Bio

Formed in 1991 by Dave Schneider with brothers Tarquin and Peter Katis and Jon Aley. The Zambonis set out to become the world’s only all-hockey rock band. By 1993, songs like “The Referee’s Daughter” proved hockey could double as a lens for life and love.

Their 1996 debut, 100% Hockey…and Other Stuff, cracked the Top 25 on CMJ and spent 13 weeks on the Top 200, with songs landing in NHL and NCAA arenas nationwide. “Avalanche!” became a playoff anthem during Colorado’s Stanley Cup run. A Denver radio hit in 1997 led to a Pepsi Center performance.

In 1999, “Hockey Monkey” debuted on Nickelodeon’s Kablam!, and their second album earned praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, LA Times and Maxim, which dubbed them “Best Band You Never Heard Of.”

Commissioned by the Boston Bruins and NESN in 2001, “To Bleed Black and Gold” became the title song to a Bruins documentary and led to a performance at Ray Bourque Night. In 2002, they played the NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles; four songs also appeared in the video game NHL Hitz 2003.

Media attention continued with features in Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN. During the 2004 NHL lockout, they toured Riga, Latvia, performing everywhere from national TV to a punk club. A Canada-only deal with Nettwerk Records followed in 2006, and “Hockey Monkey” became the theme to FOX’s The Loop.

The band appeared at multiple NHL All-Star Games (2002, 2011), headlined NHL Face-Off in NYC (2008), and contributed music to NHL Network and NBC Sports campaigns—including writing and recording songs within 24 hours of broadcast. NBC’s docu-series Puckland (2019) featured five of their tracks.

Albums such as Chippy Sessions (2007), Five Minute Major (In D Minor) (2012), and LIVE ON THE ICE (2021) expanded their catalog, alongside viral singles like “Don’t Pick A Fight With Chara,” “Great Scott (All Star Game),” and “Gritty Xmas.”

They’ve shared stages with acts including Guster, The Monkees, Jonathan Richman, The Ventures, Bowling For Soup, NRBQ, Reel Big Fish, and were invited by Talking Heads co-founders Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth to perform the classic “Naïve Melody (This Must Be The Place.)”

Recent releases include “Slow Whip” (2022), “Don’t Put Me In The Penalty Box Again,” and 2023’s “Gretzky Twist,” issued on Westport Library’s Verso Records—the world’s first public library record label.

In 2024 The Zambonis were inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame.

2026 the band joined NHL’ers GRITTY, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Trevor Zegras and others for a wonderful event SHOULDER CHECK which raises awareness about teen suicide.

And of course the new songs keep coming with “Skating with Myself” and the best hockey song the Stones never wrote “I Don’t Like Hockey No More”

35 years, over 300 songs, way too many hockey jerseys…and a whole lot of fun.

Hockey rock is alive and kicking in 2026!