOCKEY SEASON is just around the corner! Construction is going well and we are slated to open as scheduled; take a look at the rink's concrete pour from last month. 

Registration for the Fall Season and Fall Classes will begin the week of August 15th. We look forward to seeing all of our Flyers back this season for another great year of hockey!

Skatium long-time Director of Hockey Operations – Steve Glickman will retire effective May 1, 2022. 

After growing up in Skokie and playing for the Skatium’s first ever hockey program as an eleven year old when the facility opened in 1973 Steve was hired by the Skokie Park District as a Hockey/Golf Program Supervisor in 1987. As the hockey program continued to grow and with spring and summer hockey becoming more popular Steve’s golf responsibilities were removed from his job in 1997 and his title was adjusted to Director of Hockey Operations.

Steve (60), left the Skokie Park District in 1999 for another park district, but returned in 2006 and continued completing 28 years with the Skokie Park District and a total of 35 years as a Hockey Director in the Illinois Municipal Parks and Recreation System. 

“I am forever grateful to the Skokie Park District and Mr. Mark Schneiderman for initially hiring me and allowing me to work in the place that has always been ‘my home away from home’,” Glickman said. “I am also very appreciative to have met and worked with so many great people within the hockey community over the 35 years of my career. I am one fortunate guy.”

In March, the Skatium began a renovation to replace its aging mechanical equipment. Above is a brief video of the demo of the concrete rink floor which began on March 14th. The Skatium is projected to re-open in September 2022.

Gene Razdolsky was a beloved coach at the Skokie Skatium who passed away after a long battle with cancer on February 6, 2022. Gene was a man of extraordinary remarkable character, patience, empathy and kindness who celebrated victories and losses with equal passion. To honor Gene's memory, we are establishing a fund in his name that will be awarded to one player annually. The goal is to make this award available so that Gene - and all that he embodied - remains part of the Skokie Park District's hockey program.

WE ARE COLLECTING DONATIONS TO ENSURE THAT THIS FUND WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.  Our goal is to make this a scholarship that exists for the years Gene would have otherwise been at Skokie.

To contribute, payments can be made to the following:

Youth Foundation of Skokie

C/O Skokie Skatium

9300 Weber Park Place

Skokie, Illinois 60077 

Be sure to include in the “notes” section that the donation is for the Gene Razdolsky Scholarship Fund.

The Youth Foundation of Skokie is a 501c3 and donors will receive the full benefit of a charitable tax donation. Unfortunately, credit card payments may not be accepted at this time.

We anticipate awarding the first year’s recipient prior to the 2022-2023 fall season at the Skatium.  Additional details to follow.

Questions about the fund can be directed to Steve Glickman (steveg@skokieparks.org) or Nicole Seidlitz (nseidlitz@msn.com).

We are very saddened to report that longtime Flyers Coach Gene Razdolsky succumbed to cancer and passed away on Feb 6th. He was 52 years old. Coach Gene was a favorite coach with our Flyers program coaching teams that his boys Robert and Liam played for throughout their seasons with the Flyers. A one-time Flyer himself as a kid, Gene and his wife Eileen were extremely loyal to our Flyers program most recently living in Lake Villa, yet travelling the extra miles to the Skatium to make sure his boys continued to play for the Flyers. Coach Gene will be sorely missed.

   December 1, 2021 

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Former NHL Star and Skokie Flyer Mike Brown is interviewed by Sal Barry on this Puck Junk Podcast. Mike talks, among other things, about his start in hockey with the Skokie Flyers and at the Skatium Ice Arena.

Enjoy listening to the podcast:

https://soundcloud.com/puck-junk/mike-brown-interview-36-12132019

OUR CHAMPIONS

Thanks to Stanley Cup winning former Chicago Blackhawks player and current television analyst Jamal Mayers and the Blackhawks for offering a Rink Partnership Clinic on December 30th where all participants had made generous donations to the Village of Skokie Holiday Giving Program to help out the needy people of Skokie for the holidays.

Blackhawks Legend Stan Mikita played at the Skatium in the very first Chicago Blackhawks Alumni Game in 1988. Here he battles for a loose puck against Dale Tallon, as Keith Magnuson backs up Tallon. The referee was an active playing Denis Savard and the goalie was Skatium's Hockey Director Steve Glickman.

Former Chicago Blackhawks player and Stanley Cup Champion Jamal Mayers visits the Skatium to assist with the Blackhawks/Total Hockey sponsored "Little Blackhawks" class on March 26th.

Looking to buy Flyers Hockey Apparel?

Go to the link below

http://www.jerryshockey.com/apparel/team/skokie-flyers-hockey-club.htm

MIKE BROWN, former Skokie Flyer and current NHL star, most recently with the Montreal Canadiens, comes back to his original home and visits the Skatium and the Summerstars Hockey Camp on July 25th signing autographs with his son Axel looking on.

FUTURE FLYERS

Learn to Skate for Hockey  

IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS 

    Our classes offer players who want to eventually play on a Flyers hockey team, however have little or no hockey or skating experience. This program takes the beginner skater from standing on skates to executing basic forward and backwards skating skills. Protective equipment is required and provided as part of this class. This includes helmet with facemask, elbow pads, shin guards, hockey gloves and stick. Skate rental is $3 per session.

For 3-6 year old classes only we allow one parent to accompany their child on the ice during the class. Parents must have their own skates. Please arrive 20 minutes prior to the start of class to put on equipment.

Please click on CLASSES at the top of the

page for more information.

To register, please call 847-674-1510 or for more information contact Skokie Park District’s Hockey Director Steve Glickman at 847-929-7926, or email Steve at steveg@skokieparks.org

OUR SUNDAY FUTURE FLYERS

CLASS.

COME BE A PART OF THE SUNDAY

MORNING FUN!