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When Dave Gustafson started playing hockey for Last Call three seasons ago, the transplant from South Bend, Ind., didn’t have any idea what to expect from his teammates.

He quickly found out that the Phoenix area-based team was filled with guys just like him.

“We’re from all over the place,” Gustafson said. “There really aren’t too many people from Phoenix on the team.”

Last Call, which changed its name to Mafia Hockey over in the summer of 2014 because it got new gameday jerseys, is a wide mix of hockey players who found each through various hockey circles in Arizona.

Tom Cardosi is another Mafia team member who found his way onto the team nearly a decade ago. The Worcester, Mass. native, who played hockey at Worcester State University, is now a team captain.

“It’s definitely a melting pot,” Cardosi said. “There are at least four of us from the New England area; three, four or five Canadians. We’ve got two or three locals from Arizona, a couple from the Midwest and a couple from California.”

Mafia skates in the Over 30 division in the Oceanside Adult Hockey League (OAHL) at the Oceanside Ice Area in Tempe, Ariz. It’s a competitive league filled with some talented players.

“It’s enjoyable, but everybody realizes that the NHL is not knocking on a 40-year-old man’s door,” joked Cardosi, who is 44.

There are about 16 players on the Mafia roster. The majority of the guys, who live in and around Phoenix, Chandler and Scottsdale, played junior or college hockey at some level.

“The skill ranges from kids that grew up and played in high school to a couple kids who went minor league pro,” said Cardosi, who had a stint playing hockey in Europe.

The Mafia members range in age from the mid-30s to late 40s and are very competitive once they hit the ice.

“We all hate to lose, basically,” said Cardosi, who is an assistant coach for the Arizona High School Hockey Association’s Premier U16 and U18 traveling teams. “But we compete within the rules, and we’re always going to try our best and understand when the game’s over, it’s over.”

The guys from Mafia don’t tend to lose too often. While playing in an adult hockey league in at the Ice Den in Chandler two years ago, the team won the winter and summer championships. This past summer, Mafia went 10-4 in the regular season in the OAHL — tops in the division — and reached the title game. However, the team came up just short of winning another crown, falling 4-3 to the rival Dusters.

The Mafia team enjoys competing in tournaments, but normally doesn’t travel very far since some big events are yearly staples in the Phoenix area. Over Memorial Day weekend, Mafia played in the Arizona Hockey Classic and the team also competes in a large Labor Day tournament.

Since the guys on Mafia united from all over the country, it makes an interesting dynamic — especially off the ice.

The Mafia members like to skate on league nights and then head to the bars during NHL playoff season to catch their favorite teams in action. A little friendly smack talking is bound to happen at the local watering hole when the guys hang out together.

“The pretty cool thing is we all get along really, really well on and off the ice,” said Gustafson, who is 48. “You’ve got the Boston guys, which are Bruins fans, Boston College, Boston U. Then you have some guys from the Midwest; obviously I’m a Notre Dame fan, and we’re some Blackhawks fans and Red Wings fans."

“Playoff season, there’s some chirping going on in the locker room. Then we’ve got some guys from Canada. It’s all in good fun.”

The guys also take part in a yearly golf outing and shift their rivalries from the ice to the links.

“It’s probably the best group of guys that I’ve ever played hockey with,” Gustafson said. “We have a lot of fun together.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.