A Day as an NCAA DI Player

Well October 24th is gone and past, and what fun it was. I must say it was extremely fun and such an honor playing that game. Although the arena didn't look full there was just under 2800 people in attendance on the night and still made for a great atmosphere. And on top of it all, in the 14 years I have been playing hockey I don't think I can ever remember being the visiting team and having the home team's fans cheer and clap for your team when introduced. I was very surprised when this happened. But I think it just goes to show how much the fans of Huntsville appreciated us being there on Friday night to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Although the Volunteers weren't able to spoil this home opener like we did 30 years prior it was still fun to be apart of.

Moreover, they treated us very well too as if we were any other NCAA team coming in to play them and not just some club team, which was very nice. I think I speak for mostly all of the guys when I say it was kind of cool to be an NCAA DI player just for a day and get all those necessities that club players rarely have access to!

And on a final note: We also defeated 'Bama on Saturday afternoon at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville 7-4. They played us hard, but in the end some with strong penalty killing we were able to hold off the Tide. And with that said I would just like to note that once again the Hockey Team did what the football team could not: BEAT AN SEC OPPONENT!!!

Kelsey

Florida Road Trip and Start of 2008/2009 Season

So, no one has posted since the Alumni game, but a lot has happened since then. We have played our first 5 games, and have already been handed our first loss at the hands of a very fast and hard-working FGCU's D3 squad. As Coach Durrigan said, it is good that this happened early in the season so we can work out the kinks now rather than in February. Two years ago, we were undefeated late in the season going into a game with an MTSU team that had a losing record, and got upset, which really rattled our confidence. It is good to establish early on that we have to keep on improving as the year goes on to have a shot at winning it all in March.

The first big weekend was great for the team in a few respects:

First, we got to bond off the ice, which is always a very important step each year, and I think we made some strides toward becoming a more unified group. I had fun will all the rookies, and I know it will be the same for those who didn't make this trip during future road trips and off-ice team events.

Second, the wheels started turning on the ice. The first two games versus Vanderbilt and Florida were really shaky, with very little coordination amongst the lines. The passing was sub-par, there was very little cycling, and we were not trying to win battles to the puck. Giving up 5 to Florida must have woken us up, because all 4 lines and all the D pairings were rolling versus South Florida. Every line showed improvement over the course of the 5 games we have played so far. It was evident toward the end of the FGCU game, however, that off-ice conditioning has to improve, or we are going to continue losing close games in the 3rd period.

Finally, we found out that we still have work to do with respect to line rotations. There are a few specifics that we will be working out over the course of the next few weeks as players get healthy and we get more games in, but this is the sort of thing that works itself out as we get into a groove.

It really didn't feel like hockey season until we had a big roadtrip, so now it officially feels like the season has started. We are all pumped for this weekend and hope to start off our home schedule with a big win versus MTSU, and I don't think there is a player on the team who isn't motivated to take one from our biggest rivals, Kennesaw State, who took 2 from us last season.

Please come support us in our first home game of 2008/2009, Friday night (October 17^th) when we take on the MTSU Blue Raiders at 10:15pm at the Knoxville Coliseum!

Tommy

Welcome to Hockey Top Corner

All right Ice Vols fans. I guess I will kick things off for the inaugural Hockey Top Corner, by first thanking our alumni for an awesome night last Friday. Those guys were so great to us and we had so much fun talking to them after the game. We were able to raise so much needed money and without their help it wouldn't be the same. On that note, the fact that we had four decades worth of Alumni at the event makes me extremely proud to be part of such a nostalgic organization. This club experienced some major setbacks recent years and the fact that we had 30 Alumni graciously come from all over the country to come support us tells me that the club is heading in the right direction, thanks to so much hard work from all of the players and coaching staff alike.

Next I guess I should talk about our upcoming season!!! Training camp has begun and we are looking strong. The excitement on the ice and the hard work around the team is probably the best I've seen in my 3 years here. There's so much to learn from ending a season in disappointment two years in a row. The desire for everyone to work hard I think shows this.

We are really looking forward to our first game on October 3rd in Vanderbilt. But most especially we are extremely looking forward to our Fall Break trip to Jacksonville and Orlando where we will play four important games to start out our season. There is nothing better to do during fall break than spend five days with your teammates on a long bus trip playing the sport you love.

I have so much more I could share but I think this is a good start for this segment. We really hope you guys enjoy Hockey Top Corner, because without our AMAZING FANS wearing and bleeding Orange just wouldn't be the same!

Kelsey out!