PRINTA shot in the dark
MU’s club hockey team brings home victories despite limited late-night practices miles from Columbia.
Alex Lewis
February 14, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
As the regular season draws to a close for MU’s club hockey team, the players and coaches have more than exceeded expectations. From the beginning of the season, the team has been against the odds.
Although most other collegiate-level hockey teams practice every night, MU’s team usually practices just one night a week. And because Columbia has no ice rink, the team has to make a 30-minute drive to Jefferson City’s Washington Park Ice Arena to practice Tuesdays from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. As it is the only time slot designated for the players, this is their chance to hone their skills and prepare for upcoming games. Despite this setback, the team still manages to remain competitive.
But the team doesn’t just survive in its league; it prospers. As the Big 12 favorite, MU had a 17-12-1 record, including a four-game season-sweep over rival KU, before playing Grand Valley State, the No. 2 team in Division II, Sat. Feb. 9.
MU scored first in the second period. GVS answered back quickly to tie the game at 1-1. Both teams scored again in the beginning of the third period and ended regulation time with a score of 2-2. After an intense game, MU lost with a final score of 3-2 in overtime. “We played awesome,” says goalie Keith Van Gels. “It was just great because we were expected to lose by a lot. It doesn’t get much better than sudden-death overtime.”
The players are happy knowing they still managed to give it their all against one of the best teams in their division despite the crippling handicap of limited practice time. V
Photos by Alex Lewis
In the opening face-off against Grand Valley State, both MU and GVS players scramble to have first possession of the puck. GVS had been the No. 1 team in the country until a week before MU took on the team. “If we had any shot at going to regionals, we had to win that game,” says forward Andy Stream. “Everybody was really excited for that game.”
Before practice can begin, MU junior Chris Koenen (front) and his teammates need to get into their gear. “This team doesn’t exist without (Chris),” says Coach John Lamond. As the team captain and president, Koenen is also in charge of all the team’s off-ice work. Team members recognize Christian Waters as the leading scorer and Brock Gale as their “solid” defense player. “Not only is he the toughest kid on the team but the toughest kid in the league,” says goalie Van Gels of Gale. “People are afraid of him. One of his jobs is to protect me.”
The entire MU team cheers for its senior teammates who were honored before their game against the GVS Lakers on Saturday. “Although we do take it one game at a time during the season, we were definitely looking forward to playing that game because of Grand Valley’s reputation going into that game,” says Van Gels.
During their game, players from both MU and GVS became more aggressive as the clock ticked down. By the end of regulation time, six players became involved in a brawl that was quickly broken up.
At the end of practice, close to midnight, the coach’s final drill was for each player to try to score on goalie Keith Van Gels. Any player who failed to score had to skate an additional two laps around the rink. The team must fill a week’s worth of practice in a 90-minute session once a week, which results in its underdog reputation. “It’s definitely difficult to play against teams that have their own rinks on campus and practice every day,” says Stream. “It’s really hard for us to compete, but somehow we do.”
I hope the MU athletic department will consider putting ice in the Hearnes Center. The cost would be minimal compared to the cost of building an ice arena from scratch. Adding MU hockey to the sports mix would be fun and I bet encourage youth hockey in Columbia. St. Louis has a good hockey tradition and fans there would probably love to watch the Tigers.
There would be plenty of non-hockey benefits as well: I envision allowing fans to skate on the ice after games and possibly having open skate nights when wrestling and vollyball games allow. Our young aspiring figure skaters would benefit from having ice available in town also. Touring shows such as Disney or Sesame Street on ice or the Olympic champions tours would finally be able to stop in Columbia.
Let's do this!
Posted by Steve Mc Luckie on Feb 17, 2008 at 5:35 p.m. (Report Comment)